Peace

 

 

A cycle of confusion, so constant, that contentment can never take root.  Band-Aids don’t heal and time never cures.   You’re surviving, but you’re far from living.  Your day becomes about holding it together, but inside you are crumbling. 

Maybe its pain inflicted upon you by another.  Your heart is unsafe.  You long for true acceptance and unconditional love.  Your level of peace is being constantly aware and managing your actions, denying your own desires if needed, or even talking about them.  You try and you try until you realize that even if perfection were possible, it wouldn’t be enough.  Callous words leave your heart numb, and yet somehow you still feel the pain.  Every time.

 
Maybe you’re at war with yourself.  Choices in life have left you devastated, guilty, or full of shame.  Or you have something going on inside of you.  It doesn’t have a name or a known reason for being there.  It’s sad.  It’s angry.  It’s depressed.  It’s stressed.  It’s hopeless.  So… you enlist.  You enlist in a losing battle plan of addiction, self harm, or abusing others.

Only the One who made us can restore us back to wholeness. In the midst of your raging storm, I pray you look to Him ~ where your release and your peace is found.

Peace

Crashing waves

Bruise my shore

Howling winds

 Blow in once more

Torrential rains

Pelt my skin

Lightning bolts

Come again

Turbulent waters

Staggered stance

Cycle repeated

In this dying dance

 

Trembling knees

Strike the ground

 Eyes glance up

To where help is found
 

An instant hush

The storm to cease

All at once

A soul at peace…

Freedom in Our Praise

Most of the Psalms were written during wilderness times; the Epistles,  in prison.  We can take comfort in knowing that when we are in the fire, God is about to use us in a mighty way. 

"About Midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God..." In their darkest hour, they didn't forget God nor grow angry with Him.   They knew from Whom their help came from and they knew their freedom was in their praise. 

The rest of that Scripture states, "And the other prisoners were listening to them." Others are watching us as we endure life's storms.

"Suddenly there was an earthquake that shook the foundations of the jail.  All the doors  immediately flew open, and everyone's chains came off. "

May we be like Paul and Silas, confident that God will never  forsake us even in the toughest of times.  Our continual worship of Him will invoke His presence into our lives. Not only will it bring our freedom, but an open door to share the Gospel message to those who have watched our calm endurance. 

(Acts 16:25-26, Philippians 4:4-7, 1 Peter 2:9, Hebrews 13:15)

Fatherless

 

 

 

 

Alone and abandoned; the smiles you fake

He brought you into this world, but you feel you’re a mistake

 

Can’t recall when he last held you or was ever truly there

Emotionally he’s absent; he seems to never care

 

You strive for his approval; long for his concern

He lets you down as always; you wonder when you’ll learn

 

Nails of sadness pierce your heart---day after day

You feel forsaken…you hope it will change

 

I can see the emptiness---with you I have cried

I understand the loneliness of being denied

 

I share in the pain of being forsaken

I relate with the nails and the abuse you have taken

 

I want to carry every burden that is weighing you down

I want to give you hope and a smile for your frown

 

I want to assure you, you are here for a reason

These sorrowful times are only for a season

 

You felt you were fatherless, but your real daddy is Me

For I’m the one who formed you before you ever came to be

 

I have great plans for you…I’ll mend your broken heart

If you give your life to Me, I will never depart

 

Sweet child, I love you---more than you can understand

Despite your brokenness, please trust Me and take My hand

 

I’ll lead you down the path of Truth that will surely make you free

No matter what comes down that road, you can always count on Me

 

Though trials come into your life, and it seems there is no way

There is a peace I have for you---to get you through each day

 

Please don’t listen to the lies you hear---that your life is not worth while

For I don’t regret creating you…I’m proud that you’re My child

 

Stages

Dear Alyssa,

 

"Every new stage a child goes through, a mother is going through one too."  Boy, isn’t that the truth?  I remember you starting your first day of Kindergarten at the comfort of our kitchen table.   I loved knowing you were right there with me where I could protect your innocence with what you heard and saw.  I could shelter your heart from the "mean" of the world.  Home was a haven deliberately filled with words of kindness, songs of worship, laughter, and safety. 

 

Seasons later changed.  The teacher hat no longer fit me.   Third grade came.  You were everything cute on that first day of school.  While you hobbled down the hallway with your oversized backpack of goodies, I suddenly was attacked with a backpack full of "mom worries."  This was my time to trust God, in new ways, with my most precious gift: one of my children.  I would learn that you would be exposed to unkind people and ugly situations, and that was okay.  That’s how life works.  No, I wouldn’t be there when it happened, but as soon as school was over, I would be there to kiss the “boo-boo’s” and wipe the tears.  

Then I apparently blinked or something because just like that... another scene change.  Tonight is 8^th grade graduation. You will be a high schooler in the fall.  Wow!  How did that happen?   You truly have grown into such a beautiful, young lady.  You are sensitive to others and to our God.  I am so very proud of you; and not the cliché “mommy goggles” kind of proud. J  You truly are a beautiful person, inside and out.

Alyssa, “boo-boo’s” continue throughout life.  It’s not going to be the scraped knee at recess or a friend who wouldn’t share the ball.  The goodbyes, the transitions, the making of new friends can feel overwhelming.  The challenges with tougher schoolwork, responsibilities, and friendships may seem insurmountable at times.  I get it.   The whole "Every new stage a child goes through, a mother is going through one too” quote – YEP.  I’m feeling it.  I know what you’re going through, and in my own mom kind of way, my heart is walking it with you.  And guess what?  I’m here for you through all these “ouchies” too.  Always.  

 

Love, Mom
 

Lord, I thank You for entrusting Alyssa into my hands - to care for her, to raise her to know You, to help her learn to hear Your voice, and ultimately to one day return her back to You.   I ask for Your help, Your guidance, Your wisdom.  I want to present You with a daughter one day that has made You proud with her life.  I pray for protection and long life for Alyssa.  May Your hand of blessing and favor follow her everywhere she goes.  I commit her once again to You; that she would live a life unashamed of You - a life recklessly abandoned to Your will.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t9u-LOa3OI

Fear

 

 

We are all well acquainted with the emotion that bears a choke hold.  It's ruthless.  It's torment.  It's an enemy to faith, a thief that robs you of life - imprisons you to a false reality. 

Anxiety, depression, doubt, worry, hurt, anger, sadness, low self esteem, unworthiness.  It comes disguised underneath many different emotions, but it all comes down to one thing:

 

FEAR.

 

The paralysis for some is the dread of what could happen years down the road, anxiety associated with an unpredictable economy, and for many it is the torment of what today, the next hour, the next minute will bring. 

"...fear has torment." 1 John 4:18a

Fear is not only an emotion, but a spiritual force. It is very similar to faith in that both have an unshakable belief in an unseen future. Fear trusts circumstances, natural predictions, the enemy's lies, and self.  Faith trusts God and what His Word says.  Fear is negative faith. 

 

Fear is an enemy of God.  It in essence rips Him of His lordship in our lives. We become self focused and not God focused.  We put our trust in the wisdom of man rather than in the power of God (1 Cor. 2:5).  We no longer see Him for Who He is and who He desires to be in our lives...  He solely becomes a gateway to Heaven, but in our day to day living He is diminished to a dusty figure placed on a shelf.   

God is love, and the Bible says that Perfect Love casts out fear.  God is THAT perfect love. 

 

"There is no fear in love (dread does not exist), but perfect love turns fears out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment.  He who is afraid has not fully experienced His perfect love." 1 John 4:18

Father, we want to know Your love... Your love is our freedom.  Your love removes shackles. Your love delivers us from all fear.  You are not what our circumstances look like. You are not what the latest trends define You as.  We commit to growing in the knowledge of who You truly are as defined in Your Word, and through that knowledge - growing in intimacy with You... We know that in experiencing that intimate love - fear has no more room in our lives. Thank You for Your love and the hope and peace it brings.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8TkUMJtK5k

 

"I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." Psalm 34:4

Kindness

Every person is fighting a battle of some sort whether it is current issues they are facing or those pesky learned behaviors we all have that can make us pretty darn ugly at times.  That is why it is important to lay aside your natural response to take offense, and love the "unlovely."

We haven't been called to give people what they deserve. God has commanded us to treat others as we wish to be treated. We are also shown in Scripture that whatever it is we do to another (negative or positive) we are doing to Jesus Himself. And YES, this includes our spouses and our children :)  

So before you lash out and choose harshness over kindness, pause and picture Jesus standing before you. All hurt inflicted on another is bringing pain to the very heart of God.

 "Rudeness, yelling, anger, and swearing are a weak man’s imitation of strength." (Author Unknown) 

 

I will venture out to re-word "weak man" to not having matured in our ability to process and communicate.  We need to do this if we want to have healthy relationships.  Through clinging to the Father and allowing the Holy Spirit to work, we can respond and speak in such a way that is honoring to others and to God.

Let's be kind to one another. Kindness makes us more attractive :)

 

(Ephesians 4:31-32, Matthew 7:12, Luke 10:27, Proverbs 20:3, Proverbs 29:20, James 1:19, Matthew 25:45)

 

Repentance

Oftentimes, we are so driven to a life of perfection and self willpower that our "repentance"  to God becomes a method.  It becomes about us; OUR feeling "a clean slate," OUR feeling "right," OUR success driven thinking to personally have victory over sin.  In doing so, we miss the real point of repentance:  An opportunity to connect with the very One whose heart we grieved.   A time to reflect on Who enables us to overcome.   A turning of direction.   A moment of embrace.   A beautiful occasion to hear, “You and I are okay.”

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYQ5yXCc_CA