A thought has been in my mind for quite some time. A thought that seems to judge, but I am just as guilty. A thought about parenting, about the past, about what my spirit is teaching, and about what I am learning… a thought about truth. You see I look around and see. I see more deeply than before. I see what my past has done to me; the thoughts, the inescapable connections in my brain that have been hard wired because of a choice or a thought, whichever it may be, that occurred a long time ago. Sometimes I …
Letting go and Letting GOD
Have you ever thought you were just living in survival mode? I often think I stay there. But, I believe I may finally have it figured out….we all STAY in survival mode! Just about the time we learn to work with what we have, life changes or throws us a curve and we have to learn to survive again. Let me back up, I am a wife and mom of four children, ages seven, five, two and a half, and four months. I have been married for nine years. My husband and I were married in June 2003, he finished …
Personal Liberty
Freedom: Personal liberty as opposed to bondage or slavery I am so glad to be born in America. So often I wonder why I was born in a land of so many freedoms, while someone else millions of miles away was born into an area of oppression and hardship. I know things are not always easy here in the US. As one of our writers brings to light this edition, there is a terrifying and growing slave trade here that rivals any other country. There is poverty, hunger, unemployment, abuse, and many other areas that are keeping America …
Becoming a Slave and Gaining Freedom
Freedom is, by definition, the power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Slavery is, by definition, a relationship where one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty and fortune. As a teenager I had been engulfed in a life of sin. I was captivated by its lure and enticed by its stronghold. I was a slave to sin, until freedom pursued me and I began to allow God to draw me to Him. As I entered adulthood, I aspired to be happy. I longed for all the normal …
Here I am send me
There was a time in my life when I felt I just wasn’t good enough for God to use. No matter how hard I tried I just kept messing up. I had read books, done recovery, and had friends I talked to about it, but despite my best effort I continued to screw up. At one point I went to a friend from church for accountability and help in this particular area, but instead I received condemnation. I knew what I was doing was wrong, that wasn’t the issue. I wanted help to be victorious over this thing, instead I …
Nobody Has Time for That!
Time? I don’t have time! It often seems that time truly does fly and I find one moment I’m waking up for work on Monday morning and before I blink it is Friday afternoon. So as I think about the word time I hear God teaching about what we don’t have time for. I don’t have time for: The lies of the enemy– His cruel words say ashamed, useless, messed up, washed up, unworthy and more. You fill in whatever it is that haunts your mind. “Set your minds on things above…” Colossians 3: 2 says. If it doesn’t line up with God’s Word about us, we …
You Can Fly
When I was a little girl I thought I could fly. Seriously. I’d stand on the couch and jump and in my youthful imagination I’d sweep around the living room through the air and back to the couch. It was pretty exhilarating and gave me a sense of oh so much freedom. Eventually I quit “flying”. I got older and attributed that ability to fly to my imagination. Oh beloved, God reminds me of youthful flying this morning because He wants you to know your abilities in Christ including flying! Soaring in the Spirit is your birthright as a born …
Unshakable Thanks
We are all on a journey. And as Paul says, we do not travel that journey as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4: 13). We know that we have a Savior sitting at the right hand of the Father who delights in us. We have the Word of God that is living and active. We have the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, giving us gifts to make the best use of our time here on Earth. And we have the fellowship of other believers to offer friendship, prayer, encouragement and council. We have hope, and …
And if not, He is still Good
The dictionary says thankful means “pleased or relieved” or “expressing gratitude and relief.” As I read over the definition right now, I ponder what it really means to me to be thankful? Am I thankful? Do I express gratitude enough in my life? When I think of gratitude or thanksgiving, the first thought that pops in my head are the people and things in my life I am extremely grateful for. Most people would agree, right? I know it was my first thought when I began to write about being thankful. I also wondered how many times a day I …
To Fear or Not?…
This morning started like most others, by getting up begrudgingly and taking on the task of exercising. Or should I say attempting to run again after an injury to my knee….which failed, so I walked instead. Little did I know what was to come. I read a blog post of a friend who titled it “time to quit fighting God”. While I read it, I was in tears. It was an amazing reminder of how often I have fought to keep the easy in my life without regard to what steps I should be taking, probably due to fear. Fear …
Dare to be Fearless
We are all born brave and fearless. From that day on we learn fear as its woven into our belief system. We are told to trust so we fight for it, but somehow cannot control the fear. We feel guilty and ashamed, so we tell each other that some fears are healthy. As we age we also learn that God is love and there is no fear in love, therefore no fear in the presence of God. But then we are taught to be afraid of God: to fear deception from God, to fear sin, to fear falling off …
Moving to HOPE
When you cannot find the light at the end of the tunnel, what is there to cling to? When the daily struggle of life seems too much to bear and you have nowhere to turn, what keeps you going? At the end of the rope, when the covers over your head are too thin to drown out the nastiness of the world, what is your blanket of protection? Sometimes the answers to these questions seem too difficult to think about, and the rainbow at the end of the storm seems too hard to reach. What keeps us moving forward? Growing …