Posts

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Military Edition {Giveaway}

/28 Comments/in , , , /by

“I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.  I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him” quote Abraham Lincoln.

I am so excited to announce the story I submitted last year to Chicken Soup for the Soul has been accepted and published in the Military Edition!  I am humbled and honored to have our story alongside other men and women who have served and been the force behind the forces.  And I’m thankful to have another opportunity to be published in the Chicken Soup Series!

I can’t believe how completely different our lives look now.

Never in my life did I think I’d be in this place I am today.  Never in a million years did I think I would be living in Alaska, living on a military base with my husband serving in the United States Air Force.  Never did I imagine all that we would see and learn just by taking a step of faith out of our comfort zone.  Only God.

You just never know what God has planned.

Even though we left everything we knew–family, friends, kid’s school, our home, jobs, etc.  We wouldn’t trade the military or Alaska for anything.  Coming up here we have become a closer knit family.  Moving to a place where you know no one, makes a family depend on each other in ways you never had before.  We also get to meet amazing military families who sacrifice their lives and serve just so we can be safe.

There is so much more to our story than what is published.  God has been writing our story for quite some time and is always full of surprises!

Life wouldn’t be life if there weren’t curve balls, sharp turns or detours would it?

As I am writing these words, we are getting ready to embark on our new journey to Colorado!  In fact we could really use your prayers.  There are a lot of unknowns of where we will live and what school our kids will attend.   We are trusting in God’s provision and leaving it in His hands.  Even though we don’t know how all the details are going to work, we know God has it already worked out for us.

There is something powerful in doing something bigger than yourself.

Alaska has taught us many things especially the art of camping and how to be prepared in all kinds of situations (wild life, negative degree weather).  We will be driving with our two kids and dog in our RV through Canada this summer, stopping by national parks along the way.  It is bittersweet for us to leave all the wonderful friends who have been our new military family to embark on our new adventure.  But we are excited for our new adventure that awaits.

Sometimes I question if we have to move every 3 to 4 years how are we able to grow roots?  I believe God uses us wherever we are.  He allows us to bloom wherever we are planted growing our roots deeper in every step of faith and act of obedience.  I will cherish the relationships and friendships we have made along the way and carry them in my heart wherever I go.  Each journey we go on grows us and prepares us for what God has in store (hence why we named our dog Journey ; ).

Our Journey Girl

Want a chance to win a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul:  Military Edition for your self?  Before it is available in stores?

Here’s How to Enter:  Contest ENDS May 12th!  

  1. Subscribe to the Blog OR
  2. Write a Comment with your name, EMAIL and what branch of the service you are associated with OR
  3. Share this post 

Do all three for THREE chances to win!  I will need your email to notify if you won.  The Contest is only for those who live in the United States.  I promise I will not share your info with anyone.  If you win I will need your mailing address so I can send you a signed hard copy of the book!  Please share with others so they can have a chance too!  I will announce the winner via Facebook and email.  Please like the Facebook page or leave your email in the comments in case you win!  Good luck!

Chicken Soup for the Soul:  Military Edition is available for pre-order purchase on www.amazon.com for only $10.37!  It’s a perfect gift to give to that special someone who serves for Memorial Day!

Want more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox? Subscribe to my blog and receive a weekly Monday message!  Follow us along our journey, like my  Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.  Have a blessed week!

I would love to hear from you! Leave your comments below!

Subscribe to Receive a Weekly Dose of Encouragement Right to Your Inbox!

7 Miracles I Have Witnessed as a Nurse

/2 Comments/in , , /by

Have you ever witnessed a miracle, something so amazing, you knew it could only be God’s handiwork?  Being a nurse I can say I have been a first hand witness to some of life’s most amazing miracles.  I’ve witnessed countless births—babies taking their first breath of life as they enter into this world.  I’ve seen patients on their death bed who had no chance of survival, walk out of the hospital on their own two feet.  I’ve seen a father donate his own kidney to his son to give him a chance of life. It is an honor to be a nurse and a witness to some of life’s most precious moments that can only be explained as a miracle.  A miracle is something that cannot be explained by laws of nature but only by the divine work of God.

Here are 7 of the Most Precious Miracles I have witnessed (as a Nurse and Mother)-

1.  A Mother’s selfless act of giving her baby up for adoption–    I have worked in the operating room as a nurse anesthetist for over 13 years now and in that time, have witnessed hundreds of babies born.  I will never forget the love of the mother who gave her baby up for adoption.  I couldn’t imagine what that mother felt at that moment knowing she was giving her motherly rights away to another mother.  How selfless of the birth mother, putting her own child’s needs first before her own.  By giving up her rights she was giving another mother a chance to be a mother and a chance for a better life for the baby.  This selfless act of love reminded me of the selfless love Jesus gives us everyday.

2.  The Blind Couple-  One of the other births that I will never forget is a baby being born to a blind couple.  Both the mother and father were physically blind.  When their baby was born, they handed me their camera and asked me to take a picture of their new born child.  I literally had tears in my eyes taking the picture of their new baby, knowing they would never physically see their child with their own eyes.  What impressed upon me so much about their baby’s birth, was no amount of blindness can ever change the amount of love they had for their child.  Just because they couldn’t see their baby with their own eyes didn’t mean their love for their child was any less.  This picture of blindness showed me we may go through periods of darkness or spiritual blindness in our lives, but that doesn’t mean God ever leaves us or doesn’t love just as much.  

3.  #1 Nurse Necklace-  I will never forget the family who gave me a #1 nurse necklace.  I was a nurse on a medical floor and took care of an older gentlemen for many weeks.  This man had a very loving family. He became very ill and passed away a few weeks after being ill in the hospital.  I was so touched when the family invited another nurse and I to their father’s funeral.  I have had patients pass away before but have never been invited to their funeral.  Afterwards the family gave the other nurse and I a #1 Nurse necklace to thank us for taking care of their father.  It stirred my heart the way the family showed gratitude by giving us the necklace after their father passed away.  I never before had a family respond in that way and it moved me.  It showed the power in giving gratitude and kindness out of our grief and sorrow.  

4.  The Russian man-  I will never forget when a Russian man, whom I never met before, reached out his hand and said, “Do you believe Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior?” I said, “yes.  Then he says, “You are my sister” (while still holding my hand).  We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, adopted into God’s one big family.  It doesn’t matter if we are Catholic, Greek or Jew when we accept Jesus as our Savior, what unites us as family is the blood of Christ.  

5.  The Roll Over Accident-  Have you ever witnessed something and you know what you saw, but couldn’t believe it?  My children and I were driving down the highway one day when it was raining.  A pick-up truck about 3 car lengths in front of us lost control and flipped horizontally (3 times) on it’s side with a flat bed trailer attached to it.  When the truck and trailer stopped rolling, it laid horizontally on it’s side laying across all 3 lanes of the highway.   Not one car hit the rolled over pick-up truck.  What was so amazing, all 3 passengers inside the truck boosted themselves out of the window and walked away unharmed.  It was a bone-chilling moment, knowing the accident could have been much worse, but God protected us.  This moment showed me not only do physical seat belts keep us safe but so does God’s belt of truth when it’s worn.  “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place.”  (Ephesians 6:14).  

6.  Brooklyn-  Our daughter Brooklyn who is almost 10 years old now, was born 8 weeks premature.  When she was born she only weighed 3 pounds 8 ounces.  She was too tiny to bring home and needed to stay in the hospital to learn how to feed and grow.  Her birth and life have nothing been short of a miracle.  Since she was born, she has alway defied the odds.  She came home after only 3 weeks (usually babies have to stay until they reach gestation).  She never needed oxygen when she was born, in fact she came out screaming!  One thing she has taught us is to trust in God’s plans.  Life may not turn out the way we planned but God’s plans are always greater and better.

7.  Bowen-  Out of all the miracles I have witnessed, there has been none greater than our son Bowen.  He is our third child born six years ago.  Even though he lived a short life of only two weeks on earth, his life impacted us greatly.  God used Bowen in a big way in our lives to show us how life’s most devastating moments can be turned into life’s greatest blessings.  How God takes our tragedy, our hardship and heartaches uses it, molds it and turns it into something more beautiful than it was before.  He showed us the meaning of living a life of love is a life worth living, when we are loving we are living.  There is no gift greater than that.  

Our son’s life taught us that God does answer prayer, maybe not in the way we want. Our son is no longer suffering, he is living a life free from pain, disease and sorrow.  God went ahead of us and made the greatest plan ever.  He is taking care of him until the day we will see him again. 

Have you ever witnessed a miracle from heaven?  Something that could have only been God’s handiwork?  Please Share!

Did you enjoy this blogpost? Please share with others!  Want more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox?  Subscribe to my blog and receive a weekly Monday Message or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts. 

Join me next week for the 4 part series of meeting Jesus in the scriptures, our struggles and our everyday lives.  I would love to hear from you!    Please Leave Your Comments Below.  Have a Blessed Week!

Jesus In Disguise

/62 Comments/in , , /by

Have you ever had an encounter with Jesus that totally changed your life? I wanted to share with you about the first time I went to Honduras on a mission trip with our church.  We went down to help build a building for the sponsor children for Compassion International.  We were in a community outside of Progresso, Honduras.  One day the pastor took us on a walk to show us some of the other projects the church had completed over the previous 12 years.  They had built a water system for the community to have clean drinking water, houses for those in need and now the Compassion house.

One of the houses we visited in particular, was fragile and could have been blown down by a gust of strong wind.  It had thin walls, a metal tin roof and dirt floors. This house was among many which did not have electric or running water.  The owner of this house was a woman who invited us into her home.  Many women were left behind to tend homes on their own while their husbands left to find work far away.

When she invited us in she wanted to show her gratitude by offering the only meal she had—a chicken (which is expensive).  It was obvious she did not have much to give and yet she wanted to offer us her very last meal.  We said no we we already ate, please keep your chicken.  She was insistent to give us all she had even though she had no idea where her next meal was going to come from.  We did not eat her chicken but left her home filled with a richness so abundant that it was hard to describe.

What the woman gave me that day could never compare to anything I could ever give to her.  She gave when she had nothing to give.  She was like the widow who gave everything she had.  

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:43-44)

She showed me a giving out of faithfulness to a degree I have never seen before.  Her giving was so selfless.  The only way I could describe it was, Jesus in disguise.  Her offering out of poverty, giving everything she had to live on to us was the richest gift I had ever received.  

“You can always give without loving, but never love without giving.” ~ Amy Carmicheal

Her giving showed me the love of Jesus, how he loves and thinks of us.  She was not afraid to give her love not knowing where her next meal was going to come from.  She gave without an expectation of receiving.  She lived faithfully in the love of Jesus, relying on Him for her every need and provision. His love knows no limits, is not bounded by boundaries, but free to everyone. Her offering her last meal, gave like Jesus gives to us everyday.  His love isn’t meant to be kept hidden but shared with others.  

I have never forgotten what she gave me that day. She gave me the courage to be courageous in love, not be afraid, share the love of Jesus with others, so they too may know there is no greater love than His.

Her giving challenged me to ask myself, what am I willing to give to others to let them know how much Jesus loves them no matter what the cost? 

Have you ever seen Jesus in Disguise?

How did it impact you?

“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends.” John 15:12-13 MSG

Did you like this blogpost? Share with others!  Want more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox?  Subscribe to my blog and receive a weekly Monday Message or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts. 

Join me next week as we dive deeper into the love of Jesus!  I would love to hear from you!  Please Leave Your Comments Below.  I pray you’re week is filled with God’s abundant love!

Confessions of a Working Mom

/1 Comment/in , , , , , /by

Sometimes I struggle as a mom who works outside the home, with not always having all the laundry done, all the dishes washed in the sink or homemade well balanced hot meals sitting on the table ready for my family to eat before 6 o’clock.  I struggle with not being at all the class parties, field trips and being able to go on mom coffee dates.  Truth is most days there are piles of unwashed dishes in the sink.  Sometimes we have sandwiches for dinner.  

I am so thankful for my husband, because without his love and support I wouldn’t be able to function as a working mom.   We try our best to run our household working together as a team.   

However, do you ever have those days where things just don’t run so smoothly?  You know before starting the day (before 6:30 am), there is a mile long of things that need to be done before leaving the house like feeding kids and dogs, brushing teeth and making sure lunches are in backpacks?  And after working a whole day, kids need picked up from school, dinner needs to be made, kids need help with their homework, the kitchen needs to be cleaned, lunches need to be prepared, then it’s time for bed!  Then the whole routine is reapeated over the next 4 days until the weekend comes!

As mothers and wives, we don’t do things to be commended.  But it would be nice to hear the words ‘thank you’ now and then.  Whether you are a mom who works inside the home or outside of the home, being a mom can be an exhausting, thanklesss job.  Especially the job of a stay at home mom, because their job isn’t always recognized as being a job most of the time, because they don’t receive a ‘paycheck.’  I have to give credit to stay at home moms, I don’t know how they do it.  They have one of the hardest jobs of all.

As a mom, can you relate?  We may question, is this God’s calling for us? 

We may compare ourselves to each other by what another accomplishes and achieves, and use that as a determination of our worth.  I promise you this is not how God sees us or how our worth is measured.  God desires us to seek him for our acceptance, our approval and our worth, not in our comparisons of one another.

So where is the worth and value in our work when we don’t receive grattitude?

“In all work you are doing, work the best you can.  Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not people”  (Colossians 3:23)

Even if we don’t recieve a ‘thank you,’ there is still value in our work when we do it for the Lord.  Finding value in our achievements is an endless, empty path.  I can guarantee you there will always be another pile of dishes in the sink, another load of laundry to wash, another meal to prepare.  Where is the value in our endless tasks?

We don’t have to live in the comparisons of others or our achievements to find our acceptance and worth–In God’s love we lack nothing, in him we are made complete (Colossians 2:10). 

Being a mom who works outside of the house continues to teach me to be content in whatever situation I am in (Philippians 4:11).  

If I wait until my house is clean to invite a friend over, I miss out on an opportunity to spend time with a dear friend.

If I wait until I have achieved something great, I miss out on all the joys God has intended to fill me with.

There is value and worth in God’s calling for us.  It doesn’t matter what our circumstances are, in God we receive the fullness of joy in every situation.

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” Psalm 16:11.

When God’s desires are our desires, we are fulfilling God’s calling for us.  

Seeking God to fill us with His desires, we will always be satisfied in who God says we are.  “And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail” Isaiah 58:11.

Being a working mom (outside of the house and inside) may be a challenging, tough job.  Know that whatever you do, you are doing it for the Lord and that you are loved even if your house is dirty!

If you like this blogpost, Please share with others!  Want more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox?  Subscribe to my blog and receive a weekly Monday Message or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.

Join me over the next 4 weeks for the 4 part series of Confesions of a Skinny Girl, Confessions, of a Stay at Home Mom, and Married Woman!

I would love to hear from you!  Leave your comments below.  Have a Blessed Week!

Sometimes moms just need a pat on the back and hear the words your doing a great job!  To all the hard working moms know that you are loved and are doing a great job!  Encourage another mom today.  Let her know she is loved and doing a great job!  Print out these printable post-it notes by Cindy Bultema or download and share on social media #LiveFullWalkFree.  These printables are from the Bible study I am reading right now Live Full Walk Free by Cindy Bultema by Thomas Nelson publishers.

Click here to download PDF

Download PDF file above and share with others!

Share on social media with #LiveFullWalkFree or tag @CindyBultema

Confessions of a Skinny Girl

/1 Comment/in , , , , /by

How was your Thanksgiving?  Most of us are probably not feeling too skinny right now after eating tons of turkey, pie, mashed potatoes or whatever thanksgiving goodness we piled on our plates.  And then there were the pies!  Of course we have to try them all!

I am known as the skinny girl.  The one who has skinny arms, legs and non-existent hips. When people meet me,  I know what they are thinking….  That skinny girl looks like she has it altogether.

What struggles could she possibly have? 

Don’t be fooled by this small petite frame that there aren’t deep struggles that lie beneath.  Just because outwardly I’m small, doesn’t mean that inwardly my struggles aren’t big.

Truth is, this skinny girl ate way too much turkey and pie at Thanksgiving, that I can barely button my pants! If I could, I would eat a whole plate of fried pickles if my body wouldn’t hate me later.  I love chocolate cake—lots of it.  

Oh how I have flaws. I’ve wasted years of my life wishing I was taller, wishing this scraggly body looked like the voluptuous woman on the front cover of magazines. I have learned the hard way, in my indulgence and lack of self-discipline there are great consequences that lead to more emptiness and destruction.

Then I fall at the feet of Jesus and confess to Him all my flaws, my ugliness and mistakes.  He then says, “Dear child you will never find your self-worth and acceptance in this world, only in me.”  

“I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5 GNT).

He first chose me.  He knew me before I was even born.  

Only in the arms of God’s grace will my flaws and shortcomings be accepted.  

Only in the boundaries of God’s love will I find my worth—not in the size of my waist, otherwise I wouldn’t be worth very much.   

On the days I feel l have failed either as a wife or a parent, I am thankful my worth isn’t measured by my performance.

If I wait until I look a certain way, I miss out on the freedom God desires for me.

And thank God my value isn’t weighed by how clean my house is, otherwise I would be bankrupt.  

As years have gone by, I’ve to learn to accept God’s will and design for me.  God did not design this 5’ 3’’ petite frame to be on the basketball team.  His plan isn’t for me to be something I’m not.  I have a choice—keep trying to live up to worldly standards in who this world says I should be, or accept and live in God’s design for me.  Only one of them offers a life that is forgiving and filled with grace.   

When people meet me, they look at me and say I used to be a lot skinnier.  Our value and worth will never be found in our comparisons of each other.  We can break the chains of comparison by walking away from the lies of the enemy.

God made us exactly who we are for a specific reason and purpose all for His glory, not ours.

It doesn’t matter what size we are.  We are loved by Jesus who loved us first. (1 John 4:19)

In our flaws God sees our BEAUTY. (Ezekiel 27:3)

In our shortcomings God sees His PERFECT PLAN. (Jeremiah 29:11)  

In our weaknesses, God’s POWER is perfected. 

“And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness ” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me”  (2 Corinthians 12:9).  

In our messiness, God’s love sees us as blameless (2 Peter 3:14).

These three truths will always set us free.  

You are loved.

You are accepted.

You’re value is immeasurable in the eyes of God.  

You’re life has meaning and purpose.  If God didn’t deem your life as worthy, He would have never sent Jesus.  You were worth dying for.  

By His grace we have been saved.  

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”  (Ephesians 2:9).

Thank you Jesus, for loving me just the way I am!  You are loved my friend! 

What truths has God showed you?

Do you know how valuable you are in the eyes of God?  

If you like this blogpost, Please share with others!  Want more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox?  Subscribe to my blog and receive a weekly Monday Message or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.

I would love to hear from you!  Leave your comments below.  Have a Blessed Week!

7 Things the Enemy Can Never Change

/6 Comments/in , , /by

Lately, it seems everywhere I look I see the enemy reeking havoc in this world.  I see his relentless attacks on marriages and relationships.  There is nothing holding the enemy back from targeting our children, the helpless, the vulnerable.  The enemy has been coming on fierce and strong using all tactics to carry out his evil plan to make us believe his lies.  Sometimes I fall victim to what the enemy is trying to do.  I become weak and weary from fighting against his evil schemes.

Then God reminds me, there is nothing the enemy can do to ever change what He has already done for us.  We can rest in His plan, that one day there will be no more sorrow, or pain that we can rejoice because of what He has done for us (Rev. 21:4).

God reminds me in my weariness, that my fight isn’t against flesh and blood, but against all the powers of this dark world (Eph. 6:12).  He tells me to keep fighting the right fight with my prayers, not my weak self.  He tells me to keep standing firm in his truth;  it will protect and provide us with peace.

No matter how bad things get in this world.  No matter how bleak our situations may seem, we can trust in God’s truth and promises of who He is and what He has already done.  We can rejoice among all the chaos.

7 Things the Enemy Can Never Change:

​1.  God Will Prevail-  The victory has already been won.  Nothing the enemy can do, can ever change the resurrection of Jesus.  “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die,  Do you believe this?”  John 11:25

2.  God is All Powerful-  Nothing is stronger or more powerful than God’s strength.  “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”  Psalm 27:1.

3.  God’s Love- Nothing the enemy can do, can ever change God’s love for you.  His love, loves you unconditionally.  Nothing is bigger or better than God’s love.  Nothing you can do can make God love you less or more than He already does.  You are loved and accepted for who you are right now.  Only God’s love has the power to redeem, restore, renew, forgive and love unconditionally.  Something the enemy can never do.  God would have never sent Jesus if He didn’t love you.  “For God so loved the world, He gave his one and only son, who ever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life!”  John 3:16

4.  The Light of Jesus-  No matter how dark it gets in this world, nothing can never extinguish the light of Jesus.  In fact the darker it gets the brighter the light of Jesus shines.  “…I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12

5.  God’s Truth-  God’s truth never changes.  It stays the same.   God’s truth is eternal, everlasting.  When the things of this world fade away, rust, mold and decay God’s truth still stands, nothing can destroy it.  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  John 14:6

6.  Your identity in who God says you are-  You are accepted and loved no matter what the enemy tries to tell you.  Don’t believe his lies, you are loved!  God does not make mistakes.  He has made you the way you are, for a specific reason and purpose.  “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”  Psalm 139:14

7.  He is the Source and Provider for all Things Eternal-  God is the source and provider of our eternal joy, love, hope, peace, freedom and life.  Nothing the enemy can do, can change God’s eternal plan.  On earth, the enemy will try everything to take away your joy, your freedom, your hope.  We can rejoice even in our suffering like Jesus, because when God is our provider, we have an abundant supply of everything He has to offer.  We will never be hungry, thirsty or depleted of joy or hope when God is our provider. Everything He provides is abundant and eternal.  “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”  John 6:35.

When you feel the heat of the battle turning up you can rejoice because….

God Will Prevail.

When you feel like you are in the trenches fighting hard against the enemy.  You can rejoice because…..

God Will Prevail.

When you feel the relentless attack of the enemy armies coming on fierce and strong, you can rejoice because…..

God Will Prevail.

Keep holding onto God’s truth and promises.  They will provide you with the strength and peace you need when facing your battles.

If you like this blogpost, Please share with others!  Want more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox?  Subscribe to my blog and receive a weekly Monday Message or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.

I would love to hear from you!  Leave your comments below.  Have a Blessed Week!

There is Victory in our Thankfulness!

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by

Have you ever had one of those days, where you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed?  You started your day in a foul mood and just couldn’t seem to shake the bad attitude?  I sure have!  I can always tell when I start the day off to a wrong start when I am in a pattern of complaining.  Each complaint takes my day towards a spiral downward in the wrong direction!

It isn’t until I have stopped to acknowledge God for all I am thankful for, that my perspective starts to change.  He gently reminds me that He’s got it and I need not to worry how things are going to work out. I just need to trust in Him.

When I am in a pattern of complaining I am reminded of the Israelites wandering in the desert for all those years.  The Israelite’s were concerned how they would be provided for.  They turned to Moses, who was leading them through the desert, asking him for food and water.  Each time they went to him with their requests, they were provided for by God, in more ways than they even realized.  In all the times they were provided for, not one time did the Israelite’s give thanks to God to all He had given them.  They were in an ugly pattern of complaining and ungratefulness.

Oh, how convicted I am when I read their story.  How many times have I been in this pattern not stopping to thank God all I am thankful for? The conditions in the desert were not the most desirable, but the Israelites were always provided for.  Yes, I am sure it was hot and even uncomfortable wandering around in that desert.  But the Israelites never went hungry, their clothes never became torn or tattered, and they even had water to drink.  They may not have liked their circumstances, but their circumstances became so much worse when they grumbled and complained, leaving them unsatisfied, wanting more.

God was trying to teach the Israelites that He is the provider and maker of all things.  He is the source of anything we could ever need.  God was showing them true happiness isn’t waiting for perfect circumstances to occur but learning to be happy with what you have right now.  

There is Victory in Thankfulness!

It is hard to complain and be thankful at the same time. Thankfulness can turn struggles, troubles and tragedy into hope.  Only God can turn our valleys of troubles into a door of Hope (Hosea 2:15).

There is always something to be thankful for no matter how desperate our circumstances.  Focusing on what we’re THANKFUL for, turns our circumstances in an UPWARD direction back towards God.  It helps us STAY FOCUSED on what He has provided for us.  We may not always have the best of circumstances or even like them, but know God has it all worked out.  He has the best plans ever!

Thankfulness could have not only helped change the Israelites situation but really helped changed their hearts as well.  Focusing on what we don’t have will always leave us unhappy, dissatisfied and wanting more.  Thankfulness turns what we have into enough, a meal into a feast and a stranger into a friend (quote Melody Beattie).

How has thankfulness helped change your perspective?  

When I am thankful it turns my grumbling heart into a happy heart.
When I am thankful it turns my complaining into gratitude.
When I am thankful in my storms, God turns them into something beautiful.

Psalm 118:24 NKJV
“This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Trust in God’s provision for you, be thankful for it, it will transform your circumstances and your heart!

'Be joyful, pray continually, Give thanks in all circumstances.' 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIVClick To Tweet

Want to read more about Thankfulness?  Read Psalm 100 and Psalm 145.  

Did you like this blog post?  Please share with others!  If you would like more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox, Subscribe to my blog and receive a weekly Monday Message or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.  Have a Blessed Week!

I would love to hear from you!  Leave your comments below.  

Subscribe

Receive Daily Encouragement Right to Your Inbox

The Victory of Your Worth

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by

On one of our family vacations this summer we went to a fishing town in Alaska.  It was a rainy day and I was out walking our dog.  She was a brand new edition to our family of four.  She’s was a super adorable labradoodle puppy and at the time was only 4 months old.  As I was walking, I passed a gentleman who at first glance looked tattered and worn, (in fact he may have been homeless), says to me, “That’s a very nice looking dog you have there, she’s a little raggedy, but a nice looking dog.”  Don’t you love when people give you a roundabout compliment?  The comment struck me as funny because of the same raggedy appearance the man had himself!?!?!

I’ll admit, her wet fur did make her appear ‘a little raggedy,’ BUT if the man even knew how much value she added to our family and the price we paid for her, he would not have described her as raggedy!

But that’s just it.  This story describes many of us.  You may be tattered, worn and a little raggedy, but do you know how valuable you are?  Or do you know the price that was paid for you?  How much more valuable is something when you know the value of it?

It doesn’t matter how torn, tattered or ragged you are, your worth and value is not determined by external appearances.  Our value and worth are not measured by what color hair or eyes we have, not how tall we are, or even how much we weigh.  Our worth is determined by the blood of Jesus who paid the price for us.  What do you see when you look in the mirror?  Someone who has more value and worth than all the rubies and diamonds in the world or …….?  Truth is there is no amount of money that can pay the price for your life because it is priceless and beyond valuable.  This world can never pay a high enough price for the worth of your life.

Your life, your value, your worth, is priceless in the eyes of God. Click To Tweet

You don’t have to find your value in the acceptance and approval in what the world says about you (Rom. 12:2).  The world constantly changes its definition of what makes you valuable and worthy.  There will never be an end to keeping up with what they say makes you worthy.  The good news is God loves you just the way you are and would never have sent Jesus if he didn’t think you were worth it.  God sent Jesus for everyone.

There is victory when you live in who God says you are.Click To Tweet

You don’t have to try to fit into a mold of who the world says you should be.  God wants you to be who you are, how he created you to be, not try to be something your not.

Ephesians 2:8-9
“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith- and not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works so that no one can boast.”

Did you like this blog post?  Please share with others!  If you would like more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox, Subscribe to my blog and receive a weekly Monday Message or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.  Have a Blessed Week!

I would love to hear from you!  Leave your comments below.

Subscribe

Receive Daily Encouragement Right to Your Inbox

3 Things We Can Do When Tragedy Strikes

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by

What a heartbreaking week it has been for the city of Orlando.  For all the victims, their families, the devastation and lives that have been lost.  It’s an unnerving feeling when evil shows it’s face, lurks around in unexpected places and attacks when you least expect it.

It is a face I know oh too well and a face I’d rather not see over and over.  If there is one thing tragedy has taught me is there is a choice to make.  To allow evil to illicit fear and dictate our actions or to choose love and allow love to dictate our actions.  

When love is the choice, evil never has a chance. No amount of evil can ever destroy God's love. Click To Tweet

When love is poured out onto tragedy good things grow from it.  Nothing ever good grows from hate or evil.  The face of evil may change, how they attack, what they target, but God’s love never changes.  It is and always will be bigger.  It will never fail you and is what will keep you anchored in the storm.

No one chooses for tragedy to happen.  But when it does there is something YOU and I can do when tragedy strikes.

3 Things We Can Do When Tragedy Strikes:

1.  Love-  We are called to Love.  God loves sinners.  God does not love sin, he may not always agree with what we do but his love is unconditional.  We are all sinners.  God still loves us even if he doesn’t always agree with what we do.  Just like a parent loves a child.  His love not dependent on what we do or don’t do.  To love someone doesn’t mean you have to agree with them.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”  John 13:34-35

God loves broken people and our brokenness.  When we hurt God hurts.  He loves and accepts us for who we are right now.  As Christians what an opportunity to love those who God loves.  To love how Jesus loves.  To choose love despite tragedy.  How will anyone know the love of God if we don’t love them?  

How will anyone ever know
There is Hope in Devastation
There is Order in the Chaos
There is Healing for the Broken Hearted
There is Help for the Hopeless
There is Beauty found in the Pain
There is Peace in Storm

If WE don’t show them?  

'Encourage one another, build each other up.' 1 Thessalonians 5:11Click To Tweet

2.  Pray-  “Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone, be joyful always, pray continually.”  1 Thessalonians 5:15-17 Prayer moves mountains.  It allows God’s divine intervention to intercede on our behalf.  Prayer joins us, connects us unites us.  It is our communication with God.  Prayer is powerful in numbers.  Sometimes prayer not only changes the situation but our hearts as well.  When we pray specific prayers it makes a difference.  

  • We can pray for the victims and their families to be able to get connected to receive the help they need to start their healing process,
  • Pray this will be an opportunity for them to receive God’s love and receive the beautiful message of the gospel, they can find hope and healing in God
  • Pray that Christians and the community would rise up and extend God’s love, mercy, grace and not judge, but love
  • Pray God would reveal to you how you can help and be apart of something bigger than yourself.  

3.  Come alongside those who are hurting-  “He Comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.”  2 Corinthians 1:4 MSG


Just as God comes alongside us when we go through hard times we can come alongside others who are going through hard times.  Not that you desire tragedy upon anyone, but how comforting is it when you meet someone who has gone through a similar situation?  Our pain is not meant to be wasted but to turn into something good.  In a past blog post, I wrote  How to Come Alongside Others Who Are Going Through Hard Times.  We can always do something.  We can make a meal, pray, offer help and support, our time, just being available in their time of need.

God did not do this.  He does not like evil nor wishes it upon anyone.  Evil is Evil.  Evil does not come from God. Evil comes from the Prince of darkness himself, Satan.  Evil can never change the fact that God already conquered death.  Evil will keep trying to put division among us, turn us away from God making us believe God doesn’t love us, that God is not good.  If God didn’t love us he would have never sent Jesus to die for us.  He loves us more than anything, He sent his own son for us.

'For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ' 1 Thessalonians 5:9Click To Tweet

I do not have all the answers.  We may never know why tragedy happens until we go to heaven one day.  Even if God told us the answer we still may not understand.  Choosing to continually search for the answer to the ‘Why’ will only leave you on a desperate weary chase for more.  Because you will never be satisfied even if you received the answer.  

It all comes down to a matter of faith.  Trusting in God’s plan and his promises.  Please know that he only wants the best for you, He loves us beyond measure and he has the best plans ever.  His word and truth will keep you safe.  God has already fought the battle and won.  Even if evil strikes, when God’s love is the choice it will…..

Turn Terror into Triumph.
Turn Victims into Victors.
Turn a Bad situation into a Blessing.
Turn a Mess into a Message.
Turn your Pain into something Beautiful.

What evil intends for evil God will use for good (paraphrased Genesis 50:20)Click To Tweet

God loves you!  Have a Blessed week!  

I would love to hear from you!  How has God’s love transformed your situation?  Please Share!  Leave Comments below.  

Did you like this blog post?  Please share with others!  If you would like more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox, Subscribe to my blog to receive a weekly Monday Message or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.  Have a Blessed Week!

Subscribe

Receive Daily Encouragement Right to Your Inbox

The Joy of Less: Becoming More With Less

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched–they must be felt with the heart.”  Quote Hellen Keller

Has God ever asked you to walk away from it all?  To give everything up and walk in a totally different direction?

That is our story.   In fact, God did a complete overhaul and did the impossible, transforming our hearts.  It all started three years ago when God starting working fervently in our hearts.

It started with a prayer.


God, I pray that your desires will be my desires.  I pray my heart will be filled with what you desire for me.  

Be careful what you pray for. That prayer opened the door for God to do something amazing.  It allowed him to orchestrate the impossible.  God asked me a very tough question, “Will you allow me to be the one to fill you with more of what I have planned for you?  Will you trust me to lead you to the best life ever?”  

What God was asking us to do, was a tall order.  He was asking us to walk away from the life we had been working toward, that we had built over the past 10 years.  He had asked us to walk away from our house, our family and friends, our jobs, everything we knew.  Why?  To be filled with the more God desired for us.  

By allowing God to fill us with His desires it opened a door for so much more.  It allowed God to rid of us anything getting in the way of him so he could fill us with his abundance and not the world’s.  To the world we seemed crazy, giving up a life that is considered the ‘American Dream.’  You could say we had it all according to the standard of the world.  But there will always be something more the world is telling you to buy and achieve, this will only leave a person weary and depleted.  

Allowing God to have our struggles, made more room for Him to orchestrate the impossible and re-directed our focus to what mattered most;  God, each other, making memories and serving others.

Clutter, busyness, and distractions will always get in the way of God's plan for us. Click To Tweet

Quote Chicken Soup for the Soul:  The Joy of Less- “Life is focused now on what we are putting into our hearts and not what we are putting into our closets.” ~Heather Gillis  

It is amazing what God can do when we allow Him to have all of our heart, and give Him all of our struggles, trusting Him with the plans he has for us.  


Will you allow God to lead you to the best life ever in Him?Click To Tweet

I promise when you take one step of faith, God will work out the details and open many doors of opportunity. Click To Tweet


Did you like this blog post?  Please share with others!   Want to know more ways to de-clutter, simplify and how we become more with less?  Read our story published in “Chicken Soup for the Soul:  The Joy of Less,” Click Here. 

When we get rid of the physical clutter it helps to also get rid of clutter in your hearts as well.  Want more encouraging posts? Subscribe to my blog and receive a FREE e-book “Esther:  God’s Plan for Victory” or like my Author Facebook page.  

I would love to hear from you!  Leave your comments below.

What have you cleared from your life to make room for what matters most? 

How do you become more with Less?

Subscribe

Receive Daily Encouragement Right to Your Inbox