Friday, February 4, 2011

Thanking God for the NOW

Today on the way to work I prayed. I normally use this time to talk to the Lord because its just me in the car. Sometimes I will turn worship/praise music on and sometimes I will just talk to Him or just enjoy the silence in Him. This morning was no different except I just felt His presence in a more "sweeter" way. I was praying and I FELT Him listening. I know He hears us but there was an attentiveness in the spirit that just made me love Him more! I proceeded to go to work and all day I watched GOD. It started out with thanking Him for my NOW. The NOW that I'm in. The NOW that I might not be where I wanna be and doing what I wanna do. In the space of time I was in I THANKED GOD FOR THAT!!! I thanked Him for exactly where I am in my life today and for where I am not. I thanked Him for who HE IS and who He is to me. I thanked Him for the good and the bad and the ugly of my life RIGHT NOW because His Grace and His love is SUFFICIENT FOR ME. We're either always looking behind us or way in front of us. We're always setting goals and working toward them or either stuck in a past that is really not even relevant anymore. What about our NOW? Lord, forgive us! THANK YOU GOD FOR MY NOW!!! As I set goals and strive to become better and to grow and to do great things, help me not neglect being thankful of the NOW that you have blessed me with that will prepare me for my future and will strengthen me to let go of my past! Help us not to neglect you in the moment we find ourselves in between coming out of something and going into something else. Help us to be humble and to acknowledge you in every moment of our lives. Whether it be good or bad let us see you in it because, you are always there and you watch over us so lovingly, so closely. As I sat there and reflected on where my life was at the present moment, I smiled. I thanked God. And as a result of that, the atmosphere of my day changed. I went from the victim to the victor. I went from dragging to work to skipping to work. I went from faking a smile to giving a real one. GOD IS GOOD. Let's give thanks in the NOW. Be blessed!

Limitless

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Transition

I have not posted anything in a while. Why? I don't have too much to say! LOL! I'm not a person of "fillers" or someone who tries to spark up a conversation. I just don't. I've tried a few times but it doesn't work well. (smile) At those times, my mind is blank. I'm either very quiet or a chatter box. I guess I could fill my blog up with quotes and scriptures but...nah...those things are good but I want to TELL you something. I want to share me with you. I know it's strange but I have accepted the fact that God just made me wonderfully different. (smile)
I'm in transition. To be very transparent...it sucks. When I look at it from a spiritual standpoint, I guess I can say that it's exciting. I know God is getting ready to do this AWESOME, BIG thing in my life and it's almost like I am getting ready to start this wonderful new race or journey. I am at the starting point, kneeling down anxiously waiting and listening for the gun to go off so I can RUN...
But I said something that I want to point out..."waiting". LOL> I posted a while back that I've left impatience behind; and I have but the waiting is wearing me OUT. It seems as if every area of my life is in transition.(UHHH!) Everything about me is changing........very slowly. I know the break"out" is coming. I have no doubt and I choose to wait but...uh...hmmm....(resting my hand on the side of my face, tapping my cheek with my fingertips) I could probably speed it up in my own strength but, I choose not to. There are so many shifts and changes going on right now that I can't TRUST MYSELF to make any decisions in my own strength! IT MUST BE GOD!
I was given confirmation of what I was going through by a woman of God who barely knows me. She told me that God was replanting me and likened it to a house plant that has to be moved to a bigger pot. I want to elaborate on it a little more because I love house plants and have several in my home. The pot it is currently in is too small and is stunting the plants growth but the new pot is not without its challenges. First the plant has to be carefully uprooted from its old pot. Sometimes the roots can even entangle themselves in the bottom of the pot and have to be carefully removed! It is being removed from the environment that it had grown accustomed to. Anyway, the old plant is carefully uprooted and put into the new, bigger pot. While in the pot the roots began to grow into the circle and mold of the old pot so the potter has to gently use his hands to loosen the roots and stretch them out. This again, can not feel good to the plant but its for its own good. This will help it to grow bigger in the new pot and to get better accustomed to the new soil. ALOT of new soil is added. New territory. New ground. New environment. New place. More room to grow. The comfort zone no longer exists. That plant has to get used to its new environment. Sometimes, the plant might go into shock. This is when the care of the potter comes in. Sometimes an extra fertilizer and water is added and the potter even loves on the plant and talks to it. Sometimes the plant is put in direct sunlight to give it a 'boost'. It stays under the potters watchful eye. Pretty soon, the plant begins to look greener, shinier. The lives are getting bigger and you begin to see the beginnings of new growth. You feel the plants joy of its new surroundings and all is well until it is time to transition again.
Now, I have no clue what stage of this I'm in but it is definitely in one of those uncomfortable stages! LOL. I am seeking God that I'm moving as He directs me and that I don't pull against the process. But, I'm thankful that even though I'm in an uncomfortable place, it's exciting and comforting to know that my Heavenly Father has His hands on me! I'm going to continue to hold on to Him. I'm going to continue to Praise Him and listen for His instructions for this next Phase of my life. He will truly order my steps.
So, feeling a little "out of place"? Are you feeling that your time is "up" in some areas and that it's time to move but you are kinda clueless? Your current level of worship is just not getting it anymore and you long for a deepness in Christ that you've never experienced? You just don't fit with the people around you anymore? They don't understand you? In a place where you are so desperate for a move of God that you feel that even if He tells you to do something completely radical you conclude that you would do it just to get out of that "place?"(God, don't test me on that one. LOL) Well!!! Join the club! He is ON HIS WAY!!! You are on the verge of a mighty, mighty new pot!! Brand, spanking new...just for YOU!! Just continue to praise and hold on to God. Pretty soon, you (we) will be planted and rooted in our new spot sprouting new leaves everywhere!! LOL!!!
Just wanted to encourage someone! Everyone might not understand this posting because we are all at different levels. Some have not been here. Some are going through it and some have gone through it and know exactly where I am.(those can pray for me) But, Praise God! He directs our steps. He will not leave us. He will perfect that which concerns us and He knows the plans He has for us. We are to Praise, Yield , Trust and wait on Him to complete the transition! Be Blessed!!!!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Impatience

I USED to be an impatient person. God is good because even when I was praying that God deliver me from impatience I was asking Him to please deliver me NOW!!! LOLOL!! Even in my prayer, I wasn't patient! Today, I took some time to meditate and look back over some things, I realized that my mind had CHANGED in regards to wanting things NOW. I realized that I am better off where God has me RIGHT THIS MINUTE. Well, I'm smiling now because as I looked back not TOO far down the road...I understand why. Hindsight can really be 20/20 and I thank God for HIS PACE and not MINE. It's a process. God is sooo good. I realized as I was praying earlier that my prayer has changed. When it comes to the things I want to do and accomplish, the things I want to happen in my life...I continue to work toward these things carefully in prayer but...there's no rush. I can wait on God. See, my timing might be NOW but I would rather HE take me at HIS pace and TEACH me some things than gain all this stuff through my flesh quickly and be destroyed in the process. I've noticed that I have put my blinders on...meaning that I'm not looking at the success of my neighbor or my friend and wondering what's up with me? (I admit the enemy still TRIES to come at me this way..but thankfulness and refection on what God is doing sends him FLEEING!!!) As I type, I smile because God is working in me HIS Good pleasure. I am HIS. He is MINE. I can look back today and see Him teaching me! I can surely live with His timing and not mine.....right? YES. I CAN. His timing is PERFECT. I choose His over mine anyday. So, don't get in a hurry. Have your goals, work toward them but make sure that God is directing your paths!! OH!! And I just read an AWESOME blog that confirmed EVERYTHING that God has been doing in my life lately. It was almost like He was telling me again that HE has everything in control. Just follow HIM. Be Blessed!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Feeling Encouraged!

If I were to say anything to encourage anyone today, it would be KEEP GOING. You might have big dreams and are working toward a certain goal but run into road blocks along the way. You might get distracted, sidetracked and plain ole' stopped in your tracks...but! Don't give up!! I have always wanted to be an author. A best selling author at that. For as long as I can remember. I remember when I was 5(give or take a few years! LOL), I wrote my first poem. It was read at my great grandmother's funeral. The poem was:

Life is Nice
I like it fine.
You can not have it twice
It's just a matter of time.

OK! LOL! First of all, now at the ripe age of 38 I look back on that poem as I've done in recent years and wondered WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD THEY READ THAT AT A FUNERAL??? LOL!! Is that depressing or WHAT? LOL! I remember that day clearly. As soon as the poem was read, everyone began to CRY harder! Now, I understand why. I did not know my great grandmother too well, so I wasn't all that sad but I remember feeling pretty good that my poem was being read at her funeral. I also remember what gave me the first inspiration for that poem. A movie. I can't remember what it was about but I remember the title "A Matter Of Time". I remember that sparked something in me so I just wrote a poem about it. Wow!

I remember being in Middle School and I decided one day that I was going to write a book. After all, I always wrote. Stories, poems, journals. I just like to write and during those preteen/teen years, I found that I felt better when I wrote my feelings down. So, I began to write my book. I had all these ideas rolling around in my head and I wrote page after page after page. (guess what? I still have those pages) I remember my hands getting tired, my wrists hurt. I didn't have a typewriter. I didn't know what a computer was and the thoughts was coming faster than I could write! Pretty soon, that grew old so I just stuck with the basics of writing poems, stories and journaling but I never let go of writing a book one day.
Well to make a long story short and to get to my point, I went through some ROUGH times. My "out" was to write about them. It was my way of talking to God and doing what I've always done...tell the world on paper. It made me feel better. As I wrote I would cry and get it all out. I truly believe that doing this throughout my life kept me sane.

ANYWAY, my point is... I never gave up! Last year, yes..last year..my dream was realized. I became an author. Could I have done it sooner? Probably, but I believe that last year was my appointed time. 37 years old. I have run into road block after road block trying to get this book published! But, TO GOD BE THE GLORY, I am sitting here right now with 3 boxes full of my books that i am about to market! God is GOOD!! I am excited about the future. Will I be a best selling author one day? This is only the first of many books...who knows? All I know is that I feel a sense of accomplishment and I am encouraged that IF YOU DON'T QUIT..Y0UR DREAMS CAN COME TRUE. It might not be in your timing but if you remain faithful, it WILL come to pass. Of course I am receiving best seller status one day but my prayer has always been that even if I don't, I am asking God that this book of encouragement blesses everyone who reads it and that it falls in the hands of anyone that needs it!!! That each person will find deliverance somewhere in it's pages. GOD, JUST GET THE GLORY!!! I feel really encouraged today. I feel good and I give God glory!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

An Encouraging Dream

Last night I had a dream that was alarming yet encouraging. A family member had called asking for money. I was happy to give her the money so I met her at a restaurant and I gave her my debit card and on another piece of paper I wrote my pin number and gave it to her. I must've went somewhere because I remember walking back to the table and saw that she had left my debit card on the table. She must've left it by mistake. I immediately panicked! What if someone saw it? Got my information? Is making purchases? Stealing my identity? I quickly called the bank and the lady told me about some illegal purchases that someone had already made on my card and I cried harder and harder. This was devastating news to me. As I was telling her to put a hold on that card I was crying hysterically wondering what else they could have purchased. I worked up enough composer to ask her "CAN I GET MY MONEY BACK??" and she told me "I COULD RECOVER ALL". I awake. Isn't that the most awesome dream???? I woke up and realized that no matter what I think I lost or what I think others took....I CAN RECOVER ALL!! That brings to mind David in Ziklag and how David went to God and encouraged himself in the Lord and asked God for guidance and God told him that he would recover all. It also reminds me of all the battles that were fought in the Old Testament that God gave the victory and they recovered all! I was ENCOURAGED. That dream let me know that no matter what I've been through in life for what I thought I lost.....I WILL RECOVER ALL!!! I want you to be encouraged too....as long as you have Christ..nothing is lost that can not be restored by the TRUE & LIVING GOD!!!!