Delighting in the Lord!! :)

Well, we have some super exciting things going on in our life right now, and some that are not so exciting... but we are learning more about trusting God and letting His plan play out instead of trying to tell Him what that plan consists of... It is not time to share just what these things are yet, because we are waiting on His final word and wisdom, but I can tell you that you will be stoked when we tell you!! (We are not pregnant yet, and we are not moving yet, before anyone gets their hopes up, sorry)... I just wanted to share a quick note about how God works... I read in a book that God will use you when you are in motion, He can't do anything with a parked car. So, following your heart and the passions He has given you will ultimately put you on the path He has for you, where He can use you for all He created you for. With that being said, for months, we have been praying for certain things to happen, and just sitting around waiting... But we finally prayed about it in a way that led us to start acting on what He was saying, instead of just telling Him what we felt He was saying... And now, He is moving us towards some amazing things!

Psalm 37:4-5 in the New Living Translation says: "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you." Instead of asking for what you think you want, give it to God, because sometimes we misinterpret the desires He has placed in our hearts. Don't pass up the blessings that God has for you simply because you are set on something you THINK He wants for your life. My husband, for instance, is my opposite. I had been praying for years for someone who held all the qualities my husband does, but looking for someone just like me. Not the way that works, by the way.... So, when I finally told God I was ready for my husband, whoever He had for me, and started praying and looking for the same things, I found this man who was handsome, adoring, and Godly. So, your heart and your head need to be lined up with God's plan and will for your life... Sometimes, all it takes is a perspective adjustment. :)

Make Life Better!

So, this will be short, because I am supposed to be writing a paper and taking a test, but it has just been on my heart to share some things.
The first thing being that our attitude changes everything. Our church did a baptism on Father's Day for the whole congregation. The understanding is usually that baptism is for new believers or never-baptized believers. Our pastor shared that God told him we all needed to come to the waters of baptism, so he made it happen. It was amazing! My husband and I were baptized together, but we seriously prayed about and discussed it for a few days before. We went to the water with the anticipation for change, in our bodies, our attitudes, and especially our spirits. We prayed that our old selves and mindsets would be left in the water, and we would come up more like Christ. I'm going to be honest: the Devil doesn't much appreciate these types of declarations. This led to an attack that afternoon on our marriage, and a very discouraging meeting for him at work the next morning. We have noticed, though, that even though things are coming against us, we are allowing God to inhabit our thoughts instead of letting these situations bring us down. It's not always easy, but life is BETTER when He is in control of our thought life.
The next thing I would like to share is that I am so excited to be married to a man who allows our home to run in this way. He is great about keeping me in check when I start saying things I shouldn't, but he is also very adamant about telling me to keep him in check. Because we're opposites, this works out fantastically, because we see everything different, and there is always one of us that is able to maintain perspective. I am very excited about what this means for our marriage, and our future together. We are giving things to God instead of trying to control them ourselves, getting pregnant for example. We are taking this month to gain perspective on what God has for us, and remembering to enjoy our marriage before we have children to change the dynamic.
So, I say all that to encourage those of you who need more. Let Him be in charge of your thought life, it takes alot of self-control to consciously give Him control, but life is so much better when you're positive about it. We are reading the book Who Switched Off My Brain? by Dr. Caroline Leaf and it is an excellent tool in learning how our thought processes affect every aspect of our life, down to our physical health. I recommend this to anyone, optimist, pessimist, or in between. :)
So much for being short... hehe

His Blood Was Shed With Purpose

Hey everyone! Excited to be back and communicating again! :) 

I’m going to start by saying that I haven’t really shared this story a whole lot because it is a very hard subject for me, and I try to avoid specific personal details. But, I really feel this is something I should share.

My husband and I have been trying to have a baby for a year now, and every month it gets more emotional and depressing. You hear about other women or teenage girls having babies, or mothers who kill or hurt their children, and it breaks you every time. I always try to hold off on the tears because I keep telling myself that God’s timing will be perfect, but the tears always come. I always feel so disappointed with myself for letting the sadness get the best of me. I know that I am being selfish when I cry at others’ baby announcements, and I think I beat myself up about that, making my sadness even worse. Really what I should be doing, is thanking God for giving me this strong desire to be a mother. He gives us the desires of our hearts, according to His purpose. I know that our desire for a child is something He placed inside of us.

I have been praying for many months for God to answer our prayers and allow me to bear a child. Then we were sent to a fertility specialist who told me that I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). This is caused by an insulin resistance, which causes my ovaries to not function the way they are supposed to. This also means that I am no longer allowed to eat sugar, bread, most fruits, fruit juices, pastas, rice, etc., and I also have to work out or exercise at least 30 minutes to an hour every day. I accepted this as God’s answer to my prayer, because I figured that if He just wanted to let me have place to start, I would be on the path to being healthy and getting pregnant. This is not ok.

To allow the devil to convince you that having to suffer with an illness or any other burden for the rest of your life is not what God wants. The doctor has told me that this is a problem I will have to monitor the rest of my life, or risk developing diabetes. I will not accept that. Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood so we do not have to accept the world’s report. I am claiming healing and fertility, and I want you to know that settling for a partial answer is not His will for your life. I posted previously about God’s desire to give us abundant life, and I know that we need to claim it! He doesn’t just offer it, we have to receive it! By just allowing our contentedness to take us from place to place, comfort zone to comfort zone, we are implying that Jesus' blood was shed for no reason. We have to allow His blood to be our purpose. We are not meant to live day to day meaninglessly. By allowing His Word to shine through us, and allowing our stories to speak exclusively of His love for us; we let His blood have meaning.We are His highly favored children, and He does not want to see us in pain. He just wants us to come to Him and allow Him to do His part. We cannot conquer without our King.

Back in the saddle...

Hey! It's been a long time since I've shared my heart... Since we moved, I've been busy, and had lots of ups and downs. But it has been on my heart lately to start writing again. I'm excited because I'm about to start working on my book, and this seems to help me stream my thoughts better. :) This is just a post to let you know I'm back and God has some great words coming for you! Thanks for reading!

Passion for Purpose!

Hey, sorry it's been so long since my last post! Our move was great, and now we are all settled into our new home! God is doing great things, and we are excited to be where He wants us!! I hope everyone's Christmas was great, spending time with family, eating lots of great food, opening presents, but most of all, celebrating the birth of our Savior!!! Now that I have some time, I want to share with you about how to use what God has given you, passion!

Psalm 37:3-5 (NLT) says, "Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you."

Many people use this verse saying "He will give you your heart's desires." They omit all the other parts. I believe this does not mean that whatever we want, He will provide. To me, this verse says that the desires of our hearts come from Him. If we use these desires to do His work, He will help make them happen! We all have been given a heart for something, a passion. He placed these desires and passions there for His work. We have been given different desires because the world needs different things.

It is time to stand up and use what He has given you. His desires are that we use our passions and our gifts to speak for Him and minister to others. Some people may have a passion for those in prison; some have a passion for catching people who should be in prison. My passions include neglected and abused children, and recently I have developed a heart for girls and women who settle for less than what God has purposed for them. I write this blog and am writing a book for the latter of those, and am working toward a career helping and loving those children who just need to know they are loved. We all have different purposes, but our passions are directly related to those. So use them.

Romans 9:21, "Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?" This is proof that our different purposes are individual, and useful. Resolve to realize God's purpose for you by allowing yourself to become acquainted with the passions in your heart.

To the left, there is a link to a site called Rescue Her. This is an organization created by Josie Carignan, a family friend, who is a wife and mother of three. Her passion includes helping those who are victims of human trafficking. She has partnered with some organizations who help and house those affected. She sells coffee, apparel, and jewelry, with proceeds going to these organizations. Click the picture link to read her story, and how her passion developed into a way to take action.

Please put your heart's desires into action as 2011 begins! Even if it means volunteering with an organization to start, it does not have to begin in a big way, just one heart at a time.