Hello my friends and thank you for reading my newest post. It is a short post but an important one that I feel compelled to share. I wanted to share two very special and meaningful events in my life. The day I ask Jesus to be my personal Lord and Savior and the day I was baptized in the presence of friends and family making a confession of faith in Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God!
Without these two dates my life would be meaningless, I was created by God and for God’s purposes. I have many things to be thankful for in my life, God’s grace abounds and I put my trust in God.
God placed it upon my heart to share these two events with you today. My prayer is that you know Jesus and His love. Thank you for your support and following my blog. I’m looking forward to sharing with you daily during The Lenten season. I am going to include one of my favorite hymns from my childhood, blessings to you today and always!
I read this quote today and instantly loved it and it immediately provided some needed clarity for me.
I love “God Moments” in my life and this was one of those moments. Just a few days ago I found myself looking through old photos of my mom and replaying memories in my mind. I was happy and sad and thankful all twisted together. My mom went to heaven in 2012 and there’s not a day I don’t think of her in some way. I believe that grief was best described by C.S.Lewis, when he stated, “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid” in his book, “A Grief Observed.”
It is also true that grief is a process and not simply an event. The accepted process lists five stages of grief and there’s no right or wrong order in which individuals go through them. Some might be brief while others take extensive time and sometimes stages are repeated before completing all five. Be gentle with yourself and others, navigating these stages is not the same for any two people. I will provide some additional references at the bottom for anyone wanting more information. I can only speak from my own experiences, I am not in a position to offer any professional advice if you are grieving and need assistance please reach out to a professional. My immediate family though small, we all have dealt with death differently and that’s ok, I’ve actually appreciated the lessons and insights I have discovered through this life event that caused processes to begin. I can say with full confidence that my brother, father and myself all have renewed relationships with one another and our family bonds have strengthened and I know in my heart my mother would be overjoyed. God did not call my mother home to cause pain to our family. God is a loving God, He only wants what’s best for each of us. I can say that with confidence now, but on June 22, 2012 at 3:22am…I was crushed and broken! I was not able to see anything good or positive, I felt pain like I had never felt before. I was angry and I did not understand. I trusted my family, my friends, my church and I trusted God. I’m thankful for a loving and patient God, I’m thankful for a forgiving God and a teaching God. I felt sorry for me, my brother and my dad but mostly for myself. I was really selfish! I finally realized that God is God and He’s in control. My mom no longer would suffer physical pains of medical issues, she no longer would have to work twelve-hour days, her mind would no longer have to calculate and pay bills, she would no longer go to sleep tired and wake up to repeat the previous day. She is forever in the care and love of Jesus! My mom loved her family, she loved her friends, she was loving, she was honest, she was dedicated, she was tenacious, she was smart, she was creative, she was funny, she was loyal, she was my mom, she was my friend, she was my biggest fan, she was my biggest supporter, she was a daughter, she was a wife, she was a mother, she was a grandmother, she was an aunt, she was a cousin, she was a daughter-in-law, she was a sinner and she was a saint. I could go on and on, but you get the picture I’m painting. I loved her and I miss her. By the way, I’m not saying my mom is better or more important than anyone else’s…mom are all quite uniquely special in their own way and they are all gifts from God.
When we grieve the loss of someone and our grief process begins the world does not stop and wait for us to do the things we need to, no! Life continues moving forward at the same speed and pace it always had and we must keep up. Over time my life settled back into its previous rhythm and I tried hard to accept the fact that life would go on and I would be ok. Some days I tried extra hard to understand the why’s of it all and some days I relented and simply said it was God’ will. I actively searched out books on grieving, shared with friends and family, spoke with a counselor and my pastor. Talking helped and I also wrote down my thoughts and eventually shared them on this site as well as with friends and family. Writing helped me to focus and seek God, and through this activity I discovered I was changing. I started to see beyond myself, past my dad and my brother as well. I was seeing the world and more importantly the world that God created! God is in control! My responsibility is to trust in God, trust that God has my best interest in mind and that He not only loves my but He died for me, died for my mom, died for my family, He died for you too! It’s difficult for me to admit this but I’ve learned so many valuable life lessons because of the passing of my mother. I could not have learned these life lessons any other way, God blessed me through this excruciatingly painful period of my life. I am not weeping every time I think of my mom, sometimes I literally laughing out loud when speaking about her, reminiscing about her and I even catch myself saying things that she would have said and done only to laugh about it in the end. And, that my friends is joy, pure JOY! I know and can see how truly blessed I am that God gave me such a wonderful mother.
The clarity I have gained is this…
God loves me.
God is patient with me.
God is trustworthy.
God knows best.
God is…
“God is good all the time. Andall the time,God is good.”
God has been faithful my entire life, I have not always seen or recognized it and often when I do, I have been slow to act but I am seeking to learn more every day and striving to be more like Jesus, even asking the question, “what would Jesus do?” Friends, God has never ask anyone to be perfect, He asks for obedience and repentance. He wants to be part of your life and mine.
John 6:40, “For this is the will of my Father that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
James 4:8, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
1 John 3:1, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
Acts 3:19, “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out…”
John 14:23, “Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Lastly, I can honestly say with true conviction that God has opened my heart, mind and soul to an increased understanding of grief, love, loss, clarity, joy and unspeakable peace.”
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post, if you are in need of prayer or support please reach out to someone you trust, I am also praying for you as well. Blessings to you!
• the state of being uncomplicated and uncompounded
• freedom from pretense or guile
• directness of expression
I shared in a conversation today with a friend, we discussed many things ranging from personal cares and concerns to the many plights going on in the world in general. A question was posed as to how I see myself in the midst of everything or at least where I wish to see myself. The first word that came to me was, “simple.” I see myself living a simplistic life. In many ways I live a life filled with good fortune and prosperity in comparison to some and equally compared to others I am living in poverty. It’s all a matter of perspective from which one sees me, or perhaps chooses not to see. None of it really truly matters because this place, earth that is, is not my home. I know that my eternal home is in heaven with God, God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. Knowing this does not mean I don’t care about my life here on planet earth, I do very much so. I have learned as I get older what the truly valuable things are in life for me. I once dreamed of living in a large home filled with lots things and people/children and pets, but large homes can be lonely especially when there’s no one significant to share it with, pets though they are cute and cuddly are also an added responsibility when not shared with someone. Don’t misunderstand, being alone is not the same as lonely. Being single can be very fulfilling and rewarding, we are all called to be and do different things and we are all chosen and created by God with purpose! I have had two significant relationships during my life and I am a better person today because of them. I made mistakes and have regrets and I learned from them. I’m a better person because of my experiences, and if it’s God’s will for me to meet and be with someone again, I will welcome it with an open heart, an open mind and an open soul. Living simple for me is having what I need and the ability to have some of the things I want. It’s having the freedom to say yes to things and no, to other things. It’s helping and volunteering with there’s a need. It’s sleeping all day if I choose to do so. It’s staying up late reading a book, playing a video game or watching movies. It’s staying up late preparing for a bible study class or responding to the Spirits call to post a blog that’s been tugging on my heart all day long. It’s going for a drive in the middle of the night just to feel the wind on my face. It’s going to the park just to take pictures of God’s grand design. It’s going out for dinner and ordering the finest steak without concern for the price. It’s choosing healthy foods because it will help me feel better in the long run. It’s about having butter on my popcorn at the movies because life is very short. It’s smiling at a stranger because they deserve to be noticed. It’s holding a door for someone and saying “thank you” and “you’re welcome.” It’s saying you’re sorry and truly meaning it. It’s sitting in silence with a friend in need because words are not necessary. It’s remembering a memory and sharing it. It’s paying for a strangers meal without their knowledge. It’s stopping my car when a funeral procession drives by. It’s saying thank you to a solider, police officer or firefighter. It’s saying a prayer when I see an ambulance or police car racing by with lights flashing. It’s picking up trash in a parking lot. It’s all these things and more, much more that give my life meaning, value and it is simple. Simple, in that these things bring me joy and happiness and peace.
I want to thank you for taking the time to read my post, I pray that you are able to glean something of value for yourself from it. God continues to bless me day after day and I want to pass the blessings on to you. Believe and know that God loves you and that He desires only goodness for you. Trust in Him today!
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” John 14:27
Attending church is something I have done as far back as my memory takes me. It is a difficult thing for me to imagine never attending church but I know many people have not experienced it. I know that people go to church for different reasons and that church can also be many things to many people. I remember getting dressed up for Sunday school and being picked up by the Sunday school teacher every Sunday. When I was young, three or four, my parents didn’t attend on a regular basis but wanted me and my brother to attend. Later on as I grew my parents would attend more and especially on holidays like Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. I was never forced to attend Sunday school or church by my parents, I loved it, enjoyed it very much. As an adult now, I look back and can see some valuable lessons I learned through these experiences, I learned social skills, I learned bible stories, I learned songs that have sustained me throughout my life. I learned to be part of a bigger family, one beyond my own. I was a part of the church family and the greater community of believers. I found worth and value through going to church. It wasn’t the building, though it still holds a special place in my heart, not a specific sermon, not even a specific minister, although some are more memorable than others; it was the people, their convictions and beliefs, the presence of God within those individuals that taught me what church really is all about. Church, for me is the presence of God! It is a place to worship, a place to be feed physically, emotionally and spiritually. It’s a place for support, learning, healing and safety/comfort. A favorite bible verse of mine is, Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.“
Here’s a list of why some attend church:
• To interact with other like-minded individuals.
• To socialize with friends and family.
• To hear God’s Word spoken and preached.
• Free babysitting.
• Free entertainment.
• Hot coffee and food.
• Heat in the winter and cool in the summer.
• Worship God/Praise God.
💜These are all good and valid reason, follow your heart. 💜
Here’s a list of why some do not attend church:
• It’s my only day off, it’s “me” time.
• I’m too tired.
• I don’t have the right clothes.
• It’s too early/It’s too late.
• I don’t have money for the offering.
• I don’t want to be “called out” or “yelled at.”
• I don’t fit in/I don’t know anyone.
• I’m too broken.
Never let any of this statements or ones like them keep you for worshiping God and seeking God.
❤️God sees your Heart!❤️
Church will and can be what you want it to be. We are all members of one body as stated in 1 Corinthians 12:12, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”
There are many different churches and denominations in the world, and I am not here to promote one over another. The Bible commands me to do two things and they should not be hard to do but honestly I struggle from day-to-day just like everyone else. We do not live in a perfect world and there is conflict but that doesn’t mean I can’t try to follow God’s command and when I fail, I seek forgiveness and start again and so can you!
Matthew 22:37-40, “He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Love God, love your neighbor!
If you don’t know God seek Him and He will be found. Reach out to a friend, a church, coworker, and/or the internet…God is waiting for you no matter where you are, no matter who you are because we are all God’s children and He desires all to return home. You are loved!
Salvation cannot be earned, we are saved by the grace of God when we recognize and place our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. For the free gift of salvation all you must do is admit and believe you are a sinner, that Jesus Christ died for your sins on the cross, and sincerely ask His forgiveness. Strive to sin no more, turning away from sinful things, show repentance. Jesus knows you and loves you. The attitude of your heart is what matters to Him, your truthfulness, your honesty. A suggested prayer for this is:
“Dear God,
I know I’m a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness.
I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son and He died on the cross in my place.
I believe that He died and that you raised Him to life.
I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord, starting today at this very moment.
Simplicity
DISCOVER 
You must be logged in to post a comment.