The Plan....His Plan

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,

plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you a hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

This verse has always meant so much to me. It was on a book mark my daughter gave me for Mother's Day when she was in 1st grade and was really the 1st verse I memorized. For each season of my life it has meant something different an special. As I went back and studied it again over the last few days God has opened my eyes to new things.

Back in March I was in Houston on a business trip. I had arrived at my hotel late in the evening after working that whole day and then taking a very uncomfortable flight. After checking in I went to my room and swiped my room key/card............

........ nothing happened.

I turned the key over thinking I had swiped it the wrong way.

Swipe.....

...Nothing again.

After standing there for a few minutes tired and hungry, I threw my head back in frustration. It was then that I saw the number on the door, 349. The room that the hotel had assigned to me was 348. I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry at myself.

As I studied Jeremiah 29:11 this last week God brought this story to my memory and I felt him say to me, "that is how you are treating the dream I have given you."

God has given me (all of us) a dream. A plan or a purpose, whatever it is you want to call it God has something for each of us to accomplish for His kingdom. For His glory. The talent/gift keys He has give us will open the doors to hearts in a might way when they are swiped properly in the door to the room assigned to us.

Are you using you key in the right door ? or are you trying to open a door that is not assigned to you ?

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Put it ALL on.

"Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be

able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Eph 6:11

This morning I got to the office, sat down and flipped my calender to begin the new day. On June 2, 2010 Ephesians 6:11-12 was waiting in me. I have read this passage about putting on the armour of God many time. I had even attended a weekend retreat in which the speaker broke down each piece yet today God taught me something new.

My son played football from the time he was 5 years old until he graduated high school. Between days of practices and weekends filled with games, I have see many hours of football but one particular game stood out in my mind as I read and re-read this verse. One Friday night our varsity team came running on to the field and lined up to do their "warm-up" exercises. They stretched, ran, and pass. They did all the things football players do before a game. Then when it was time come together and run through the cheerleader's sign, one of the referees walk one of our starting players up to the coach and pointed him toward the locker room. After a short discussion the player trotted off the field with the trainer. The game started and several plays passed before the player reappeared to the sideline. When the coach saw him he motioned for the young man to go into the game. The game went on but I (being the nosey woman I am) could not help but wander what the player had been sent to the locker room for. He had his helmet, the right jersey, a chin strap, mouthpiece and all the vital pads that I could think of . Had he said something wrong ? Did he make a obscene hand motion? What was it ?

After the game was over I found out from the boys mother that he had left a pad out of his pants. The pad is about 2 inches wide and 10 inches long and fits just in the back of the pants. Most players (and some coaches) consider it useless and unimportant. But on this night the ref, the man in charge of the game, told our coach that the player had to have on the WHOLE assigned uniform or they could not play. He was not willing to risk them getting hurt on "his watch".

Do you think that is why God tells us in His word to put on the WHOLE armour? Do you think it is because He knows best and is not willing to let us get hurt on His watch ? That small pad is a part of a football prayers uniform for a purpose. Frankly it is made to protect the player tailbone. It doesn't seem important until you get hit there without that protection. Parts of the armour of God may not seem especially important until Satan sees that you are unprotected and "hits" you there.

Are you putting on the WHOLE armour of God everyday ?

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Calling Confirmation

This past weekend (May 15-16,2010) a very good friend, Tricia Russell, and I attended the Extraordinary Women's Conference in Birmingham, Alabama.

IT WAS AWESOME !!!!!

God showed up in every way.

First let me tell you how we were able to attend this conference at the last minute. Since T.R. and I will be attending Proverb 31's She Speaks in July we had decided we would save a little money and not attend E-Women this year. The Monday night before E-Women came to town, Lysa TerKeurst, the president of P31, left a post that they would be giving away 2 tickets to a randomly drawn reply. Not really believing I would win I just left a short little comment. Later that evening I found out that I had in fact won. Of course I called Tricia the first thing the next morning. told her to get a sitter cause we were going.

We knew from the first note played on Friday night that we were there by divine appointment and we were going to see God move in mighty ways. I wish I had the time, space and words to tell you all that God did through each speaker, each song and each sponsor but I mainly want to share with you where God took us during lunch break on Saturday.

Because we had won the tickets we did not get the boxed lunch that was offered so we had to leave the complex to get something to eat on Saturday. Due to me have a little brain hiccup and not being able to tell my right from my left we ended up getting on the interstate going the opposite way than we had planned. So we decided to just make the best of it and was heading to McDonald's. As we came around the block to turn to Micky D's we were stopped but a construction roadblock. Once again we had to go to our back-up plan and we went on around the next block to Burger King. As we walking in we sort of questioned if we should stay because it wasn't the cleanest, the line was long, and the staff was no moving to quickly. However, since we were limited on time we decided we would just stay and make the best of it. After a couple of minutes of standing there and couple and their friend came in behind us. As we all stood there waiting and waiting the gentleman just started joking and carrying on with us. He asked us what we were doing in town and we began to tell him about the conference. He told us that he and his wife were both in the ministry. As we continued to tell him about the speakers we found out that his wife was the managing editor of a Christian publishing company. That just blew us away. See T.R. has been working over the last few years to write a book but none of us really knew anything about the publishing business. We decided that even though we only had a short time we were going to stay and share lunch with our new found friends. This couple was such an encouragement to us, not because she was a publisher but because they loved the Lord so much and that came through in the way they shared with us. This couple just sat with us and listened to our hopes, dreams and concerns.

At a time when both of us had begun to throw out all those questions that seem to come in a time of waiting:

Did I really hear from God?

Am I really the one He wants?

Can I do this?

Am I qualified?

An on and on and on..

God sent to us the sweetest couple to confirm what He has already done in our lives and what He will do in the future. In His timing.

(This is just the period and the end of the story)

Because we had sat and talked with them for so long we were late getting back to the conference. We were afraid that we had missed the concert by Mark Schultz but it turned out that there had been some technical prblems and was just playing the first song we we slipped into our seats.

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Thoughts......

I had not really planned anything to post tonight but after completing the two bible studies that I am in and then surfing several of my favorite blogs I noticed a recuring theme... our thoughts that we think/say towards ourselves. Why is it that we can believe every promise that God speaks in His word for others but not take it to heart for ourselves ?

• I can comfort a hurting friend by reminding her that she is a daughter of the most High King but not act like I am also His daughter.
• I can tell others that they are made perfect in His image but each morning I look in the mirror only to see each new wrinkle or gray hair.
• I can go on and on to my children about how God has a plan for their lives even quoting Jer 29:11 over and over to them but if they hear me say that I can't teach a class or take on a job at the church that needs to be done, what have I taught them.

I have recently become more aware that the words I speak to myself not only beat me up and effect me but they also reach out to others like the ripples in a pond. The one small pebble of negative self-talk I throw out can continue on.

What are some of the words you speak to yourself ? Are they truth? Do they reflect the new creature you are in Christ? If not, why?

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Happy Mother's Day

Our pastor played the audio to this poem in our morning service. I wanted to post it earlier but I have just now been able to find time to sit at the desk and upload it. I pray that each child has some one in their life that they are carrying this I owe u around for. If not a biological mother then maybe a step-mom, an adopted mom, a grandmother, a childrens sunday school teacher, a church friend or even your dad. Always remember and be thankful for those people that God placed in your life to care for you.



I.O.U.

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BUDGETING IS NOT AN UGLY WORD

Have you ever gone up to the ATM, type in your PIN only to have your card shot back to you with a message on the screen showing that you have no money in you account ? Do you look around to see if anyone else saw it? Do you try it again thinking surely they accessed the wrong account? However, you get the same glaring insufficient fund announcement. You walk away with think, “How did this happen?” Then you go home review you check register, yell at you husband accusing him for not giving you the receipts or you just realize that you just did not budget for the small expense you had to pay.
How many other things in our life is the same way? How many other things get out of control if we have not preplanned all the small details? We have to be able to budget all areas of our lives (with God’s direction) to stay balanced. This week in our First Place 4 Health meeting we discussed the concept of budget the various areas (mental, emotional, spiritual and physical). So just like with our money we must plan our food, our exercise, our time and even our emotions beforehand in order to stay in God’s plan for a balanced life. This balanced life will enable us to better service Him in our individual calling.
I am sure you all understand the idea of budgeting money but how do you budget food. One member discussed how dinner is her only family meal so she wants to enjoy it as much as possible. Therefore she may not eat as many carbs and/or proteins that are allowed for breakfast or lunch in order to eat more at that family time. This is not to say that she skips meals to have one large binge or that she does it every day. For example: If you know you are going out to eat Saturday night then you may eat a medium size brunch (instead of breakfast or lunch) then be able to eat more at that dinner.
This study of budgeting gets very interesting once we more it out all aspects of our lives. This week as I filled out my bible study each night I discover a part of my live that desperately needed to be budgeted - - MY TIME. Due to family illnesses, increased responsibilities at my job, additional commitments at church, personal hobbies and dreams I have allowed myself to over spend on these things and I did not have time left to spend with God. So even though I was completing my First Place bible study every night, reading and studying to teach bible classes and I was even praying but I was not giving God my attention. I had not budgeted my time to make that needed appointment of quiet time for me to hear from Him just for me. As a result, I have begun to budget each day’s time the night before by marking the time in my calendar. I have only done it for a couple of days and it is not easy to stick to but I can already see great perks from it. I have learned that when you turn back to God and His divine plan for balance then he will bless you in all areas.

What area (emotional, mental, spiritual, or physical) have you been overspending?


(PS – I feel I need to just give a short explanation on how you can over spend spiritually. If you over commit to doing things in God’s name without His calling or His power. Let me give you an example—If you are teaching Sunday School, keeping nursery, teaching on Sunday night and are on 3 or 4 different committees plus involved in everything else at the church just because you think you should be not because you feel God is calling you to do them. And as a result you have not time to spend at His feet in worship, praise and learning for yourself you may be spiritually over committed. I do not think we can over commit to God Himself and what He has called us to.)

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Will you be my # 3 ?

When I read this post on the Proverb 31 ministries website, I knew God was nudging me to post and ask if you all would join in to become another strand in my braid.
I have recently joined a First Place 4 Health at our church to try once again to lose the same 25-50 pounds that I have lost 100 times before. After just two meetings and listening to the others that have gone through this program, I have realized that this program addresses on more than just the physical. That is the meaning of the #4 in the program name. God made us all mental, physical, emotional and spiritual beings. So as we meet each week we are discussing and addressing each of these areas in order to heal the whole person. Now having said all that this is where I need each of you to join in: my family is the first strand in my fight, my 1st place group is the 2nd strand and I would love for my blog friends to be my 3rd strand. I am simply asking that you pray for my total health as I progress through this program. I have realized that my weight is out of balance because my focus is out of balance. I do not plan to turn this blog into a weight loss site even though I will give updates now and again. What I do want to share is what God teaches me along this journey. Following is a short summary of what I have learned in this week’s bible study. (Remember I never claimed to be a great writer)

Deuteronomy 30:19 – This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.

God has given use all we need for us to walk through the life/calling that His has for us but it is up to us to choose to live that life. There are small choices that we make each day, hour and even every minute that will lead us to death or to life physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually or a combination of all. God has given me the free will to chose. It is up to me to decide to choose life. However, if I make pick incorrectly and began to head to towards death I will have to deal with the imbalance that it causes. And just like a car that has it’s tires out of balance we have to go to the mechanic for service and correct, we have to go back to our focus on God and the right tools he has given to us to correct that imbalance.

As I am daily re-focusing on God to bring all areas of my life back into balance I ask that you join me as my third strand. That we all become braided together as sisters to strengthen one another in all areas to uplift and encourage the whole beings that we are.

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