Morning Run: My Alone Time with God

Lately the events in my life have become
 M-A-J-O-R! Yesterday on facebook I posted a status that said,

"I have experienced it firsthand--if you are obedient to God, He will rain blessings on you. For this, I am so thankful for!"

And it is so true. As I discover my walk with Christ, it is so much easier if I follow His direction. I have been doing that. I pray to hear His voice. I pray that I am sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. I pray for wisdom and it all seems to be what is best for me.

I decided to get back on the running bandwagon. I actually do love it--although in high school I couldn't run anything over a 400m or I would feel like I was dying. (I was a typical teenage drama queen!) But when I run, it's my alone time with God. Honestly I'll share with you later my testimony but needless to say it had a lot to do with running. So it's like I'm re-igniting an old flame. This morning I woke up at 6:00am and ran 4 miles. It's difficult for this old body to exert so much energy but when I'm finished, it is the best feeling in the world. There is nothing better than the sound of my feet hitting the pavement and my thoughts running wild. At the end of my run, my once jumbled thoughts are aligned, my questions are answered, and I sit back and watch what God has planed for me that day. But the highlight of my run is seeing the sunrise because I feel God's Spirit on the earth.

What are some of the ways you spend alone with God?

The Silver Ring Thing

This past weekend was FULL of all kinds of wonderful church activities for all of us! We started on Friday night and ended on Sunday night! I loved every single minute of it. Friday night we as a church stuffed over 15,000 Easter eggs full of all kinds of candy for our annual Easter Egg Hunt. Let me say it again....over 15,000 eggs! Our Pastor keeps adding more and more eggs every year and I must admit that 15,000 should be the limit. It was fun enjoying the pizza party, indulging in some of the candy--just to taste and make sure the kids would approve ;) and of course enjoying the fellowship with one another.

Saturday was a wonderful day filled with baking, ice fishing, and playing cards with the family. Family time is always amazing and it's encouraging to see my husband sharing his beliefs with his nephew in hopes of getting him saved--hopefully one day soon.

Sunday....now Sunday was amazing. We woke up and headed off to Church. I'm donating my time assisting with counting the tithes (which is a learning process) and then we headed off to do our weekly grocery shopping. After coming home and putting everything away, it was time for our "youth group at home" series seems how my step-daughter has withdrawn herself from her local youth groups which she used to participate with.

I am trying out this great series so far...and I'll provide more details later after we give it at least a month test drive. So far, so good! Praise the Lord! My husband headed off to his Men's Bible Study and my step-daughter and I headed off to The Silver Ring Thing.

This was the first I have ever heard of this event and I was super excited about it. We already presented her with a purity ring over the summer and we pray that she will honor it and keep her promise to God and her dad. By attending this event, it seemed she had recommitted herself and I hope she got what she needed. There were some real captivating stories shared by many people and some were heartfelt and some were emotional. I highly encourage attending this event. Buy as many tickets as you can and get as many teenagers to go and experience this. 

They also had a parent session and had a lot of items for sale to help initiate the sex talk and then the parents were allowed in to view the rest of the show. Again, a great time with a great message and a realistic look of other teenagers who are willing to wait until they are married. It seemed to really put it into perspective for her that she's not alone and it's cool to be able to say to your future spouse...."I waited for you!"

Tuesday Devotional

I struggle daily with my limits. I struggle because as a new wife and a step-mom, where do I draw the line? It's difficult raising not only a teenager (who just moved in with us less than a year ago), but also a teenager who is not mine and I don't want to cross any lines with her dad/my husband and her biological mom. Last night I prayed for guidance. I prayed for help to know when and what to say and even when to let go. This morning's devotional was just what I needed.

Relax! God is Working--March 19

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]" Matthew 11:28

 Being relaxed feels wonderful. Being nervous, tense, and worried are not so wonderful. Why aren't more people relaxed? Jesus said if we are weary and overburdened, we should go to Him and He will give us rest, relaxation, and ease (see Matt. 11:28-29). Jesus wants to teach us the right way to live, which is different from the way most of the world lives. 

It would be putting it mildly to say that I was an uptight woman for the first half of my life. I simply did not know how to relax, and it was due to me not being willing to completely trust God. I trusted God for things, but not in things. I kept trying to be the one in control. Even though God was in the driver's seat of my life, I kept one hand on the wheel just in case He took a wrong turn. Relaxation is impossible without trust! 

If you know you can't fix the problem you have, then why not relax while God is working on it? It sounds easy, but it took many years for me to be able to do this. I know from experience that the ability to relax and go with the flow in life is dependent upon our willingness to trust God completely. If things don't go your way, instead of being upset, you can believe that getting your way was not what you needed. God knew that, so He gave you what was best for you, instead of what you wanted. 

If you are waiting much longer than you had hoped to, you can get frustrated, angry, and upset or you can say, "God's timing is perfect; He is never late. And my steps are ordered by the Lord." Now you can relax and simply go with the flow of what is happening in your life. When it comes to things that are out of our control, we can either ruin the day or relax and enjoy it while God is working on the situation. As long as we believe, God keeps working! 

Trust in Him: How relaxed are you? Your answer is directly related to how much you trust God. It may take you many years like it did me, to fully trust Him, but each day will be better and better as you trust more and learn to relax.

After reading this twice, typing it, and praying about it over my morning exercise, I will let go, relax, and know that God is in control. As a step-parent, I don't have a say over many things because there are other parents involved. It's difficult being a step-parent but knowing some of the situations that arise will be out of my control is something that I'm going to have to give to God and know that He's taking care of it.  I am considering all these situations as a way of Him teaching me how to handle my own children--someday.

Tuesday Devotional

This weekend was a whirlwind. Without getting into too many details, my husband and I had to exercise our parental rights and discipline his child that was in no way acting God-honoring. I am so very thankful that God gave us the wisdom to handle the situation and hopefully time will tell if the situation has been corrected and we can slowly rebuild the trust again. I can't help but think how many other Christian families are struggling raising their teenage children when God has been absent for a majority of their lives. I was never raised with God in my home and my step-child has been 13 years without it.

Here's the silver lining: We didn't have to do much but stand our ground, listen to God, and work as a team. Despite the negative situation, God was moving so much that weekend. I saw it, my husband saw it, and most of all his child saw it. God definitely convicted her of her bad decisions and I'm so thankful to have witnessed it. Believe it or not, it has made our marriage stronger and my husband has really stepped up being the spiritual leader in our house. I can only praise God for that and I'm so proud of my husband for doing so.

I plan on making a copy of this and taping it her room so she can be reminded that we may not be there to always push her to make right decisions, you have to ability to choose for yourself and when in doubt, ask God.

A Heart of Flesh

"I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 11:19

God puts a sense of right and wrong deep within your conscience, but if you rebel too many times, you can become hard-hearted. If that happens, you need to let Him soften your heart so you can be sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

The only way to develop a heart of flesh is to spend time with God. You must be in His presence on a regular basis to hear what He is saying. God often speak gently, and those who are busy doing their own thing will not hear His still, small voice. Tonight as you spend time in the Lord's presence, ask Him to soften your heart so you can receive His direction at all times.

Taking Offense

Got to love Google and their photos!

I'm going to ask you a serious question.....how often do you get offended? Seriously? To me it's a serious question to ask because people can take offense quite easily and  hold grudges forever. It's a very delicate subject because I don't think people (myself included) really think about it and are honest with themselves. Why do we get offended and why do we hold grudges?

One of the things we can do to try not to get so offended is to automatically think, "no matter what happens or is said, I forgive you." I dare you to try it. It's sooooo hard but if you think about who it is actually hurting holding on to grudges and getting mad about how rude some people are, you are the one it hurts the most. How is that possible? Well because every time that person's name is brought up you may instantly get upset and have unpleasant thoughts or get mad inside causing you to fester and slowly rot. Do you really think that's God plan for you? Absolutely not! By not forgiving, you are losing out on God's best for your life.

Free yourself and try to forgive. If you are having a difficult time, maybe you and your pride need to have a little chit chat. Pride is such an awful sin and is so deceiving. I am a sinner saved by His grace just like the next Christian and I deal with these same problems and I have to remind myself to not get upset--daily.  You will come in contact with those people. It's a part of life, but the big question is.....how will you handle it?


 ^"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

And because I'm feeling like sharing a little music video.....here is a great one about forgiveness:

Have a wonderful weekend!

Letting Go

One of the hardest things I had to do as a Christian was letting go. Letting go of worries of money, situations out of my control, even relationships that are strained.  I'll admit that it was one the hardest things I did, yet I always wonder why did it take me so long to do it.

I didn't grow up with God in my life as a child. I only discovered Him a year ago. Since then, it has been such an amazing journey and now I actually see the world so differently. Death does not have the same impact it did on me when I was a kid. Yes it is still sad and I will miss that person, but if they are believers, then I look at it as they have graduated to the next step and when it's my turn, I'll see them again and celebrate. 

Money does not have the same meaning either. I don't have a lot of it. I live a modest life but I am very obedient about giving to the Church and any other causes that will benefit His kingdom. It's incredible to see what God can do in your life when you become obedient. I have been tested several times in this matter and each an every single time He has delivered. 

But the biggest thing is if any situation I face and am having a difficult time with, I just give it to Him. I lay it at His feet and let Him handle it. The moment I discovered that, was the moment my life became stress-free and not a worry in the world. I pray and I wait. It's incredible to watch what happens next. It's as if a 50 pound weight has been lifted and I can breathe. I don't know why anyone would want to live a life thinking they have to handle it all on their own. I was there and believe me....it's no fun. Now this may mean that you may have to give up some things, sacrifice a little, but God will a-l-w-a-y-s take care of your needs.

Here's the thing. God has a plan for my life and for yours. Worrying about something doesn't do anything but add stress. Here's one of my favorite passages about worrying: 

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" Matthew 6:25-27

So you see worrying is a waste of time. I challenge you to give all your worries and concerns to God. Just let it all go. He wants you to live a happy and righteous life because His plan is so much better for you than your own.

One Decision

I would be very interested in attempting to see how many decisions are made in one day. I think it would be very difficult to count them all. The decision to get out of bed. What to wear. What to have for breakfast. Do I fill up the gas tank now or wait and see if gas will go down the next day (yeah right). And those are just baby decisions. There are some bigger decisions that have to be made on a daily basis as well. And that is just one day out of 11,315 days of my life and making decisions.

I can honestly say that out of ALL the decisions I have made, whether good or bad, right or wrong, the absolute B-E-S-T decision I have ever made or will ever make is the decision to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. What’s amazing about that decision is I am forever saved.

Heaven is celebrating because of ONE decision. Mine. And it’s the most amazing feeling I have ever experienced.  And of course there are no words to describe it. If I am ever looking for answers to any decision I face, I don’t look around—I look up!

Have you made the decision yet?