"Sharing Twice. . . One Year Ago. . . ."

I shared this Blog one year ago and I felt led to share it again. Hopefully God will lead new readers to share in it as well.

In the hustle and bustle of  the holiday season do you ever stop and ask yourself  "What is this all about? What does it all really mean?" I believe that Thanksgiving as well as Christmas are totally a time to see God in everything. We see Him in the time of Thanksgiving being totally the reason we are so very thankful for how He has blessed our year throughout with His provisions of grace, mercy, forgiveness, blessings and love. And we see Him in the time of Christmas, of course, because it is centered on Him coming in the form of a baby to save us all. It also reflects on the gifts of sharing our love with those we love because He loves.

But, this Blog isn't really about what I think of Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's about knowing the Maker of  Thanksgiving and Christmas in a personal relationship. I will say that most likely all my FB friends know Him in a personal relationship....but there may be just that one who isn't sure or doesn't know Him that way....and for that one I share the following.

Have you ever heard the question asked "If you were to die today and went to Heaven and God stopped you and said 'Why should I let you into my kingdom?' what would you say?"  Many people have what they feel are genuinely perfect answers for this and many consist of them being simply good enough to earn their way in. Or. . .  Church membership. Baptized. Family heritage. Giving enough money. Others may believe that a loving God could never send anyONE to such a horrible place as hell and therefore make their way in as well. Well, sadly...none of this thinking is right. There is only ONE way and ONE way only....and that being through the perfect blood that Jesus shed on the cross for our salvation. Through His sacrifice for our sins, we receive the grace that He freely gives. We receive it through faith and faith itself is also given to us by and through God.

I could really draw this blog out with more lengthy discussions. But I believe that salvation is simple and therefore should be presented in a simple manner. That statement reminds me of a very special Christian kindergarten teacher I had a long time ago. I had asked Jesus into my heart at the age of 5 (also being the time of attending her class). She had ran into my Mom years later and had heard that I was struggling with doubts of my salvation. She replied to my Mom "Tell her to quit making it so HARD." Salvation is not a complicated thing...but sometimes we as humans tend to make it hard.

First, know that we ALL have sinned. If you have broken just one commandment...and we all have....then you are guilty of sin.
Romans 3:10 - "As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one."
Romans 3:23 - "For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Romans 5:12 - "Therefore just as sin entered the world through one man (Adam) and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because ALL sinned."

Second, the price has been paid!
Romans 6:23- "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!"
Romans 5:8- "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Third, how we receive our gift!
Romans 10:9-10 - "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

It's as simple as ABC!
A= Accept that you are a sinner in need of a Saviour!
B= Believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead!
C= Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and call upon Him to save YOU!

Lastly, we know that when we call - He hears!
Romans 10:13 - "For EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord will BE saved!"
Ephesians 2:8-9 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that NOT of yourself, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no man can boast." If it were by works anyway...someone would ALWAYS be better than you. . . and whose to say where the line would be drawn?? Side tidbit there. :)


There are many more proofs of God's love, His forgiveness, His grace and His salvation in the Bible. If you have a question regarding this topic, I would gladly TRY and seek an answer and get back with you. So ask! I don't have them....but I know WHO does! :)

Thanks for letting me share something SO very important with you!

And remember.....you are never too far gone, too bad, too unforgivable for God to pick up, dust off and say "Welcome my son/daughter!" He loves you that MUCH!



"A Mother's Heart....Shared With You."

To my daughter, Savannah Ann, whom I love more than you even begin to know.

You entered our world on the day of June 14, 1991 and we were blessed. God wanted to take a little extra loving care and time to mold and make you into the beautiful baby you became. I carried you 41 weeks instead of the normal 40 weeks. Maybe it was because God knew I would need that extra 1 week to hold you as close to my heart as I ever would. Unlike the first C-section surgery I had with your sister, Heather, I would feel this one in great intensity. But the pain was worth it....and you became ours to hold and love now with our arms and not just our hearts.

Your sister took sole responsibility for you even at the very young age of just 3 years old. There are several pictures of this little "mother" taking care of her "baby". She loved you then.....and she loves you now....even when you don't believe it.

We chose your name, Savannah, the very day before having you. We were strolling around the mall and stopped by JC Pennys. They had a furniture collection by the name of Savannah on it and thus became your name. The name Savannah would not become popular until 13 years later therefore allowing you to be that unique beauty you always have been.

At 3 months of age you were dedicated to our Lord Jesus by Mom and Dad along with Pastor Dale Williams at Southgate Chapel in Irving, Tx. You had a very dirty diaper at the time and Pastor Dale handled you and the dedication service with such love.  Dale if you're reading this....know that as I have told you before....there has NEVER been another Dedication Service for both of my baby girls that you gave them that was more sweet, caring, genuine, heart-felt and sincere. Thank you for that!!
Later, you would go to Cubbies for Awanas at the age of 3 at Spring Memorial in Spring, Tx. You received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, at the tender age of 5, at this same church. And you would later be baptized, at the age of 5, at Lakeland Baptist by Bro. Gary. I write these into this letter because I count them of great importance. For you see - all of life is centered around what Jesus has done for you in your life!

                                                   

I still remeber those long, beautiful ringlets of hair you had. If I remember correctly, you would later put or get gum stuck all in that beautiful hair too! I tried my best to get it out, but ended up cutting alot more of your hair than I wanted. So it was at 6 years old that you would receive the biggest haircut ever taking several inches off. Some people told me it would come back even curlier.....and although you still had a wave and body in your hair....your sweet baby ringlets were now gone.

As time moved on, you grew to be the you that God would create you to be. You was a child that loved the human touch of skin to skin. Your great grandmother, Mama Rea, would in fact be the one to figure this out very early on. You cried and cried one night shortly after bringing you home from the hospital and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was wrong. Exhausted I let Mama Rea take over and she knew just the thing....place you skin to skin alongside of her. . . calming you right down. It would continue to be that way throughout the years. As a baby, seems you only wanted to sleep when I was holding you, as a toddler you always, always requested being rocked before going to sleep, and as a child you were often found sliding in bed with your sister with your entire body draped across her. As well there were many nights you ask that I lay down beside you letting you fall asleep before I go. I would always know to wait for that special twitching of your body that would signal you were now fast asleep. As much as I thought I was SO tired and just wanted to go to bed in my bed.....I now know those days were few and they are missed.

I also will always and forever remember our special prayer time each night that we had together. They were special times AND funny times. As we would talk about the prayer request to pray for somewhere at some point silly times would slip itself in. As you would start to pray you would get the giggles....and just as sure as you would get those giggles....Mom would also get them! I can remember having to get a pillow and hold it up to my face with one hand while the other hand is holding yours just so you couldn't see my smile. That's all it took....just seeing Mom smile made you giggle all the more HARDER! At times I thought we would NEVER get through those prayers!! :) I'm sure God must have enjoyed listening to all the laughter shared between a giggly precious child and the Mother who shared right along with her. As soon as the prayers were finished, the hug would begin. My dear child.....you cannot even begin to understand just how much I miss those hugs. If I let myself I will soon begin to start crying....and then I won't be able to type. Those hugs were worth more than you can imagine. I didn't realize just how much at that time. You would reach up and pull me down to you, while laying on your bed, and all the while just hold me close.....heart to heart, cheek to cheek, ear to ear. Sometimes you were still giggling and others you just seemed to never want to let go. If I could go back in time ..... it would be to those nights..... and I would never let you go.
OK....now I am crying.
There have been times I have wondered, that as you and your sister got older and she began experiencing more things in life and would call me into her room to talk about them....that I was rushing yours and my time together to go and talk with her. You often would teasingly get onto me for how much time I would spend in Heather's room compared to yours. In fact you would time me giving me the exact number of minutes I spent in her room verses yours!  I was excited to hear about all the new things in life Heather was experiencing and may have seemed anxious to get in there. But you was always on my mind too.....I never ever wanted to make you feel second best. And if I did that or have done that, Savannah, for that I am truly sorry in the most sincerest way.

And time marches on. . . . .

And here you are today. . . .my always beautiful Savannah Ann.

Somewhere, somehow along the way you quit believing in our love. Somewhere you quit receiving and giving the many forms of love. . . hugs, smiles, sharing time together, kind words. This all seem to become foreign to you....and for the life of me and your Dad we have never once figured out why. You would even one day just basically pack up and leave our home to live in another. This hurt more than you know. It would seem another family would become your family. And as any Mother knows you will always fight for what's yours. But just as sure as I knew you were mine and I loved you dearly.....I also knew that I had to believe God had a plan in all of this....for absolutely NOTHING happens in our life without God allowing it and having a reason, a plan, and a purpose in sight. So.....I let you go.....physically....but never internally....for you are mine and always will be. I hold no grudges regarding the family you went to be with....although it was very hard harder than you know....they were there for you to be whatever God wanted them to be in your life.

Through time though, as you have went away to college and are now once again back in our home, I see changes that God has brought. I am forever grateful as well!! So grateful that I wrote a Blog about it! Read it sometime....it's all about you! :) It's titled "When God Brings a Distant Child Home".

Savannah, God loves you more than I do, and even though you may not see that as much.....please know that it is. I know that words can just be pretty words and sound good, but please know that my words I offer to you are so much more than pretty words with empty meaning. They are from my heart....the truest, most sincerest place of any person living. Above all.....share a relationship with God. Put Him first. Live your days for Him. Talk with Him. Seek all that you need in Him. Wait on Him. And trust in Him. This world has nothing even on it's best days to give you. It's empty and will leave you empty. But in and with God ....is everything! I pray that God will give you the eyes, that comes with maturity, to see and understand this.

And it is with this purpose that I write this to you my child. . . . to know that I love you, I am proud of you, I thank God for you, I believe in you. For we are never guranteed tomorrow. . . .



"Struggles?"

   

Yesterday was Blogger Sunday as my children so "lovingly" say, but Blogger Sunday slipped by and has now turned into Blogger Monday. I love to see what God will bring me to write about each weekend, but I was just a little unsure as to where He wanted me to go on Blogger Sunday..... and thus we come to today!

Maybe I had no real direction yesterday because God was waiting to show me at the very end. David came home and we sat on the couch watching his DVR'd football game. I fell asleep as usual and awoke to David saying "ok lets go to bed". As he took the game off, our TV switched channels and on it comes.....the reason I'm writing this Blog. :)

A man's voice was coming over the airwaves. He was casting off a whole LIST of things we will have rest from if we will only put God first in our life. I stuck my fingers in my ears like a little kid and told David "I DON'T wanna hear him! Turn him OFF!!" David did so and wouldn't you know it he was blaring upstairs in my son's bedroom on his Tv.....with Levi asleep. David opens the door and I told him "I SAID TURN HIM OFF!"

This left me feeling mad and anxious! ! ! My David who usually is there to calm me down, wanted nothing but to go to sleep ...... it was way past his working bedtime. So I was basically left to sort things out myself.  As I lay there and  feeling anxious of things, I began thinking. You see I know that I put God first in my life in all areas.....He is who I live for. But do I have struggles, worries, fears, doubts, concerns?? YES SIR I DO!! I even struggle with the fact of hearing some guy's voice and it leading me to question IF I'm doing what I'm supposed to in my life to be right with God! That's where I have to learn to turn him/she/they O F F!

But in my Bible, God's Holy Word, it says "In this world you WILL have TROUBLE. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33. Also, it says "A righteous man may have MANY troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all." Psalm 34:19. We see too that David, a man after God's own heart, wrestled with his thoughts and had sorrow in his heart, and had enemies triumphing over him in Psalm 13....but a few verses down we see that he STILL trusts in God's unfailing love and he rejoices remembering how that God has been good to him. And later in Psalm 55 he is seen crying out to God once again in DISTRESS and knows that God will hear him even delivering his from the BATTLES waged against him. (Sorry for all the capital words....just attempting to prove a point a little more vocally.)

So if I'm reading God's Word correctly then it is telling me that yes we will have troubles, we will have fears, we will have battles, we will have struggles! And it is NOT a matter of putting God first in your life or not.

 

Just as sure as I know that we do still have struggles, I also know that just as the verses stated above.....God does deliver and He has made promises of it! But sometimes we must wait. Waiting teaches us far more than we probably ever perceive. For God is always seeking to teach us and train us in the faith life. When we have made our request for God to remove our burden, or give us rest from it shall we say, and He does not do it....what are we to think.....that we have not put God in His rightful place in our life?? NO, rather keep believing God's promise...stand firm on it and never be moved away by what you see or feel. He has promised to deliver the righteous from his troubles and that means ALL. God cannot lie and in Hebrews 6:18 we are assured of that! "God often delays on purpose and the delay is just as much an answer to our prayer as in the fulfillment when it comes." "The fact of looking at the apparent contradiction as to God's Word and being unmoved from your position of faith makes you stronger on every other line." "When God has spoken of his purpose to do, and yet the days go on and He does not do it, that truly is hard; but it is a discipline of faith that will bring us into a knowledge of God which would be otherwise impossible." Psalm 27:14 reminds us to "Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." And along the same lines of christians having distress in their lives we see that Paul, the great and mighty missionary for God, suffered as well. Do you think he was putting God FIRST in his life? I do!! But just as sure as he expresses his despair of even life itself in 2 Cor. 1:8-10....he assures us that God did, God does, and God will deliver. (vs.10) And even sometimes our struggles that we encounter are so that "We might not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." (vs.9)

So my friends, take heart when you have struggles for it does NOT mean that your life is out of wack with God....it simply means you are human, God loves you, and He will see you through.

 

Just as the ocean is not always calm....so is life! But we have hope and we have trust in a God who knows and He is in control!