Coffee Chat #3

Hello to my readers, I hope everyone has been great!  This past weekend I was so blessed to be able to attend the annual Women of Faith conference. As always I’ve came back to incredibly blessed to be in the presence of God at this conference with these other women.  Singing, praising, worshipping and listening to other women share their faith and story. 
I was able to hear from some incredible speakers such as Lysa TerKeurst, Roma Downey, Anita Renfroe, Kari Jobe, Judah Smith (the one guy speaker there other than MercyMe), Natalie Grant, Christine Caine, Angela Thomas and Mercy Me.  I’m sure that each speaker that shared left a profound impact on each person in the room, I know they did for me.  
Each speaker has their own story to tell about their life experiences they have had.
I’ll take these next few coffee chats to talk a bit about these inspirational speakers I had the pleasure of listening to.   Let’s get to know a little from Lysa TerKeaurst this week, shall we? 

Lysa opened up with 2 Samuel 20. With the title of her message, ‘One Wise Woman.’ 
The first lesson we learn from this section is that, you do not mess with the anointed and appointed.  In the start of this scripture we learn of a troublemaker called Sheba.  (I included the link to the above scripture for you as well).

As we read through the scripture we learn about a Wise Woman.  Here are a couple points we can learn from her.  Her approach and how she had dealt with the situation of ‘the troublemaker.”  We learn that a servant-hearted woman is a wise-hearted woman and because of her willingness to show up in the midst of everything happening, God sees, God notices and God smiles. 
Second, we can learn from her assurance.  She was peaceful and faithful.  She relied on her identity to over shadow her circumstances.  I am a child of God; therefore, …
Her assurance was rooted in reality.
And, third, we can get advice.  Philippians 4:13, “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” See we can use the New Testament through the Old testament.  See how they go together so well. 

Lysa told a story of her daughter who set out to be a pole vaulter.  Every time she would get out on that track she would counter on her 10 fingers, I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength, she ran and jumped and fell flat.  Although, at the end of the meet she was still like, I am a pole vaulter, every time!  She did this for, I think 3 years before she finally grabbed her pole, counted on her 10 fingers, ran, jumped and sailed over the bar and broke the school pole vaulting record that year.  Persistence pays off in the end, right? 

She established a pattern of discipline and kept pushing toward her goal.

What pattern of disciple can you establish?  How does this scripture affect you? 


Blessings,

Praise Him in the hallway...

Coffee Chat #2

Overcoming a Hurricane...

I hope everyone had an amazing week!  So, as I was deciding over this weeks topic over this past week, Natalie Grant's new album, Hurricane, has been being played over the Christian radio stations. I love the title song, Hurricane.  Just because, sometimes in life it feels like we have been hit with a hurricane, a great, big gust of wind whisks by just to knock us down. Sometimes it's hard to get back up and start again.  Sometimes we feel as if it's easier just to stay down and not to care anymore about anyone or anything.    It just seems easier, to stay down, right?  Wrong!  Although it may seem like the 'easy' out, it's better to get back up and start again.
Has your life ever felt like a hurricane has just blown in leaving you in pieces?  Most of us have experienced some sort of trials at some point in our life.  So, like the song, "I’ll step out on the edge" and share my heart though this blog. 
Speaking of tough experiences, they really only make us stronger when we experience them.
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
We all experience trials and sometimes we have experiences with people are going through trials around us and hurt the people around them with their words and/or actions. 

 It's like being in the midst of a hurricane.  It's hard not to feel a little betrayed by people you thought you knew and sometimes betrayal can make you just want to crawl into a corner never to come out again.   It can make you feel completely alone.  We have to continue to love and show compassion, just as Christ showed to us.  No matter how hurt we are in this world, with God on our side whom shall we fear! God will get us through the storms in our lives because He walks us through them. 

 So forgive those who have hurt you.  The power of forgiveness is much stronger than anything anyone can ever do or say to us!
  
It’s then that I heard the words to this song, 'step out on the edge, don’t be afraid of it, when you feel the rain, call His name He’ll find you in the Hurricane.'  And, even though we feel hurt and betrayed, we know that God was on our side and we have nothing to fear as along as we put our trust in our Heavenly Father.  He can get us through anything that we are going through, if we just CALL HIS NAME!

I’m not saying that it was easy, I’m saying that it is possible to move on from the hurt and be healed from the pain that someone/something has caused you.  Forgiveness is just a powerful thing.  When we choose to forgive those who have hurt us, we can free ourselves from the past and press on toward the future and the good that God has in store for us. 

I’ve found a shelter, a safe place through Christ, someone that I can tell everything to from my joyful times to my more tough times.  He is my shelter in the raging storm of the Hurricane.

 
Blessings,

Coffee Chat…

 

Dear Readers,
How is everyone out there in cyber-world?  I really would like to be the type of writer that can really connect with her readers and share about life’s happenings with each other.  I don’t want to be ‘just a writer', I want to be able to reach out and connect with my audience of viewers on a personal level, heart to heart. 
We all have our great moments to share as well as our trials, so why not come together and be able to lean on each other and help one another out through our blogging.  We may be hundreds to thousands of miles apart but we can be close through this blog.
I would like to make a weekly coffee chat and be able to share with my readers about what’s been happening in life.  I recently read a blog from Lysa Terkeurst; entitled, “I don’t want to be a writer.”  She talked about  being able to connect with her readers and being more on a heart to heart level with who ever is reading your work.  (The link above will take you to her blog).
I would like to try out and talk about different topics each week.  If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to discuss just make your comments below and I will do my best to reach out to everyone.  Since I’m starting this on a Tuesday, I will make this a Tuesday morning coffee chat.  So grab a cup of your favorite coffee, tea, etc. and head on over and see what’s happening.  Let’s connect! 
Blessings,

Bubble up breakfast bake

Hope everyone is great out there. There are just so many recipes out there to try, I thought I would try another one.  I recently made this breakfast dish, so here's the recipe I found.  Okay, for all of you who love a wonderful hot breakfast in the morning but just don't want to spend a lot of time preparing it, this is amazing!  It's great for those Saturday morning breakfasts, but easy enough to make even the night before on a weekday and pop it in the oven in the morning.  The "Bubble up breakfast bake" is a meal that I came across by browsing on Pinterest.  It's super easy and quick to make and yes, it's delicious and very flavorful.

 

Ingredients:

1 Can Biscuits

1 lb Sausage

2 c. Shredded Cheese

6 Eggs

1/4 Milk

Onions, chilies, bell pepper (whatever you like for the topping) :-)

Salt and Pepper to season

 

 

Cut biscuits in 1/8 pieces and spread on bottom of 9X13 glass pan.

Brown sausage and spread over biscuits.

Top with your favorite cheese.

Mix eggs and add salt and pepper to taste, then add milk and whisk.  Pour egg mixture in baking dish.

And, add onion, chilies, bell pepper's if you would like. Add great flavor to the breakfast bake also. :-)

 

Bake at 350 degrees for approx.  30 minutes. Let cool and enjoy! :-)

 

 

Blessings,

 

 

If God is for us…

Sometimes doesn't life feel like a construction zone? Rough and rocky?  We get tired along the way and sometimes we think that we can’t go any further.  It’s just that it’s not always a smooth path, but if it were easy, there would be no learning from those rough experiences. It’s in the times of trial that we learn just how to deal with ‘certain situations and people.’   It’s a time of building and rebuilding, whether in the physical or emotional sense.  Could be the physical building or remodeling of your house, or it could be the building or rebuilding of your relationships.  But, have you ever felt like Nehemiah in your lifetime?  Have you ever felt like you've been rebuilding your wall just to have the enemy come and knock it –or you— down?  Sometimes you just feel it’s too much and you start hearing those voices telling you that you can’t do it.  But there’s something more powerful that is out there. God is there for us.  He is there to walk with us and to help us, all we have to do is let go and give it to God and give Him the control of our life.  I love this verse from Isaiah 41:10, states that “I am with you!”  ”Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.  Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
Also, Isaiah 54:4 - “Fear not; you will no longer live in shame.  Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you.  You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood.  We don’t have to walk this path alone and we don’t have to do it by ourselves.  Sometimes we feel as if there’s no one else that would ever understand what we’ve been going through and we tend to take so much on ourselves that we let it weigh too heavy on us.  But when we let our Heavenly Father in on our life, that load becomes a whole lot lighter and our baggage doesn’t seem as heavy as it once was.
Psalm 24:8 states that, – “Who is the King of glory?  The Lord, strong and mighty; the Lord, invincible in battle.”We serve a great and powerful God, He is capable of taking care of each and everyone of us.  Don’t give into those voices of discouragement.  Remember that if God is for us, than who can be against us. Don’t give up hope.  Keep on fighting because God is going to do great things in you and for you. He’s got great plans for his children and He wants to be apart of your life for eternity. 




Blessings,

Never Forget...

You’re an Overcomer!

Absolutely love this song from Mandisa! “Overcomer.” It seems to come on the radio at just the right time.  Sometimes when you feel things are getting too tough and it’s circumstances are rough, it’s time to remember that, “you’re and overcomer!” With God on your side you can make it through anything that comes your way.  Sometimes it’s hard to –let go— and give God the control of the boat you’re in, but when we do let go of the paddle and quit trying to stir our own direction the waves don’t seem to rough and the water feels a lot smoother and nicer to be on.


Psalm 27:1 -The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? 

When we let Christ in our lives we no longer have to be afraid anymore.  There is always someone there to listen to us and to help us.  Although we are human and though we don’t always see the amazing opportunity we have to come to Jesus with our overwhelming issues, and we attempt to figure things out on our own.  Then when we do realize that we can’t do it by ourselves, we sometimes wonder what took us so long to figure out we can’t do it alone. He is always standing there with open arms just waiting for us, ready to embrace us, when we need it the most.

I love music!  The words to a song can change your mood/spirit in a split second.  I guess that’s why I love listening to positive and encouraging Christian radio stations.  Whether it’s K-Love, Air1 or our local KAMB station.  I know that I can turn on anyone of these station at anytime and hear something uplifting and encouraging. The music just gives my day that extra boost of enthusiasm to get me through and another reason to smile.

     

Blessings to you,

"What if your blessings come through raindrops?"

What if....

Make your dreams happen!

Love this, make your dreams happen! Go for it!