God is Cool!

Posted May 9, 2014

Filed under About Me, England, Thoughts on Trusting God

God is cool!

He is a lot more than that, but He is also cool!!!

He always, always, always gives me what I need to keep going.

When God called me to England, I immediately began telling everyone because I am a follower of Jesus Christ and as John 10:27 says

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

I knew, that I knew, that I knew that the Holy Spirit had called me.

Immediately I felt a deep longing for a place that I had never been.

I felt compelled to leave everything behind and go, for no other reason than because I knew God told me to, and that was enough.

At the time…for a while….as long as I stayed focused on God and not on the world.

But then life happened…pressures mounted.

Oh I can take the fact that 9 out of 10 people think I am crazy, I could take the fact that I had to leave a home I love and sell everything in it to go to a place I have never been (Actually I love adventure so that worked) in a short amount of time (August 1^st…that’s really close) but what I have the hardest time with is my Kids.

What is the hardest thing is my four kids (all grown, but the one who will come with me). I have some awesome kids, and as most mothers I would lay down my life for any of them in a heartbeat. But God is not asking me to lay down my life for them, but for Him.

Because I am his child, He understands my heart. He understands my getting sidetracked with sadness of leaving them and worries about how it will all work out, and He knows that I need encouragement to stay on track.

One of the ways that He is encouraged me is to guide me to Francis Chan, not in person but on video. I was encouraged as Francis spoke of what God was doing in his life, as he shared about living courageously with and for God.

It was exactly what I needed at the time to keep going.

That is why I think God is cool!

Just when I think I am the only one…when I think I am not strong enough for the load that I think I have to carry, God reminds me that I am not alone, and I am strong enough, stronger than I thing, because He is with me and is my strength.

So if you are feeling discouraged, or not up to the task that God has laid before you,

Lean into God.

Trust the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you into all that God has for you, and remember you are stronger than you realize because you have a very cool God who cares enough about you to give you what you need to keep going strong.

Photo © jesadaphorn – Fotolia.com

Heart Check

Posted May 5, 2014

Filed under About Me, Thoughts on Trusting God, trusting God with out whole hearts

Trusting God to lead you sometimes means allowing Him to lead you into places that you don’t want to go but that are necessary for growth and preparation.
Yesterday I went through some hard things. No one was killed, or maimed, or hurt, but what did happen is that God allowed an area of my heart to be exposed that, if left to grow, would of taken my focus of serving and helping others in His name, and put squarely on pleasing myself.
I realize now that even a pencil dot of me wants recognition for serving in His name, it will be a pencil dot too much.
This is not about me, it’s about, has always been about Him. So I repent of my foolish pride, and I give all that I am, once again to God, knowing that God loves me, notices me, and that is enough.
I am not sure when that door to England will open.

Maybe it will be after some more heart checks concerning other matters.
But through it all I am trusting God that He would not lead me into anything, that He would not allow anything that would not be for my ultimate good.
If you are hurt or wounded make sure that you turn to God not away from Him.

What you have experienced may have just been a horrible act done to you, or a mistake, or even of your own doing, but God can use it to shape you and mold you…or maybe he just wants to hold and heal you.
Whatever the case…Keep turning to Him. Not only so that he may work through you, but so you may to be loved and restored, because He loves you, You are important to Him!!!! And so am I!!!!

Why a tidy package is usually not what Christians get handed

Posted May 3, 2014

Filed under Bible Verse, England, Picture, Thoughts on Trusting God

I love when God moves in my life, when He wants to give me that hope for a better future.

I have to admit though, that while I love the thought of change, the messiness of it can freak me out.

I want God to hand me my future in a nice tidy package with a big bow …but that is not usually how it works.

Gods leading is more a matter of his putting something on my heart, and as I step out he confirms what he wills for me, with signs.

So ever since God first called me to England I have been getting signs from him to remind me that it is indeed His leading me, and that I am not loosing my mind.

A lot of the signs are simple and yet are clearly from God as there could not be that many “coincidences.”

Although I live just outside of Seattle, Wa…quite a distance from England… I have run across more things from England in the last few months than in my entire life.

I will not surely remember them all but will list a few here…

A customer thought he was paying with a penny…it was a pence. He had no idea where it came from, and I now own it.

English book, flags, plates, spoons, jigsaw puzzels, ets…have been everywhere I looked.

I run into someone from England about every 5^th day.

I dream about England (I have been for a year before I knew was going). I also have dreams about England in which parts have come true in Real life.

Whenever I question God’s plan for me to move to England something “English Related happens”

The two last “Coincidences” were to do with Manchester (the city I am going to)

I was at work and my friend/boss was talking with me about England and she came across a luggage tag (the paper kind the airport gives out) and it was stamped (Manchester) on it.

And

Yesterday I was thinking (even though I knew) “Am I really going to Manchester?” as I stood behind a counter at work. I turned my head just then and noticed that a boy of around 12 had stopped directly in front of me, his back facing me, and his crisp white shirt with read lettering answered my question.

It had bright red letters and on the top half said Manchester.

When I turned my head in disbelief at the timing, and look in the opposite direction he walked again in my view and again turned his back to me….

So although I want everything tidy and in a nice package with a bright red bow, so that I don’t “have to” worry, the fact is…I not only don’t have to worry….I am not supposed to!!!

And if you are a Christian, neither are you… you are NOT flying blind!!!

God tells us through His word that…

“The LORD will continually lead you; he will feed you even in parched regions. He will give you renewed strength, and you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring that continually produces water.” (Isaiah 58:11, NET)

When God is leading you and you are finding it hard to believe…Ask Him for a sign. He has promised that as He leads you H e will revive you when weak.

So while you may not always get the tidy package from Him that you want…you can be sure that you will get the bow, because while God plans for our live are rarely, if ever, tidy…the signs are often as noticeable as a brightly colored bow.

Photo © Zarya Maxim – Fotolia.com

The two things about fear that every Christian should know

Posted April 21, 2014

Filed under Thoughts on Trusting God

“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” – Bill Cosby

We all have come face to face with fear in our lives. For some of us it is a daily struggle, and sometimes we may feel powerless to overcome it.

Yet, two things are very clear about fear.

It is not from God.

As it says in the 2 Timothy 1:7, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control”(ESV). So if we are feeling fear we know that it is not coming from God but from our adversary who “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8, ESV).

God can take away our fears.

In Psalms 34:4 we read how the Psalmist “sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears”(ESV). Because God is no respecter of persons, we know that if we go to God with our fears He will deliver us as well.

Do not allow the enemy to steal any part of your life in by causing you to fear. Life is to short and you have too much to accomplish to let fear stop you.

Instead run to God and give Him your fear, and He will meet you with His peace.

Then you will be free to accomplish great things for the glory of God.

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