One More Year; Then She Drives

Psalms 46:5

"God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day."

We are BIG on birthdays! Gary and I have always tried to make our kids feel special on their day of birth. Well, it is Jenny Beth's special day, maybe I should say month! She turns 14, September 22nd and it never really dawned on me how old she was getting until she said in an excited voice, "I can drive next year"! What?! Although I do not carry her on my hip physically, mentally I still do. Where in the world did the time go? I can still see her laying on the floor with that curly hair all amiss, her feet propped on the tv stand watching Barney.

She is my artist, my reader, my child when she has had enough of stupid...she let's you know! Jenny is fun loving, she loves hugs and she always tells me, "have I told you how much I love you" or "have I told you lately that you are beautiful"? I know, I know...she melts your heart! Mine too!

I look at her and I am in awe of her character. She is very mindful of others and their feelings, she is an encourager. You see Jenny Beth has a heart for others. It is funny how God uses your children to teach you or remind you of a quality that He wants you to work on. Matthew 22:39, "And the second is like it; 'Love your neighbor as yourself'." 

Happy Birthday

to my 

Brown-Eyed

Girl!

The King is Enthralled

Psalms 45:11

 "The King is enthralled by your beauty"

 Enthrall, to hold the attention of as if by a spell (http://www.merriam-webster.com). Good night, I love this word! God is enthralled with us! Mesmerized, we have His full attention, He is consumed with you, with me! Isn't that a beautiful concept? Can we truly wrap our mind around that? 

As I sat with a client, Psalms 45:11 kept running through my mind. This young 18 year old cannot see how beautiful she is. She does not know that the God of creation, the God who called her by name before she was born (Isaiah 49:1) is completely and utterly enthralled with her. As I listened, she is just one of many who are downtrodden because of a life full of mistakes. She doesn't know that life should and could be different. Feeling trapped, uneducated, being unwed, without a job and expecting a baby, she is overwhelmed. She has never heard the creation story, of Jonah and the Whale, Zacchaeus...the wee little man, the story of Esther or that Jesus loves her so much that He was a willing sacrifice....just for her. 

Recently, God directed me to First Coast Women's Services. FCWS is a faith based pregnancy crisis center and I, of all people get the privilege of working there. I am humbled! I get to share Jesus with girls that have no hope...I share the HOPE that I have, JESUS! Never in a 100 years would I have placed myself in this ministry, but here again scripture does NOT return void. Psalms 139:16, "Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." My story has already been written, can you believe it...a story about me! God can use broken vessels after all... for He is the potter and I am the clay! Let's just say there is a lot of molding going on.

Having worked with youth for over 10 years, I have experienced many girls who do not realize their potential through Jesus Christ. They cannot fathom anyone, much less God being enthralled with them. Song of Solomon 4:7, "All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you." Not only youth, but adults as well get "hung up" on their past sins, past mistakes and regrets. BUT friend, I am here to tell you that in Isaiah 43:18-19, God says, "Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Satan wants nothing more than to defeat, for "he is like a roaring lion, roaming to and fro seeking whom he may devour". We have to claim God's Word as truth, but we must share His truth as well. Be intentional today. I know there is someone who needs to know that God is ENTHRALLED with them.

"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely. He loves  every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken." 

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

FCWS is looking for volunteers to love on these girls. We even have a Men's Ministry! If you would like information, please feel free to contact First Coast Women's Center at (904) 259-2585 or visit our website http://www.fcws.org.

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.

Beauty for Ashes

Isaiah 61: 3

To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

Circumstances, losses, and even affliction are allowed into our lives so The God of heaven and earth,  our Creator may be glorified! So many times, when we are in the midst of a trial, we struggle to find the beauty in it.  I have to say I love the way  scripture sums it all up.."to give them beauty for ashes".

In the Old Testament, ashes were a sign of mourning; as displayed by Mordecai in the Book of Esther, repentance displayed by many prophets for the sins of Israel, and you just have to love Job! Job 42:1-6 states, "Then Job replied to the Lord: I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asks, Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge? Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me, My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." How many times have we "heard" of God, but our eyes have not "seen" Him? 

We will never be able to wrap our mind around God. His ways and thoughts are so much more than we can comprehend, but that is where our faith, His grace and mercy steps in. God has taken our sins, our mourning, our depression and has made them into something beautiful! Our inadequacies, our unfaithfulness, our gluttony, our adulterous hearts, our pridefulness, our arrogant spirit, our unwillingness to forgive and He...YES GOD because of His mercy and grace is offering beauty for our ashes! We have to be willing participants in His mercy.

At the Foot of the Cross

At the foot of the cross

Where grace and suffering meet

You have shown me life

Through the judgment you received

And you've won my heart

And you've won my heart, now I can

Trade these ashes in for beauty

And wear forgiveness like a crown

Coming to kiss the feet of mercy

I lay every burden down at the foot of the cross

At the foot of the cross

Where I am made complete

You have given me life

Through the death you bore for me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EtAiFJDHSAg

(copy and paste the address above in your web browser)

Has God won your heart?

Romans 10:9-10

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."