What Is Your Vocation? - posted 1st on Daughters of the Deep

Hello dear readers!

Today I have a post to share with you all, which is very dear to my heart!

Here is my favorite quote from the post, "Do EVERYTHING that you do, whether mundane or classy, whether required or soul-provoked, whether boring or delightful; do it all in the name of God and with the full love of God poured out to those you share life’s moments with!"

My post,  What Is Your Vocation?  just went live on the Daughters of the Deep blog, and I am so excited about it!

Please click above to read and enjoy mu most recent post!

Love Your Neighbor - Posted on Daughters of the Deep

Please check out my most recent Blog Post that was just published on Daughters of the Deep:  

Love Your Neighbor - Posted on Daughters of the Deep
                                         Click to View

Here's a quote from the post: 

"Understanding that prayer is helpful in all circumstances is the key to letting go and letting God handle it!"

Enjoy! 

Live By Grace, Not By Perfection

Live by grace,

not by perfection.

That is the sign above my desk at work.

I need to be reminded of that every day!

Does someone in your life expect perfection from you?

If so, hold strong to the truth that we cannot obtain perfection, and that is OK.

I find myself striving so hard to please others.

Especially when it comes to my coworkers, who demand perfection from me. It is very difficult when we find ourselves in situations in life, in which perfection is expected.  As believers, we know in our hearts that perfection is unattainable for us, but that does not make the pressure from the World around us go away.

The grace of God is Enough! Believe it!  Live it!  Know it every day!

The only human that could ever, can ever, and will ever obtain perfection, was half-human half-holy, Jesus our Christ. So if the people in your life are pushing you towards perfection, stand firm in your belief that God's grace is enough!

We can sometimes put so much pressure on ourselves; the last thing we need is to internalize pressure from others!

Listen to the truth in these scriptures I highlight today. 

Colossians 3:23

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters

1 Corinthians 15:10

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace towards me was not in vain

As long as we work with all our heart, and give our personal best to whatever we do, the grace of God makes that enough!

You are enough just as you are!

Listen to this wonderful song, that I have chosen to interpret to be about the struggle to accept that we are Enough. And also that Jesus' sacrifice if Enough for us and we do not need to strive so hard! 

"Enough" By Branan Murphy

You are enough for God! Jesus is enough for you.

Put a stop the pressure around you and within you, pushing toward perfection. Believe that You are enough!

"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