New Year, New Journey

When my daughter, Carrin, died last August, I slept with praise and worship songs.
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.. ^{Zephaniah 3:17}
I needed Him to sing over me, because I was broken in many places.
One album in particular brought a lot of healing. It was called Sing Over Me. On it was a cut done by Janna Long called  May The Words of My Mouth.

This song became my prayer:
May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart
Bless Your name, bless Your name, Jesus
And the deeds of the day and the truth in my ways
Speak of You, speak of You, Jesus

For this is what I'm glad to do
It's time to live a life of love that pleases You
And I will give my all to You
Surrender everything I have and follow You
I'll follow You

Lord, be my vision, Lord,  be my guide
Be my hope, be my light and the way
And I'll look not for riches, nor praises on earth
Only You'll be the first of my heart

I will follow
I will follow
I will follow You

Carrin's death changed me in a way I cannot yet explain. It was like being ground up by a meat grinder and reformed.,
The hard places of my heart that I thought brought me protection were flattened. They were replaced with kindness and gentleness. The procrastination brought on by fear was brought to light in the reality that no one is promised tomorrow. Now each day truly is a gift.
My child, albeit an adult with grown children, my child.was gone. No good-byes. Just gone in a car wreck.. This was the child who called me three or four times a week during her hour long commute to work. . Not only did she share her heart, but she was such an encourager. It was like having your own personal cheerleader.
But life would never be the same.
The song says, "It's time to live a life of love that pleases You
And I will give my all to You
Surrender everything I have and follow You
I'll follow You."
I think I am not the only one who says they will surrender but never get around to it. Life gets in the way. When you are broken, you discover whose life it should be.
What does "live a life of love that pleases you" really look like?
A life of love has no time for criticism. Its love is from the heart of the Father not from an agenda. It is patient and kind. (I am still working on that.) It does not keep a record of wrongs. It has no room for whining or feels a need to have the last word.
So my New Year's Resolution is to live a life of love that pleases my Father; to give my all, surrender everything and follow Him.
I don't think it will be easy, but it will continue to shape  me into His image.




--

Run to Him

 Ray and I have had five weeks of company while preparing two very different booths for the upcoming gift buying season.
Today is the first day without an extra person in the house. My house looks like a war zone and I really can't blame the company. So I find myself weary and overwhelmed.
The day by and large was a good one. A really upbeat staff lunch with a meeting with a forward thrust. so excited about all of the new plans and changes. I love my job.
In fact, I love company and I thoroughly enjoy turning trash into treasure.
The booth at Antiques on Main in Woodbury is chocked full of primitives and vintage items while the booth at Traders Mall in Thomaston has some of my shabby chic items. That booth is shared with Cathy Clark who has a whole lot more going on than I do,
So I am blessed!  Then why do I feel like I have been run over by a bus?
I am quicker to recognize it now. It is because too often I have tried to keep all of the balls in the air in my own strength. In variably when I run out of steam, I run to my false comforter. For me that is sugar or carbs. However, it is as dangerous as if I went on an alcoholic binge. It means highs, lows, insulin and muscle pain.
During the five weeks I went on a modified Daniel Fast successfully. So how is it that I can hit bottom again?
Finally I know the answer. The pieces are coming together.I turn to the end of the Book and find out we win!
Revelations 12:10-12
¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
¹¹ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
¹² Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
 So I am quick to repent. Quick to run to my Father who forgives me, loves me in my mess.and restores me.
I used to run the other way, but no more. No matter how much of His love I receive, there is more. It's not all for me. It is to pour out as well.
Allow Him to raise you up.

Humpty-Dumpty Kind of Faith

But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.Hebrews 11:6

Two of my granddaughters are here. School starts in a couple of weeks and I want so badly to make sure that they have everything they need for school.
My mother and grandmother would make clothes for me and my sister to assure that the first week of school I would have a new outfit every day.
Well, I can sew a straight line, but that is about it. I gave up early because every time I would try, my grandmother would rip it out and tell me to do it again. So the joy of sewing was just not there.
Ray and I have bought some clothes and some school supplies, but I want to do so much more. Also, I want make sure they have brand new tennis shoes, awesome book bags and a few other things. They have not asked or even hinted for a single thing.
They are so grateful for what they have received.
I had to catch myself, because I was tormenting myself by looking at MY resources rather than Father God. Can I not trust Him to provide the things they need after I have done all that I can do?
He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek HIM, not deals, maneuvering of the family budget. Seek Him. As much as I love these girls, He loves them so much more. So once again I release them and their needs to Him.
When I seek His hands rather than His face, my focus is skewed. It is a heart issue and if my focus is wrong then I have that Humpty-dumpty kind of faith that makes you scramble to try to get it all together again. His answers are always found when we let go and trust Him.

How Long, Lord? How Long?

I have been a Christian 60 years ever since I asked Him in my heart during Sunday school at First Baptist Church in DeLand, FL. sixty years. You would think I would have gotten this walk right by now. 
David declares, "My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word."
I, too, hold on t things that are not good to me, those dusty things carried from my past that I haul into each new day.
My biggest struggle is running to food as a false comforter. Food when I am tired. Food when I want to express love. Food when I need love. Food has way too much room in my life. I recently lost 10 pounds, but because it is like taking sand from the Sahara, it is not good enough. Wonder who told me that?
So I go back to the Word and what it says about me, about my walk and my final destination.
Why do we search elsewhere when the answers are all right there?
My souls cleaves to the (worthless).
When I run to the Word, He can restore me and even enlarge my heart to receive more that I may pour out more. To receive His love and then pass it on is a great delight.
Today I will be patient with myself. I will look to my Father to guide me. He is the truth that never changes. I am His daughter. I am loved and must learn to love myself even in the dust.


Spiritual maturity cannot come in a day. We cannot expect it. It takes growth, until the whole beauty of the image of Christ is formed in (us).
Andrew Murray

Which Way Are You Walking?

Psalm 119 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.² Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.³ They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.

Most of my life I have been fiercely independent. It was a coping skill borne out of abuse. I trusted few people. 

What I did not recognize until I was in my sixties, is that I didn't really trust God completely either. I had to have my fingers in the pie. There was no absolute surrender.

Corrie Tem Boom once said, "Hold everything loosely because it hurts when God pries your fingers open."

Fear cancels trust. Whether fear of man or fear of failure it does not matter. Psychologists say there are over 4,000 fears. Every single one of them will separate you from God, because fear cancels faith. 

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.Hebrews 11:6

When we seek Him with our whole heart, we will walk in His ways trusting Him even if we don't see the final destination.
I am sometimes frustrated that it took me so long to let go of my ways and walk in His, but He reminds of His love and now my zeal that others will not wait as long. 

There is happiness and peace when you walk in His ways even if they don't make sense in the natural. His is a trust walk.

Will you trust Him? Oh, what places He will take you to when you walk in His ways. 

The Rain is Coming!

Have you lived through a desert time in your life when your very soul seemed parched?
The older you get, the more have confidence that the rain will come
We wait sometimes in anguish for it seems unbearable. It is a time for soul searching, a time to seek the Lord with all your heart, for you know that He and He alone holds the answer. 
Reminds of Isaiah who declared, "Behold, I do a NEW thing..." 
Why do we hold  on to that old thing that brought us to this wilderness?
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19
it shall spring forth That is a promise from God! 
Let go of your plans, the way you think should work out and rest in the desert quietly for the rain. Let the sun of the desert bake out those impurities so that truly you will see the Son of the rain.

Show Me Your Way

There are many paths we can take. Some are easy, others are not. What colors our choice?
God has told us. This is the way, walk in it, but we do consult Him, We go our own way, an easier way and then wonder why we have no peace.
Isaiah 30 illustrates the consequences of forsaking His ways.
  For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
That does not sound like an idle request. Isaiah 30:15
What draws us away? What demands our time and what do we simply give our time to without thought?
²⁰ And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:²¹ And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
By not following His ways, we open the door to adversity. Then we feel compelled to create new ways to compenate, to bring course correction. All along His way, His path is before it but we are blinded by the cares of the world. We are not sensitive to His voice.
If he said right now, This is the way, walk in it, would I hear His voice? Am I so busy that I have lost that quietness and confidence?
To find His ways we must read the course guide. It is back to basics. 
Be still and know that I am God.  Psalm 46:10
Show me your way, Lord. Let me hunger for your righteousness. 

Not Always a Rockwell Christmas

Most of us have Christmas expectations. Many of these are erroneously based on previous Christmases even thought time and circumstances have changed. The players have changed, but we have these wistful memories.
However, with each Christmas, we have the opportunity to make new memories or start a new tradition. As long as we view life through the rear view mirror, we will miss the hope and joy of this Christmas.
Christmas is all about giving. If that stretches you, because you are looking at your bank account instead of your heart, start with a smile. Set a ridiculous goal like give 25 while at the grocery store. This means you make eye contact with someone and flash your biggest smile with 25 different people. The potential to change the environment in that store.
Well, what if you went to Wal-Mart this time of the year where you will have their notoriously long lines and you made eye contact and smiled at 25 people just while standing in line remembering how many people don't even have enough money to buy anything to stand in line for. What if you greeted the cashier with a hearty thank you for her part in your Christmas.
Shortly we are going to a nursing home to give gifts and sing, because you spell love T-I-M-E.
Some of these residents have been forgotten. A smile can make them feel remembered.
I may never have another Norman Rockwell Christmas, but I will always have a merry Christmas.

Poured from Vessel to Vessel

Yesterday as I was moderating a forum, a scripture was given that seemed out of context. So I thought this would be a good time to stop and have a Bible study. I decided to study Jeremiah 48:11 in the context it was written. It was a prophecy spoken over Moab.
In it was an illustration of winemaking processes and uses that as metaphor for
Moab. "Having settled in her lees." So I went to blueletterbible.org and looked at their commentaries (learned much from Chuck Smith's) and Dake's as well. I learned in those days when they made wine, they would pour the juice of the grape into a large container and then they would allow it to sit until it fermented. After fermentation, lees or dregs would begin to settle to the bottom of the vessel. And as these dregs had settled in the bottom of the vessel, then they would pour off the top into another vessel. Allow the settling process to go on again and then pour it off into the next vessel, back and forth from vessel to vessel. Letting the dregs settle down and developing the clarity and purity of the wine.
Here is the important part: if you did not pour the wine off of the dregs, then the dregs turn sour and they begin to smell. Jeremiah said, "This is the problem with Moab. It's been at ease and had never been attacked or pillaged. It was never poured from vessel to vessel. It is settled down on the lees which have turned sour. The stench remains. The wine tastes of the sourness of the lees. Thus Moab is to be destroyed."
The Lord showed me I was like that. I am a "don't rock the boat" kind of person or if it ain't broke, don't fix it mentality, but God's ways are so much higher than mine.
Isn't it interesting how that we often grumble at the processes of God in our lives. I am by nature a nester. I like my comfort. I am a chronic planner. Now I may not always work the plan, but my plan is my security blanket instead of FULLY trusting God. Did He tell us to pray give us theis DAY our DAILY bread, but I want it worked out til the end of the year or my five year plan. This is comfortable for me.
But where does that leave God? He would have to fit His ways into MINE. Hello?! That's NOT going to happen. That is self-idolatry.
So that verse was a wake up call for me. Whether it is me being poured from vessel to vesssel or someone I love, it is so we can be without stench of the world, without sourness and then when we pour into others, it will be with clarity and richness.
How many times have I asked God to use me and then I complain when the purification begins. He pours me into another vessel to leave the dregs and lees behind. The vessel I was fermenting in had become a hiding place. It was dark and cool. Just bubbling. There is nothing glamorous about fermenting, but it is safe.
In the past ten years, He has put me in one vessel to learn who I was and before I really got the fullness of it, He said now I am pouring you into another vessel to begin to show others what true beauty is and to make them feel loved. More recently He allowed me to write for others and stirred up my writing gift. Then abruptly He poured me back into one of the first vessels that had been cleaned. Again I am resting, there are less dregs, but there isn't yet that full-bodied bouquet that will come when it is my time once again to be poured out.
It reminds me of that worship song about being broken and poured out.
Hebrews 2:1 says, "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let [them] slip."
I work for a ministry. I have HEARD much, but have yet to apply even 50%. Much is in my head as I process, but for God's truth to become rhema, it has to get deep in my heart and flow through the life I live for Him.
This year has been a year where repeatedly God has been pouring me into one vessel and then another. I must have had a lot of lees and dregs.
God sure got my attention. He dealt with me. I had to repent.
When we do the 8Rs we are saying, "Oh, Lord, I'm sorry. Lord." Genuinely we are. We meant the vows when we made them to God. And we are genuinely sorry for our failures and for our drifting away from God. There are many ways God can just bring a disturbance into our lives. And God does allow them for that purpose of purifying us. We've got too much flesh. We're beginning to settle in a life of the flesh.
God says, "Thou stinketh. It's beginning to permeate your whole life. You're beginning to smell of the flesh." Therefore, God pours me into another vessel in order that He might refine me.
The history of Moab teaches that when that doesn't happen, it will be destroyed. God will have no other gods before Him.
Being broken and poured out allows me to be more like Jesus.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I am really working on extricating myself from all drivenness and performance. Made a conscious decion NOT to work this past weekend and the world remained on its axis. lol
I asked Mike to invite some of his friends to come over and help Ray decorate the house inside and out. Ray never had that as a child and LOVES it. His stamina has been waning and I really wanted him to participate without the pressure.
The deal was I would cook while they decorated.
We had a blast.
I think I am about through with fear of poverty. I always save my most exquisite ribbons for Mary Kay or presents. Instead I opened the door and said use whatever you want. Enjoy. Enjoy they did. I did not direct. I simply let them have at it. (a big step for me. lol)
They ate and had fun. The guys went for seconds, thirds, but there was no greed present today.
I really wanted to spend Thanksgiving with my family, but God showed me today that is exactly what I did. My church family is still family and God-orchestrated.
Mike told me before one family came that they have to find another place by the first. So I paid attention to conversations. There was no hint of impending crisis or lack. They just laughed and oohed and ahhhed. What a ministry session I had today. lol I saw what "casting all your cares on Him" really looks like.
At the close of the day the Christmas parade passed in front of the house. All of the Christmas lights were on to greet them. I cry at every Thomaston Parade. I am 66 so I remember the simple times before the gross commercialization of Christmas. We had decorated fire trucks, tractors and even horse-drawn carriage. A far cry from Macy's. Very low tech, but absolutely chocked full of love and smiles.
The squirrels have been busily collecting my pecans. They saved few for us. Usually when they are that fast and furious,it means we are in for a long cold winter. There is snow in North Georgia already. Maybe, just maybe we will have a white Christmas.



--

Give me a glimpse

We are created in God's image, but when we look in the mirror that is not what we see. We see a reflection of our failures, abuse, rejection and abandonment. The antithesis of "Lovely, lovely, altogether lovely."
I believe it is because we have been looking ar the wrong mirror.
I remember when I first started selling Mary Kay, I would begin the skin care routine with, "God, please show me what you see when you see me for I see no good thing."
After a couple of weeks, I changed my prayer to,"Lord, could you just give me a glimpse?
Hope this song gives you that glimpse:

Representing Him

Yesterday I received a devotional from Os Hillman in my Inbox that said, "We serve a jealous God. He is a God who will not share His glory with anyone. God sets up situations in order to demonstrate His power through them. He has done this since the day He created man. His desire is to reflect His glory through you and me, so that all men may know of His mighty acts and the glorious splendor of His Kingdom. The apostle Paul understood this principle: "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power" (1 Cor. 2:4-5). If you do not see His glory being reflected through your life, then you need to ask why. He has promised to do so if we will walk in obedience to His commands."

So I left my computer and went to a routine cardiology followup appointment. When I got there the doctor had changed practices so he had none of my records. Great.
They heard a heart murmur and were alarmed. I reminded them, the doctor and the PA, that I have a birth defect. My arteries are not where they are supposed to be and one on them runs backwards. Remember they have NO records. Even though they have done an angiogram on me, I am sure they have seen a 100 other patients since then. The angiogram wasn't even necessary, but they didn't listen to me then either.
So they insisted that I have an echo RIGHT NOW. I acquiesced.
Now here is my point. Intellectually, I knew there was nothing out of the ordinary with my specific heart. My heart does have anomalies. That is true, but intellectually I didn't think there was anything new wrong.
However, when they changed my rooms, had me put on the gown, get on the table, tears sprang forth. Tormenting thoughts and even funny performance and drivenness thoughts came.
You see over a dozen years ago a caustic cardiac surgeon leaving my mom's ICU unit where she was recovering from open heart surgery, quipped, "You need one of those, but you are not healthy enough. You would never survive. In fact, you will probably never see 60."
Two years later I came to Be In Health and I was healed a number of diseases and syndromes. The month of my 60th birthday, I went back to that Heart enter and was given kudos rather than curses. I am 66 years old now.
1 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
Now some people don't like to recognize fear as an evil spirit, but it sure isn't a happy one.
Laying on that table, it came knocking. I am giving God "what for"!
"God, don't you know I have to teach on fear this afternoon. How can I do that when I am going down under? God, this is ridiculous. I know better than that!
Then, oh well, it I have to go to the hospital, my Mary Kay bag is in the car. I am still going to make my goals this month. Guess I will have to sell to the nurses."
Why do we listen to these thoughts?
2 Cor 10:5 says, 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
They did the echo. Guess what? I was right. They were wrong.
Now I was mad. Mainly at myself for going down under that spirit of fear. So I repented and quickly recovered myself.
When I got back to the office, I pulled the devotion up again and re-read:
"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power" (1 Cor. 2:4-5).
I asked Him to teach the class. I told Him I was toast. You see I wasn't sharing my wisdom anyway, simply precepts learned through God's Word that are taught here. During the teaching I shared my experience with the cardiologist that morning. You see we have to be real, People.
If I fail. well, I am just a girl. If I fall down, I get back up.
The world has had enough preaching. It is time to be transparent. It's okay to fall down, but you have to get back up, brush yourself off and begin again.
Pastor Henry reminds us that three steps forward, two steps back is still progress.

Walking Through Fiery Trials

While working at Be in Health, my facilitators went through fiery trials and came out without smelling of smoke.
It was hard to watch at times as I pleaded to God for mercy. At other times it was encouraging and I thought, "Is anything too hard for God?"
The book is soon to be releassed and I cannot wait to share it with you.

You Have to Know Who You Are Living For

Over 30 years ago, I ran for State Legislature.
I had been involved in housing rights and had a following of sorts. I had even won a gubernatorial appointment. One of the most dangerous things when you are in that position is to believe your press.
I was frequently on the second front of the local evening paper. When it was all over, I only came in third of five candidates.
I did the Monday morning quarterbacking everyone does and saw that there were areas of the campaign that I was not particularly proud of. There was always that jockeying for position. I saw how far I had been drawn away from the values I had grown up with.
Becoming a Mary Kay Director in no way compares with the pressures of those times, but the temptations to not put first things first or squander time or procrastinate are all still there to trip me up.
I love the accolades. I love being Queen of Sales or Miss Go-Give, but it is all wood, hay and stubble if it becomes more important being who God has called me to be. It is a constant attitude check.
I have a small sign above my computer that says, "Am I Being the Servant Leader I Am Called to Be?" Now there is a reality check. Maybe I need to stop and make call, not a sale. Maybe I need to write a letter rather than an article that I will be paid for.
Today the Lord blessed me with another consultant. Only three more and I will go into DIQ. I have been in this place before, but my heart hasn't. It's softer than it was a year ago. I believe as I continue to empty myself out, He will fill me up with the right people, right things and right direction.
This song is my prayer.

Did You Ever Hit a Wall?

I had a meltdown yesterday and received this from my Mary Kay Director, Kathy Lee. Most of our frustration comes from lack of patience and lack of persistence.
Hope this encourages you as it did me.
(The video is at the end.)
The Climb 
Songwriters: Alexander, J; Mabe, J;

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa


© HOPELESS ROSE MUSIC; VISTAVILLE MUSIC;

these lyrics are submitted by Mike Maven
these lyrics are last corrected by nick jonas lover101

Full of His Joy

 There are seasons in our lives when so much is going on often coming at us from directions that we wonder why. We do a quick checklist of what we have done, we repent, but the barrage continues.
Now we have a choice. Go up or go down. The choice is ours. 
We each have 24 hours a day. We can choose to be happy or depressed. As a young adult, I was hospitalized several times for depression. So I am not dismissing the seriousness of it. However, I gave more power to depression than to joy. I became overwhelmed by life especially during the season that I was a single mother with small children. I became overwhelmed because I tried to do everything in my own strength. The truth is that wasn't possible. 

Joy isn't a feeling. It is not the same as happiness.  Joy isn't a smile or a belly laugh. However,  the most important thing to note is that Joy is not affected  by our circumstances. It's anchor is deep within. Joy comes out of rejoicing. It cannot not be fabricated. That is why He says He inhabits the praises of His people. When you rejoice in the Lord, there is a gratitude that springs forth, a knowing that gives us, confidence and hope. 

When you have this joy, you will be  joyful regardless of  circumstances, regardless if things are going well or not.

John 15:9  "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.  ⁽¹⁰⁾  "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.  ⁽¹¹⁾  "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.  ⁽¹²⁾  "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

 Oftentimes we are so full of the cares of the world that there isn't room for joy. Joy comes out of abiding, not drivenness to get through it. We must rest in Him. 

Joy comes from relationship with Him, not a nod in His direction. 

I am telling you that when you are full of the love of God is like wearing a costly designer perfume. It permeates the room. It isn't you at all. It is His love percolating within spilling over in joy.We can't help but share it.

When we experience His love, you WILL want to pass that love on to others. It's a free gift. 

Have you received the Father's love for yourself. I promise you that no matter how much you have received,  there is more. It cannot be contained. That is why the more we receive, the more we pour it on others. 

Jesus said, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love;" It is a conditional promise. Keep His commandments THEN you will abide in His love. Then His joy will be in you and your joy will be FULL. 

Happiness is a Choice

I am preparing for a Mary Kay booth in Columbus tomorrow. It is near where my granddaughter lives so I want to increase my business in that direction so that I can see her and her daughter more often. Also, she has a son on the way. 

It is imperative that I make Director. 

Some checks that we had earned did not come. Other anticipated earnings did not come either.  All in all it was about a $1500 drop for the month.

Ray is concerned about the stability of his job, because the new state regulations caused them to increase the student fees by $1200 which will not be covered by their student grants and loans. Since most of the people who take truck driving training are unemployed, enrollment may drop so significantly that he will be no longer needed. 

Ray has always been faithful to find another job, but I am his help-meet.

So I am pushing past this self-hatred, fear of failure and self-sabotage and going for it. I praise God that I have this Mary Kay opportunity. Mary Kay pays you well to help other women. Really the only limit you have is the one that you put on yourself. 

Each of us are challenged. Some by health. Some by relationships and others in the financial arena. But they do not have to overwhelm you and take you out. God has provided an escape route. 

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it].1 Cor. 10:13

Zephaniah tells us that he inhabits the praises of His people so I am singing and Zephaniah tells us that He sings songs of deliverance over me at night. Wow! Singing is good! 

It sure breaks up a pity party, too! 

Happiness is a choice!

Deserving the Best

Several weeks ago we were decorating an area of the cafeteria to look like a coffee shop for Pleasant Valley Days. I dug out some pictures, arug and mirror that were left behind. I called the person that they belonged to and asked if we could use them and she said yes. Then boldly I asked her when PVD were over could I use them in my office as she had hers.
She readily agreed. I was delighted at the prospect of redecorating my cube. I love decorating anyhow. Well, it has been three weeks and not one picture has been hung. I had to recognize I was having problems with my "deserve level" again.
We all have a self-imposed ceiling. We rise and fall to the level we feel we deserve. It is a mirror image of how we view ourselves.
If we go too high, oftentimes we will self-sabotage our effort to bring us back to our comfort zone.
“The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.” Maureen Dowd
Sometimes you have to crash through the ceiling to reset the bar. Yet we may get bumped and bruise, but the point is, we will never be the same.
I never will forget when as a single mom of three, I got my AA degree. A wealthy friend of mine gave me her condo at Amelia Island Plantation for myself for a week. I had never lived like that before and even then I did not explore all there was to offer because I felt like I didn't deserve it. Nevertheless, when I left a neighborhood of millionaires to return to the inner city, I was not the same person. Like a rubber band that had been stretched, I could not return to my original shape.
So today I am re-examining those thoughts that tell me what I deserve. Some of those thoughts have to be incinerated so they cannot return. I need to replace them with better, higher thoughts.

Rejoice

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.

 ⁵Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

 ⁶Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

 ⁷And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 ⁸Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.Phil. 4:4-8

Can we pray praising Him for everything and ask for nothing? Can we rejoice in ALL things? 

Each circumstance requires a decision. Fear or faith. If we choose faith, then we can rejoice because we have relinquished it to someone bigger than the circumstance.

Without faith it is impossible to please God. Fear and faith do not mix. They are like oil and water. So which will you choose today?

Are You Crabby?

When you go crabbing, you need a bucket with a perforated lid. When you catch your first crab, put it in bucket and quickly put the lid on lest it escape. However, once you have put two or three in the bucket, the lid is no longer necessary. You see if one crab attempts to escape from the bucket, the other crabs will pull it back down. If they can't have freedom, neither can their fellow crab. Sometimes, the crabs seem almost sinister,  waiting until the crab has almost escaped before yanking it back into the bucket.

 Talk about misery loves company.

Apparently the crabs are unaware of the boiling pot awaiting them. If they were would they pull each other back into the bucket, instead of helping escape artist? Or do they have that moronic mentality of if I can't have it, neither can you?

Those with that “crab mentality” are dream killers. I have seen it when people are doing their walkout and trying to take their life back after a devastating illness. Sadly, I have seen it in Mary Kay when someone is all excited about making some extra money and paying off their debts or maybe they have captured the big dream. Friends and relatives tell them they are foolish for even trying. They sound like Job's friends with the constant accusations. 

When we can step beyond the accusations, the pronouncements of doom, we can walk in plan that God had for our life before the foundations of the world. It is "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think..." 
The following video shows a young man who "regardless of his hard life, passionately runs towards what he really wants.