Perfect Hiding Place

“All who are oppressed may come to you as a shelter in the time of trouble, a perfect hiding place.”

Psalms 9:9 TPT

I wrote a previous blog about our families recent camping adventure. What an adventure it was! Last night God dropped a visual in my mind about this whole experience. 

Wednesday night a storm hit and boy did we ever go through a storm! The weather conditions were not favorable at all for us! We were camping in a tent with rain, wind, thunder & lightening to deal with. Then if that wasn’t enough, rain starts coming in through the roof of our tent! Things were definitely not comfortable for us and it only seemed to get worse! Talk about stressful! Soaked, muddy, grouchy & depleted of all joy were some of the results of this storm. The storm definitely put a damper in all of our grand plans!

But this is what God hit me with! There was a major storm going on outside and we knew the storm was going to continue on into the next night. Do we stay in our tent, where we are in danger of all the conditions going on around us? Or, do we retreat and seek refuge in a safer place? 

Thursday night the weather conditions were exactly the same: Rain, wind, thunder & lightening! There was ONE major difference though! We were no longer in our tent! We had moved to a place of safe refuge. We didn’t remain where we knew there was danger. We didn’t remain where we knew our safety would be compromised! 

The weather conditions were the same as the previous night. But you know what made all the difference? We were safe inside our camper, sleeping in our comfy bed. The storm was still raging on outside, but we no longer felt threatened by it. We had moved ourself to a safe place. 

The same applies to our own lives. Battles & storms rage all around us. Beating us down, playing with our minds, stealing our peace & robbing us of joy. Leaving us feeling soaked & depleted! 

But we have a choice! We can remain out in the elements & be battered by the storm, or we can recognize the storm going on around us and move to a place of safety! 

When we are going through storms there is no better shelter, no better protection than our Heavenly Father. 

So, if you are in a storm, go to your Heavenly Father. Seek shelter in Him in your times of trouble. He is the perfect hiding place. 

“God has always blessed us, I don't know why, but He has!”

“God has always blessed us, I don't know why, but He has!”

 “yet he has never left himself without clear evidence of his goodness. For he blesses us with rain from heaven and seasons of fruitful harvests, and he nourishes us with food to meet our needs. He satisfies our lives, and euphoria[a] fills our hearts.”

Acts14:17 TPT

Today marks the 2 year anniversary since my Grandpa Miller passed away.  It brings back so many feelings and memories. I loved him so much and so did so many others! One memory it has brought back this morning is something he used to always say to us. Which was something along these lines, “God has always blessed us, I don't know why, but he has!” He always got choked up when he said it. Had bad things happened to my Grandpa & Grandma? Yes, they had a death of a baby, they went through many times of cancer and broken bones and surgeries. But he chose to see the blessings and not complain. I will always remember that about him. 

It seems funny to me that this weekend, of all weekends, we chose this one to go camping as a family. Growing up, that is something that we ALWAYS did with my Grandpa & Grandma, every summer!  And what a camping adventure this was! 

Our family decided to go to Spirit Song Festival at Kings Island this year, but hotels were just way to expensive, so I had an awesome idea. “Lets tent camp! It will be fun” I said!  As Sprit Song drew closer, the weather forecast became worser (if thats even a word). So we decided to go a day early so we could get the tent site set up before it started raining. We got to the campground and it was a beautiful evening.  We were even able to make Smores and have a failed attempt at making popcorn over the fire. 

Then bedtime came, and so did the adventure! It decided to start sprinkling, but it was bedtime, so no big deal. But then I made the mistake at looking at the weather radar. What we had to look forwad to was rain and STORMS ALL NIGHT LONG! So we got into our tents, Bryce & Sarah in theirs and Jason and I in ours. The rain and wind began to pick up and before we knew it, Jason and I began getting sprinkled on…. in our tent! We thought maybe the wind was blowing in the rain, so we closed the windows, but still, we continued to get sprinkled on! As the rain turned from a sprinkle to a down pour outside, the intensity of the “sprinkles” picked up inside too. At this point it was midnight and we could not sleep! Then, when we think it surely can’t get any worse, the thunder and lightening started and woke up Sarah in the tent beside us! At that point all Jason and I could do was just look at each other and laugh!  There was not much we could do t that time of night, we were pretty much “sitting ducks”, so we just covered ourselves up as much as possible and finally went to sleep around 2:00!  We got maybe 4 hours of sleep that night! 

We woke up the next morning and the rain had cleared and we were ever so grateful! We even made a big breakfast with our propane stove!  Things were beginning to look up for us and we were excited for the full day at Kings Island.   Then we go to start our van and it doesn't make a sound, not even one light came on! DEAD BATTERY! Add that to the list of things that can go wrong when you go camping! REMINDER do not leave your trunk open when setting up a tent site!!!!

We finally got to Kings Island and even though there was a 100% chance of rain, we were hopeful for the best! The kids got a lot of rides in and were having a blast! Then the heavens decided to open! Fully open!!!!  A Flood Watch was even issued until midnight. At that point, as I was walking back to our van my hope and joy were washed away with the torential down pour! My poncho was no longer “ponchoing” and I WAS SOAKED!!!! I was not a happy girl and I just wanted to cry! Then Jason began talking about back up plans and looking for a hotel for the night. Which was a smart idea, but all I could think about was the money we had already paid for our tent site and how we were going to pay for a hotel for 3 nights.  But, reluctantly I began to look at hotels and I almost book 2 different ones, but something kept holding me back.  

Everything was in our tents at the campsite and we didn't know what it was going to be like when we got back. Finally, Jason got me calmed down and we started thinking clearly. We decided to go back to the campsite first and survey the damage, then go from there. As we pulled into the campground, I knew it was God because I wasn't rational enough in those moments. The campground was supposed to be sold out, but I told Jason why don't we go to the office and see if there any openings came available for a trailer or a cabin.  Praise the LORD, a trailer was available for Thursday night and Friday night! And even better yet, they would transfer the balance from our tent site to the trailer site! 

But the adventure wasn't done yet…..now it was time to tear down our tent site….in a torrential down pour! From all the rain, our tent site was a mud hole! By the time we were done, Bryce & Jason looked like Rambo and I was soaked, even more, if that was possible! I wish I had a picture for you all because IT WAS HILARIOUS!

I can look at this camping experience and see UTTER DISAPPOINTMENT and one chaotic moment after another or I can look at it and chose to see the blessings. God showed up with a blessing, many blessings. Even when I was pouting, cranky and all my joy was washed out, God still showed up with blessings! Things could have turned out even worse for us. 

As we were sleeping snug in our beds in our cozy camper on Thursday night, listening to the rain pouring down and thunder and lightening outside. All I could do was thank God for His blessings!  It reminds me of what my Grandpa Miller used to always say, God has always blessed us, I don't know why, but he has!

Dig Deeper

Dig Deeper

Lately, God has been speaking into my heart about His desires for our relationship with Him.  He gave me a glimpse of what His plans are for us. The glimpse was an urgency that as ladies, we need to go deeper in our relationship with God. But, I wasn’t really sure where to go with it. What did it look like? How do we do that? 

Then God gave me another glimpse, which was this quote. 

“God does not want you to try harder, He wants you to trust Him deeper. Stop trying. Start trusting. This will change everything, in you.” 

Matt McMillen 

I instantly fell in love with this quote and I have re-read it many times because it is such an awesome reminder to me. By nature, I am a control freak and a doer. This past year, God has taken me on a journey with Him. Some things I have learned (and sometimes the hard way) are to trust Him, to rest in His presence, that I don't always have to be doing things, and that I don't have to be in control! So freeing! 

One night as I was trying to sleep, God gave me another glimpse. God began whispering things to me and I had to immediately write it all down - as quietly and quickly as possible, so I wouldn’t wake my husband! 

We sing and proclaim all the time about our love for God and His love for us.  At that moment, this is what I felt like God was saying to me: “So what is the next step?” What He dropped into my heart was this, “Now is the time for us to grasp HIS love for each of us. Let HIM take us deeper. Trust HIM to lead the way. Now is the time to take action. And sometimes the action is to surrender, to stop trying to do it all yourself. Let God begin doing it for you. So, surrender your shovel! Let Him dig for you! He has so much more for you!” 

When I woke up the next morning, one of the first things I saw was this quote: 

“To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.” 

George MacDonald 

Wow! What a strong statement! It definitely made things clearer to me. As a mom, I love my kids more than anything! However, there are times, they do something that causes me to not trust their actions or intentions at all! Does it change my love for them? - No, but it can change how I view them. It changes my trust of them. Ladies, it is so easy for us to sing songs about Gods love. We raise our hands as we are singing and worshiping God. We love on God and we let Him love on us. But when the last note is played and we step out the church doors, sometimes those feelings of Gods love for us begin to fade away. Why? We know that God loves us, but when it comes down to the details of our lives, sometimes we just don't trust Him. Things have happened to us or family members that may have lessened our trust in God and we can begin to question His actions and intentions towards us. God wants our trust! God deserves our trust!

I am more of a visual person, so lets imagine this as a peat pot that is planted with wildflower seeds. 

The peat pot represents where we dwell. We choose where we dwell and we choose what fills us. Does God dwell in you? Have you allowed Him in? Is the condition of where you dwell favorable for trust to take root, and for God to take you deeper? Have “trust issues” held you back from letting God in completely? Grasping His love for us is the fist step! Now let’s take it a step further. We need to grasp His love so that we will WANT Him take us deeper. And now that we have begun actually grasping His love for us, that is where the trust can come in, so that we will LET Him take us deeper. Let the walls of doubt and mistrust crumble around you. I feel like this has been my cry to God lately: 

“Take me deeper, show me more.Even when my mind says no, stop! 

Have my heart remind me to say yes!” 

We need to continually trust God even if that means we have to continually remind ourselves to do it! 

The wildflower seeds represent seeds of trust. Trusting God with our whole heart so that the seeds of trust can be planted in our dwelling place. It is so important to nurture the seeds with good soil so that the roots can begin to grow down deeper. Leaving the seeds in this seed packet does not fulfill the seeds purpose! They will not yield beautiful flowers if they remain in this packet. You have to open the packet, take the seeds out, dig down deep & plant them in good soil. When you do, the results are beautiful flowers! 

You need to be able to put soil over your seeds, so thats where the shovel comes in. The shovel represents all the things that we need to lay down and surrender to God! 

As I was looking at the picture of the shovels, a story came to my mind. Last summer, my Grandma’s house was needing work done on its foundation. My family decided that we would do the work ourselves. I went over to help dig around the outside of the house. What I soon found out was this was not just a “hole” I was digging. We had to dig 4 feet down and about 3 feet wide for a stretch of about 10 feet. Words to describe this task were blisters, sweat, dirt in every crack and crevice, sore muscles, fatigue and the list goes on and on. It took a long time to dig that trench! I had never been so worn out in my life! 

As I looked at the picture, I could only imagine how much more work it would have been if I only had this little shovel. I would not have gotten far at all; it would have been impossible. Thankfully, with this big shovel, and with the help of others, I was able to do so much more. I was able to go so much deeper! Without this big shovel I wouldn't have been able to break through so many objects that were in the way and reach my goal. 

Ladies, this is like our relationship with God. We go about our days with our little shovel, digging our way through trying to complete our plans and obtain our goals. But it seems to take so long, and we realize we aren’t making any progress. Then we finally stop, exhausted and worn out and finally our take our eyes off of our plans and goals and look at God. He says, now that I have your attention, look how much BIGGER my shovel is! What a visual! 

Luckily, we don't have to go through life digging our own way with our own little shovel. Ladies, we have access to a big shovel! Compared to God, we are so small! Our plans are so small and His are so big! Our ways are so much harder, His ways are so much easier! Our dreams for our lives dim in comparison to His dreams for us! We need to quit doubting and start trusting! We need to quit trying so hard to make our own way and start surrendering to Him! Let Him dig deeper for you! 

How do we do that? Surrender your shovel! If you want to go deeper, you have to give God the shovel. You have to give him control. Then watch and see what happens. You will go deeper than you ever imagined. Further than you ever thought you’d go. 

We show our love by allowing God to dig beside us/with us. But we show our trust when we put down our shovel, surrender and allow God to dig for us. Trusting that He will get us the rest of the way. 

What are things that keep us from surrendering? -Preconceived notions, pride, lack of vision of God’s plans. We don’t want to give up control. We don’t trust His timing or his plans. Or, feeling that God has let you down in the past. 

What keeps you from surrendering? What is holding you back from going deeper with God? At this time we are going to invite you to come up. We have some peat pots already planted that you are welcome to take. But, if you are able, we would like you to take this opportunity for yourself to grab a peat pot (your dwelling place), and with God beside you, grasp your shovel, fill it with good soil and plant your “seeds of trust”. Plant those seeds of trust so that your roots can go deeper. 

What happens when we Dig Deeper in our relationship with God? We are changed! Not negatively with sweat, blisters, dirt and fatigue; we are changed for the better. In the best kind of way! When we begin trusting and surrendering, we will begin seeking God in prayer and worship. We begin quieting ourselves so that we can hear from God. We begin hearing God whisper into our hearts. We begin looking for God’s fingerprints all around us. As you begin trusting God deeper, you will ask God to take you deeper. You will want Him to take you deeper! And HE will take you deeper. 

The other night I was praying and God dropped the picture of a peat pot into my mind. It’s just a plain pot with soil being all we can see. We fill them with soil, dig down deep and plant our seed. Do flowers bloom immediately? No! We still only see the plain old peat pot with soil. So much brown! Not beautiful at all! But we know something that others don’t know. There is a seed in there. A seed that promises to grow into a beautiful flower! 

When we allow God to dig deep for us, we wont always see immediate results. Sometimes there is a waiting time, a transition time. Is the seed still there? Yes! Don’t grow impatient and begin digging up the seed that God planted to make sure it is still there. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see these beautiful flowers right away. Don’t begin to doubt that the flowers will never grow up out of the dirt. Whatever God has planted will produce bountiful, beautiful flowers. But only in His timing. 

In our lives sometimes all we see is this boring, brown peat pot & soil. But we can rest assured that if we have given God the shovel and have allowed Him to dig for us, that we will see the beautiful flowers rise up. 

When you begin to dig deeper in your relationship with God, those seeds of trust are planted. You will begin to see new life come up in you! You will see desire replace defeat, joy replace sorrow! You will see love replace heartache and you will see trust replace doubt! You will see Jesus rise up in you; it will be beautiful! 

Personal Bodyguard

“For the Lord has a hidden storehouse of wisdom made accessible to his godly lovers. He becomes your personal bodyguard as you follow his ways, protecting and guarding you as you choose what is right.”

Proverbs 2:7-8

Fine Arts Competition Festival is a weekend event that the children and youth in our church go to every year. This year it was held in Dayton, Ohio. Early Friday morning we all packed up and left to get there on time. 

We spent all day Friday going from room to room listening to the different competitions and cheering on our youth. Saturday, once again, we were up early going room to room, but now we were watching and cheering on the children. I love Fine Arts, but is it exhausting and by Saturday morning, I was dragging.

We were in a room waiting for a competition to start. I decided it was a good time to clean out some of the trash from my purse. Over the weekend, it seemed my kids were using it as a trash can and at this point it was overflowing. So I gathered some trash out of it and headed to what I thought was the women’s bathroom. I opened the door and to my surprise, it was not a women’s restroom like I was expecting. It was a dark, dreary maintenance closet. I didn't venture in, I immediately closed the door, hoping no one saw that I had done that. But some people did see and we all got a good laugh out of it. 

After that whole ordeal, I decided to find my husband. He was standing along the back wall in the room. I went over and leaned against Him and began watching the kids. All of a sudden, I began to feel wetness on my back side. I wondered, “What in the heck!?!” I turned around and to my dismay, somehow I leaned myself against a water fountain. Not only had I positioned myself against the water fountain, I managed to put my backside right against the button and it was spraying on me for I don't know how long! My backside was SOAKED! Everyone got a good laugh about that! 

I had been pondering this whole ordeal for a while. Wondering what message was in this, because there was sure to be a message! This morning in my quiet time, I felt that God was leading me to this point. 

Even when we have put ourselves in safe environments, we still get tired and weary. Things will happen to distract us or pull us away. Our judgment is not as sharp or as quick. We open doors that lead to places that we didn't expect or anticipate. And, sometimes, unexpected things creep up on us and before we know it, we are left feeling drenched and uncomfortable!

“For the Lord has a hidden storehouse of wisdom made accessible to his godly lovers. 

He becomes your personal bodyguard as you follow his ways, 

protecting and guarding you as you choose what is right.”

Proverbs 2:7-8

But in those moments don't forget, we are still in our safe place! We have not moved from our safe place, our environment did not change! Did things try to creep in and cause distraction and trouble? Yes! Did doors open that could have moved you out of your safe place? Yes! But in those moments when doors open that don't lead to places we expected. God is still there to alert us and protect us! We need to cling to this promise! He is still our personal bodyguard!

Rediscover You!

Rediscover You!

Yet through his powerful declaration of acquittal, God freely gives away his righteousness. His gift of love and favor now cascades over us, all because Jesus, the Anointed One, has liberated us from the guilt, punishment, and power of sin!
Romans 3:24 TPT

Spring is a beautiful time of year. You walk around your yard or garden and you see all the flowers coming back up from last year, you see the buds on trees opening and flowering beautifully. You walk around in awe and wonder of God’s creations and beauty.

Sometimes as you walk around in expectation, you see areas in which a plant that had bloomed in previous years didn't bloom again this year. You just see the lingering dead debris where the plant used to be. You wonder what happened, why isn’t it blooming again this year? Every time you walk by it your reminded because there is a bare, empty spot instead of a beautiful plant.

Our days can be like this. We go through our days, so many good, beautiful things happening, and blooming in our lives. But we come upon a “bare, empty spot” and we no longer notice the beautiful things.
We tend to become fixed on that “bare, empty spot” and only remember what’s missing from that spot.

Thoughts come flooding in and before we know it, constant reminders that we aren’t good enough & that we will never have what it takes to be good enough consume us. Reminders can come from people around us, from our past. Some of the worst reminders come from the voices in our own head.

Those moments tend to blind side us and we sink into negative behaviors & thoughts. Thoughts that had been positive just minutes ago have died and quickly faded away. When we stay in this place too long we forget who we really are. We forget who God says we are.

Who are you in God? A beautiful song comes to my mind by Hillsong called “Who You Say I Am”. The song says:

“I am chosen
Not forsaken
I am who You say I am
You are for me
Not against me
I am who You say I am”

Ladies, there comes a time in all of our lives that we need to clear away the debris of “dead plants” and discover the other “beautiful flowers” blooming around us. I feel like God is saying in these moments: “When your down, depressed and plain out don’t like yourself, You need to rediscover who you are in me.”

Rediscover who you are in God! Rediscover You!

“Left Behind” Opportunities

“Left Behind” Opportunities

“When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality”

Romans 12:13 NLT

Awhile back my daughter & I went to Walmart to get a few groceries. We got to the self check out and began scanning our groceries. My daughter had money with her and decided to buy some gum. When I was done checking out and ready to pay, I got my wallet out and immediately panic set in. I couldn’t find my debit card anywhere! Instant alarm arose in me. Ladies, I am sure you know the feeling!

In my panic induced state, my daughter is still going on and on about which pack of gum to buy! I was trying my best not to snap at her, but she was greatly annoying me, and that just seemed to increase the anxiety! It was definitely a chaotic moment. As I was unloading my purse in the middle of Walmart! I finally gave up and ended up paying with a check. So I push the check button on the register and this cashier comes over and informs me that I needed to load all of my groceries back into the cart and go to another register!

Meanwhile, I am still in panic mode, totally absent minded about my debit card being gone. And my daughter, bless her heart, is STILL going on about the pack of gum. She was not being helpful at all! I finally paid for my groceries and my daughter paid for her gum! We finally got to leave Walmart!

When I got out to my van I was trying to retrace my steps in my mind. What had I done with my debit card? And....Sarah is still talking about the pack of gum she bought!!! She was all excited about what a good deal she had got on it!!!! It had been a busy weekend for me with a women’s event. It took up most of the weekend. And I just couldn’t remember where or when I used my debit card last.

As I calmed myself down and really focused my thoughts, I finally remembered where it could be. So I texted my husband and sure enough, He found it tucked in my coat pocket where I had left it. How careless we can become when we get too busy.

But that’s not the end of the story…..

We got home, I had Bryce unload all the groceries. At least I thought I had! I told Sarah to put some of the groceries away. I got side tracked doing something else, so a couple hours later I decided to put the rest of the groceries away. To my panic, once again, half of my groceries I bought were missing!

I asked Bryce if he got all the groceries out of the van, he said he did. But I had to double check, and sure enough there were no groceries in the van. I was missing 2 bags of groceries!! Somehow, someway in the midst of all the chaos of checking out at Walmart, I managed to leave them in the bagging area when I had to move registers.

I called Walmart and explained what happened. They wouldn’t tell me anything over the phone and said i needed to come into the store! So I drove all the way back over to Walmart. I got to the customer service desk and the lady pulls this binder out with a label on it that said “Left Behind”. My heart instantly stopped, I even looked at my husband and pointed it out. In that binder it contained every single item that people had managed to leave behind at the registers. Other people, in their busyness and chaos had done the same thing as me.

But what is the lesson in all of this? What was dropped in my lap by God? We as Christians live busy lives doing “good” things! But in the chaos, we loose focus, become stressed out and forget about things right in front of us. We go about our day going through the motions and somedays even leaving some of those motions out!

But God was not talking to me about my groceries at that moment, he was talking about people! In the chaos of our day what things get left behind? I know in my chaotic trip to Walmart I left a lot of things behind. More than I care to list! But also simple acts were left behind. A simple act of helping someone with their cart, a simple act of letting someone go before me, a simple act of just smiling at someone, etc, my list can go on and on.

But in all of this I felt God saying, “Don't go out among my people and “leave behind” opportunities to be present with them”. Ladies, we cant just go through the motions! When we do, we miss out on opportunities that God has for us! Has God placed someone in your path that needs something that you have to offer? Do people around you need prayer, an encouraging word, an encouraging smile or just a simple act of kindness?

This quote sums it up for me!

“Christ has no body on earth but yours. No hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are they eyes through which Christ’s compassion for the world is to look out. Yours are the feet which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.” 

St. Teresa of Avila

Ladies, lets not get caught up in our chaos and end up with “Left Behind” Opportunities. Let us go out and be God’s hands and feet…even at Walmart!

"Up or Down the Mountain"

"Up or Down the Mountain"

Having a teenage boy and a pre-teen daughter, things can get really interesting in my house! I get so upset with my kids when I hear them talking negatively to themselves about themselves. There was one day I had all I could possibly take! One of my kids was talking so negatively, I looked at them and said:

 “You can talk yourself up the mountain 

or you can talk yourself down the mountain. 

I can’t control how you talk to yourself.”

Then, you know how God always tends to work in funny ways! About a week later, I was in a position where I was just reading myself the riot act...in my head of course! Something had upset me!  Before I knew it I was allowing all these negative words to consume me and to be spoken to me....by me!

At that moment what I had spoken to my children came flooding back into my mind. “You can talk yourself up the mountain or you can talk yourself down the mountain. I can’t control how you talk to yourself.” 

We can’t control how others talk about themselves or others. But guess what ladies, we can control how we talk to ourselves! God can control how we talk to ourselves! How do you talk to yourself? Let’s not allow ourselves to talk ourselves up a mountain. Let’s take control of how we talk to ourselves about ourselves. 

When we participate in conversations with ourselves, more times than not, we are led up the mountain. We get all worked up, which ends up filling ourselves with anxiety & fear. 

Instead of participating in that negative conversation with myself, I should have participated in a positive conversation with my loving Father. I should have asked Him to take control of my thoughts and feelings. I should have let Him lead me down the mountain.

“So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always. Follow the example of all that we have imparted to you and the God of peace will be with you in all things.”

Philippians 4:8-9 TPT

So why should we let God control our thoughts? Why should we let Him lead us down the mountain? Because He loves us! He wants to speak life into us, not deplete us of it. He wants us to live in peace, not in anxiety. 

Let’s push aside all the negative thoughts and feelings! Listen & look to our Heavenly Father! He is the “God of Peace”. 

Evidence

“Evidence”

“Yes, God raised Jesus to life! And since God’s Spirit of Resurrection lives in you, he will also raise your dying body to life by the same Spirit that breathes life into you!”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:11‬ ‭TPT‬‬

My daughter, Sarah, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 9. It has always been a struggle trying to maintain her blood sugar levels. But over the past couple of months, it was a CONSTANT struggle. It was taking its toll on Sarah’s body. No matter what we did, we couldn’t get her blood sugar under control. It was so bad that her daily blood sugar readings were averaging in the mid-high 200’s (it’s supposed to be between 70-120).

Sarah & our family were stressed. I remember one night, Sarah’s blood sugar alarm just kept going off constantly, alerting her that she was above 300. There was nothing we could do and it was in the middle of the night. She was exhausted and not in the mood to be messed with. That night ended with us both crying and wanting to give up! We were at our limit! Nothing was working.

A few days later, Sarah went to our church’s youth retreat with her brother & Dad. The first night there, the youth pastors wife had Sarah & another girl stand in the middle of a prayer circle. All the youth & staff gathered around and prayed over her. My husband said he had never seen such passionate, fervent, fierce & persistent prayer! It was powerful! He was just overwhelmed with tears! God’s presence was intense. He couldn’t help but believe that something had changed in Sarah.

The amazing thing is that ever since the retreat, Sarahs blood sugar readings seemed to stabilize. I couldn’t believe it! One day I decided to download her blood sugar records onto the computer. I wanted to see the evidence. I needed to see it with my eyes!

When I looked at the chart I couldn’t believe what I saw. She takes her blood sugar about 4 times a day. When I looked at the chart she went from having 3-4 high sugar readings EACH DAY to now maybe having 3 high readings in a WHOLE WEEK. Hallelujah! The evidence was perfectly clear! God had moved in Sarahs life!

I wanted to shout it from the rooftops! I knew that I had to share this with other people! Others needed to hear about what happened at the youth retreat. They needed to hear about the powerful, persistent, fervent praying that the youth did at this retreat! They needed to know that God’s power is within us! They needed to know that we can pray over people with confidence!

During this time the song Same Power by Jeremy Camp came to my mind:

“The same power that rose Jesus from the grave
The same power that commands the dead to wake
Lives in us, lives in us
The same power that moves mountains when He speaks
The same power that can calm a raging sea
Lives in us, lives in us
He lives in us, lives in us”

Ladies, this makes me want more!!!! Does it make you want more?!?!? I always KNEW that we held the same power in us. But this made me BELIEVE it! It makes me want to shout & jump & dance!!!! It makes me want more of God!

Let’s not hold back! Let‘s BELIEVE that this power is in us, and act like it! Let our prayers be powerful, passionate, fervent, fierce & persistent! Then look for the evidence, because it’s all around!

I Need What You Have

“I Need What You 

“You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:14-16 MSG

One morning I was sitting in the living room. I was doing some work on the laptop when my son Bryce came in. He looked at me and said, “I need what you have.”

When he said it my immediate response was to jokingly say, “Why, of course you do!” For some reason, I just haven’t been able to shake this statement. The statement pierced me!

I have sat and pondered this for quite awhile. Wondering what message God had in this simple statement. The question that came to my mind was this. Am I living my life in a way that people will look at me and say “I need what you have”? Do they notice a difference in me and how I live my life? Do they see Jesus when they look at me?

1 Peter 2:11-12 MSG says:

“Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.”

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Reading these verses made me stop and look at how I live my life. It made me wonder, “How does my life look different from others?” Am I living an honorable life? Am I doing beautiful works for God? Am I winning others over to Christ?

I’m not just talking about when we are at church. I’m talking about when we are at home. When we go into the grocery store. When we are driving down the road. When we encounter a stranger.

When there is no one around that we think we know, would someone look at us and know there was something different about us? Would they NEED what we have? Do we shine Jesus to those around us?

Ladies, the greatest compliment any one of us can receive is for someone to look at us, see Jesus and say “I need what you have!”

This has challenged me and has caused me to do an evaluation on how I live my life. I hope it challenges you too! Ladies, let’s live our lives in a way that others will say “I need what you have!”
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Music For You:

* Let Them See You by Colton Dixon

Walk the Path

“Walk the Path”

“Stand on your feet alert, then you’ll always be ready to share the blessings of peace.”
Ephesians 6:15 TPT

One of my favorite things are fuzzy socks! I absolutely love them! Sometimes after wearing shoes all day, your feet ache. Nothing feels better than coming home and putting on a pair of fuzzy socks.They can comfort you after a long day and just make you feel warm.

You see, our feet carry all our weight.They carry us through our day and we use them with every step we take. Feet also keep us steady when we stand.

For many of us, we have to walk in places we might not choose, but God has promised to protect us as we walk with Him. We need to protect our feet so that we can continue to walk the path that God has for us! But we also need to protect our feet so that we can walk with other women down all their paths.

Handprints

“Handprints”

Your hands do a lot of things and are responsible for a lot of things.They clean our houses, they cook our meals, they fold our laundry, they pay bills, they change dirty diapers, they give baths, and the list goes on and on.

But our hands also get the privilege of wiping tears, holding peoples hands, carrying our babies and caring for our friends & family. They even give us the privilege of laying our hands on others as we pray for them or using them to worship God.

What would we do without our hands? We need to keep them nourished and protected so we can continue to do what God has created us to do.

“Jesus has chosen to leave his handprints on the world through our hands.”
David Jeremiah