Celebrate Life!

Well, I've been thinking about this recent conference I was able to attend back in October of this year, I was incredibly blessed to be able to listen to the hearts of several women of faith while in Sacramento, Ca.  
While each one of them had a completely different life story to tell, they all centered around their undying love for Jesus.  They shared of hardships and trials and even some of the tears and pain that occurred in their lives and how they had been brought through these trials to be able to see the triumphs and victories over these times to believe and see what lies ahead in their brilliant futures.  Each one of their stories ran over several years of their life where they had their ups and downs.  Sometimes just when things started to look up…their world came to a crashing halt! Then, when it seemed as if all they wanted to do was give up, they rose to learn from their past and push on toward their future.
Philippians 3:13-14 -- Now, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

I mean, have you ever felt like that?  Most of us have.  But, in truth, as it says in the scripture, in this life we will face trials….but take heart HE has overcome the world! 


Christine Caine was probably one of my favorites that weekend.  I love how she spoke on ‘a plague of frogs.’ I seen that scripture in a whole new aspect that day.
Christine shared that we are important – each and every one of us --  and God knows and cares from each and every one of His children.  It doesn't matter where we live or where we were born, we are more than just a number in the system, we all have a name and are fearfully and wonderfully made!  Whether we grew up and lived with our birth parents or if you've been adopted or if you live in a child care center somewhere...you are more than just a number in this big world....you have a name and you matter...and you are loved!
It says in Jeremiah 29:11, “’I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord…”  God’s got a plan, a purpose and a destiny for you!
I am fearfully and wonderfully made! 
Ephesians 2:10 -- For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

How are you going to live without your fear?  You don’t have to be defined by your issues?  Christ knows your name and who you are.  I can't wait to dive into Christine's newest book, "Undaunted," and learning more through her writing as well. 

Isaiah 49:1 -- Listen to me, all you in distant lands!  Pay attention, you who are far away!
The Lord called me before my birth; from within the womb he called me by name.

Psalm 139: 1-24 --  www.biblegateway.com

O Lord, you have examined my heart

and know everything about me.

² You know when I sit down or stand up.

You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

³ You see me when I travel

and when I rest at home.

You know everything I do.

⁴ You know what I am going to say

even before I say it, Lord.

⁵ You go before me and follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

You’re wanted!!!  You were made for more! The truth will make you free!

Galatians 5:1 --So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

Angie Smith spoke about fear, and who doesn't have some kind of fear in their life, right?  Angie shared about fears through the voice of Hagar, and how when Hagar was sent off with Ishmael they face trials, their faith was tested but even  where human provision may have run out, the ‘well’ is always there and God was always with them helping with there needs. Hagar
   Genesis 21:8-21


Angie spoke about Psalm 139 today and the impact on this chapter in her life.

Angie told her story about here daughter and each of their births.  She opened with her twin daughters and how she had them figured to be the best babies in the world.  She had no trouble taking these angels to the store and out and about.  Although, her next child came to be the complete opposite.  "She's a negotiator" Angie said.  As she told the story about telling her daughter that if she would quit sucking her thumb for 2 weeks, she would take her to Toys R Us and buy her anything she wanted for not sucking her thumb for 2 weeks!  All in all and to quote "a very funny story" her daughter agreed to the proposition.  Well, 5 minutes later Angie found her daughter in her room sucking her thumb. When she asked her about their deal just earlier, her daughter turned to her saying, "eh...I'll just get it for Christmas."  Kids!

Now Angie told us of her cute little stories of her girls but she left one story for the end.  Her next little baby girl.  A little girl who halfway through her pregnancy, the doctors had advised Angie to 'end her pregnancy.'  They told Angie and Scott that their baby girl wasn't developing like she should be, she didn't have a pancreas, she didn't have 4 chambers in her heart and there were two other organs missing.  Knowing how strong Angie and Scott felt about the human life growing inside of her they trusted God and they continued to full term against the wishes of the doctors.  By their next appointment, the doctors were amazed about how much progress the baby had made.  Her organs had been developing and she had 4 chambers in her heart.  Angie made it to deliver her baby girl.  Although she was weak and small, they were aloud to hold their precious and beautiful baby girl for a couple hours on the day of her birth.  And even through they only had a few hours with her, she said that they would have a lifetime of memories  for as long as she'd lived that day, and they would never have traded that day of anything.  They loved and cherished every moment they had spent with their precious and beautiful daughter.

God sees you different than you see yourself. 

                                                There is hope beyond where you are right now.

Sheila Walsh is always amazing to hear and a blessing her hear her thoughts and teachings.  She spoke from Romans Chapter 12, identifying that there is ‘nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ.’  
   
   It’s not about who you are,     
   it’s about whose you are!      

         I am a daughter 
                of the 
                                                           King of Kings!



Shannon Ethridge graced us with her presence as she shared that God is more than sufficient to meet ALL of OUR needs! 



Shannon's life story was incredible to be able to listen to her heart as she  told her story.

I just want to break down some of my favorite quotes spoken by Shannon this day, they pretty much say it all about surrending your life over to God and letting go.  Knowing that we are going to make mistakes and even though we may fail at times, God is there to embrace us and pick us back up and dust us off.  

• Let God woo you and pursue you
  
• Embrace your bridegroom“

• Loving Jesus without limits!”

Even, the one of the few men (Ken Davis) that we there shared a few good points, 

1 – To believe with all of your heart that God is the author of ALL YOUR JOY!  
2 – To believe with all your heart that perfection is not a requirement! AND 
3 – To believe with all your heart that He will NEVER let you down!

When exposed to the light....darkness has to flee

                                  

This morning I was listening to an inspirational message, and let me tell you, I've done my best to make these daily messages a part of my morning, but in the last couple of months, I've missed more than a few messages, and I've really missed that I missed these calls.  Now getting back into the habit of listening to these daily inspirational messages I know why I truly enjoy and become motivated and inspired every time I listen to one of these amazing and inspiring leaders on these calls. 

Today's message came from the heart of Amber.  She shared about relationships.  I love this because relationships are truly what we were made for...what we were created for.  Our very existence is built around relationships. A relationship with Christ!  Our relationships with the people in our life! Everything starts with self-less thinking and it's bigger than just you.  When we think about benefiting others and how we can grow in our relationships we are leading with love, from the heart.

In today's message, Amber shared from an issue that had been discussed from Focus on the Family (a radio show on the Christian radio station).  In this, she shared how 1 in 3 women can struggle with depression, and how more women are medicated now than they were years ago.  In the past, women used to go out, get together at parties, talk, shop, have coffee, can food together.  Where as years ago, not every house had air conditioning, women were more apt to get out of the house and be social.  But now, there is so much keeping women inside, television, air-conditioning, modern conveniences, etc.  There are more women hiding away.  We need to get those women back out on the social scene, because women need their friends. We need to be able to have our 'girls night out', to be able to talk and share, because let's face it, we can't talk to men about everything!  If we spill out all of our word vomit about our lives all over men, all they're likely to hear is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...  Which, is why we need our girlfriends to talk to, we need someone who understands what we're going through and will listen and help us.  If we keep everything inside, it'll just build up. But, it we expose it to the light, darkness has no choice but to flee!  

Ephesians 5:8-13 9 (NIV)--> For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

Performing "Girlfriends" at a Women's Conference

We can get together with our friends for 'girls night out' once in while just to be able to hang out and chat and be able to be vulnerable with one another, talk about our lives, share....so we don't let things build up, so we don't feel alone.  Sometimes all we need is to feel loved and know that we are not alone.  Then maybe we may find that someone else may have been through the same thing we have. 

We can make people feel good, make them feel happy!  Because it's your choice to be happy....so be happy!!! Show love!!!

Find your friends that you can talk to, those friends that will help build you up, and not tear you down.  You know that you will become like the five women you around around the most, so good friends can be so valuable to each an everyone of us.  

This message also reminded me of a skit/monologue I've shared before.  It's called, 'Girlfriends.'  It talks about how women need their friends, and how important it is for us to have our friends in our lives, whether we're married our single, we need our friends in our lives to be able to talk to.  We need someone to talk to, laugh with, give advice/get advice from, cry with and pray with.   Don't be afraid to be open and vulnerable with a friend.  The more you open up with your friends, the more you can share and open up and help them open up to our wonderful Father in Heaven.   

These are some of the verses I came across as I was reading into the message I heard today.  Sometimes I just love the way The Message Bible reads, as I share with you...

1 John 1:5 (msg) -- This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness in him.

^{Matthew 5:14-16 (msg) --} "Here's another way to put it: 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.

Grace and Peace,

Women of Faith part 3…bummer lambs

Bummer Lambs

"...My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me And like a flood His mercy rains Unending love, Amazing grace..."

During one of Sheila Walsh’s messages she spoke about how sometimes, like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, you can be singing, ‘Somewhere over the rainbow  Way up high, There's a land that I heard of Once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue, And the dreams that you dare to dream Really do come true.’ And then, before you know it, you have no idea that a tornado is on it’s way, in the midst of our dreams.  But when we can't seem to go on anymore and we come to understand and realize that we can't do it alone...we see that God has been with us the whole time.  We just need to reach out our hand and God will pull us through.



Sheila’s book, Honestly, takes a look into Sheila’ childhood, through her 30’s and so on through her life.  She talks about how her life changed in an instant and how she just tried to cover up the fact that she was hurting inside by looking okay on the outside.  Which so many of us try to do, don't we?  We work so hard to make everything look so good on the outside so nobody can see what is really happening on the inside of our lives.  I would definitely recommend this book to read!   We all have dreams for our life and sometimes it just takes a little longer to get there.  We will never get something completely right....but God still loves us anyway!  He is there to pick us up when we fall...as we reach out our hand and grab a hold of HIS!
"...nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling..."

Sheila told the story of the shepherd and his sheep and how the shepherd will go and look for that ONE lost lamb. Then if something is wrong or that lamb is hurt the only hope is for the shepherd to come and lift the lamb up.  Sheep are the most defenseless of animals.  It’s known that an Ewe will reject one of her lambs after she gives birth, and that lamb will die of a broken heart/spirit unless the shepherd intervenes.  These lambs are also known as, bummer lambs.
The bummer lambs run to the shepherd because they get and they get it because they believe it!  
They embrace the relationship with the shepherd, because they know that they are loved!  They know where they can find help and a relationship.  They know that even though they wondered away, that they can come home again and be loved!
We are completely loved by God. If I could tell you just one thing...it would be that, You are loved more than you can ever imagine.  Each one of us can have brand new life and have a relationship with a God and Father that knows our hearts and our future.
The Shepherd is looking for you...where are you?  Will you embrace the relationship?  Because you are loved by the fiery LOVE of God!   

Matthew 18:12-14 If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn't wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.

When we come to realize that, I am not the good news…GOD IS!!!  God is the good news that we need to share with the world!  

Having a true and real 'best friend' relationship with Jesus and wanting to know that when I wake up in the morning, HE is the first thing on my mind, because HE is the one that woke me up that morning, and HE is the last thing I want to think about before I go to sleep, because HE will give me a great nights rest!  

The decisions that you make today will affect your future.




Amazing Grace...My Chains are Gone

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace
The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine  

Women of Faith....part 2 -- broken & bruised, now safe & loved

Have you ever thought about what it was like back before the 'fall of man?'  When Adam and Eve walked with God through the Garden of Eden.  How amazing would that have been?  Physically walking with the Creator of the Universe...side by side.  Something we will finally get to do when we get to Heaven and see how God had truly intended life to be like with Him.    I mean, do you think the animals had a voice to talk then (before 'the fall')?  Because, Eve sure doesn't seem too surprised when this slithering serpent speaks to her in the middle of the garden!  Seriously though, it would be quite surprising if you were walking down the road and all of a sudden this serpent creature starts addressing you.  "Hey, how you doing?"  But still, even though the fall of man took place and Adam and Eve ran and hid themselves, God was still there to take care of them.  Even though, He was all "where are you?"  He knew. He knew where they were, He just wanted them to come clean, admit to their sin and repent.  Isn't that all God wants us to do?  He knows everything about us and everything we do, and all he wants from us is to come forward, to come clean, to ask for His forgiveness, To humble ourselves and pray.  


God loved us so much that He sent His only Son into a world full of sin and despair, so that those who seek forgiveness can have eternal life through Jesus Christ.  
 "For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
Christ came to this world to take on our burdens so that we may be able to have new life.  When we feel as if we our broken beyond repair, it is Christ that sets us free our past.  It is in Him that we can lay down our baggage, remove our mask and be free!
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.


There was a story that was told about a family that was in the Alabama tornado who went through the terrible storm last year.  The family was headed to their shelter when the little girl asks about needing to find their family dog, Mason.  They looked around for this dog and just as they were pulling in this dog through the door, the dog was sucked out of their arms by the winds and taken away through the storm.  They waited the storm out and when the  storm was over, they opened the shelter door and seen the effects of this powerful storm.  Their house had been damaged severely, as so much was.
The little girl was devastated.  
When the storm was over, the little girl, still scared, tells her family that they need to look for Mason, she insisted.

Mason "the tornado survivor dog"

Everyday, they went back to the house.  They did this for 21 days. And everyday, the little girl sat on the steps that were left of the home.  She would sit there and wait for the dog.  
Then on the 21st day.  They could see that there was this small animal hobbling us the pathway.  It was Mason. He had come home. He had two broken legs and he was half is weight, but yet he pushed himself to get home.  
See he knew where home was.  He knew were there was food, shelter and love for him.  He knew where he needed to be and he was going to get there and do what he could to get there.  He was coming home dirty, bruised and broken after being in a storm.
Isn't that the same for us?  Aren't be a little like that lost puppy?  Sometimes we get lost.  Some are broken and bruised.  But when we decide to come home, or find our way home, it is then where we can find rest with our Father in Heaven. Our God. Our Healer.  Our Protector.
God is there to protect us and be with us, hold us when we need to be held and pick us up when we fall.