Not Fooled But Fueled

Kinda sorta random thought this evening on the way home:  

Yes it would have been nice if my life had been picture perfect and I hadn't made the mistakes and bad choices I made.....but then if it had been that way, who would I be able to minister to? NOBODY.

Maybe if we focused on the Blood of Christ and the work of the Cross we would be able to live a bigger better life and not be held back by things that God can't even change.  If He can't change our past, why in the world do we cry because we can't?  But He can take everything from our past, even the worst, and work it for our good, so good, that if we didn't know better, we'd think He meant for us to act the fools we acted.   As a matter of fact, He seems to do His best work with our worst choices. 

He doesn't want us to be FOOLED by our past (into thinking we will never really over come it) but He wants us to be FUELED by our past as we use every lesson learned for our betterment, and growth.

There is a certain peace that you experience when you get to the point where you can say, "Lord, I'm not gonna worry about that any more.  I'm not going to concern myself with how it's gonna happen.  I didn't make the promise, You did."

Whenever opportunities to doubt present themselves (which is very often) resist the urge to fuss, complain, whine, question, etc.  It's not like God is going to respond to it anyway. But with each moment of doubt that creeps up, speak back to God what He spoke to you.  That's all you need.  Put the weight of responsibility back on Him where it belongs.  He can handle it. You'll die trying.

Sometimes I have said to God, "I was minding my own business and You brought the subject up. It's on You to bring it to pass.  Either You said it or You didn't, and everything You have spoken is going to come to pass."

No need for long drawn out prayers crying out for whatever, saying whatever. Say what He said and be done with it. 

No Sorrow With It

"The blessing of the Lord maketh rich and addeth no sorrow with it. " Proverbs 10:22

Just praising God this morning for how completely He blesses us. I'm still enjoying every minute of my new car Max. After I got him home I noticed a few things that weren't pointed out to me at the dealership.  

1.) He has remote start.  So cool.  One thing that makes it so cool is that when I didn't have a car and was riding with my friend Michael, I noticed he had remote start on his car.  I remember saying to him that will come in handy in the winter months and it would be nice to have that on my car (eventually). Then the next day I saw this funny button on my remote and it turns out it was remote start. And it works!

2.) He has tinted windows.  That's not the biggest deal in the world but it sure makes him look cool!

3.) The Lord has already laid it on the hearts of 3 people to fill my tank.  Who does that in day when gas is over 3.00 a gallon?  God does, that's who! 

Today it just made me say, "Wow God, You thought of EVERYTHING!"

Even when I moved to the KCMO side from KCK, God thought of everything.  It was a hard move, especially emotionally, and especially on my baby girl, who refused to make friends when we moved over here. Because it hurts her so much to attach and detach.  (that broke my heart).  But this move, though it was the most painful and difficult, was the best of all.  God placed me right around the corner from my new job. (I had been out of steady work for 3 1/2 years.) He knew I would need to walk to work some days because the car I had just bought blew a head gasket after only 3 months.  If I had moved to another place in KCK I would have wound up losing the job the Lord had just blessed me with.  He suffered us to be inconvenienced and uncomfortable in order to put us where we needed to be.  Because He placed me where He did, I could walk to work within 15 minutes, and who doesn't need a good 15 minute walk in the morning? 

But even better than that, because I did live so close to work, I didn't have to walk to work but about 4 days in 3 months because my friends at work picked me up and brought me home.  I live so close it wasn't out of the way for any of them.

Another plus of me living here was that a friend from my church Michael, lives in the same complex so there was our ride to and from church.  My first desire was to live in another complex around the corner directly across the street from work, but when I got there I hated the cabinets and came around here instead.  Right where I needed to be, so my friend could come out of his place and turn a corner in the complex and be at my front door to take us to church.  Yes it was a hard move at first, but God placed us right where we needed to be.

I'm reminded of 3 months ago when I knew I would be buying another car.  I prayed to God and said, "Lord, I want you to show me what You can do for me for 15 thousand dollars. That's my limit.  I know I could go find something but I believe you can bless me better.  So SHOW ME WHAT KIND OF CAR YOU CAN BLESS ME WITH FOR 15K DOLLARS."  And boy did He show me!  Max is like a brand new car! I wouldn't be happier if he was brand new because I know God picked him out for me.

Not only did He show me how He can bless me, but He showed me that when He blesses, He does it completely.  He thinks of everything!  It's really true what the song says, "While you're trying to figure it out, God's already worked it out".

And it really makes me think of how much happier my life would be if I invited God into ALL of my decision making. Yes there are times when He will tell you to do what you want, because He knows He has grown you to a point where your decisions can be trusted.  But when you're limited or dealing with something you don't have a lot, or much, or any knowledge about, the best thing to do is ask the Lord to lead you to the best deal, price, person, place, etc.  He loves showing up and out for us.  He loves showing us that He's interested in every area of our lives.  He loves showing us how smart He is. He loves making us smile! :-)

Take a moment to look at your life and see what areas you can look at and say, "Wow God, You thought of EVERYTHING!"  

And if you really can't find an area that will make you say that, I encourage you to go to Him for the next thing you need to be done and leave it in His lap and ask Him to show you how He can fix it or bring it about.  I think you will be in for a mind blowing blessing, and cheeks sore from smiling!

STUFF GOD SAID TO ME:Where Do You Want to Go?

After my divorce, I had the strangest feeling for the longest time that God had sent a rescue helicopter, dropped the ladder and lifted me out of the danger of a burning building, but flew the helicopter, with me dangling from the ladder out to the middle of the ocean...and stopped.  I would tell people all the time that I felt like this, like I was just dangling over the ocean, finally free, but not going anywhere.

One day I was talking to God about this and He responded with one simple statement. He said, "That's because you haven't told me where you want to go".

Suddenly, for pretty much the first time in my life I was faced with answering to God about what it was I wanted to do with my life, where I wanted to go.  And guess what?  I really didn't know!  My whole life up to that point had been all about what was expected of me or what I felt I needed to do to fit in or please or appease. I hadn't even learned how to really think for myself.  I wanted more out of life, but I had never given much thought to what more really meant, other than more happiness, but I had been so unhappy for so long that I had even begun to doubt that it was actually possible to have a sense of happiness and fulfillment. And here I was being asked where I wanted to go, not by a friend, or boss, or relative, or rich person with enough money to pay for whatever  material thing I wanted, but by God Himself.  He wanted to know from me, what I wanted. And it just so happens that He was the only one who is guaranteed able to bring it to pass!

It took me quite a while to even get my head wrapped around the fact that the Lord would ask me that question. Coming up with the answer required getting to know myself better.  Getting to know myself without the idea of someone else needing to approve or add their two cents.  This was between the Lord and I.  Eventually I came up with my answers and to tell the truth, my list was very simple, and short.  But everything on it means the world to me. :-)
Since I gave my answers I can see how my life began a path to lead me right to the places I told God I wanted to be. A major lesson I learned from this experience is that when we are able to express to God what we desire we are often set on a path that prepares us to receive our desire. Things normally don't just drop into our laps at first. Once they do come to pass we often feel that they just dropped, but if we look back we will often see a process that God walked us through.

I'm reminded of that moment often.  It's helps me when I'm experiencing things that seem to be doing anything but leading me to the answers to that question.  It helps me to be reminded to trust God's plan when I can't trace His hand.  To trust His heart for me when I can't see how what I'm going through fits His plan or how it has anything whatsoever to do with what I've asked Him for.  There have been many lessons learned, tears cried, more questions to be answered, lightbulb moments, and adjustments to my way of thinking concerning how things should happen. One thing is sure though; I'm on my way to where I want to be. I'm closer than I've ever been to some, and others have already been accomplished.

I have a question for you.  Are you like me?  Are you talking about things you haven’t prayed about? Are you talking about unanswered prayers that you haven’t even prayed? Are you befuddled about where God hasn’t taken you or what He hasn’t given you, and you haven’t even made your request known to Him? [Philippians 4:6] [Luke 11:9] [Luke 12:32]
Have you cried out to God about what you don't want but forgotten to express to Him what you do want?  Are you so concerned with being free from what binds you now, that you are neglecting to write your vision for the life you'll live in freedom in the days to come?  The same statement God made to me is a question even for you. "Where do you want to go?  What do you want to do?"  God is waiting for your answer.  You're not as restricted as you may think.  I felt like I had been given a blank check with no limit to how much I could fill it in for.

Take some time now and think about what it is you want and desire, and then make your requests known unto God. He's waiting to hear from you because He wants it for you more than you want it for yourself. Life is an open road before you. Tell God where you want to go and enjoy the journey with Him. Before you say another word about what isn’t happening, go back and make sure that you are being thankful, and ASKING for what you desire [Psalms 37:4].  Then get ready for the ride of your life!

Life Lesson: Make it a practice in life to try and have an answer or solution, or alternative to things that you see as problems. If you are able to voice your opinion about what is wrong or missing, work on also being able to voice how it can be made right or how to receive what is missing.

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The Best Way to Prepare For Marriage

There is so much "advice" out there, mainly geered toward woman about why they don't have a man in their life.  I don't know if you've noticed it but that whole subject is very one-sided. I understand that women need to learn and understand that we really do have the goods, and the power and not knowing it has caused so many of us to be used and abused. But overall this whole subject has been bothering me for the longest and I haven't been able to put my finger on what it is that bothers me so much about it.  Then it hit me...

First of all there is way too much talk about how to find somebody or be found by somebody or why you don't have anybody.  The focus should NEVER be on getting or finding someone. That has never been God's focus, so why have we let it become ours?

Stop buying up all these books and listening to all these people telling you why you aren't good enough. Some of the most ignorant, dysfunctional people on the planet are married!  So evidently there is more to preparing for marriage than just acting like you have some sense....at first.

One of the most valuable lessons I've learned as a single woman is something that the Lord spoke directly to me, and it is this....THE BEST WAY TO PREPARE FOR MARRIAGE IS TO LEARN HOW TO BE SINGLE.

You may read this and think I'm talking about the same thing that everybody else is talking about, "just do you", "learn to love yourself", etc.  Nah.  We've heard it all before and if that was all there was too it, more of us would be married.  But we're not.  So...I"m gonna spend a little time blogging and sharing things that God has talked to me about for these past 12 years that have really helped me and saved my life.  they have literally raised my self-esteem and pulled me up out of a state of mind that was simply put, desperate.  Stay tuned.  

Accentuate the Positive!

There is more to you than your shortcomings.

Accentuate the positive!

When Trust is Broken

WHEN TRUST IS BROKEN...

When a person destroys the trust that someone has for them....they have no clue the mistake they really make.  It breaks something at the core of the relationship.  

(By the way, this has nothing to do with unforgiveness.  Forgiveness and trust are two entirely different things.)

A spouse who is unfaithful, or unkind, selfish, and inconsiderate over an extended period of time.  A child who causes you embarrassment or disappointment, a friend or loved one who betrays you or leaves you hanging for no reason.  Whatever the reason they have at the moment or in those moments, it's nothing compared to the pain, first of all.  And secondly, suddenly finding themselves dealing with that person and knowing that something has disconnected because trust was broken. For the first time, feeling a wall or shield where there never was one before.  And the worst ones are the ones who still won't admit to doing wrong.  

If not but for the Grace of God many of us would have locked ourselves away from the world by now.  But because of His Grace, I still want to grow and explore life!  I still want to meet new people and interact.  I still want to live and I want to live BIG! Don't you?

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