There’s not much more I can say to this, except to say, this is so very true. A deceased pastor friend of mine, who lost his wife of many years, once said, “I don’t want to get over it, I just want to learn how to handle it.” Grief is never easy, and it never totally leaves you. Just when you think you’ve moved beyond the pain, it can wash over you like a cold, hard rain. Time never really heals the wounds, it just helps to allow you the ability to breathe one more time…
faith
Where Is The Word?
Friday’s Friends #15

Today is Friday, and this is when I get to share with you a great blog I have found along this blogging journey. The one I want to share with you today is filled with all the things of which she has chosen to name as her “home base.”
Faithhopelovefood is a great place to find just that! I hope she encouraged you as much as she has me! Enjoy!
Ladies, Just a Simple Question
Are you building your home with love, strength, wisdom and grace?
Or
Are you tearing it down with your very hands by words of strife, anger, jealousy and hate?
Great questions of evaluation for our hearts as we close in on Mother’s Day…even if you don’t have biological children, you can still have a “momma spirit” to love and influence those around you. 💗
Where Are They Going?
It’s our job, as mothers, to train them to be men, to live strong and free in this wild world. It’s our duty to equip them with the tools they need to be a man, a husband, a worker and a leader. 
We work hard to teach, give advice and impart wisdom for those short 18 years we have them within our home. It’s not easy. It’s not without failures. It’s not without mistakes.
Yet, when we allow God to guide, and we allow Him to love through our tender hearts, they will follow the right path. Even if they stray, His Word will always call them back to the right Way. His love will always whisper within their souls…no matter where their little feet may trod…
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
Are You Thirsty?

Being thirsty in our faith can lead to grouchiness, scattered and haggard feelings, aloofness and just plain neglect or meanness. God never called us to lead lives proclaiming He is a great big God and He loves everybody while grouching on everyone we meet. He didn’t call us to be His disciples and share His light with this world and totally ignore those in need because our agenda is too full that day. No, this ought not be the way we live our daily lives, and when we get to this point, we really must step back and evaluate the root of the issue.

I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Now, look, I’m going to interject here and tell you, this post is in no way giving credence to those who are in rebellion against the faith and are always trying to harass and demean the Word of God and His people. I am in no way, shape or form going to give credit to that kind of foolishness. I know too many great Christians who are loving, kind and compassionate.
However, I have seen too many really good followers of Christ who just simply “miss it” when God opens a door of opportunity, because they are at the point of parchment, and they can’t see for the dust in their eyes and the dryness on their tongue. I know this place all too well, and I have to daily refill or I will return to old habits that take me right back to that desert land. We all can get there when we don’t realize this truth:
WE HAVE TO WORK FROM THE OVERFLOW!
You see, it’s kind of like we are like a conduit through which the Lord flows, and when we stop getting filled, it’s as if we shut off His flow and try to continue on our own. Our strength is only so strong. Our faith is only so faithful. Our diligence is only so diligent, and that is because we are only human. We are not God. From God, all blessings flow. In God is found all the love, mercy, hope, joy, everything for which the world is looking. Through God, we have all the strength, faithfulness, and dedication we could ever need. He is our everything, but we must go back to Him for the filling.
When we allow Him to pour into us and through us, all this world needs comes gushing out. Let Him fill your cup to overflowing today; so, it might “gush all over” those around you and to whom you minister.

Always There
As I walk down the halls of the hospital and enter through the ICU doors, I am reminded one more time how precious and how unpredictable life can be. When the storms rage, we hit our knees, crying out to our God, begging for mercy and grace.
Yet, sometimes, I wonder why we do not call on His name before that moment. Is it because of self-reliance? A strong will? Stubbornness? A rebellious heart? Or just a simple determination to make it on our own until we realize that thought doesn’t work as well as we thought it would? If we could actually see His great love for us before the storm, I wonder if we might turn our hearts toward Him before the rains came.
He is always there, from the moment we take our first breath to the time we breathe our last. He is there in the midst of our celebrations, and He is there in the depths of our despair. Often, we do not see Him, because we are blinded by our own fleshly nature or our own hidden pain.
Our blindness does not change His presence nor His ability to hear and see us. He is there, awaiting our call, at every moment of every day, all we have to do is call on His name. He will answer. Every. Single. Time.
Friday’s Friends #13

Today is Friday, and that means it’s time for Friday’s Friends! I love this part of the week when I get to highlight a wonderful blog I’ve found along life’s journey.
Today, I’d like to point you in the direction of a Thoughtfulstroll. This blog is a delightful, helpful and peaceful place. She has encouraging, funny and beautiful posts. Her openness in the post Grace is simply refreshing and amazing. Even as I possibly disagree on a few minor points (that’s what makes us all unique😉), I am challenged by her honesty and ability to be vulnerable to the world about her struggles and findings in her faith. If more Christians could get this open and honest, I believe we could really make an impact on the world around us.
I hope you will check it out.
GO!
I look at so many religions in this world and watch how they fervently make disciples of their beliefs. They go door to door. They call special meetings. They infiltrate and consume college campuses and schools, all to create more followers if their particular system. Yet, I see time and again, Christians hold back from sharing Christ’s story. They allow someone else to take the center stage of testimony. They allow the cares of this world to consume every minute of the day that the busyness chokes the Living Word right out of their lives. They allow the fear of ridicule to silence their stand.
I know this to be true, because the same has happened in my own life. I haven’t shared this Good News as much as I should, as much as I am truly able. I fall so short in the area of “making disciples.” I often keep silent when I should just open my mouth to speak. It’s sometimes easier to “just keep to ourselves” rather than to possibly be counted with “those crazy charismatics of the cross.”
Yet, sharing His love isn’t that hard. It’s not that lengthy in time, and it’s not complicated. Just share your story. Just talk about Him. He will always show up, and He will take care of the rest. 😉
It is time to speak up! It is time to speak out! He is a good God. He is a gracious and merciful King. He is a loving Father. He is a living Savior. He is the one true God. Let us GO and tell all the world!
Eternally Grateful
Have you ever just gone up to someone who hurt you and given her a hug? What about you when someone was cussing you out, did you just walk up and give her a great big bear hug? Or what about the time someone punched you or slapped you? Did you smile, put your arm around him and tell him you forgave him?
Do you realize, Christ did this for us AND more? He made an eternal decision for an eternal life. We were guilty. We were condemned. We were on our way to an eternity of death and destruction, without any care or concern for Him. We were destined to bust hell wide open; yet, He decided to leave His glory, come to earth as a man and die for us! He didn’t do this, because we deserved it. He didn’t do this, because we were worthy. In fact, we caused this destiny of death to even exist; yet, He made the decision to change it all.
Why did He do this? Because, He loves us and longs to be with us. Can you imagine a greater King? Can you imagine walking away from a love like this? He offers it freely to you today. Not one cost involved. Not one cent. Not one sacrifice. It’s all been paid. Paid in full.
…ps. And by the way, He’s not still dead. When you decide to serve Him, you’re not serving a dead god, a statue or some inate object that has no connection or life. He’s a risen King who cares about and loves you in real time! 😉 He’s just awesome that way!





