Time to GO!!

Y'all.....I read something today on twitter and for the life of me I can't find it. I searched and scrolled and searched and scrolled and I can't find it!! It was just that good and exactly what the Lord has been saying to me. Yes...the Lord spoke through twitter. ;-) He is able to use whatever He wants, right? Why, yes He can.

 I'm going to paraphrase what I think I read on twitter today that hit me in the gut.... "when we get to heaven God isn't going to ask how much scripture did you memorize, but what did you DO with all that truth you memorized?"

 BIG FAT HELLO!!!

I have been fired up about memorizing scripture because His Word is Truth and full of life when spoken over a person or situation. There is nothing like having His Word hidden in my heart. So....I have His Word hidden in my heart, but what am I doing with all this truth? Am I loving better? Am I serving better? Am I simply the same and not growing spiritually like I would hope?

 God has been telling me to GO lately. Scripture doesn't say to just pray or give monetarily. He commands us to GO (Matthew 28:19) and I don't like how I have been going. It's time to GO, people!!

The Lord has clearly been telling me to GO. I have been waiting on the neon sign in the sky and it just hasn't been there, so I have pretty much ignored Him. GASP. No more.

 Its just time to agree with Him and the infamous nudge in my Spirit and find me some ways to truly serve outside my comfort zone. How are you "going" lately?? Help me Lord. Show me the way. Make this path straight because I'm ready to GO!!!!

 1 John 3:18 " Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." NIV

This, my friends, is my memory verse and I hope that within the next month or so you will hold me accountable and ask me, "How's it going?" ;)

I sure do love y'all.

 

I believe and I have hope!

This has been a rough week. There is so much going on around our family that I sometimes just sit back and think "What in the world, God?" If things happen in three's, I'm already praying us up to receive that 3rd thing. Just kidding. Maybe. I feel somewhat assured when someone says, "He will get you through this or He must know you can handle it." I like those sentences for a split second and then my mind goes back to the reality of life. I have said a lot lately that when you hear someone talk about a divorce (which is NOT happening here) they will say...you have no idea how divorce effects the family. And the truth is...you really don't know that road if you haven't walked it. Not a news flash, but the depth of the pain and hardship is simply too hard for anyone to truly understand or empathize with you if their shoes aren't dirty from a similar road traveled. Just the way it is.

One of our family situations, that we are experiencing, just can't be shared with here. The other involves my dad. Bless his sweet precious soul...I love him. We are cut from the same cloth. And if you really know me then you now know my dad. My sweet 74 year old daddy starts chemo Wednesday for aggressive B-cell non Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Yuck. It flat out stinks. Oh the thoughts that go through your mind. We would covet any prayer you offer on my dads behalf. I will update y'all throughout this journey.

My memory verse is all about having hope. I don't know who else to cling to other than the One who is the true giver of hope. I am beyond thankful for His Word and I'm thankful to the gifted bible teacher, Beth Moore, who challenged me to memorize scripture. The enemy is defeated when we start throwing around our sword. ;)

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

My family needs someone full of hope. I need a ton of Jesus in order to share some of that hope....His hope. My natural flesh would be quick to sink into a pit of despair and exhaustion without Him. Dang this life is hard at times.

Praise Him for the promises and truth of scripture!! Amen? Amen!!

The roller coaster ride

Sometimes you find yourself in a season of life that you simply never saw coming. Sometimes we are blindsided by something that just takes awhile to get your mind around. Sometimes this season is a true test of what you believe about God and who He is and your only option is to buckle up and ride this roller coaster He put you on. Sometimes this ride makes you scream with complete fear and sometimes this ride makes you want to throw up and sometimes this ride even gives you a glimpse of a smile and some laughter as you throw your arms up for just a minute and experience some fun. Sometimes we ride this ride with our eyes closed and sometimes we ride this ride with eyes wide open half scared to death and are yelling "GET ME OFF THIS THING!!!!" Sometimes, life is just too much and you truly Just need to get back to the basics of your faith. A crisis will do that for ya, won't it? I have found myself asking, "Who is God and what are His promises again?" Sometimes every thing we thought we knew escapes us and the simplests of truths are not known. Sometimes we don't even know our name. It's big stuff isn't it? In several weeks time, this is what I KNOW....I mean really know.... He is FOR me...for us...for you. I walk by faith...not by sight. Plain and simple basics. Sometimes the ride with Jesus takes us back to the basics and even though these basics seems simple and routine, He may throw it your way when you least expect it and life is hard. I am recommitting myself and my TIME back to what really matters...scripture study, scripture memory, fully present for others, expecting Him more than ever, and passionate about the One who created me before the foundation of the world and loves me like no other. My memory verse this time is the shortest one I have ever picked, but months and years down the road as we celebrate the successful end of this roller coaster ride I can honestly say..."we lived by faith and not by sight and He proved Himself faithful." Praise Him!!! (2 Corinthians 5:7) Y'all....let's get back to the basics. Does anything else matter? Sure do love y'all....

He pulls us out!

I sit here on this Labor Day morning with my head full of fog and crud because of a nasty cold, but some things are very clear in this muddled mind of mine today.....(thank you Sudafed)

Before I came to know the Lord, and I mean personally know the Lord, I had put myself in a deep pit of every sin under the sun it seemed. Thankfully, a beautiful family member introduced me to a Savior who would help me out of that nasty pit. Praise God for her!! You never know when you are inviting someone to Bible study just where they are and it may be the turning point of their spiritual walk! Invite someone to bible study this fall! ;-)

One step at a time and one loving Father, who was absolutely relentless, kept guiding me out of that dark pit.

Sometimes we find ourselves, possibly someone we love dearly, or someone we casually know that is in that pit and needs a rope to hold onto. They need the One who holds the rope and can gently place their beautiful feet on solid ground again...away from that darkness. Whether we put ourselves in that pit or someone pushed us there...it's still a pit and we want out and we don't know just what to do. All we see is darkness.

This promise out is Psalm 40 is what I shout in celebration when I remember coming out of the pit and one I claim for someone else as I watch them find their way out of their pit.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand. (Psalm 40:2 NIV)

Thank you Jesus for being the One who rescues us and gives us that firm place to stand!!! I just can't do this life without You!

My hope is in Him alone! Stay in the Word sisters!

Bye bye summer. You were fun and fabulous, but way too short.

Can we go back to summer? This back to school thing we have to do has kicked.my.tail!!!! I think every year I have said something about loving a schedule and routine, but that was a big fat lie.....bring my family back to the lazy days of summer any time. That learning is nonsense until September. ;)

And, let's just pause for a minute and think about my 16 year old who is days away from having HIS OWN CAR!!! (big fat sigh) The time is flying momma's......I beg of you to truly savor every moment.

Alrighty, this next memory verse is the verse my kids school has claimed for the year so I'm going to claim it too. I didn't have to go far to find it......

Lean into Him sweet sisters. I'm so thankful to memorize His Word. It truly is life.

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4 ESV




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Goodness...I love His Word!!

I will restore to you the years

that the swarming locust has eaten,

the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,

my great army, which I sent among you. (Joel 2:25 ESV)

Whatcha think about that one??!! How about a PRAISE JESUS and everybody break out some "hallelujah's!!"

I hope to one day be able to tell of the time when this promise is fulfilled in the life of someone I absolutely love and cherish, but for now....I know exactly why I want this Word hidden in my heart! I'm claiming it and believing it to be true!! I have no idea how long or what this new road will look like for my beloved sister in Christ, but I know my God wants to redeem and restore and make her whole again. And yes He can give you back those years that the stupid locust ate up!!

Bye bye locust. Bye Satan. We are done with you!!!

I love you, Lord!!!

He is all we have

Our family is in the midst of some serious simplifying and scaling back so it's only appropriate to choose a verse that has come up in a sermon series on "revival" at out church. When you find yourself walking into the deep waters with Jesus and realize all you have is Him, your heart races, your faith increases, and you see the only way to Him is with a pair of eyes that are laser focused and a heart FULL of the Holy Spirit.

Do I believe He can do what He says He can? It's time to see just what I believe.

This season will be difficult, but I have no doubt we are where we need to be. I already thank Him for this season. It may last weeks or months, but we will persevere. He will never let us go.

I will listen to what God the Lord says;
he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—
but let them not turn to folly. (Psalm 85:8 NIV)

I will LISTEN to Him through this and I will not go into the
land of folly where I land too often.

The Word is life! Hold on tight when this life seems to be overwhelming or unsure. Oh, the power of knowing what He says to us. The Creator of the Universe speaks to us....I'm listening and holding onto His promises.

Love~