Giving it to HIM and not taking it back…
Where do I start…?
I am often anxious…
” Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”
I know this verse above… It plays over and over in my head. I know it to be true, so why is it so hard? I give my anxieties to HIM and then I sometimes take them back…
I struggle to find peace at times…
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled ”
I also know this verse to be true, but again, my heart is often heavy and I long for peace. Peace for myself and for others.
I sometimes do not feel good enough…
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
I Know this verse to be true but I am hard on myself. I often feel that I have failed. I struggle to accept mercy.
I am often weak …
“Hear me as I pray, O Lord.
Be merciful and answer me!”
I cry. I know that no matter what is going in in my life, I am where God wants me to be. Yet I still cry out for HIM to change things even though I know HE already has my life planned.
“A man’s heart plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.”
What can I do…?
How do I find peace, strength and courage ?
God knows that I am HIS anxious child, HE knows I am not perfect, HE knows I cry…HE has every little hair on my head ( even the grey ones) accounted for!
HE always answers my prayer when I pray… ” Lord, place me where you want me to be today”… Now I need to trust HIM when I land in that “place”.
I know constant prayer is the antidote to anxiety, fear, heartache and weakness. Praying lets God speak to my heart… I am trying to ” worry less and pray more”. I want to give it all to HIM and not take it back…. Who’s in?
Carrie
On the receiving end of love….
I often pray for God to put me where I need to be. At times, He places me to be the one to encourage, the shoulder to cry on, the listener, the helper, the loving friend, the helping hand. The one who will stand up for the underdog and love broken people.
Lately, He has placed me on the receiving end of the above. I have been brokenhearted. I have been encouraged, listened to through tears, given wise loving advice and most of all, I been loved unconditionally by kind, loving and wise Christian moms who I am very proud to call my friends…
As we go through trials in life … We always know ” this too shall pass” but in the moment our hearts still break.
Corinthians 4: 17-18 “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” but in the moment it still hurts.
As we know, the number one priority is to love God and love others. This is the golden rule for Christians… You can’t say you love God if you don’t love others….
We as parents are all in this together. There are no perfect parents or perfect children. Kindness and understanding goes a long way, lift up and encourage the ” brokenhearted” …
I am rich..
A friend sent me an article that inspired me to write about friendship today. I was thinking about how very fortunate I have been to have friends that I can call family. I am not talking about fair- weather “friends”, or talk about you behind you back “friends”… I’m talking about true blue, donate a kidney to you if they needed to friends. People who have been there through the ups and downs. The ones who have cried with me when my heart was broken and shared pants wetting laughter with me ( I won’t mention any names) in times of JOY! The friends who I can share my deepest secrets with and not feel judged. Friends that say and really mean the words of.. “I get it”, “I have been there” or even “I have no idea how that feels but I’m here for you”. Friends that REALLY pray for me when I ask them to and pray even when I don’t ask them to. Friends that can tell when “lets do dinner or lunch” means “I really need to spend time with you” and they make room in their busy schedule to take that time.
Most of you who know me, know that I don’t really know many strangers. I love people. Old people, young people, people of different cultures… I meet you, we click, I love you forever! I truly believe that loving God and loving people are the most important things in life. You can’t love God if you don’t love his people. If we do this well, we are living well, we are rich! A richness way beyond “money” and “things”. Some of you make the above so easy, and I love you as my family as well as my friend.
Of course, we go through seasons of life where due to circumstances we don’t always get to spend the time we want with certain friends. We know that real true friends will always love you, and you can easily pick right back up where you left off! Thank you to the ones, new friends and old, you know who you are, who have added to my richness! I love you and I cherish our friendship!
“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”
– Proverbs 11:14
Please share with your special friends!
Oatmeal instead of pancakes…
” every day is beautiful if you choose to see it”
The part of the day, I would love to skip, would have to be the morning routine. Anybody with me here? One hour of just.. Wow! Waking up Mrs. cranky pants. Repeating myself over and over and over. I need to record myself one time and just keep hitting play each morning. Making breakfast, packing lunches, repeating myself some more…” Wipe the milk from your face. “We don’t have you favorite pancakes, you get oatmeal today. ” Find your shoes, get your coat, grab your lunch, leave the cat alone.” I said ” brush your teeth, not pet the dog” ” No , we don’t have time to build a Lego ranch before school”. “You are going to be late, don’t blast your music in the car”. Animals staring me down like they have not eaten in a week. They are all up under my feet, my feet that still are shoeless and we needed to leave five minutes ago. Then, we finally get to the car and I have a quick panic… Did I wear a bra?? Lol!
But honestly, do I really wish I could skip the morning routine? ( well not as much as the bed time routine Ha-ha ).
No, seriously, I stood there in the middle of my mess and was about to have an Ally McBeal moment …the moment where a big vacuum was about to come through my window and suck it all up… the lunches, the kids, pets, sticky plates.. all of it! Then It hit me…what am I thinking? Lord forgive me! Thank you for my health and strength. Thank you for hands that can pack lunches and prepare breakfast. Thank you for feet that can run inside five times for things that I have forgotten. Notice I’m not thanking the Lord for my memory…ugh. Thank you Lord that I have this day with my friends and family, because I know that this could change in an instant. Thank you for another morning where we may be rushed, irritated and a little tired but we are all awake and healthy at least for today. If God grants me the same blessings tomorrow… bring on the chaos, I got my voice recorder ready! And, just maybe, we will have pancakes instead of oatmeal tomorrow!
“Today why don’t you love a little deeper laugh a little louder, hold the ones you love a little tighter. because tomorrow is never promised.”
How does this weary world rejoice…
As I sit here on this Christmas Eve morning, I feel so very Blessed yet sad at the same time. So many people in my little circle and everywhere in this world for that matter are suffering. This season has been filled with loss, pain and sickness for so many I love. I understand why we all have to struggle. I know that I am thankful for my struggles, for they have shaped me into the person God wants me to be and He is still “shaping” me. What I struggle with is understanding “Why do some people have to struggle so much more than others”? As Christians, we are all God’s children, all sinners. Why does my friend have to be in such unbearable pain?. Of course, I would never want to have Cancer or any life threatening illness…who would? But, I still can’t understand…”why not me”? Why her, and not me”? I know our God is sovereign. We do not know all the answers of why He does what He does. I have to remind myself…”He’s got this”.
“Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him”
-Psalms 115:3
“All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: “What have you done?”
-Daniel 4:35
I sometimes become lost in my daily madness. My house gets messy, laundry piled high, drawers full of junk. My kids get sick, bills keep coming, appliances break, cars need fixed. People disappoint me. Things don’t go as planned. These things are constants. Things could be so much worse! When I think about these things, I remind myself to stop, take a breath, and just look around at all my little blessings.
So Today, although sad, I feel blessed. I feel grateful. So grateful for my life that is not perfect, but perfect for me. I am so grateful to be aware of how blessed I am.
Today, remember that the best gift we can give is the gift of grace. Love and enjoy “your people”. Reach out to those less fortunate. And remember, God knows suffering and He says..”comfort my people”.
Merry Christmas!
Joy in finding Christmas Cheer…reach out to help others this year
A little reblog reminder:)
Everything is merry and bright…It’s the most wonderful time of the year right? Ummm…not always the case. Christmas for some can be the hardest time of the year. As I sit here this morning with my coffee, fire going, and my lights twinkling, I am feeling blessed that I can be cheerful and at moments..”merry and bright”. I’m not saying my life is perfect and easy right now but I feel so blessed that for the first time in several years, our family and extended family is not dealing with major illness, treatments, cancer, death or painful grieving. I can remember the days when I would rush through the store in a daze trying to find those last minute gifts,half smiling at “joyful people” just trying to get out and back to my car where I would take a deep breath and just want to cry. I want to share…
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Capturing life 