"The Stages of Life"

It is quite evident that we ALL pass through stages of life and never moreso evident than when I went to the barbershop with my son and husband today. I go with them always. . . in fact there probably isn't a haircut I've missed since Levi's first one at 10 months of age. I often, in the past, (but not so much anymore) wondered if Amanda, their barber lady, has ever wondered to herself "Why does she always come?" And if she did so choose to wonder then I would simply reply "Because I don't wanna miss a thing! And I enjoy it!" The very same reason, when I'm not taking Levi to school by myself on Mon and Tues, that I gladly jump in the car with David in my PJs to ride along with them to school.....I don't wanna miss a thing!

You see there is somethings I understand - 1. Life is SHORT. 2. Kids DO grow up.

(Sidenote: Although kids DO grow up....they also DO come back home! Someone forgot to tell us about that part! HA!)

So today, I couldn't help but look around and notice what lay before me in this small barbershop. First of all....another blog....YAY! Secondly, an opportunity to stop and reminisce. And lastly, life and it's stages.

As I watched Levi sitting in the chair getting his haircut, I realized just how tall and older he looked. Life happens so quickly at times. No more the little boy who needed to sit on the board to be tall enough to have his hair cut! That's when I glanced over and saw another little boy who was indeed sitting on the board to get his haircut. His Dad and the barber lady were working as a team at times to keep the little boy preoccupied. I guess you could say that's when this whole blog idea started coming together. I sat there thinking back to all the by-gone days of my Levi sitting ever so still and filling out the chair more and more each year. Making silly faces at him through the years and watching his reaction change with time.

But as I watched these two boys at different stages of life. . . I began to realize other presence of stages in the room. There was also an older teenage boy, the previous mentioned Dad of the little boy, my David and at other times have been the elderly. Do you see the stage pattern here to which I'm referring? 1. The toddler. 2. The young teenager. 3. The older teenager. 4. The young Dad. 5. The middle age Dad. 6. And finally....The old Dad.
Each one a stage.....a passage of time..... a next step.

{Maybe I should be saving this blog for Father's Day! Haha!}

It's no new revelation to anyone reading this that we pass from birth to old age, and everything else in between, in a time set up for us just by God. But what we can also see here is that like these set stages of life we pass through.... we also pass through stages of our walk with God. 1. Some maybe a brand new baby learning that God is indeed real, He cares for them and loves them. 2. Others maybe beginning to learn what faith is and finding God is the One we reach out to in the time of need....as well as all other times.

3. Some may be finding that God is a forgiving God and remains constant - even when we don't. 4. And yet still....others may have reached that place in their life where they understand that simply God is. God is EVERYTHING and all things. God is sovereignly in control.

My friend, wherever you are in your walk with God - and yes there are many other stages of our walk, these were just a few - know that it's right where God wants you. When He is ready He will move you to the next step/stage. . . all in His perfect timing. And remember that your walk may not resemble another's , but it's YOUR walk with a God Who loves you and relates to you where you are.

God has perfectly tailor-made plans for your life and through each stage He reveals a little more of them each time. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Also, in Philippains 1:6 it says "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it out to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." So as God moves you along through your stages of walk/life know that He has it all mapped out....planned out to a capital "T" and makes no mistakes. And we can KNOW that He will see us through no matter what stage we are in whether it be a walk that is close to Him or even a walk that once was close and has grown distant. He stands ready to guide and restore. Deuteronomy 31:8 assures us of that, "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

If you are unsure if you have a walk with the God who loves you, then it's very simple to know for sure. 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!

As for me. . . I'm gonna keep goin to every single one of those special hair cuttin moments that I am most certainly welcomed at....for I know as my status says for now "This too shall pass."

Enjoy each and every moment you are given my special friend..... :)

"To the one I call....my brother"

There once was a little boy who was born into my family and that little boy was my brother. This boy was special for many reasons and one such being that God placed him in our lives exactly a year to the date of a sweet baby girl's passing. You see there was another special baby that God brought to us a year earlier, but we never truly knew her for she was a full term stillbirth. God had His reasons for taking just as much as He had His sweet and blessed reason of giving and for both we are truly grateful. You can imagine the sweet thankfulness and gratitude of receiving this precious baby boy into our lives!

I was all of 7 years old when I inherited a brother. I loved him. I helped with him as any big sister would. Many times I would take him and try to calm him while giving my Mom some needed time to do whatever she needed to do. . . this boy was a crier! We have a picture of me trying to calm him the best way a 7 year old could and between me and the dog....I think we succeeded! We were outside, I was holding him....and the dog's part was licking him. Hey whatever works! I can remember times of going to dinner (out of course...for those who knew us) and every single time my poor Mom would sit down to eat the boy would know somehow and turn on the tears. I can remember them putting springs on the legs of the baby crib and seeing my Mom laying on the floor pushing the crib gently to soothe him.
Like all families we made it through those days and he grew into the next phase of life.

Dan was a wonderful little brother and I was his little Mother. He brought smiles, laughs, love and sweet times into our home. He was the sweet little boy that we loved dearly. Those days were long ago and the memories tend to be vague. One such funny one that seems to stand out for some reason is when he was about 3 years and I was having a slumber party. My friends and I were all outside.....here comes Dan. He must of had the urge to relieve his bladder so, in the middle of my friends, outside, he decided to take care of that business. We were all shocked and laughing in utter disbelief! And wouldn't you know it....that boy has kept us laughing many years later as well. He has a "talent" for that. :)

There would be a day when the roles reversed, at some point, and the baby grew into a protector of his "big" sister. Those memories are tender. In the sweet boy's mind there was no seven years difference....he was put here to watch over his sister, and he did a fine job of it. He wanted NO worldliness whatsoever to enter my world and as small and as big as he was....to this day I thank him for that. He seemed to know his job was done when David entered my world. Finally, he could relax, sit back....take a breath and give the role to one older and wiser. :)

In all honesty, I believe Dan grew up thinking and feeling that his sister was more loved, more special, more accepted by our family. I am here to dispute that thinking. Children though raised exactly the same way can experience life very differently. . . .this we all know. The only real differnce I believe there was resulted in two words. . . I listened. Not in any way shape or form do I lift myself up and say "Look at me...I listened and you didn't. Aren't I the special one!" Children are just made and bent differently and respond in different ways. This I know for certain.....our parents loved, accepted, prayed for, and cherished BOTH of us from the very beginning and that love has NEVER weakened....in fact it has grown with time I'm sure.

As a time has a way of doing....we grow up....and in growing up we go our seperate ways. But in our seperate lives there is and always will be one word that we share.....FAMILY. And that word "Family" holds many truths along with it. . . Love, Respect, Forgiveness, Acceptance and Hope. All of these come from a loving God who values the word FAMILY moreso than most any other thing. I am so thankful that my hope is in a trustworthy God who is/has worked mightly in BOTH of our lives. He is and He has brought deliverance, strength, forgiveness, restoration and hope .... always hope. To God be the glory! :)

So with this writing and thoughts.....I dedicate this Blog to my very own brother.

Dan, I love you more than you know and I am SO extremely proud of you in so many ways! Keep your life focused on the One Who loves you most!

With much love,

Your Sister

"A message with a personal twist!"

I wanted to share an awesome message with you that was given a couple of Sundays ago. It spoke a lot to me and hopefully you will find your source of encouragement from it as well. It has personal thoughts added so don't go thinking I just copied some points from a pastor! : )

You could title it "Finding the will of God for situations that arise in your life".

1.) God closes doors.
We all know of times in our lives that God has simply closed a door - we may not understand why, but we know we can trust a loving Father who sees the bigger picture. It is in faith that we say "Yes Lord - I may not see, but I trust." We must simply then say "Thank you God!" Thank Him for keeping you in HIS will and not our own.

2.) Just as God closes doors, He also opens them!
If you would have told me sometime back that I would be where I am today, if any of you know me very well at all, I would have said "Yes! with God ALL things are possible! But I don't see myself being there!!" I will tell you that I have literally fretted at times of being unsure if I'm exactly where God wants me in the ministries of life. I'm NOT an over confident person, I don't see myself with alot of skills or talents, I love people - but not a overly aggressive outgoing person - rather quiet at times, we could say, and not a lover of trying new things BY ANY MEANS. But.....putting all that aside......because God is the God He is He picks me up, puts me where He wants me, says "Trust me child" and sends me on HIS way! All of these ministries He has opened up and given me are all HIS doing. . . that and He understands me thankfully and knows how to best use me regardless of my insecurities!
So know and trust that God shall open doors - in His timing. And when He opens them He'll gently lead you through them.

3.) God STILL speaks!
Did you know that God can and does use any measure He chooses to do this?! Whether it be through a Bible Study class, a song heard on the radio, or a song sung at church, through a sermon, a friend, a spouse. . .and most importantly through His word. . .the Bible. There are other ways of course. . .this is just a few examples. Honestly, I haven't liked it so much in the past when people would say "God spoke to me so clearly." and of course me being the analytical person I CAN be would question myself and say "Is God speaking to me too....so clearly??" Believe me, I can nit-pick anything to death as they say! I have prayed to God asking Him to please make His voice CLEAR to me in every sense of the word and not to let me confuse it with my own or some other voice. I believe that God can still have the calm, small reassuring voice in our hearts and minds letting us know He's there, He loves us, and we can trust Him. And I also believe that YES He does bring things back to us to think about and remind us what we needed to hear and in hearing - knowing He is taken care of it.

4.) God confirms and affirms His will through other believers that we let in!
Thank ya Jesus for this one!! I SO needed to hear and receive this point in the message! You see I am one who knows the truth, hears the truth, and receives the truth. . . . BUT I am reassured of those truths in my life through my amazingly-wonderful husband as well as my Mom! These two people in my life are my very own "God sent especially to me" people and I couldn't be more thankful or happier that they are! At times, my sweet David will patiently say (as he did just today) "Are you listening to yourself? or do you just like to make things up and talk?!" He was referring to how SILLY I sounded in receiving all this good news we had today, through our training at the Crisis Pregnancy Center we are training together for, and me needing reassurance that it indeed was the truth in my life and I didn't need to worry. That's a whole other story...sorry if it doesnt make sense. But, my thought here is that YES I know the truth, but I just need my partner there to reaffirm that this is God's truth for ME! Hopefully that makes some kind of sense...if not bear with me.
Our pastor put it this way - there are many times when we as christians believe that we hear and receive the "voice of God" in our lives - BUT - we still need others to agree with us that YES indeed this is God's truth for YOU and not just some wishful thinking you might think God would say to you. In even other words. . .YES God affirms our need and desire for others to help us confirm HIS truth in our life....plain and simple! Paul was used as a great example of a strong man of God, but also needing the affirmation/confirmation of the fellow believers he trusted in as his witness to God's leading in his life. Hey if Paul needed it, whose to say I'm any better than him?!!! Again, thank ya Jesus that it's quite alright to seek reassurance in those we trust!!!

5.) And lastly. . . choosing truth over emotion.
Simply and most completely put. . . .I lay down my will to follow God's.
When our heart is in tune with God's heart - we are living our life for Him - His desires will become our desires. See no worries! God's got it all worked out. His desires become ours and then we follow!
And I pray that each time I sense a yearning to share a Blog with you that it is in fact God using me in such a way that He would want to speak to YOU, my friend.....nothing more......nothing less. To Him be the glory!!

Thanks for letting me share. I don't normally share sermon notes, but I kept sensing that I should share this one. Maybe it was meant just for you. :)

Be blessed and know you're blessed!

You HAD to be there. . . A Zumba experience!!

I will start off by saying IF it is at ALL possible for someone to have zero rhythm and coordination. . .I would be nominated and win in a heartbeat!!

Draw an imaginary line somewhere about mid-air in your mind. . .now above that line reach up as high as you can in the air and draw another line. The first line represents my comfort level in life. . .the next line represents me stepping OUT of that comfort level today when my O so sweet daughter talked me into trying Zumba Dance class for the very first time!! They say it's GOOD for a person to step out of their comfort zone, try new things. . .well if we can call this good today then I had my heapin helpin of good!!

As my Heather later affirmed the fact after seeing dear Mother in action: "Mom, you REALLY have no rhythm at all do you?!" No dear. . . and as her dad, David said "It is a wonder that all THREE of our kids have great rhythm as well as coordination between the likes of your Mom and me!" A small miracle in and of itself. I guess I can thank all my years at a private christian church ran school for my lack thereof. I was even a cheerleader, which Heather dear reminded me that I was with a question mark all over her face. Two reasons result from this 1.) I was a cheerleader before dance was even evented into cheerleading 2.) If and were there dancing. . . you probably wouldn't find it in the enviroment we attended school in. Although we did like to swing our skirts a little EXTRA hard at times. ; )

This was a 1 hour class that at times thought would never end! The teacher begins by saying "No one stops...if you stop we stop the class. No leaving this class....doors will be glued shut." Great, what have I got myself into?!?! As Heather later imitated me to her dad by giving him a great showmanship of Mom's "abilities", he replied with a "I so wish I had been there to video it!!" Entertaining I'm sure....dear ones. : P
From the beginning of the simplest steps (which I thought I had right...that being the simplest) I seem to be "off-track" shall we say. My arms went up when they were supposed to go down.....my feet went forward when we were supposed to go backwards. If we were going right, I was going left. Alot of times I said the heck with feet, arms, hips, smiles AND breathing and just concentrated on ONE thing only. There were times the teacher would animatedly imitate people by how slow and lagging they were. I said to myself "Quit making fun of me lady, GEE!" She never would make eye contact with me, but Heather said she was imitating me at times. How lovely.....hey at least it got me noticed! Speaking of getting noticed, I forgot to mention that upon entering the class I firmly planted myself on the back row .... along with everyone else at the time. But teacher noticed her regular pupil, my Heather, was not in her normal place....FRONT AND CENTER. She told her to get up there and she pointed at me....to which I gladly said "Yup, it's me and i'm here". . . pointing to the ground. Needless to say, I was summons up right smack dab in the center of everyone. There couldn't be another full spot of attention of I searched for one, it seemed. O joy. As the teacher said at the beginning "No one is looking at you and if they do...shame on them." Later, I told David "Should I go back to her class, she MAY ask me to please move to the back of the room this time." as I was probably more of a distraction to others. Heather said she tried watching me a couple of times and she would bust out laughing and loose track of her workout. WELL, I do love to make people laugh.....SO THERE. David was laughing HARDLY when he watched Heather's re-enactment of me. Who knows....if I was You Tubed it could have went viral!! Haha!

It was just the whole eye -hand -foot -hips....every body part you have moving at the same time and this girl's brain is wired for one thing at a time. I would start to focus on just the feet leaving everything else off...and then the silly woman would switch just about the time I would get it. As for the arms, Heather said I began to leave them just straight up in the air. What the heck....they will all get in that position at some point won't they?!

I can definitely say . . . it was like nothing ever before . . .heck, I think giving birth was easier than THAT! :)

Now the question is. . .Will I go back for another go around next this Thursday?! to go or not to go....Hmm. I'm thinking if I am I will get some private tutoring from Zumba girl herself.....Heather.

I went back later this evening and did my workout with dear hubby. So, I think I will call it a day....a day like none other that's for sure. haha! Be adventerous friends....it's good for..... something!!

Kids, pigs and such. . .

As I think I have mentioned before in Blogs or at least on FB....my son, Levi is raising a pig this year for FFA. He has worked super hard and shown great discipline during this time with the pig. I am very proud of him, his efforts and the maturity he shows in taking care of something. There have been SEVERAL occassions when we would take Levi to the barn, to care for his pig, and there would be parents there instead of kids tending to the pigs. I know that kids in general are pretty busy these days, but why let them take on a responsibility if they don't have time for it?! So seeing him work hard all by himself each day makes this Mom even MORE prouder. :)

Yesterday, Saturday, there was a Showmanship Event going on for all the kids in all the surrounding schools to come and practice what they will be experiencing in February at the Rodeo. This was in the cold drizzling rain....which could have been much more colder and drizzlier and thankfully wasn't. It was a situation where you hurry and get there early in the morning.....and wait. Wait we did. The pigs were the very last event and I have to say out of all the other catagories was the most disorganized. But who can really make a pig stand in one place and not move like the other animals could?! haha! The object was to keep crossing your pig in front of the judge so he would see yours the most often. Poor Levi did his best and everytime it was as if the judge would automatically look away .... frustrating to say the least.

A long story longer. . .
We had high hopes for Levi's pig, Bo Duke. Levi had done almost everything he had been told to do throughout the school year. I say "almost" b/c we didn't follow the de-wormer system exactly. But. . . in the judge's opinion this was NOT what the judges were going to be looking for this year. Instead of a fat pig now they decide they want LEAN pigs. Go figure!! With only 3 weeks away now they decide to let the poor boy know. I guess you just never know from year to year what exactly these judges are going to decide on. So you can imagine the disappointment he faced after being told this!!

But as in with all things in this sweet boy's life. . . he takes it, accepts it, and goes on making the best of what he can. I admire him greatly for his ability to do that in life. Now we do the best we can with what is left of our time and we trust in our faithful Father who cares about any and ALL details in our life. There is a reason this happened and God can reveal it to us in His timing or He can choose to simply just ask us to trust.

Now - I try and attempt to tie this in with other "things" in our life.
In raising my own little "pigs" . . . [teasing]. . . my children, I can see how this relates.
As a parent you invest all of your time, all of your love, all of your life to raising and nurturing these children God has blessed you with. You share with them God's love, His forgiveness, His salvation. You share with them how to live a life that lines up with God's standards and expectations. How to have convictions and stick to them. To hopefully understand that this WHOLE entire existance we have here on this earth is all about HIM and only HIM!

And then they become known as what we call - - TEENAGERS.

We don't stop with our teaching though. . . in most cases we press on even harder than before. And as we do we begin to see them make their OWN choices and decisions in life. This time in a parent's life can be difficult.... no let me say very difficult. . . for we see them sometimes choosing such wrong choices and making such wrong decisions! We face many many trials with them because of those wrong choices. The pain in our heart is O SO very real and we have felt NOTHING in this world like it before. I don't make this stuff up. . . it's real.

It is then that we can start to question "God, what happened . . . I did everything you told me to do. . .there isn't anything I could have left out is there?! Am I not the parent you called me to be? This isn't the way I thought it would be."
We must see right then and right there that it is NOT a reflection of our parenting skills, NOT because we have bad genes, NOT because we didn't get all the advice we needed to know how to, and most certainly NOT because God is punishing us because He didn't like how we raised His kids!! What it is however is
1. God shaping them into the person HE wants them to be. 2. God revealing to us that HE is in control - no matter what their life looks like. 3. God allowing them to go through "stuff" in life to use them later to reach out to others.   Believe me I'm preaching to myself! :)

We know that we think it could be SO much easier had God just simply chose to give us perfectly perfect children and the world would become a better place. We wonder why He doesn't simply just use someone else down the road to help others who are hurting and needing God's love revealed - Instead of sending our children as well as us through so many heartaches. But God knows and God uses whom He will. . .and honestly we wouldn't want it any other way.

Now in relating back to Levi's situation. . .we don't exactly know what the judge will be so inclined to say at the Rodeo. As David, his dad, has said "This is one judge's opinion. You go on doing what you're doing and make the best of it." We do plan to take whatever advice we receive from his teacher IF any is given. . .but in the end. . . we simply trust God for the outcome. . . a win or no win. God knows what this boy needs regardless. I will say that in my symbolizing the two stories that God will in NO way whatsoever turn our children away like this judge may do with the pig. He loves them far too much even moreso than we possibly ever could!

We simply must TRUST God for the outcome of what and who our children will become. His plans are the absolute B E S T!

I will leave you with a verse that most know and as I have been encouraged along the way by other parents who "know" . . .  it speaks great truth.
Proverbs 22:6 - "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Have hope parents!  God's not done yet! : )

"What DO you call this Blog?"

Who hasn't longed for Jesus to come on back to the earth NOW and take us where our real home is? I mean let's get sensible ..... Heaven is a PERFECT place filled with no sorrow, no pain, no fear, no sin and unimaginable peace in every sense of the word! But it doesn't just stop with those wonderful things, it also indwells our Lord, Savior, Redeemer, Father and perfect best friend who we shall finally be able to see face to face. We not only shall see him, but feel His warm embrace of a hug that is just our size! No longer will his words be said in our hearts and souls, but now they will ring clearly in our very own ears! And that, my friend, is just the tip of the ice-berg as they say!

In my openess and honesty with you - for that is who I am - I will tell you that I have struggled with some very real fears in the past as I shared with you in a blog "If you read no other story - read this one" back in September. Fears of what I would hear or what I would read causing me to think my life is somehow not right with God or right with others. Fears of doubts that my struggles in my mind would always be there and not get better causing me to think "O no, something is not right with me!" Fears leading me to seek my sweet David as my wise and loving cousel assuring me once again that all is well and I had nothing to fret and worry over. I truly believe without a doubt in the world that the song Dave Barns sings "God gave me you" is so extremely TRUE. God gave me my David to see me through not only the good days we share, but also the storms of life we share.....I am SO BLESSED! No matter how many days in a row or how often in those days I would come to him seeking his reassurance of the truth I knew was right, but still needed his reassurance, he ALWAYS has been there to give it. I think I'm beginnig to ramble though - - :)

I think I have a point in here somewhere.
God has been doing some amazing healing in me and it hasn't been all at once, but rather at His always perfect pace. In that healing I have seen where God has allowed me to be able to settle my thoughts or maybe I should say let HIM settle my thoughts more often and not worry about what I may hear or read. Letting Him show me that it's really alright....nothing can take away from or add to in my life if God doesn't choose to. Anytime we feel that something is out of our control....it's ALWAYS under God's control. I'm the type of person who wants absolutely NO CONTROL whatsoever of my life....so God has it all.

As I started this Blog I was referring to heaven and such and how that we long to be there. I think as we grow older and we experience more and more of this world we live in it does have a very real way of causing us to just wanna go home....afterall that's what we were created for....this world is just a temporary dwelling place. As it has been said .... we are just pilgrims on our journey home. :)
In sharing all of this, I will tell you that yesterday I had read in a story about how a friend was telling another friend if you start having thoughts of feeling depressed or wanting to end your life then call me......and then I hear on Tv how that you need to stop taking this med for smoking IF you should start feeling depressed and want to end your life. And so goes the thinking....."O no! what if when I was struggling moreso back in the past and had thoughts of just how much easier it would be in Heaven....what if that meant I was depressed?!!"  You see how the mind takes off with stuff! Or maybe I should say my mind! Ha! I think that satan know the things we struggle with and can have a great time IF he can keep us focused on our doubts and worries! But God is in control of him and he can do NOTHING that God doesn't allow for my own good. I mean who really gives a care of how I was or what I was or who I was?! God is my healer and helper and is continually making me into the person He desires of me. He knows my weaknesses and fears and He is greater that them all. And today.....I still know and still believe that it will INDEED be a much better place in Heaven and I still long for Jesus to return TODAY!!!!! Call me whatever you want, but I know God calls me ...... His own. And I will NOT fear.

So let God settle all those crazy thoughts, fears and doubts you may feel today. He can, He will and He does. :) And remember - - Peace is not a feeling, but rather the knowledge of knowing that God IS in control, no matter what you may feel!!!

C'MON JESUS!!!

May your day be beautiful on the inside today!

"I don't deserve it....do you?"

Grace. . . simply put by a friend - "Grace is a gift of undeserved and unmerited favor."

Although I suppose today's message could have been about Peace and although I did not agree with the definition given for such. . . the word that caught my attention was GRACE. By the way, it's quite alright to NOT agree with the Pastor as it has taken me MANY years to accept this fact. Just a little tid-bit of advice for free. :)

Grace. . . like so many things God gives us is so undeserved. And yet He gives it willingly, gladly, completely and with no strings attached. We all know that grace is given for the sinner at the time of salvation. Once he was empty and now he is full....full of God's grace, forgiveness, mercy, healing, love. But sometimes we forget that grace is also for the one who has received Christ. For those of us who know too well the taste of failure, it helps to remember that even the great ones of the faith failed, yet God continued to use them, often in a deeper way AFTER their fall. Some of David's greatest psalms came AFTER his greatest mistakes. God calls him a "man after his own heart" 1Samuel 13:14. Peter, who was the very head of the disciples, denied even the very knowledge of knowing Jesus not once but three times. And yet we see God lovingly giving grace, pulling him back in and restoring Peter so that he could continue his work for the Lord. Abraham lied to save himself and yet he is the towering example of faith and is called "God's friend" James 2:23. The very disciples themselves, who walked, talked and loved Jesus would doubt, fail, sin, have weaknesses, as well as deny Him in public were still loved, forgiven, accepted, healed and made right with a loving God. And they were led to continue on even after their failures. God knew they would fall - - and yet - - He loved and forgave them still.

It is those who have lived in the depths of failure that God gives the call to shepherd others. This is not a call given only to the gifted, the highly trained- for without a bitter experience of their own inadequacy and failure they are quite unfit to minister God's genuine forgiveness and grace. I mean who really wants to listen to someone who has never had children before tell/advise/lecture you on how you should raise your child?? Therefore how much MORE meaningful it is when God can use us through our own mistakes and failures to reach out to others who are hurting as well?? We see here that nothing and I mean absolutely NOTHING is ever wasted in God's kingdom of work!! Our weaknesses, our sins, our missing the mark, our failures are ALL used to accomplish in us something far more bigger than we could ever understand....how awesome is that?!!! We also see that when we have experienced failure...we began to be more patient with others who may also be slipping in one way or another.

I read in my devotions that too many times we live in a quid-pro relationship with God such as; "I've been faithful to you, I've worked hard, so please give me this or that."  OR, "I've failed again, I can't expect any blessings." We FORGET that our whole life is all about GRACE: a gift of undeserved and unmerited favor! Too many sincere Christians,  facing their failures, berate themselves unmercifully and keep asking God for forgiveness. Each of us should memorize, hang on the mirror, and repeat daily: "There is therefore now NO [repeat NO] condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1. Not only does He NOT condemn us; He even brings blessings from the ashes of our failures! Now who else could do that but GOD Himself?!?!? :)

My friend. . . God has an eraser unlike any that has ever existed. Man made erasers may wipe away the mistake, but sometimes can leave a smudge. God's eraser works perfectly everytime....no smudges, no wrinkels, no tears left! God wipes away ALL things we so bitterly regret!!

This would be a short blog for me....some may say "It's about time!"
I write to encourage others, to give hope to others, to strengthen others, to motivate others and to share always the Good News of what Jesus has done for me and for YOU.

So I leave you with this thought I read: "I do not ask for mighty words to leave the crowd impressed. Just grant my life may ring so true my neigbor shall be blessed." That says it all for me! :)

Be blessed.....for your living a life of GRACE, my friend!