Oh my goodness! I completely forgot to schedule this for posting yesterday! 🙄 … So, I know today is Saturday, and it’s very late, but we’re gonna go ahead and share our Friday’s Friends.
I just came across this blog the other day, and I love it! Jeffrab is a father who has raised a few and who seems to have some good words to share about parenthood, faith and life in general. I look forward to reading more, and I hope you will, too! 😊
As I share moments with one of my best friends this week in her preparation of being the Mother of the Bride this coming weekend, I am reminded of this post I wrote a little while back about another sweet friend’s wedding day…
I sat in the back, ever the silent observer. I watch. I speculate. I admire. I reminisce. They stand at the front facing one another. The stress of the day is falling off as they interlock fingers and get lost in one another’s eyes.
Stone
Brick
Burlap
Tomorrow is what they’ve longed for all their life. They think. They plan. They rejoice. They dream. They reach for that sacred ring. The weight of the promise spreading wide and becoming light as they remember the One Who keeps their hearts true.
Gold
Silver
White
She walks the aisle for all to see. She blinks. She smiles. He stares. He desires. They gaze and wonder for the days to come. The realization of hopes coming true and revealing the love forever sealed.
Happiness
Covenant
Faithfulness
Embraced with Hope.
Sealed with Love.
This Day of Promise.
Reading a friend’s FB post this morning reminded me of this post. I hope you are encouraged as you read this today. 💗
Sometimes, we just have to forgive, simply, because He says so. It may not be easy. It may not be what we want, and it may definitely not be what the other person deserves, but God is very clear in this fact: We Must Forgive. Yet, forgiveness does not always mean reconciliation…
Many times, it may take years to find the ability to forgive, and sometimes, it will come instantly. Some of the hardest moments to forgive are those when someone continues to cause pain and wounds on top of the scars you have already endured. That’s when the real test comes, “Can you forgive…again?”
However, I think, oftentimes for me, the harder test comes as I struggle with the balance between learning to “forgive and walk away” and “forgive and reconcile” when someone continually wounds me, especially when it’s someone for whom I care deeply. It’s…
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Fortify Kitchen
Location: Clayton, GA
Fortify Kitchen is AMAZING! People drive from all over to eat here, and often, you will be greeted at the door as a friend. It has a wonderful atmosphere, and the food is to die for!
Some of our favorites are the fried green tomatoes with blackened shrimp, the shrimp and grits and the steak. Oh. My. Goodness. I am getting hungry just thinking about it! You can tell by the pics above that it LOOKS good. However, Fortify doesn’t deliver only on presentation, the taste is almost breath taking! From the bread, homemade hummus and maple butter to the homemade desserts, everything is farm to table and absolutely fabulous!
They also have a sister restaurant right next door, Fortify Pi. More casual atmosphere, same delicious food in homemade pizzas and the sort.
Hope you will check them out and make a trip soon! They will not disappoint!
Website for more information.
This life will have it’s ups and downs. We will have our good days and our bad days. We will have our moments when we feel on top of the world and then the very next moment, we can feel as if our world has come crashing down around us. This is the journey called LIFE. It is what it is.
Sometimes, the lows will be in physical form, maybe a ridicule from a friend, a sickness/disease or an actual assault from an enemy. Other times, it will be an emotional conflict or a spiritual confrontation that we must face. However, the times I have found to be the most difficult are those mental battles the devil will try to wage.
He knows our weak spots, our vulnerabilities, our tender places we try to hide. You know, the ones we so eloquently maintain and cover up that they seem to no longer exist. Yes, when we are allowing Christ to be strong through us, these sensitive areas are shielded by His strength. These liabilities are covered by our shield of faith. However, sometimes, we can start listening to the enemy’s lies, accusations and doubts of our identity in Christ. This is when we lower our shield, and he takes a shot to wound us.
Just because we serve God, and just because we have been Christians for a long time doesn’t mean tough seasons in life never come. The truth of our faith and Christian maturity is what we do when these hard times come. When we’ve been knocked down on the canvas again, the referee is starting the count, and the crowd believes it’s over, THIS is when it all comes down to truth: THE TRUTH OF OUR CHARACTER.
These are the moments that matter the most. Will we fight the GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH and lay hold on eternal life, or will we lay down our weapons and quit? Will we finish what we’ve started when we made the confession of our faith in the beginning, or will we walk away and give it all up? It is up to us to decide.
What we decide will not only effect OUR outcome, but it can leave a legacy behind that affects many generations to come…
It’s Friday, and that means I get to share with you a new blogging friend I have found! I love Fridays! 😊
Today, I thought I’d share a blog I found, as she like one of my Tuesday’s Treats. Caitlin’s blog is full of helpful hints, travel experiences and beautiful photography from those travels. One post, in particular, is intriguing to me, because the place she stayed was Patitnum Suites, and the picture of the city looks just like a Platitnum city. Her blog is very informative, as well as, enjoyable, as you can follow her in her adventures and learn something along the way.
I hope you will check out her blog today. Enjoy! 😊
I read this story the other day, and it brought tears to my eyes… http://nicerdays.org/tb-newspaper-column-response/
Exclusion is so painful; yet, even more painful is watching someone so oblivious to the truth. My prayer is that I might always be aware of the truth and never be so blinded by my own “rightness.” It is so easy to become exclusive and not even realize the damage we are doing, the harm we are bringing, or the pain we are inflicting. We must always be giving ourselves ‘heart checks.’ We must always self-evaluate. If we ever get to the place where we believe we could “never be like the woman in this article,” or we believe our motives are always pure, and we could never intentionally exclude someone, that is when we run the risk of becoming the most dangerous person we could ever know.
We all falter, and we all make mistakes. I just pray if and when I do fall, that God will help me to recognize the truth…the truth of my own wicked and deceitful heart. The key to success is to constantly question your motives and to surround yourself with truth speakers. People who can honestly give you wisdom, who can love you for who you are and who will never drink too much of your “koolaid,” but rather, will be the one who always challenges you to be a better person than who you are presently.
I pray I always have a gracious friend who gently helps to open my eyes to see clearer…or a loving friend who gives me a good, strong and swift kick in the pants when I’m veering off the path of goodness and grace!😉
#realfriendsaretruthspeakers
Too often in our society today, young people are taught to do what they want, when they want, and whatever they want. They are intensely guided to be whatever they feel like on that particular day, or even hour, and they are excused for any outbursts, irresponsibility and even wrath. They are coddled and cradled with every whim of desire.
Please understand, I don’t say this out of judgement or anger, as some might want to claim, as any disagreement in this culture is also taught to be certain judgment and hate speech. No, this comes more from a heart of disappointment and sorrow. Too often, our young people today are deprived of strength, dignity and grace because of this mentality of neglect and immaturity. They are robbed of knowing true respect and honor from hard work, self evaluation and strong decision making for the choices presented in their lives.
It seems there is more cultural pressure to remain a child well into the adult years, and then when this choice is made, they wonder why they don’t have the respect and honor from their elders that they so desire. They cannot see that, as an adult, the lack of standards and values does not make you a more intellectual and affluent human being, but rather, it causes you to appear more childish and infant-like. Then they wander aimlessly through life with empty eyes and hollow hearts blaming all those around them for the pain and lack of life they live.
This is a sad state of affairs I see before me, and although, I am not able to change the whole world, and I may not be able to impact all those around the globe, I can start within my own home. I can start within my own community, my own neighborhood, my church and my city. It only takes one small match to start a wildfire. It only takes one youth to change a nation.
Let’s start right here, right now…
“How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, LORD; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.”Psalm 119:9-16 NIV
Emiliano’s Mexican Grill
Location: Pigeon Forge, Tn
This is a great little Mexican restaurant in Pigeon Forge. Honestly, from the outside, it doesn’t look like much, and we’ve only eaten there once; however, the chips and salsa, sweet tea, beans and rice and Fajita Nachos were delicious.
So, look here for more info, or look them up on trip advisor, and go give them a try while you’re recouping from the go cart riding across the street. 😉
Sometimes, when you’ve done all to stand, you’ve just got to retain your ground and fight once more. Dig in and pay the retribution upon the enemy’s head. Don’t give up now. Don’t give in. You’ve come too far to quit!
Turn the tables on him. Be the whirlwind. Become the storm he thinks he has brought into your life. Bow up and don’t turn back until he is defeated!
Trust me. He won’t give up till he thinks he has won…or knows you have instead. So, pick up that sword of the Spirit and that shield of Faith one more time. Square your shoulders and hold your head up high. Fight like there’s no tomorrow.
You can do this thing! Now, WIN!
“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13
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My journey didn’t stop with mere time travel or writing; it led me to become one of the most sought-after empaths, a soulful psychic who reads the hidden depths of the human spirit. I’ve been blessed—or perhaps burdened—with an ability that allows me to feel the emotions of people from every corner of time.
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