House of Hope blessing

Last week I had the honor of speaking at the House of Hope annual fall fundraising banquet, Harvest 06. www.houseofhopecr.org. House of Hope is a faith based organization which conduct classes and offer women the opportunity to learn how to be better equipped, more empowered and experience freedom in Christ. Our belief is that God desires to see His women set free from the past. We are here to support, encourage, challenge, inspire, and direct you on your journey through life. (House of Hope web page)

During my preparation I could see that the Lord was leading me to share some very personal thoughts and hurts. I knew God was calling me to talk about my sister Dana and how she would have benefited greatly from HOH. She faced many life challenges and wasn’t every really in a place physically where she could have been connected to the ministry. Her life ended abruptly on Valentine’s Day this year and it has been such a tremendous loss for our entire family. It was also a loss of future possibilities of her connecting with a ministry like HOH. When someone you love dearly dies so early in life you not only miss them, but you also miss what their future could have been.

God’s consistent faithfulness reminds me that He so wants each of us to fall into His arms and allow our burdens to be carried by Him. The light load I felt as I spoke to over 175 guests last week was not because I’m a seasoned guest speaker, but because He told me that He would speak through me. My responsibility for that evening was to simply show up. God does all of the heavy work if we allow Him. Not once has He asked me to carry a heavy load. It has been just the opposite, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…” Matthew 11:28-30 I am the one He has to remind about His promises.

I believe we are stretched the most during traumatic and emotional events in our lives. It is God reaching into the depths of our hearts insisting we trust Him and not allowing any other options to exist. He transforms our worlds through painful events and brings to our lives new dimensions and reminds us of whom we are in Him. When you are His child there is no escaping the shaping of our lives. He is intentional in all ways. His Love, His forgiveness, His grace, His mercy, His Holiness and His shaping.

Moving on...

Carly Fiorina former CEO of HP, recently commented on her firing from HP. She commented, when the worst thing in life happens to you what do you do? You move on. How difficult it is to “move on” when the absolute worst thing in life has just happened to you. Whether that is being fired from your job, a break in a significant relationship, watching someone very special to you die, sitting with your Mother as they tell her she has cancer or standing before a congregation trying to maintain your composure as you attempt to articulate what your sisters life and death has meant to you.

Moving on takes time, several conversations with God and a lot of cry time. No one can do or say much that makes the painful process move any faster, however, God’s Word seems to bring comfort when no one else can.

· “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you” Heb 13:5

· “I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” Is 41:10

· “Cast your care on the LORD and He will sustain you” Ps 55:22

· “He gives strength to the weary” Is 40:29

· “Do not fear; I will help you” Is 41:13

Knowing God is true to His Word is one of the most comforting feelings, especially when the worst things in life happen to you.

Believe God is who He says He is

Believe God does what He says He will do

Believing God

Izaak & Gracie

My new additions as of ten days ago. They are Izaak and Gracie which were born early Aug in my friend Sarah's garage. During a casual conversation with the Ya Ya's, I mentioned wanting to add kitties to my home. They were both so excited about the statement that they could barely hold their composure. Ya Ya Sara said, "you know, Sarah N. has several new babies and is looking for new homes for them." Could it be that she would have two little gray babies just for me? It was so and we were off to take a look. I picked them out of the litter and said I would be back in late Sept to pick them up.

They arrived to their new castle which had been adorned with Ya Ya kitty gifts and this HUGE red dog. I thought it would be best if I not allow Ellie to have complete access to them just yet. For the kitties sake and for mine also. Today, they enjoyed tapping on Ellie's nose waiting for her to respond. She is such a good dog and is anxious to please. She still doesn't get that they aren't toys and they will "squeak" if she tries to play rough with them.

I'm looking forward to the day when the kitties don't need to be watched every minute of the day. They are busy and unpredictable. Pray for their MOM. ha ha