"Another Blessed Year" - My Post on Daughters of the Deep

Hi Readers! 

Here's an excerpt from my most recent post, that went live last week, on Daughters of the Deep: 

"...if the numbers added to my age equate to more love and more wisdom and more friendships and more opportunities to care for others and share the love of God, then I guess I’ll take it!"

"…what if we broadcast our physical age as “years loved” or “years praising” or “years of wisdom”?  What if we all embraced that number as an accomplishment?

“Another year well spent loving God’s people as he loves me!”

Click HERE to read my "Another Blessed Year" post

Enjoy! 

Tomatoes & Tears

Ladies, I don’t know if you all will admit it, but I will… sometimes us women get emotional over some really strange things…

Hence the title of this post, “Tomatoes and Tears”.

I had an experience, just 2 days ago, in which I was crying; tears streaming down my face, about tomatoes.


Yes, tomatoes.

You see, the availability of fresh, home grown, organic produce for my family, recently changed drastically. Over the last several years, I had many types of fresh organic vegetables readily available to me, all through the summer months. And in the Winter months, because I was involved in
canning of many types, my family could enjoy the healthy  vegetables year round.

But, an unforeseen wedge got jabbed really hard into the beautiful arrangement that I had going then, and the engine of that healthy, glorious train, stopped.

This past winter, there I was , left with no canned goods at all. And let me tell you, my whole family missed them tremendously!

Anyway…..how did I get from there to tears…..

Well, the tears come in, this fall…after 3 weeks of begging friends and acquaintances (that had been saying they would have too many tomatoes from their gardens) to share the abundance with me; and being given none. And then, the person that I asked most often, and the person that I am closest too personally, gave her extras to someone else.  Right in front of my eyes none the less…in comes the tears….
 
I guess the level at which my family missed the canned goods, and the yearning, as a mom, to feed my family the best, homegrown produce and foods possible, and having lost the previous opportunity, had brought me to a place of deeper sadness than I had realized…

Well, God intervened…..and today (just 2 days after the teary breakdown) as I type this post, I am admiring, right in front of me, 75 lbs. of beautiful fresh produce, purchased from a local organic farm, waiting for me to can…..And tomorrow I am blessed to pick up 20 more lbs. from one of those loving friends that I had dropped all the hints to…

I wish now, that I would not have let my emotions get the best of me.  God provides! Instead of getting emotional and feeling so hurt, I should have simply prayed to God for providence.

He did provide, and in abundance, as God always will!  Sometimes it may not be in the way that we think it should happen, but He provides!

Psalm 36:8 (NIV)
They feast on the abundance of Your house; You give them drink from Your river of delights. 

“River of delights”….yes!  What a beautiful delight the Lord has given me, as I look at these beautiful vegetables and smile!  God quickly turned the stream of tears to a river of delight!  Click to Tweet

He will provide the same for you too!

Dear Lord,
Help us to remember to rely on your providence.  Remind us to pray to you for our ever need and want.  For You will provide, when the time is right! Amen.

**  Published 1st on "Daughters of the Deep", in Nov. 2017

Faith Incompatibility in Your Relationship

Observing your own faith grow, can be a very magical experience!  We often have a desire to talk to others about the positive changes in our lives and to share our excitement in this regard!  What happens when we try to share our interest with someone important to us, and the feeling is not returned?

More and more women are experiencing relationship struggles regarding their faith incompatibility with their significant other. Many couples do not regularly attend church together, like was a custom in years past.  

I can relate! This has always been an issue in my own relationship. As I have grown and matured in my faith over the years, my husband seems to have stayed stationary; in the same spot he was when we said our vows.

If partners do not understand each other’s stance on the topic of faith, this can become a source of deep relationship frustration!

Many times, I have found myself hoping and praying that my significant other could experience deepening faith, as I have. I have wished for him to experience the love of God in the beautiful ways that I have. But, after years and years of praying for him to experience what I have, I finally realize, that each person has their very own “rate of growth” when it comes to their relationship with God.

So rather than praying for your significant other to progress in faith in a manner similar to you, pray for them to progress in faith as God intends for them to progress!

As I began to pay closer attention to the “faith gap” between my significant other and myself, I realized that some of it was being amplified by my desires for him to understand me more fully.  Who am I to expect that? All these years, I should have been praying for him to more fully understand GOD, not ‘my’ faith.  Because really, his relationship with God will blossom in its own way and at its own time as God leads him to a fuller understanding of His blessings and the importance of a solid relationship with Him.

As you wait patiently, to watch God move in your loved one’s life; I would urge you to pray Romans 15:5-6, over your relationship (replacing “you” with “us/we”):  

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (ESV)

And then, watch and wait. God is holding your relationship in His hands.  We can be certain that He has a plan, and will bring it to fruition at the perfect time!  So let us stop comparing our faith with that of our significant other, and let us embrace the difference and enjoy the ride as we wait and watch God move in their life, in His own time!

www.frommylifetoyourheart.com

When it Rains it Pours

But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.       Isaiah 40:31

My title was chosen in the sense of a wonderful rain; a blessing filled rain. I am writing today about God raining down blessings. Your mental image, however, should be of Him pouring them out so heavily, and so quickly, that the positive change is overwhelming.

Have you been there?  I hope so!

Let’s reflect with sheer positivity for a moment… Have you been overwhelmingly blessed?

I am at that point right now in my life. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing to complain about at all; but still I am overwhelmed. The good Lord blessed me with a wonderful new Full-time job (better for my family, scary for the future of my volunteer ministry…), a finished book proposal (finally!), several speaking engagements, and 3 Publisher appointments, all in the same month. This is very wonderful and prayer answering indeed, however, I am quite overwhelmed while preparing for Publisher meetings to pitch my 1st solo book, while also learning a new, complicated, job.

So, I look to the Bible for encouragement in this time of happy exhaustion…

And I am immediately reminded, from Isaiah, that the Lord will renew my strength.  That when I feel as though I can no longer walk on, the Lord will provide me with wings to fly ahead and rest my weary legs.  That I will not faint, for with strength from the Lord in my heart, mind, and body, I can run any and every race to its completion!  And you can too, dear sister in Christ!

Lean on the Lord; Trust in the Lord.  These statements are not only for trying times, but rather for all of life’s overwhelming times, whether positive or not. 

Remember, dear sisters, that you might still feel exhausted, even when you are deeply blessed, and that is OK! And with that, look to the Lord for strength of carry on!

God gives us blessings for specific reasons that only He knows, and while we are praising Him for the blessings, lets always also remember to pray to Him about the intended use of those blessings, and that our Heavenly Father help us Bless others through all that we have been given!

Ministering to others can become exhausting and overwhelming. I’ll be the first to admit that I have almost lost my cool teaching Sunday School. Yes, I have dragged myself out of bed, and half-heartedly went to worship on Sunday morning. But do you know what? God pushes us through the exhausting points, and onward, toward the moments of value, when we can sit back and say, ‘that was worth it! I reached someone today’ or ‘God touched me through that experience’. The purpose will be found in every single moment that God pushes us through and to; and once that beautiful purpose is revealed, the overwhelmed-ness turns to gratefulness!   Deep gratefulness for the opportunity to experience that blessing!!

Be Thankful!   Be Humble!   Feel and admire the strength coming directly from God, to you, for His purpose. And dear Christian Sisters, enjoy the pouring rain; dance in the pouring rain!

*This post was 1st seen on Daughters of the Deep

My Testimony of Faith - Seen 1st on "Daughters of the Deep"

If you are interested in my story of faith, the delicate event that led to the deepening of my faith like none other; here's my story...

Here is the link to my raw, honest, testimony of faith, 
shared 1st on Daughters of the Deep....

My Testimony of Faith

My Grace is sufficient for you, 

for my strength is made perfect in weakness. 

2 Corinthians 12:9

"Why Lord" - My Post on Daughters of the Deep

Has God taken you out of someplace where you were relatively happy, and instead placed you in a situation that you did not understand? 

This blog post will encourage you during that season.


"Why Lord" - My Post on Daughters of the Deep

Attempts to Bring us Down

After having spent most of last week at a Christian Writing and Speaking Conference, I left there feeling empowered by God, to take on the World (well, maybe not the World.....it's a common phrase).

This conference included twice daily worship with amazing music, classes led by strong women of faith that radiate Jesus' love, main sessions that made you laugh and cry and pray and dance, all in the same 50 minutes, and more.   I am so blessed to have been able to attend for a 2nd time! 

I learned so much new information to help me move my ministry forward, and go after (ever harder) God's calling for me! 

On the flight home, I reviewed notes and made several different "To Do" lists, with the information that I had gained at the conference. 

I wasn't prepared however, for the Spiritual Warfare that would hit me, right after I arrived home.... I wasn't ready to go back to "the real world", I preferred to keep my mind and heart in that lovely place filled with singing Jesus Girls!

Well, guess what? Real life hit hard.  I walked into my home to screaming/arguing children and an exhausted, upset husband.  I sat my luggage down on a very dirty floor filled with Nerf Darts and tootsie roll wrappers, and there I was, back in "reality". 

Now, don't get me wrong, for the most part, I love my "reality".  Being a mother and ministering to my family is certainly a very large part of my calling from God too; and I love that part more than any other!  But, that hotel filled with serenity and praise (and full meals and sleep) was so fresh in my mind, that I longed to stay there just a little longer...

But my mind was jolted back to the screaming kids, and the dry garden, and the pile of dishes, and, and...    I spent that first afternoon and evening at home, trying to get things in order for my family's coming week (It was Sunday), and re-connecting with my children about all that they did while I was gone. 

The next morning, I awoke feeling overwhelmed by the "To Do" lists that I had made on the plane.   How was I ever going to accomplish all those things?  I prayed "Lord, this is not feasible.  How can I, one, single person, accomplish all that you have set on my heart to do?"

As I sluggishly got ready to go to my day job, this wonderful song came on Christian Radio, and it changed my whole perspective...

"Bulletproof" by Citizen Way

I was reminded, almost instantly, that the negative feelings that I was having, were certainly spiritual warfare, set up against all of the wonderful things that God had placed on my heart.  

Thanks to God's strategic placement of this song in that very moment, I was reminded that I don't have to worry about "when"; He will provide the time.  I don't have to hide in that quiet hotel room, or dodge the bullets of "real life", I can face them head on, and prevail, because I have the Armor of God on, and I will not be stopped. 

So ladies, although I know daunting days and delirious decades may be a part of your "real" life right now, carry on sweet sister, and be daily reminded of the bulletproof armor that God has placed upon you.  You don't have to fear or worry, for He will take care of you. He will take care of your family.  He will take care of whatever is heavy on your heart today.  

Don't allow the negative thoughts and emotions into your heart.  You are strong enough to push them away.  Heck, Girl, You are bulletproof.                          Click to Tweet

"There is Always a Rainbow After the Storm" - my Monthly Post on "Daughters of the Deep"

Please check out my newest Blog Post on "Daughters of the Deep". 

"There is Always a Rainbow After The Storm"    Click on the title to read....

Here's a quote from the post:
So, dear daughters of the Heavenly Father, when you find yourself in one of life’s storms, trust in the one who can calm any storm.   Trust in the orchestrater of all things good and wonderful!  
                                Click to Tweet 

"Image Courtesy of "Illustrated Faith"  

https://www.illustratedfaith.com/1-peter-29-bible-journal-entry/

Have a wonderful and blessed week! 

1st Post for "Daughters of the Deep"

Hi Readers!

I am so happy to announce that I am now a part of the writing team for "Daughters of the Deep"!

I will have a post on that community Blog monthly, and I will always share it here! 

So, CLICK HERE and Enjoy my first post on "Daughters of the Deep": 

"I" Did It".

This post is a great reminder to us all to not take the glory for ourselves, but rather honor God's Greatness with each blessing that we are given!  

Guest Post on "Made to Mother"

Hello Readers! 

Please enjoy my Guest post that went live today on "Made to Mother".   I had fun writing this very real post, about the craziness of motherhood! 

Here's a quote from the post: 

“There is nothing you cannot do with a whole lot of faith and a little bit of coffee.” That is my motto! (well, maybe a whole lot of coffee, too). Faith enables us to make it through the craziness of life."

Click Here, Mamas we are not weak! to check out my post.

Enjoy! 

With Faith All Things are Possible

It has been a funny, strange, day, or at least it makes me laugh. :-)

I am going to speak to a Mom's Next group tonight, and what the heck qualifies me to do that when I am such a mess myself? 

Just in the last two days, I have missed the spring baseball registration deadline, double-booked babysitters for a whole 24 hour period (and they both took it off from their jobs);   ugh.  

This morning I tried to tend to a sick kid, which included cleaning a humidifier, filling essential oil diffusers, making sore throat tea and honey, and more.  But, I didn't get up any earlier in the morning, because who pre-plans these things...right? 

But I somehow expected that I could do all of that, shower and get ready, and gather all of things needed for the day and evening, because I have a speaking engagement tonight....and still make it to school on time with the other kid.... 

Well guess what; I did it, essentially, but I was the mom squealing up to the school 30 seconds before the final bell rang, just like the mom on the movie Bad moms. :-) 

I had not experienced that school morning Rush before.

I guess it's something every mom must experience at least once. Ha!

Well, back to my speech tonight; I am going before mothers with kids in the same age range as mine, and I am supposed to give them some inspiration or information that they don't already know. How will I do that, when I can't even run a school morning in an effective way? 

Here's what I am going to do... I intend to walk in there and be real. I am going to tell them all about my disorganized, stressful, morning.  I am going to show them how discombobulated I was, and how, even though I wanted to crawl back in bed and hide, I made it through the day with the help of God.

You see, my topic for tonight is perseverance. A topic that my ministry value statement is built on.  Perseverance because of Faith; because without faith would we really make it through this craziness?  For me, and probably many of my readers, the answer is no. 

No, we couldn't make it through every day of this mommy craziness, without faith, trust in Him, and God's love. Because, without God and our knowledge that He is orchestrating every crazy moment for a reason; that He has our best interests in mind, we might not be able to keep going on this hamster-wheel of mommy life.

Well, I went to the event with my head held high; knowing that we are all in the same goofy, busy, rocking, motherhood, boat.   We shared stories, and laughed, and teared up.  We encouraged one another.  

I found the strength within my exhausted self, and certainly 100% by Faith, to inspire these other mamas to: 

  v Find the strength to weather life’s storms by turning to God for help.

  v Persevere through life’s valleys by clinging to your Faith.

  v Hear God’s voice and plan, even on the darkest of days. 

    I hope and pray that you too will be reminded today, that you and God together can persevere through whatever storm life currently has you in!   With faith, all things are possible! 

I

What's on your heart today?

I kept thinking this morning, as I was getting ready, what am I going to blog about today?  

And as I kept trying to force my mind to come up with a brilliant idea, the only thought that kept repeating was, "what is on your heart today?"  I tried to push that idea away many times, because there isn't just one thing on my heart, there are so many...

How could I even begin to narrow down all the things on my heart and mind today? But then I thought, why narrow them down? Why not share them? Because if we are honest with ourselves, we all have a lot on our minds and hearts and mental plates everyday!

Well, here's mine....getting in a walk today (which I have challenged myself to do daily, and haven't done for four days now), promoting the upcoming motherhood anthology "I Heart Mom" that I am a featured author in, which is coming out April 1st; continuing to work on my first nonfiction book, which includes publisher proposal, one sheet, new headshots, and more completed chapters to present to the publisher.  Ugh.  

And then there's family things, like single parenting for five days (when you are not used to that, it feels like a lot), finances, a very messy house, back pain, and so much more.

Okay, enough about me.  Like I said, I feel really confident that my readers all have plenty on their hearts today (and most every day) too.  So what are we to do about the sheer volume of thoughts and plans and chores and dreams that are on our hearts at any given time?

Psalm 26:2 

Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind.

If I consider my overwhelming days, tests from the Lord, I tend to learn a lot from them!   I don't know about you, but I definitely need occasional reminders of what is most important in life.  Our overwhelmed schedules eventually force us to choose.  To choose what to make time for, and what to let drop.  To choose who to care for that day or week, and who can handle things on their own...

I find that these "tests" from the Lord, constantly cause me to "examine my heart and mind", and re-ground myself to the priorities that I have chosen in my life.

My priorities are things like, my children, my ministry, my church volunteering....

Take a moment to "examine your heart and mind", and refresh your priorities....... 

Those priorities are likely treasures, the true and immeasurable blessings, that God has gifted you with.

Matthew 6:21 

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I believe that God wants us to search each morning, as to "What is on our hearts today"?  But then,

as we prioritize in this crazy busy life, we must constantly and continually compare what is on our hearts, with where our "Treasures" in life lie.

Click to Tweet!

The points, in that lengthy list that is weighing on our hearts, where our treasures collide with the 'lists'; those are the blessings to keep on your heart and mind today.

Let's narrow down that list, one day at a time! 

What's on your heart TODAY? 

Hugs & Blessings to you all!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Available April 1st!
A Motherhood Anthology, "I Heart Mom"

Motherhood... one word that can mean so many different things.
We have brought together 20 amazing authors who have shared their real experience with motherhood; their truth in the most honoring of ways.
Real struggles
 Real sacrifice
Real-life situations
​Get ready for the realities of realmotherhood to rock your world!

Email me to Reserve your copy today!  
frommylifetoyourheart@gmail.com

What's this all about Lord?

Have you ever had a Time in life when you know that God is trying to tell you something, but you can't define what? 

You wonder what the signs are supposed to be. Or are they even signs? 

Well, here is my odd predicament that I just can't figure out...

It has been going on for years too. 

It started about eight years ago, when my husband and I took our first trip without the kids. We planned everything to a T (in my normal, perfectionist manner) but while in Mexico, one of our lined up caregivers got pneumonia and ended up in hospital. One of my largest memories of that time in Mexico, was worrying about my children, because my plan for them did not work out. I also worried about the caregivers, that they would burn out. (cause my kids were young, and a handful! :) )

The enjoyment of the trip was definitely squashed by this inconvenience and added worry. That was the first time, and I didn't think anything of it... 

Then......wait, that is not entirely true, my husband and I did say on the way home from that trip, "maybe we are not supposed to travel without the kids." 

So, the next time that we tried, four whole years later, we left on a bus trip to an NFL game. 

Wouldn't you know it, our first night there, one of our children fell and bit through his tongue. I still remember the phone call, with the child crying and in pain, and about the blood... We had taken a bus to our destiny, so there was no running home early. So once again we sat through the remainder of our time away, worrying about the children. 

And the time away that was supposed to fill our souls on that break, was unattainable. 

Again, we said to each other once home, "we really are not supposed to go anywhere without our kids"... 

Then, I kid you not, almost exactly four years later, we bravely decided to give it a try again... 

We bought tickets for a wonderful live concert, and booked non-refundable hotel rooms.  This time, the travel was just to the other side of our state, so that we wouldn't be too far away. In case the inevitable might happen. 

Unfortunately, this 3rd try was just last weekend.  And wouldn't you know, on the day we were supposed to leave, we had a child on his 6th day in bed with influenza; on his 6th day of a high fever.  And it didn't look very promising that he would miraculously snap out of it once we left... 

So, we very reluctantly cancelled our trip. We tried everything that we could too cancel the hotel, but knew it was non-refundable when we booked it.  We also tried every method known to us to sell the expensive concert tickets, starting 48 hours before the concert, and still no luck. 

There were seats at that awesome concert with no one in them. 

Now, these things that happened, the injuries, illness, and money lost, are not that big of a deal. They certainly aren't major life events or anything.  But they were enough to dampen our trips, in different ways each time.

And what about the consistency; every four years we try again to go on a trip, and every time, something happens to decrease our enjoy-ability or to make the trip unrealistic all together. 

What is that about? I find myself on this, "third time is the charm", round, of this repeating life story....   I keep wondering, what the heck is God trying to tell me? What message am I supposed to be getting from this repetition of events? 

There's got to be something, right? Is it that I'm not supposed to leave my children behind? Is it that I'm not supposed to spend money on trips, and God wants me to stay home and give away more of my extra? 

Is it that my husband and I are supposed to learn how to reconnect and renew within our own home or our own town? 

I don't know. But I do know that it has been frustrating!

So I looked into God's word to see if I could find an answer there...

Proverbs 16:9

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps"

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus insists that if anyone has a plan to follow Him, "he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me".

Dave Keehn says in his Blog post titled When God Changes our Plans, "That is why, when God changes my plans, I must refocus my mind, asking what is God's design for this moment"

And Dave Keehn concludes, "When God changes our plans, look for His blessing of something new and unexpected.  While the pain of loss may be very real, God's grace is sufficient to carry us into His next steps for our lives."

Well, those are beautiful passages, and although they make me feel a bit better, they do not explain to me the reason why.....

But, I remain convinced, that there is a reason for these repetitive occurrences, and in God's time, He will reveal the lesson to me!   

In God's time, He will reveal the lesson to me!                                   Click to Tweet

In the meantime, at least I have developed a new level of appreciation for God's timing, and I wait, expectantly, to find out what His plan has in store for me (and my family) next! 

Live life as a Warrior, not as a Worrier

That title quote came from a great book I just read, "Fear Fighting" by Kelly Balarie.  

The full sentence from the book was " I don't want to live life as a wreak; I want to live life as a worshiper and a warrior, not a worrier".  

What a great sentence! That about sums it up for me. Sometimes I feel like a wreck, when all I want to be is a worshiper and Warrior for Him!

We all need reminding, often, that we can be a great warrior for God, even in the little things we do each day.

Let me share with you some wonderful quotes from this great book....these caused me to do some soul-searching...

"It is imperative we stand united so when fear tries to knock us over into failure (which tends to disguise itself as the pursuit of perfection), we rise as a red-rover band of women unbroken."

"If you spend your whole life grasping for happy in the future, you’ll end up missing God’s transformation in the present. You’ll run after something but you’ll never catch it."

"...reality sometimes makes me ask myself, How do you chase God when a whole lot of cruddy stuff is always nipping at your heels?"

"...to believe is to relieve the tension of what is to come. You hand over your will and then rest arrives."

Okay, let's tackle that first quote about the Red-Rover band of women... Maybe you didn't get the image in your mind the first time you read it, but let me help you. Remember when you used to play Red Rover Red Rover? You linked hands and tried as hard as you could to hold on and not let anyone through your line. Well this is what us women need to live like. Imagine, if we all held on tightly to all the women around us, to beat the negativity that comes our way day in and day out. Imagine if we fought societies expectations together, rather than inflicting them upon each other. We could be an Unstoppable Force!

That 2nd quote above; wow!  I was just at a Women's conference this weekend, and heard the very same thought there too.  We are so wrapped up in making plans for the future, that we often miss the beauty in the moment right in front of us.   Ladies, let's try to be more cognizant of the wonderful blessings in each moment of TODAY. 

The third quote, to me, speaks about the speed of our ever busy lives.  The large number of chaotic "messes" that we get into and crawl out of, each and every day.   With all of that, where is there time to meditate over God's beautiful word or to knell in silent prayer?   

And lasty, of course, the reminder, the ever needed reminder, that we need not fear ANYTHING if we only believe.  If you trust and fully believe God's promises, there is no need to fear! 

The Book Fear Fighting by Kelly Balarie is just an all around, beautiful reminder of the strength that fear has over us, and the power that faith has against it!  

I would strongly recommend this book! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DEAR FRIENDS: Please help me out! 

I am entereing this Blog Post in a competition, in which the prize is a Publisher meeting or a Litterary Agent Meeting!!!! 

This is a HUGE opportunity for me, especially since I am already working on my 1st book! 

PLEASE, follow this link and VOTE FOR my post! 

I would really appreciate your vote!! 

To VOTE, Click here, and then scroll to the bottom of your screen and enter simply the number 51 in the comments to vote for me!! I would be honored if you would share this post with friends and encourage them to vote as well! Thanks so much dear friends!  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can check out more information about this book and about Kelly Balarie at www.fearfightingbook.com 

and www.purposefulfaith.com 

Pause

In this constantly busy, ever moving life, the power of Pause can be hard to experience.  

Today, while running my morning errands, I was given a very beautiful opportunity to Pause.

If you've been reading my Blog for a while, you probably will recall that music is a large part of who I am.   One song can change my day for the better, and the days that I get to sing, are the best days! 

If you look at the date of this post, you will also see that today is Valentine's Day.   As a person who tries not to fall prey to the commercialization of all of these "holidays", I don't have much planned today.   I did however, stop and buy a heart shaped cake to share with my family.   

While at the grocery store, standing in line to pay, I was blessed with a day-changing gift, and a cherished moment of Pause.

A group of 6 men, walked into the grocery store near me, in tuxedos with red ties and cummerbunds.  They proceeded to deliver a "Singing Valentine" to a woman working at the grocery store.  They gave a stellar performance!  They sang an entire song, at length, with beautiful harmony.   The woman receiving the song was smiling so broadly, and then happy tears began to flow down her face.  

This was a touching moment for me, to Pause and witness, for many reasons...

* The gift these men were sharing with so many people, by sharing their talented voices, was deeply inspiring. 

* The dedication they showed to creating pure awe with each word they sang, showed a true example of "love your neighbor as yourself", in that they sought to spend their whole day making others day wonderful. 

* The beauty of watching to recipient of this gift, be so deeply touched by it, was enough alone, to be grateful for having shared in that moment;  and she was a total stranger. 

* The peacefulness that my soul felt, in those brief moments of Pause, was powerful!   In those moments, I was reminded of the kindness humanity is capable of.  I was reminded of the power of Pause, grasped whenever we can, throughout the never-ending tasks of our days. 

Job 37:14

Pause a moment, Job, and listen;

consider the wonderful things God does.

Pause, dear children of God, Pause......

Then, blessed once again, as I sit here in Starbucks Pausing from daily life, to type this post; I looked up the origin of Job 37, and this is all I needed to know...

"Then the Lord spoke to Job, out of the storm......"

Now that verse takes on even more meaning!  So often in the midst of our minor storms, our trials during the journey of motherhood, and throughout the journey of this life, for that matter; we need to be reminded right from the middle of each storm, to Pause to notice the wonderful things around us! Click To Tweet

That special moment in the grocery store this morning, that caused me to pause and soak in the beauty of those God-given voices and those joy-filled tears, blessed my day too.  So, as I walk into the rest of my busy day today, I am refreshed by the joy that overcame me, in that moment of Pause.

May your days be filled with small, beautiful pauses, that remind you of God glory and presence, even in the midst of storms! 

"Fruitful Lives", my Guest Post on Real Women Ministries

Hello Readers! 

This week, please enjoy my Guest Post for Real Women Ministries, titled "Fruitful Lives".    This  post focuses on Galatians 5:22-23, and is part of a series on Real Women Ministries, about Fruits of the Spirit. 

Check it out here:  Fruitful Lives post

Blessings to your week! 

Where can Hope be Found?

"Where Can Hope be Found?" 

Thanks to my new friend in ministry, Joan Gallagher, with Women Mentoring Women, I have begun a new journey this January, to learn more about HOPE. 

Please enjoy this post on Joan's Blog (click the link below), that her and I worked on together.  It is very uplifting! 

"Where Can Hope Be Found" joangallaghernowo.com

Also, check out Joan's NEW BOOK, "Hope Markers", 
to dive deeper in to seeing God's Amazing Plan for your life! 

It is available NOW on amazon.com,  
Click Here to Order!