Don't lose Hope.

I talked to a young woman the other day whose husband of 14 years had recently decided to leave her.  He had informed her that he had fallen in love with someone else.  She was feeling completely overwhelmed as she has two children who are also struggling with the feelings of rejection, abandonment and fear that come with separation or divorce.  All I could do was encourage her that God was not unaware of her circumstances.  I told her that God loved her and wanted to comfort her and her kids in this dark place.  I encouraged her that God held her safely in the palms of his hands. 

   Sometimes people just need to be reminded that God sees their hardship and cares for them.  I remember when I first realized that my previous marriage was not going to survive.  I was overcome with heartbreak, powerlessness and hopelessness.  My life was unravelling, and I had no control over my circumstances.  All I could do was hold on tightly to God through the hard times as I felt like He was my only hope.   As it turns out that was exactly what I needed.  It wasn't just an act of desperation, but it was the one thing I did that helped the most.  I am so thankful that I had faithful Christian friends (Bob, Mike, Steve, Nancy, Ward) that God brought alongside me to encourage me and pray for me when life seemed to be so bleak.  In my case, things turned out far different than I expected.  Although I never expected to be divorced after 25 years of marriage—those were my circumstances.  To compound that, the small business I had opened with my former spouse, wound up closing.  When Havilah’s Boutique closed down and eventually went bankrupt that set off an additional whirlwind of loss.  Much of what I didn’t lose in the divorce—I sold to pay down the staggering business debt that was all I had left of that business.   I had no retirement, no savings, no home and no plan--but I did have hope.  Although I felt like that caricature of the middle aged divorced guy living with his 75 year old mother, I had that small hope that God would still work this out for good in my life because he loves me.  The feeling of hope started small and started building the more that I poured out my heart to God.  The more I pursued God’s heart the more I would see his fingerprints on my life in so many profound ways.  Now, almost 2 years down the road, I have seen such restoration in my life.  I still sometimes sit in stunned amazement at all of the blessings that God has brought into my life.  All the things that I lost have been restored multiple times over.  I married a woman that is truly a gift from God.  I have two stepsons that I adore and it seems like in so many ways God is continuing to lavish me with his love and affection.  For those of you going through the pain of broken relationships right now—don’t lose hope.  If you seek God in the hard places he definitely has the ability to restore relationships that have been broken.  I have heard multiple stories from Christians whose marriages have been restored stronger than ever, even after situations where it seemed like those relationships were over.  I know people who have seen reconciliation with their kids, parents, spouse when they sought after God in the midst of hardship.  Even if your marriage can’t be saved however —God still has a plan for you.  Your heavenly father has this unique ability to bring good things out of even the most traumatic situation.  I'm a shining example of how God can take someones life where circumstances appear hopeless and still rewrite the script and add a happy ending.  I am so thankful that I am learning to be able to trust God's character regardless of how I feel or what I see.  I am also thankful that I have truly learned, in the deepest parts of my heart, that our heavenly father is faithful and he loves his children profoundly.   

Romans 5:5  "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Psalm 27:4-5 "One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock."

Believing without seeing

At different points in my life I’ve been in situations where I encountered things that (at the time) felt completely overwhelming.  Looking back it seems like those situations helped me to begin to comprehend the faithfulness of God.  Many times in the past--people, looking at me from the outside, would assume I had everything together.   Although I legitimately loved God and trusted he would arise and help other people—subconsciously I always expected him to reject or abandon me in the hard times.  Crisis often shook me to the core because it revealed the doubt, pride, lack of faith and fear of rejection that was always there lurking beneath the surface.  When I would encounter hardship I used to panic and spend copious amounts of time in prayer.  I almost felt like if I prayed “hard enough” God might hear me and help.  I was living my spiritual life like a peasant begging for God's notice--unaware that I was one of his beloved children and already had his full attention.  Once my prayers were answered, I would relax again and feel peaceful.  That wasn't because of any legitimate trust in God however, but simply because my circumstances changed.  But is God only good when he gives us things?  Is he only faithful when he answers our prayers the way we want him to?  A few years ago that pattern changed. God was faithful enough to allow the circumstances to come about so that he could address the fear, pain, brokenness and pride that was buried deep in my heart.   At the time God definitely didn’t seem to answer my prayers and my circumstances were unbearable.  In that dark place, however, is where he spoke to my heart and I finally began to understand his profound love for me.  It took losing everything (or so I thought) for me to finally understand in the deepest places-- my heavenly fathers enormous love for me.  You see, once you can praise and trust God even when things are falling apart--then you can be certain you have a firm faith.  Otherwise, your hope is always at the mercy of your circumstances.  A.W. Tozer once said, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.”

John 20:29 - "Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Learning to trust

As I've grown older Ive just started to learn to trust God in the really hard places. For it's in those places where our faith is really tested and refined. As I look back-- the times when I felt the most lonely, rejected, fearful and abandoned are the times when God made himself known to me in the most tangible ways. During the periods in my life where things just weren't going according to "my plans", I discovered that despite my fears God had much better plans for me. If you are going through hard times right now, call out to your heavenly father. He loves you and wants to make his presence known in your life. - Brian

The God portrayed by Hollywood.

Last night my wife, Heather and I saw the movie "Noah" for the first time. I can't believe the amount of money and talent that was wasted making this. The reason I didn't like it wasn't because of the plethora of literary inaccuracies such as rock monsters, magic beans, or ancient Canaanites wearing welding masks or battling with rocket launchers. The reason that I didn't like it wasn't that Noah was portrayed as a complete raving homicidal maniac. The real reason I didn't like the movie was because of the inaccurate way it portrayed God. Although Gods judgement is definately a part of the story of Noah--God was portrayed in this movie as a divine being that got frustrated with mankind and our sin that he simply abandoned us. The movie portrayed God as being so thoroughly disgusted with all of mankind and our violent tendencies that he became completely ambivalent towards human beings. I was offended by that portrayal because the God I have grown to love is anything but ambivalent. He loves us profoundly and cares deeply for every aspect of our lives. He is the God that hears us when we cry out to him and yearns to comfort us in our pain. He is our loving heavenly father who loves us in spite of our brokenness and rejoices in who we are. I'm so glad that I've gotten to know the "real creator" that Jesus spoke about--Instead of the vacant deity being portrayed in this movie.

God loves broken things

 

I read this post and I had to share it. It is a very powerful reminder about our Heavenly Father. Even more powerful for me is the fact that it was written by my oldest son, Israel.

 

 "God loves taking the broken things inside of us and turning them into a beautiful tapestry for His glory. Don't be afraid of your past or your brokenness--Jesus is excited to show you His love while He walks you through the process of healing your heart."  #mythoughtstonight

Walking in Authenticity

What the world needs is authentic Christians that walk in a humble, transparent dependence on God. In the past i have had well intentioned Christians try to tell me that we need to only verbalize our victories and  not speak about our failures and pain.  I have been told that we need to "positively confess" what we want to see going on in our lives--and not the reality (if that reality is painful).  I understand the belief in positive confession but anyone reading the Psalms can see the struggles, doubts, sadness and questioning that David went through in walking out his relationship with God.  Yet, in the midst of hardship and grief he didn't pretend that everything was OK.  Instead he verbalized his trust in God despite his circumstances. How can those around us going through hardship feel like they can even relate to Christians (and subsequently Christianity) when every Christian they meet is working so hard to keep the mask on? Personally I've been through joyful times but I've also been through suffering and pain in life. Throughout everything though my loving Heavenly Father held me securely in the palm of his hand. We need more believers to be bold enough when facing hardship to say "my life is a mess, I'm broken and grieving--yet despite what I see, I chose to trust God knowing that he loves me and is faithful."  Being a Christian doesn't mean that we will never face trauma or pain. It simply means that we have hope in the fact that God loves us, He will never leave us, and He will bring blessing out of the adversity.  If we aren't transparent with our struggles--we will never be relatable to a lost and hurting world

Our Amazing God

1. 
   The amazing thing about having a relationship with God is how he's always there for us whether we "feel" his presence or not. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we can now approach God directly. I'm so glad I can walk through life with the confidence of always knowing that my loving heavenly father holds me securely in his hands. Nothing ever takes him by surprise or catches him unaware. Most ...importantly, he has this amazing ability to take life situations and circumstances that seem impossible and eventually bring blessings out of trauma. This morning if you're facing hardship or life seems out-of-control--share your heart with your heavenly father. He loves you, he earnestly wants to hear from you, and most importantly he is our source of help and refuge.

Loving our neighbors

It's amazing how people try to justify all kinds of evil behavior. Especially in a divorce--people will justify saying and doing really unkind things without thinking twice.  It's a shame but it seems like concepts such as character, commitment, purity and kindness are even missing in much of the church today.  Often we get so sidetracked on political or doctrinal issues that we forget the simple message that Jesus preached. The message that we should "love the Lord our God with all our hearts, mind, soul and strength-and we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves."   Jesus is coming back for a bride that is spotless and pure. As Christ followers we need to start walking out who God created us to be. Not out of a fear of judgement--but out of a lovesick desire to live our lives to honor our Lord.

Ephesians 5:27 ESV

"So that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

A crown of beauty instead of ashes

Over the last 2 years I’ve experienced a lot of change in my life.  Much of it, I didn’t desire at the time.  When I was served with divorce papers after being married for 25 years—I initially felt like a 2,000 lb boulder just landed on my chest.  When the additional realization hit that I was also facing the failure of our family business (Havilah’s Boutique) and the loss of my home and financial security I felt like my life was over.  It felt like my best days were long behind me.  The combination of shock, sadness and rejection was overwhelming.  Yet, I made the conscious decision to trust in Gods’ goodness.  Although I didn’t understand the hardship around me—I did understand and believe that God loved me and held me safely in the palm of his hand.  Sometimes when it appears like you’ve lost everything—you discover that Christ is all you need.  Over the last 2 years I’ve seen God’s hand at work in my life in so many ways.  I’ve seen him faithfully working in my children’s lives as they’ve walked through this hard season as well.  I’ve seen my relationship with my children grow stronger than it’s ever been.  I’ve seen Gods provision in allowing me to purchase a new car (as my older car was breaking down) and move into a home even though my credit was damaged severely.  Last year I saw God bring a beautiful woman and her 2 sons into my life.  The more we got to know each other it became apparent we both seemed to be on the same frequency --as she had also learned to depend on God as she went through her own journey through loss and pain.  She (Heather) had also lost her spouse, although not through divorce but through a fatal traffic accident.  As many of you know, Heather and I got engaged a few weeks back.  I’m so excited to spend the rest of my life with this lovely woman and her amazing sons.  I dearly love them and I fully believe God has brought us together.  Now, instead of feeling my best days are behind me--instead I’m looking forward to the all the neat adventures that God has in store for us in the future.  If you are currently going through hardship and trauma—pour out your grief before God.  He loves you and wants to take the hardship and pain in your life and create something beautiful out of it.  In the book of Isaiah it says that it’s God’s desire to comfort those of us that mourn and to bestow on us a crown of beauty instead of ashes.  Im so grateful that I serve a God that hears our prayers, comforts us in our pain and dearly loves his children.     

 

Isaiah 61:1-3

 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise     instead of a spirit of despair.  They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”

Learning to look and listen.

With marriages it’s so important to communicate with your spouse.  Communication includes both speaking and listening.  Isn’t it interesting however that when it pertains to our relationship with God that communication is often 1 way.  We cry out to God when we are hurting or in need—but how often do we truly listen for his voice?  How often do we intently search to hear and see God communicating with us?  What if God desired to speak to us every day but we simply weren’t hearing him because we weren’t listening?  What if God was speaking to us through our dreams and our imagination yet we never realized it as we mistakenly assume that these things were all coming from within us.  What if he is conversing to us through the unusual coincidences in our lives—yet we analytically brush them off?  In 1 Kings 19:11-13, it states The Lord said (to Elijah), “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. ‘Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.  And after the fire came a gentle whisper.   When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.  Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  It’s interesting that God was not speaking to Elijah through a loud booming voice that came to him amidst the tornado, earthquake or the fire.  He instead spoke to the prophet through a gentle whisper.  This whisper was also referred to as a “still, small voice”.  It was such a slight whisper that it almost might not been noticed if Elijah wasn’t intently listening for Gods’ voice.  What if part of our mission as Christ followers is to scrutinize the scripture to learn about God and his character so that when we hear that gentle whisper from God we can identify it as coming from our beloved heavenly father?  What if another part of our mission is to learn how to see and hear God’s voice and prompting in our lives?  To learn to listen intently so that when he speaks we hear him.  Jesus said in John 10:27, that “My sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me.”  Most of us need to start talking less and listening (and looking) more when communicating with God.  Jesus said his sheep listen to his voice.  Well, fellow sheep, we better start listening.        

 

Proverbs 25:2 - It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

John 10:1-5  “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

another post on trust

One of the biggest lessons I have learned over the last year was to trust in God’s goodness even when my external circumstances seem bleak.  I have been learning how to be able to trust that God is good and that he loves me despite how I might feel.  I might not understand why things might be happening at any given point in my life—but I do fully believe that God is good and is always working things out for the good in my life.  Part of maturing in our relationship with God is learning to understand who God is, how he feels about us and who we are created to be.  The next step in the process of maturing is learning to aggressively hold on to those truths.  My relationship with God was supercharged during those times when I encountered hardships and heart break, but instead of getting bitter decided to turn to God amidst my pain.  It was in those times I have seen God both build character in me while simultaneously teaching me to trust and depend even more deeply in him.  Learning to depend on God in hardship is critical.  Without trauma and hardship to refine our hearts it would almost be like the person who studies about military tactics, watches Army movies on TV, gets an Army tattoo and even purchases an old Army uniform on Amazon.  although they might look the part--until they actually enlist in the military, and go through the hardship of training (or engage in battle) —they  won’t really be a soldier.   I have also just started to learn that when we trust God’s goodness rather than our own abilities, provision, etc—it invites him to intervene in our life and work things out for our ultimate best.  I think living a lifestyle of dependence on God is the ideal way of submitting to his lordship in our lives.  True faith in God is being able to say, “Lord, I don’t understand why this is all happening—but I still choose to trust you knowing that you love me.”        

Walking by faith

So many times when things get intense we have a tendency of blaming God. We blame him for our bad decision, we blame him when others are cruel to us, we even blame him for the simplest pains of life. Our fear of rejection and past wounded ness cause us to cry out in judgment and attempt to indict God's character based on our circumstances. But our heavenly father loves us. Regardless of how you "feel", he loves you dearly. Even if you don't believe he exists, he still loves you and earnestly desires for you to know him. Instead of blaming God in the future --when things appear to be falling apart, turn to him with your pain and your sorrow. Cast your cares on him because he cares for you.  Trust that God is good and trust in his character regardless of your external circumstances.  And remember our loving heavenly father has unique ability to take the hardest of life's circumstances and bring healing, hope and restoration.

Learning to trust.

There are a whole bunch of steps leading towards spiritual maturity. One of the first is learning to fully trust God with your life. Learning to trust him when things seem bleak and it seems like there's no hope on the horizon. Learning to trust in God's goodness and his love for us-- even though we don't see immediate evidence of that playing out in our lives. One of the next steps toward spiritual maturity,which is much harder, is learning to trust God with our children. Although it's hard when we go through personal trauma, it's exponentially harder when we see our children wounded and hurting.  God is still sovereign and he is still loving however.  He loves our children more than we ever could. He loves them dearly and holds them firmly in the palm of his hand.  Being able to dwell in the peace that comes with that realization is another sign of a maturing relationship with God

Another school tragedy.

22 kids were attacked and stabbed at a high school by a 16 year old student today. The problem behind this was not the knife--nor could it have been resolved by instituting a ban on knives. The problem is with the heart of our society. We've taken all mention of God out of our school systems and out of much of our culture. Many kids have to suffer through divorce in the family and are often abandoned emotionally by one or both of their parents. Alcohol and drugs saturate our nation offering an easy way for kids to medicate to avoid dealing with the pain of life. We now live in a culture where there are no moral absolutes and where kids have no boundaries to keep them safe. And despite these things we ignorantly wonder why these school attacks keep happening and what is wrong with the younger generation. Kids are desperately looking for meaning in life. We were created for a relationship with our loving Heavenly Father. Jesus taught that the  true meaning of life is to "love The Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength and to also love our neighbor as ourself." When kids start learning this truth the anger and hopelessness that many of them feel will be replaced with the peace that comes with knowing their identity as beloved children of a loving Heavenly Father.  I'm in no way advocating teaching Christianity in the public school systems. The fact that even the acknowledgement of God has been slowly removed from our country is troubling though. So many people seek fulfillment and identity through wealth, fame, accomplishment, sex, relationships, etc. We were created for intimacy with God however.  Trying to find true fulfillment apart from that is a very frustrating, futile and empty endeavor.

 

"With the comfort we ourselves received from God."

A little over two years ago I went up for prayer after a New Years Eve service at my church (Indy Vineyard).  At the time I felt like my life was spiraling out of control.  My marriage was failing and not only was I dealing with a pending divorce that I desperately didn’t want—but I was also dealing with the financial trauma of a failing business (Havilah's Boutique).  It was hard for me to be hopeful in the midst of all of the pain. loss and rejection that I was feeling.   That evening--the pain was so overwhelming that I almost sprung out of my seat at the end of the service when my Pastor, Randy Gooder, asked anyone needing prayer to come forward.  When I went forward and told the 2 prayer team members about my pending divorce and why I wanted prayer, they were so comforting.  The prayer team members, a married couple, let me know that they had almost gotten divorced themselves a few years prior before God healed their marriage.  I wept as they prayed that God would give me peace and show me his presence.  Walking away from church that evening, I felt God’s hand on my life.  However, I also felt like I was heard, cared for and encouraged by the prayer team members.  It wasn’t long until I volunteered to be on my churches prayer ministry team myself.  Less than a year after I began volunteering as a prayer team member, I had a young woman come up front and ask for prayer about her own pending divorce.  Her husband had left her for another woman and she was feeling both scared and abandoned.  It was awesome to be able to share with her about God faithfully meeting me in that same place.  I and another prayer team member prayed that God would make himself known to her in the midst of her pain.  That God would give her the peace of knowing that He was holding her and her children safely in the palm of His hand.  I also reminded her that regardless of how she felt at present, her heavenly father loved her profoundly.  As we were praying for the young woman --I could tell that God was really touching her heart that day.  It was so reassuring to know that God can still use us in our own brokenness to touch others with his love and mercy.  Like it says in 2 Cor. 1:3-5, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”

Valentine's Day post 2014

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my Facebook friends. I must admit that this is my most un-favorite holiday. This was one celebration that I always used to hate as a kid. I remember the anxiety as an elementary school kid worrying about whether I would receive any valentines from classmates. It was almost like the stress of being one of the last kids picked for the dodge ball team during gym class. In Junior High that feeling of dread was even worse as the school I attended sold carnations that you could have delivered to your "special valentine". I remember more than a few times being one of the guys in class that was "carnation-less" while other classmates walked around the school carrying large bouquets sent by their many ardent admirers. I always hated that feeling of being forgotten on Valentine’s Day. I hadn't felt that feeling for many years up until last Valentine’s Day. That was the first holiday after the finalization of my divorce and I again felt that pang of "alone-ness" that day. When I initially received my final divorce decree I was feeling pretty alone and rejected. After 25 years of marriage I never expected or desired to be single again. At that point, out of necessity, I had moved in with my mother, and that Valentine’s Day I was feeling every bit of a failure. My plans that evening were to simply hang out at my mom's house and watch TV. That afternoon however, I got an invitation from a family friend to join her for a dinner party at her house. She had invited a few of her friends from church over for a Valentines dinner and asked me to join them. It's amazing how much it impacted me that day just knowing that I wasn't forgotten about and somebody actually remembered me. One of the things that hit me as I was writing this post was the fact that not only does our heavenly father never forget us--but also the thought that he sent us all the ultimate valentine when Jesus was born. God sent his son so that we can have a heartfelt relationship with him. God knows you and your circumstances and it's his biggest heart’s desire for you to really understand his tremendous love for you. Whether you have experienced the death of a spouse or loved one, the death of a marriage (divorce) or are simply feeling alone--God wants to meet you in that wounded place and bring you comfort. When I was at the lowest point in my life--I called out for God's comfort and he met me in that place. He overwhelmed me with his love and affection. He showed me in so many ways that he was with me and that he cared. If you’re going through hard times right now and have stumbled across this post--it was not by accident. God wants you to know that he loves you deeply and desires to hear from you. He sees you when you are disheartened and his heart is heavy when you cry. God is aware of your circumstances and will work everything out for your best when you turn to him. Although things might seem dark and hopeless at present--your heavenly father desires to bring joy back into your life. When we turn to him he can "bring beauty from ashes" and redeem even the most painful trauma in our lives. Just remember that our heavenly father is someone who never forgets us on Valentine’s Day.

  1 John 3:16 "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."

 1 Peter 5:7 "Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you."

 John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

 Isaiah 61 "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."

Trusting in God's Faithfulness.

Even hardship and grief can be turned into joy by our heavenly father who loves us profoundly. I'm so glad that my provision and my destiny does not solely rest in my own hands --because I am being safely held in Gods loving arms.

Experiencing Hardship

Hardship and adversity give us a great opportunity to see Gods hand at work in our lives.  Most of the time however we strive for comfort with everything in us.  When hardship hits my first response always used to be to pray that God would deliver me from the trauma (regardless of what is was). It is in that place of complete helplessness and dependence however that I learned to experience God in a deeper way than I ever had before.  The next time you encounter intense adversity try a different method of praying.  Instead of praying for God to rescue you from your hardship--pray that he both uses the situation to mold you into the person he wants you to be, as well as uses it to make himself known to you in a deeper and more intimate way.

Walking in Peace

Life is so much more peaceful when we finally realize in the deepest part of our heart that God truly is sovereign. He is aware of our circumstances and nothing is going on in our life that God doesn't know about. Although there is no such thing as "pain free Christianity", God does promise to take whatever hardship we endure and use it for good purposes in our lives.  How awesome is it to know that we not only have a heavenly father that loves us profoundly --but our father also just happens to be the all-powerful king of the universe.

New Years Eve Facebook Post

Happy New Year's to all my Facebook friends. When I look back over all the transition I've gone through over the past year I'm so grateful for where I'm currently at. Last year on New Year's Eve it was hard for me to see any light at the end of the tunnel. Everything around me seemed dark and cold. when I tried to project myself into the future all I could see was more loss and pain. God was faithful to meet me in that place however. He showed himself so faithful to me and let me know in so many ways that he "saw me" and that he held me securely in his loving arms.  Now, a year later--as I look at where I'm at currently I'm so grateful. God has brought old friends back into my life and some wonderful new ones as well. He has started the restoration process in my life. I have a new home and I'm so excited about all the new adventures that God has for me in the future. I'm so glad that I serve a God that has compassion on his children when they're hurting and always hears their prayers. I'm also thankful that I go to a wonderful church with an awesome pastoral staff. Lastly I'm thankful for my family and that God has blessed me with an amazing mother, sister and some absolutely wonderful kids--all of whom I'm very proud of and love dearly. 

 

 

Psalms 23:4 "Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me."