As I take a moment to look over this last year, I never would have imagined to be where I am now or even facing the challenges of which I must trust God with today. When I began this  year, it was with hope and expectancy I tackled every thing the months brought me. There were good moments, life revelations and even the unexpected hiccups that seemed to come out of nowhere! Here I am today, facing another new year and I have absolutely no idea what could be “next”.                                                            I believe I am not alone in this sentiment…… Oh  I know God is going to do something, I know HE will fulfill HIS word to me, but I have never been here before!!! There is no fear, but there is a curious, back to basics kind of faith that I believe God is demanding of me.                                             If you have found yourself feeling the same, consider yourself right where God wants and needs you to be! This past year has been a year to tear down the things that became stumbling blocks and gave us a sense of false security. It was a year to see what we were really made of and could we stand. If you are reading this, you are still standing!                                          The last 12 months were days God used to show you how and what you were made of. The trials that knocked the wind out of you were not to destroy but to shake off the laziness and light a fire under your spiritual mindset. Those who are no longer with you, their season in your life has come to an end, but now new ones will begin to divinely cross your path. God had to show you, you can survive and HE will keep you even when it isn’t the way you saw it!                                                             We can enter 2015 knowing God is with us and HE has never left us. We may not have answers yet, and there may be unresolved issues we take into the new year, but we are not alone. This time and season may not look like anything you have ever seen or felt before, but God has set the atmosphere for “such a time as this”! Complete trust in God is the fuel necessary to move us where and how HE wants us. It is true………….. You have never been this way before!

It’s December 24, and by now, reality has set in, the Christmas holiday is here! I encourage you to walk away from social media these next few days and feel and live amongst your family. Actually experience them and the conversations you have with those you love. You don’t need a Christmas selfie, you need a family experience. Be and live in each moment presented to you over these next few days!                                 I am doing the same. I will share again after the Christmas holiday is over. I too want to create memories that only can be done with me actually present physically and mentally! . I pray you laugh and feel,and take in every moment, and truly live in these next days. The most important people that need your posts and updates are your kids, grand kids, mother, father, brothers, sisters, friends and extended family. Pour into your future, bless those that need encouragement, and let someone love on you! Merry Christmas, I bless you and pray loneliness subsides in the presence of Gods perfect gift to us all……….. His son Jesus

I write this love letter to you hoping you will know and see how very loved you truly are! This journey called life that you are traveling down, it has been tough, challenging and even brutal at times!           You began life with the wide-eyed innocence of a child, and now, years later, battle wounds and scars showing, you find yourself numb to any kind of emotion except for “blah”! This letter is for you, yes you, the one who feels invisible, the one who feels defeated and the the one who may have forgotten how amazing you really are!                                                                  You have realized, over time, there is much in this journey you can’t control. Rarely do you get the “fairy tale ending” throughout your life. The truth be told, you really do have a reason to feel what you are feeling! It’s all right to have those moments where you grieve when necessary or cry in frustration and even feel anger for a minute. The key is to never “stay there”! For some of you, you may have been staying “there” too long! You have forgotten the you before the crisis began and now you are trying to exist in the residue of survival. For some, it may just be everyday life, times are tough right now, and it takes everything in you to not give up and quit!                                                   The good news is, you do have hope! Not in your own strength, but in a God who made you and loved you enough to give you a very special gift here at Christmas, HIS son Jesus. This time of year is challenging, but maybe just so you can see how much you really need God in your life.                          You are hand-crafted and a one of a kind! You cannot be duplicated and you are here on this earth to contribute something only you can. The love God has for you goes beyond every mistake and every bad choice you ever made. How you feel now and all you experienced thus far has been used to bring you into HIS arms. The bible says NOTHING can seperate us from the love of God……. You are still in this , and HE still loves you and you are not alone! As of right now, you have been told you are loved, and there is a reason and a purpose for you to be here! The next days and weeks of your journey can be brighter and full of hope and expectation. Give God an opportunity to show you how amazing and gifted you

Recently I was having a conversation with one of my “grown” sons and I found myself encouraging him with a story from my early struggle years. He had found himself in a place in his life where he was irritated and uncomfortable. He had some choices to make. As I hung up the phone, I smiled knowing, he was truly on his “faith journey ” with God and now all of the years of being taught and instructed were becoming real. He was seeing it was now up to him to “move with God” and to actually “do” what he had read about and watched others do.   There are many of us who are in the very same place. We are uncomfortable and we have prayed, gone to every church service, sent out social media prayer requests and yet we haven’t seen any change or progress. Maybe it’s time for you to become the one who steps out of your comfort zone and takes the faith risks now?!                 As a believer, I don’t believe we ever get to cruise through life and put it in “auto pilot”. The bible says without faith it is impossible to please God. It also says faith without works is dead! We are forever facing obstacles that challenge us to step, leap, or boldly crash into them by using our faith in God. You may be facing one of those moments now!                                                 We have a responsibility to act on the promises of God. Yes, we want to wait on Him, but He may be waiting on you to step out and move toward what HE has for you. We can’t murmur and complain that it’s hard, uncomfortable or not easy… we have to step up and do our part too! I look back and every life changing moment I experienced, there was something I had to do to show God I was ready and trusting! Let me give you and example…When my children were young, and we were struggling financially, there were many opportunities to see God move in our lives. If one of us needed clothes or a new pair of shoes, we would gather the clothes or shoes we had outgrown and give them to someone who needed them. Every single time, God would bless us with the money or someone would give us shoes or clothing! We had to act first, by faith, and then God met us by supplying what we needed. This is a principle I taught my children from youth; when you need something, you release something and HE will always take care of you!                                                     The world we live in now is all about comfort and no pain. As I was talking to my son, I had to remind him that everytime it was time for a spiritual or natural promotion, it was through faith and discomfort we got there! The quick, fast easy way is not the “God Way”. We have to be groomed right along side of our promise, otherwise we won’t be able to walk in it, it will destroy us!                                                         I encourage you, if your journey is uncomfortable, irritating, or disappointing, it may be time for you to step out in faith and show God you trust HIM. If the house is too small or too big, maybe it’s time to start looking for something else, even if the money isn’t visible yet. Your husband or wife doesn’t seem “passionate” anymore…you bring some “spice” and you be the one to make it more exciting. You don’t feel you are at the job you are supposed to be, start looking for something you like or get a business plan together for what your passionate about.                                     We cannot be afraid of discomfort, it is what greatness is born out of. There is always pain in the birth of anything! Step out and become that faith walker you used to be when you first started your journey. If you are just beginning, discomfort is the sign your about to step out into something God wants for you! It’s time to take those leaps of faith!

It had been almost a year since the divorce.God had allowed us time to “lick our wounds” for a season and now we were in Nashville, the place I believed God had brought us. I had high expectations and just knew now I would see the kids flourish and I would step into what I was supposed to do! Several months passed and NOTHING was going according to plan. There were constant delays in getting into our home, the kids were feeling the effects of all we had been through, and I was facing reality, I wasn’t seeing the promise yet!                                       I remember the very moment HE nudged open the window of hope for me… I had just dropped off the children at school and returned to the room I shared with my daughter, in the home of my dear friend. It was quiet and I was all alone. I began to weep and cry and tell God how I truly felt! I moved there on His prompting, the kids were in their own battle emotionally, and I was tired of the delays and was feeling the pressure of having to lead these children! After a moment of “pity party crying”, I heard this “Thank You”. Thank you? For what? I just sounded like a blubbering fool and God says thank you? As I lay there on the bed listening to what  would come next He says, “Tell Me thank you”.                     I immediately grabbed pen and paper and begin to write. Effortlessly the words came billowing out, and my closure song was written,” Thank You” . The chorus is this………..

Thank you for the times that we shared.            Thank you for the moments you cared.                 Thank you for the life that we had,                      Thank you for all of the good, and the bad.

God just wanted me to thank Him for all things that led me to that place. There were triumphs, disappointments, emotional highs and lows, and even shattered dreams. God had used them all to show me it had all worked together to set me where I was supposed to be. As I wept with each word written for that song, I began to feel the release of what I had been carrying for years! The wounds were no longer the weapon used to destroy me but they were becoming the scars that would strengthen me.                               Many of you may find yourself in a very similar place or circumstance I was in. Life didn’t turn out the way you thought it would. You have found yourself in a place in your life that doesn’t look like the original picture you had in your mind. Things happen, people change, and trials are promised to those of us who follow Christ. The good news is , God’s grace and mercy follows us and cover us through everything we encounter. If we don’t step outside of our “victim fog” and truly THANK HiM for the journey thus far, we will miss the beauty of the lessons  and strength we gain through everything!                Just taking the time and writing that song, I could see where I had come from and where I  had been given the tools and wisdom to go forward. From my pain and trial, a beautiful song was written, and when people hear it, healing begins for those who are in such a place.                                                               There are people waiting to hear from you! What you are experiencing, or have experienced in your life is to help and encourage those you meet along your journey. We are Gods living examples of hope and truth in this dark and hopeless world. We must see ourselves as HIS representatives and spokespersons for HIS love and truth. I encourage you to start “thanking Him” for where you are and ask Him to show you what you have gained and learned from all of the triumphs and disappointments. It is then you will see exactly how much HE loves you!

Letting go has to be one of the most challenging things to do as a human. We hold onto clothes, papers, baby teeth and broken pieces we say we will fix… even past experiences that are long gone and only present in our minds! We re-live glory days and mourn what should have been, and usually keep people in our lives we should have said good -bye to long ago.                                                               We are approaching the end of an old year, and getting ready to welcome in a new one. It’s time to clean house, hearts and minds to make room for “Next”. The bible speaks of newness many times over and we are reminded that old things are passed away and all things become new. If I am to renew my mind daily, then everyday means I get a fresh new start! Why is it so hard to let go then? Why do we want to keep reliving things that God tells us are passed?                  This journey called life has many facets to the adventure. We meet people over the years who inspire, teach, mold and even hurt us. We dream big, we lose big. We love much and break our hearts in the process. We raise children and release them to do “their thing”. Life is a constant receiving and releasing! Letting go is just as important as receiving a new idea or letting someone new into our lives.                      In my journey, I believe the hardest thing I had to learn to do was how to let a dream die and to let go of how I thought it should look.           When you are given a dream, a vision, or a relationship, you begin to pour all of your faith, time and emotion into molding it into what you see. This becomes your life’s ambition and the “thing” you believe is yours to be a steward over. Suddenly something happens out of your control, you lose the job, someone dies, divorce, broken promises… suddenly it’s  spinning away and disappearing from your sight! This “thing” you were given words about, you know that you know you were supposed to do, it’s gone and now you want me to let it go?                       This journey we call life has many unexplainable and “only God knows why” moments . We, as His children, have to trust him with those times. We do however, have to release and let go of these things so we can position ourselves for the new things He has for us. If we insist on holding onto something longer then we should, we may miss the new way or new person God has for us. The vision God has for us doesn’t change, we just have to understand that the people and the “how to’s” can be exchanged! God is not a man that He should lie, we just have to keep listening and be flexible to how HE will make it come to pass! Had I stopped at the disappointment and held on to “what was”, I wouldn’t be here today! God is still doing what HE promised, he is just doing it through another avenue!                       I encourage you, if you will just let go of what has long been gone and is dead, HE will give you a new way, avenue, or even bring someone else! We don’t forget what we learned through what is gone, we honor it and we appreciate those people, places and times we had in our journey. Let go as we leave this year, expect a renewal and a hope for the new that awaits for you just ahead. We must first say good-bye before we can say hello.

Recently I had a counseling session with a young couple who were dating and I listened to what each of them had to say about “the issue” at hand. I let them talk, or should I say accuse and attack, and after about 5 minutes of the continuous absence of consideration for each other, I stepped in. Neither person was hearing the other and for me it was creating an atmosphere of drama and chaos. It was obvious, they were depending on the other person to make them happy and to feel good about who they were! Needless to say, our moments left together were about just that……… You can’t give the power of your happiness to anyone, you will always lose that battle!                               I wish someone would have told me that earlier, I might of thought a little better of myself or made different choices. It’s everyone’s desire to be happy, isn’t that what we all say to ourselves? I challenge you to ask yourself what do you  think “happy” is? I believe it’s simply to have peace and comfort in knowing you are doing and being what you are supposed to be. With that said, it has nothing to do with someone else, it’s my journey and revelation of who I am and what God has for me to do!         The truth is, there is no way anyone can help us to be happy if we truly don’t know who we are. We should never give someone the power to our happiness, it’s not theirs to have in the first place. If I know who I am and where I am supposed to go, no one will be able to change my direction.                                                   Getting to “that place” takes time and the willingness to be alone with God and self. Most of us don’t want to wait that long. I believe this is why most of us are in  relationships that are dysfunctional, co-dependent, or just plain draining! We didn’t do it on purpose, we did it out of desire, fear, hurt or just plain loneliness. The good news is if you are single, you can still take the time and really search and ask God to show you “You”! He can comfort the loneliness and give you the wisdom where you need to re-in force the weak spots. It isn’t easy, but the time spent now with HIM, will save you a faith-walk later in getting out of a bad situation! If you are married, God can do anything that two people are in agreement about. The key word, agreement….. I’m not going to sugar coat this, sometimes flesh decisions can be the hardest faith walks ever! We have to die to our flesh choices and trust God, as a married couple, we both end up agreeing and walk it out together.                                         Wherever your journey finds you now, God can still show you who YOU are to HIM. If we take the time to really seek these things, the people in our lives won’t have the power to control our happiness. We will be happy in knowing who we are supposed to be and that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing! People who are truly happy, they attract the “right” kind of people!

Why did this happen? How many times have we asked ourselves this question? As Christians, we know we have trials and tribulations, but some of these trials just don’t add up! What we may be facing now, our mind can’t even wrap itself around how to deal with it or even face it!                          This is where you decide… is God sovereign? Is HE in control or not? I have been there, I knew God healed, delivered, and I saw the miraculous with my own eyes. But my problem, this problem can’t be fixed? The pain, is this going to kill me? Will I ever smile, laugh, love, hope, and actually feel again? I knew that I knew I had dotted every I and crossed every T , all as a true faith- believing Christian, but I wasn’t seeing it work out the way I wanted it to!                                                             These are moments we face in our lives, where our true “trust” in God is tested. It was in one of those moments I realized,  it wasn’t about believing in God, but trusting in HIM to handle the “unknowns” of  what I had no control over. There is always something you can’t control. The truth is , we don’t control everything! A man or woman’s decision to leave, a disobedient teen-ager , a boss, or even an illness that attacks our physical body, no control. Now I’m in a position to see if I truly TRUST in GOD!                                                Many of you are there right now and it seems hopeless, you are even trying to blame yourself for someone else’s choices. STOP and tell HIM, “this is too big for me, it’s out of my control”! Your act of submission and vulnerability is one that positions you to receive Gods love and healing power. It may not turn out how you thought it would. This doesn’t mean you love God less, or that you have little faith. It simply means there are things in this life that only our Soverign God has complete knowledge over. This journey is definitely one full of bumps and challenges, but if we truly trust God, we are never alone and we will forever be comforted through what we don’t understand.

Thank God I got through yesterday…if it wasn’t one thing it was another! It was one of those days I was really contemplating just staying inside and not attempt anything new or adventurous! Have you ever felt like that? Maybe life feels that way now.
Everywhere we look there is such chaos and turmoil. People have somehow felt entitled to criticize and tear down human life and judge anything that breathes! A kind word is rarely heard and what a miracle it would be to actually hear a compliment! This world has lost the ability to be kind , encouraging or hopeful!
This time of year we seem to be a little more aware of others. We remember friends and family so we may “feel” a little more, but what about the rest of the year? It’s so easy to get caught up in “our problems” that we can become blinded to what’s….Just around the corner.
Life can be a bully and the enemy has
nothing but lies and false promises, so why do we let that determine our journey? If we really believe God has us in HIS hands then why do we allow ourselves to stop, shut down, or just stay put? I know many of us have had long and painful journey’s so far, but we are still here! Trust me, I have had several moments where I just couldn’t take one more piece of bad news or
have to figure out any more problems! I had to absolutely, without a visual, trust that God had my life in control! If I had stopped and not gone …just around the corner, I wouldn’t of found that hope, or joy, or have discovered the solution. The bible says God didn’t give us the spirit of fear, but power, love and a sound mind. If I truly and honestly believe HE means that, I have a duty to not stop and to keep going
“Just around the corner”
We cannot even imagine all that God has for us, just around the corner. The people we can help, the opportunities ahead of us……. the difference we can make in this hopeless world!

Waiting , waiting, waiting, that is all I seem to be doing! I’m sure many of you can say the same thing , I’m still waiting!
Recently I was having a conversation with God , taking a moment to whine and victimize my current status of wait, to only be told this……..”The wait
isn’t because of you, it’s for those you are joined to!” WHAT???? Of course as a believer , I immediately check myself for sin and mistakes and then HE calms me so I can understand.
There are times when we seemingly go around the same mountain only to realize WE are the problem. This time of ” WAIT” is different. Each of us have a journey and a path we are called to walk on and it intersects with people daily. There are relationships that are seasonal and happen so you can learn and be encouraged .
Intimate personal relationships , the kind that become a joint destiny together, requiring many seasons of waiting until you are one in thought and purpose. There are the ones we connect with to simply get an assignment done. The trouble is, we don’t all grow equally or at the same rate in our faith and believing.
In other words, some of our waiting is because we are joined with others that are not where we may be in our faith walk. Some of us can hit a wall once and we will never do it again, others are a little more hard-headed and stubborn! Many times we cut people off thinking ,they are the stumbling block , keeping us from getting our promise , the job or new assignment! The time of waiting you are in now ,may just mean you have to take the time to encourage and strengthen those you are connected with , not abandon them!
Sometimes we can misread Gods ways and be quick to forget grace and mercy! The wait can be put to good use and we can learn and grow wiser in our wait. If you are in a time of waiting take a moment and look around…. you may be waiting on the ones whom you are connected with to learn something you have already grasped. You may be the one who needs the strength and the time to grow, if so, pull from those around you ,those you are connected to. Instead of mourning and murmuring through the “Wait” pause and see where you may need to undergird your connections. The truth is , we all want to be ready when the wait is over and we don’t want to miss or lose the connections we need. So if you think about it , you aren’t really waiting , you are doing what is necessary in your wait! Encouraging self and others to be stronger for the next phase of this amazing journey called LIFE!