A Prayer for 2017

Lord, thank you for bringing me through 2016. 

Thank you for preserving me, providing for me, enlightening me, calling me higher, and lifting my head. Thank you for your presence. Your unyielding presence. Your warring presence. Your protective presence. Your guiding presence. Your comforting presence. Your inviting presence. 

Thank you for Your companionship. Your parenting. Your concern. Your commitment. Your capability. 

All unmatched - eternally unmatched.

You are more committed to me than I am to myself, more committed to me than those I have trusted -even those I trust -- those you gifted to my life. I thank you, Lord, for takingYour relationship with me seriously... for pursuing me and drawing me close with Your goodness and mercy,  promises and faithfulness, the purest motives and purest desire for intimacy and friendship. Thank you that who You are today, will not change tomorrow . 

Same. Real. God.

Have a seat. Quiet your heart. Take a moment. Settle down. Before you lament, and while you wonder.. before you decide you're not sure, anymore. 

Remember. Consider. Conclude.

Remember God's many words to your heart & recount the moments He's met you with love. 

Remember His faithfulness. 

Consider His confirmation of your pursuit - the peace, added strength, and every one of those God-winks💛

I Think You Should Know that You're Legal...

Ever wondered if you even belonged on this planet?! I know I have.. be it my quirks, and perks =) or something as simple as how I perceive and process any given day or situation...people are different.  I have laughed way too hard in the wrong moments, and cried watching the Animal Channel because I can't stand to watch when the baby deer loses mother deer and the lion comes and ---- you know what happens next. My heart can't take it!!! :( #circleoflife

But I've digressed. Back to the point. God is so creative in His placement that we
often come into contact & even do life with people who are so different from ourselves. At times, it's wonderful, but other times it can cause us to question our belonging. It may cause us to run

"I'll Take Care of You..." He said..

One thing I love about God is that He's not found scratching His head when questions arise or trouble comes. He's not at a loss for words, wisdom or solutions. He's not non-chalant or disengaged. He's concerned. A portion of His glory is wrapped up in our living. He's committed to our victory. He's committed to our testimonies.. even if they're not always what WE think they should be. All things work together. He secures the wins💛

His role in this relationship is to lead us to triumph. 

Our role is to follow Him. 

"I'll take care of you..." He says."Because your problems are my problems."

On GRACE & Progress: A 2016 Check-In.

Are you a Perfectionist?

Perfectionism rarely works out for the carrier, and I've been a bona fide perfectionist way more than I've allowed myself to just live and let live.

As freely as God's grace is given is about as hard as it's been for me to receive - but that's an exaggeration...  because grace, even in its smallest form, is still much greater than my occasional inability to simply exhale & take it all.

Because We All Want Something to Believe In..

IIt was a little over a week ago when I was sitting in Newark airport waiting for my flight to clear. Delayed twice with storms in our destination - I had no idea when we were going to make it into Orlando. I was in no rush given the report, but I still didn't want to spend my day stuck in a blue, soiled, leather seat.. watching the digits on the clock increase by the hour.

It's a work trip so I'm surrounded by people I know. We board the plane with a 2.5 hour delay, and the conversations begin. I'm sat in between a  man and a woman, a Director and an Account Executive. Let's call her "Sally." Let's call him, "Jim."

My Eyes Are Watching God

There are battles that belong to the Lord... future victories, and then blessings that add NO sorrow, more victories.. There are seasons of ease and effortless flow -- and then, seasons where nothing comes easy.

 Absolutely Nothing.

 But my eyes are watching God..

2014

Hmm... 2014:)

I'm going to be honest. I had  mixed feelings on New Year's Eve.  I LOVE even numbers and the year was one of my favorites. Not that I hadn't had my brush with bad news, blood, sweat, or tears... it's just that I had a hard time letting it go | It's hard to let go of a year that you always felt would come.. But you have to settle on knowing there's more...
You live and you learn that it doesn't stop here. It doesn't stop wherever you are..

I may not have passed every test, but for the ones that I have, and for the moments that have stretched me,  it's been worth the journey.

And the journey is what we live for. The journey makes the destination worth our arrival.

Feature Blogger #1: "Your Failures Are Not Final" by Shana Schutte

This one's good : ) .. Reminds me of why I wrote "Try."

Give yourself permission to obey God! And do your best...He'll do the rest.

"Dear Church Baby..." Part 4

My pastor has been teaching recently on the Word of God as a seed, ready to produce -  that God is a purposeful Sower.. sowing Himself into His children and His word into our hearts. We learned that our hearts are like soil, only capable of  producing if tilled well and ready for receiving. 

Are our hearts fertile? Are they good ground?  
Are we open for growth? Are we surrendered to the planting? 

"Dear Church Baby..." Part 3

Dear Church Baby, 

Where are you going?

It was because I knew I needed to stay, in life's hardest trials, that I did.
...Not in my own strength - just relying on His.

God is at Work

In tragedies, in triumph..

God is at work

In the fight, in loss.

God is at work.

In your grief and your joy..
God is at work.

In the win, in the score..

God is at work.

In a newborn's chuckle, his mother's cry...

God is - at work. 

In a victory that seems very far off.

God is at work.

When it rains and pours, no sun in sight...

God is at work. God's still at work...

When you can't comprehend, and you don't understand..

God is at work.
He's putting in time.

When you loved so much harder than you were loved in return..

God's been working, working so hard.

When you find yourself soaring, over challenges and all.

God is at work.  
He's working in you.

When each preparation meets opportunity..

God is at work. He's working through you.

When life is a series of beautiful things...

Please do believe... it's God who's at work.

When you survey your life, and you're not where you started.

 God is at work; He'll continue to be.

In all that we enjoy, and even endure...

 God is never absent - never hands off.

God is with us & God is at work.

***

Can you think of a season in your life when you thought all was lost?
  
God was at work.

***

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.

(Psalm 34:15)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will direct your paths.

(Proverbs 3:5-6)

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, said the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

(Jeremiah 29:11)

 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

2 Timothy 1:12

The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.

(Psalm 37:23)

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

(2 Corinthians 7:14)

But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

(Job 23:10)

"Dear Church Baby..." Part 1

I'm a church baby.

"I was born on a pew..." I've crawled under pews, and taken naps on the pew. I've played in the pews, passed notes in the pews, and ran through them with my toddler friends. I've heard more sermons than I can count, and I've been at church on more weeknights than the standard American citizen. I was in the children's choir and I've directed it...I was on the Junior Ushers Board, until I quit ...I was in the young adult choir until I aged out... and because music and ministry have a lot to do with what I believe I should be doing with the rest of my life - I'm still in the choir :) I sing with my sisters..