tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61874232141605280442024-02-01T18:51:31.728-08:00Together We Are One Wise Woman!We are a group of older...er...wiser than we used to be women. We are committed to loving God with all of our hearts, with all our strength and with all of our minds and in doing this, loving our families and others better. We want to learn together, pray together and love together because we know that together...we are one wise woman!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-46632259703401274542020-05-19T20:50:00.002-07:002020-05-19T20:50:35.276-07:00Joseph, Me and Covid19<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We will mark this year, remember this crisis as the time when the world stood still, so still that air pollution cleared, wild animals roamed city streets, packed freeways lay empty, and our cities looked apocalyptic with barren, lifeless stores, theaters, and businesses. Someday we will reminisce. We will compare stories and debate the mistakes and misunderstandings and lament the "if onlys." We will wonder why we couldn't see more clearly the answers that seem so obvious to us in our future "now." <i>But the thing is when you are in the midst, you can't see the end or even imagine it.</i> This can be fear producing for sure, but God, (Don't you just LOVE those two words?) in His goodness, brought some sweet assurance to me from the life of a man who lived over 3,000 years ago.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mid-March 2020 brought me two constant companions, the specter of the looming corona-virus pandemic and the patriarch, Joseph. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In
the midst of a fearful cloud beginning its heavy descent on me, Joseph came
walking into my Covid, shelter-at-home mornings, and Oh, am I grateful he
did. He changed my attitude completely. I will always thank the Good
Lord above for His faithful servant Joseph.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I doubt that Kelly Minter had Covid or anything remotely like it in mind when she began to pen her "Finding God Faithful" study a few years ago. I know that when this study came to me through two dear friends before all this began, I had NO idea God would speak so clearly through this study EXACTLY what I and many others would need to hear, especially in these first few months of this Covid19 crisis.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Do you remember? (See, we are already reminiscing!) At first, we were all for each other. Social media was full of ways to help us cope with this stay at home, new normal life of quarantine. Our pages were filled with fun ideas, encouragement and ways to help those who were "at risk." But as the weeks went on, there were less posts to help and more about blame and motive, and TONS of conflicting opinions. Have we EVER heard so many exactly opposite opinions on what we should do? It was and still is crazy making. Then came the theories. We have all heard them, read the articles and the blog posts, watched the videos and the news stories. Everyone has an opinion on what is happening, and who is in control. Frankly, some of these could be flat-out frightening. Let's see if we can make a quick list of who is in "control" during this time of Covid19: Bill Gates, the Deep State, the ultra-conservatives, the World Health Organization, China, Russia, the Democrats or maybe its the Republicans, President Trump, Dr. Faucci, Big Pharma, The "Elite"... I am certain you can probably come up with more. The blame game is dividing friends, families, churches and THE Church and THAT is worth some thought and some sorrow. Each side see the other as evil. So they scramble to either wrest control or keep control. You see, they think power over others is theirs to control.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As these views would pepper my social media and news streams like the spray of machine gun fire...Every. Single. Day...at the same time, I was refreshingly immersed in the life and story of Joseph. Joseph who was betrayed by his brothers, thrown into a pit, sold to a traveling caravan, then sold into slavery, lied about by a scheming and scorned married woman; though completely innocent, he was thrown into prison, and then left...seemingly forgotten. All along the way I could see that people truly thought they were in control of Joseph's life. I am sure his father, Jacob, thought he was in control. The brothers definitely thought they were in control when they sold him into slavery. Potipher, his master, thought he was in control of Joseph. Potipher's wife, certainly thought she was in control when Joseph was thrown into prison. The jailer, probably thought he was in control with Joseph in his prison. Even the lowly cupbearer seemed to be in control of Joseph's life. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But were they really? NOT. FOR. ONE. MOMENT. Throughout all of Joseph's life there was only One who was in control and Joseph knew it. Constantly, he referenced God as the One who gave him everything: interpretation of dreams, favor, wisdom, the ability and position to save the people. He knew who was in control the entire time. He flat-out tells his brothers after their father Jacob dies and those guys are afraid that all kinds of well-deserved retribution is about to fall on them: "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? <i>You planned evil against me; <u>God planned it for good</u></i> <i>to bring about the present result--the survival of many people.</i>" (Genesis 50:20)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So here is what Joseph has taught me and it has given me SO MUCH PEACE...People think they are in control, but it is just an illusion. It very well could be that some of those people, countries and entities mentioned above <i>think</i> they are in control of all that has been unleashed on this world through the corona virus. They <i>think </i>they are in control of the us and our future. But just as many thought they were in control of the life of Joseph, here's the truth: <u>God is in control</u>, <u>He is a good</u>, and <u>His plan is always redemption</u>. Evil can happen and will happen, but in His hands, it turns to good. Kelly's has a great analogy in her study: Evil and good run on the parallel railroad tracks of our lives, but evil has to bend to God's perfect and good will. I don't know how He is going to turn Covid19 for good anymore than Joseph could see how his being sold into slavery could be turned for good. Certainly it never occurred to him that he would go from prison to the second highest office in the country and save not only his own family but all of Egypt and the surrounding countries as well. But that is JUST how God works...it is ALWAYS MORE! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Joseph has turned my perspective from fear and dread for what is ahead, to a wonderment of what He is doing and will do. I am beginning to look for it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The real question is: What should I do during a time like this when there is so much fear, turmoil, confusion, and constant pressure to "choose a side"? The answer I see from Joseph's life is pretty simple. He remained faithful to God, stood unwavering on His promises, and even during the midst of the worst, he served whoever was in his life at that moment with the best he could give. He called evil "evil" but just as quickly held no one in judgement or for retribution because He knew His God was working for good.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">During this Covid crisis God is working. Evil can be thrown at us, but God has promised that His ultimate plan of redemption will go through and it will be good PERIOD. <u>All</u> is in His good hands. Fear not! Be faithful and watch what God will do. </span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-47463809360222590502019-12-09T09:51:00.000-08:002019-12-09T09:51:32.400-08:00 An Early Morning Lesson in J*O*Y!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well, my friends...Last week was pretty silent here on the blog! It was "Christmas Tea Week" at my church and our week is pretty much SLAMMED every. single. day. This did two things: First, it put us right on time with the actual celebration of Advent, AND it had me thinking about PEACE all week long. Which, by the way, God came through sweetly in the midst of all kinds of crazy last week. Now I am ready to sink my soul and heart into some J*O*Y!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is a wonderful phenomenon that happens most mornings. Whether you are in the country or the city, if there are birds and trees around, you can witness something awesome. But you have to get up early.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I love to get up before the sunrise. It really is a peaceful time of the day. I feed my animals (The LAW I was taught from my father, the son of a South Dakota rancher: "Your animals eat before you do," and it has stuck to this day), get a bit of breakfast, make a good cup of coffee and then settle in with my Bible on the sofa in my living room. On nice mornings, I open the windows and the doors because I know something is coming with the dawn, and I wait for it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbdlTGANp3Wzy36ZE9N7Lio7eavf8WF2IUgjTWRgSSrszuRSj9Jx6eOb4erq8EdQP4KTm23wP4LjW6GrLmh1iQyn0XDV2DOEZkPdKT2Z5Iqd6zMSQSik2-Vha27ZQOO3SmJZpjpdiBqqEY/s1600/IMG_0853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbdlTGANp3Wzy36ZE9N7Lio7eavf8WF2IUgjTWRgSSrszuRSj9Jx6eOb4erq8EdQP4KTm23wP4LjW6GrLmh1iQyn0XDV2DOEZkPdKT2Z5Iqd6zMSQSik2-Vha27ZQOO3SmJZpjpdiBqqEY/s400/IMG_0853.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As soon as the sun just peaks up over the horizon, the birds begin to sing and I mean SING! ALL of them! Dove and ravens, finches and quail, sparrows and orioles, blackbirds and chickadees, mockingbirds and meadowlarks... It only lasts for a moment, but it really is pretty spectacular because for that moment sunrise has this beautiful, overwhelming sound of JOY coming from creation itself! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDO-TV4mb-Uxynf-40cswZhicMKzmRwMnl9TiXDAk8Q3DYUuVLy3HZo11aNyP0k3fZqt9QaOKg9CPBV6mw_F61zOqat4KGsBqDpVnwl3o2WV04mfT-YYvmm4l5FiSj-ht6YE2E0nsJR8jX/s1600/IMG_0451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDO-TV4mb-Uxynf-40cswZhicMKzmRwMnl9TiXDAk8Q3DYUuVLy3HZo11aNyP0k3fZqt9QaOKg9CPBV6mw_F61zOqat4KGsBqDpVnwl3o2WV04mfT-YYvmm4l5FiSj-ht6YE2E0nsJR8jX/s400/IMG_0451.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Light has come! This is a resounding message I have heard over and over this week! The Light has come into our darkness and we have reason to celebrate with great joy for this simple reason we are reminded of EVERYDAY: There is NO darkness the Light cannot overcome...ZERO...NONE...NOTHING IS TOO DARK. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICbyn2J6VgtYlgawRukT0X9fFK62jCxzOJtH3mgyHa-FbXnu2thecW7sRJhuSFz7PL3KpR3dgvjHh1Vi83cO9Ul2K6p3rmyTs1cGS7VolTSnpW9P2WUhHyYyhrKTxXZXniB0Q9bxjvAV6/s1600/IMG_4356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICbyn2J6VgtYlgawRukT0X9fFK62jCxzOJtH3mgyHa-FbXnu2thecW7sRJhuSFz7PL3KpR3dgvjHh1Vi83cO9Ul2K6p3rmyTs1cGS7VolTSnpW9P2WUhHyYyhrKTxXZXniB0Q9bxjvAV6/s400/IMG_4356.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Can I encourage you to set your alarm clock this week early enough to sit in the stillness of that darkness before dawn and wait for it? Wait to see how God has given us this beautiful reminder that Light invades the darkness and watch the darkness flee. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His light brought life to everyone. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it." </i>John 1:4-5</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Celebrating with great joy!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Cherri </span><i> </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-56158704733562584842019-11-26T07:41:00.000-08:002019-11-26T08:47:04.330-08:00Finding Peace<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hello, dear sisters!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">My husband has, from time to time, asked me, "Is it painful in there?" It is his humorous way of helping me realize that my mind is spinning pretty much out of control at the moment. Being inside my head is often anything BUT peaceful, and the truth is, I yearn for peace. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is a crazy time of instant "connection" never known to mankind in the millennia past. We are connected to every tragedy, every possible horrible expectation, every "what if" circumstance, every bad news story out there from across the globe. No wonder we have no peace or at least very little of it. We have all seen tragedy from all over the world played out in front of our eyes, many times as it is happening and in living, breathing color. It is overwhelming.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKiag4UqxL5tYc76V1oMPdCdGoMvKFE0bb2S1VI6P-dq3Vt2Qy07balwy7Azsje4pP6xPMzLbL0foWEgc4NJ_fOQH-5VHU5SQpausueZfHM63B6YKLO7SRHCoCwvu1XhdgALk2bIPj8J-X/s1600/IMG_0242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1192" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKiag4UqxL5tYc76V1oMPdCdGoMvKFE0bb2S1VI6P-dq3Vt2Qy07balwy7Azsje4pP6xPMzLbL0foWEgc4NJ_fOQH-5VHU5SQpausueZfHM63B6YKLO7SRHCoCwvu1XhdgALk2bIPj8J-X/s400/IMG_0242.jpg" width="297" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If peace was just a feeling, we would have not one hope of finding it at all. But there is one quote from Mary C. Wiley that I LOVE. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>In the beginning was peace. Peace wasn't equated with stillness but with nearness to God. God walked with His people in the garden in the cool of the day, and all was just as it was meant to be. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>"Peace wasn't equated with stillness but with nearness to God." </i>Alrighty! That changes EVERYTHING. Jesus made it possible for us all to have nearness to God. And that is EXACTLY what I wrote in my book. "Walk with God, Cherri, EVERYDAY!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVonaVYf8TcnQZfaZnSedFmB_6AuSjsnbBvdyViM0_PKuVE5VBEjqvF_b_dHGTP1V_UmNZ4hJuadJvs4z5k13LCPSNVLZ4pipz1TpvgB5lqaj071vu8ZVatJ_HOjqcPDxiRtMLn4Styel6/s1600/IMG_0244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="1600" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVonaVYf8TcnQZfaZnSedFmB_6AuSjsnbBvdyViM0_PKuVE5VBEjqvF_b_dHGTP1V_UmNZ4hJuadJvs4z5k13LCPSNVLZ4pipz1TpvgB5lqaj071vu8ZVatJ_HOjqcPDxiRtMLn4Styel6/s400/IMG_0244.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If peace is what we want, we have to spend more time connecting with God and less time connecting with those things that make us less peaceful. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I know a sweet lady who spent her first hours of everyday in the Word with God. She did not have an easy life, but peace came to her through her connection constantly, day by day, to the One who loves to give peace. As the years went by, she gradually got out of the habit and began watching the news for hours each day instead. Anxiety and fear took over and made her miserable. Here is the odd thing...she knows where peace comes from. She has experienced it, but the draw of the screen is so strong, she will give all kinds of reasons why she does not reach for connection with God anymore. It is heartbreaking to watch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is a lesson my friends, if we want to find peace, we have to spend time to be near God. The nearer we are to Him, the more peace will invade our lives <u>no matter what is going on in the world</u> or even in the "painful" space of our own minds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!" they knew something no one understood at the time. Peace had just come. The bridge had just been built. And it was through a brand new baby just born over the hill! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We can find peace...the nearer we get to God, the more peace that becomes ours!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i> </i>Lean in, my sisters, to the warm embrace of a God who loves you and wants you to know His peace!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am praying for God's nearness to you all throughout this busy season!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>With Love!</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Cherri</i> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> </i></span> </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-33324688159716829082019-11-22T13:30:00.000-08:002019-11-22T13:30:16.163-08:00A Thrill of Hope!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hello, my friends! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have you ever thought about how often you say the word "hope" throughout your day. "I hope you feel better." "I hope you get the job." "I hope the lines are short at the Costco gas station today!" The word "hope" should pop up on the predictive text on most of our phones. We hope for A LOT!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The "hope" our study this week focused on is far deeper, a more long-reaching type of hope...hope in the waiting...hope when the unexpected happens...hope when God is silent...and the great truth that our HOPE is Jesus. He is the Light that brings hope to our lives no matter what is going on at any given moment. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wade into these deep waters of hope and really consider where you are. Are you in the midst of waiting, or maybe you are in the middle of something you did not see coming at all? Are you feeling distant from God? Does it seem to you that God is not hearing one word of what your heart pleads?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8RnzjHvnzkqBNoLJywz1Zr6kBmR0NmbOE9uoo3iCaeUTG5ZDaeROsGHxDV9PPUqbRkSF5CxAEx4XHZIERkcBijFitj6OCvGCHDU-67BOpXU_wg7Kzz0A_Q2uuLJDDjFJ2JDF65DNYaKSG/s1600/IMG_0221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1184" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8RnzjHvnzkqBNoLJywz1Zr6kBmR0NmbOE9uoo3iCaeUTG5ZDaeROsGHxDV9PPUqbRkSF5CxAEx4XHZIERkcBijFitj6OCvGCHDU-67BOpXU_wg7Kzz0A_Q2uuLJDDjFJ2JDF65DNYaKSG/s400/IMG_0221.jpg" width="295" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wherever we find ourselves, this week of Advent is about remembering God's faithfulness. He was faithful to bring the Messiah after 400 years of complete silence as this "weary world" waited. He is our "thrill of hope"! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What spoke to you this week? Please take a few minutes and share what God is speaking to you. You never know if it is exactly what someone else needs to hear and you are the instrument of God's message of hope. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Or maybe you want to reach out for hope. Your heart right now wants to hear from others about God's good faithfulness in times of silence or difficult circumstances. Reach toward your friends and ask for help. That is exactly why we are here!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can post your thoughts in the comment section of this blog or you can comment on the post on Facebook. Either way, we would love to here from you!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Come Monday I will post on Peace!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also if you make the spice wreath (I am going to give it a try!!!) Do any of the other activities, let us know how they went for you! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love you all dearly...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cherri </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-55911289627625112832019-11-18T11:44:00.000-08:002019-11-18T13:46:28.828-08:00Advent-Waiting Expectantly<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today I want to take a moment to welcome you to this Advent study! Welcome to our friends in Russia! France! Indonesia! South Korea! Australia! Columbia! Czechia, and Kazakhstan! Your sisters from the States are honored to have you join us! It is the wonder of this age that women from all around the world can celebrate Advent together! So let's get started!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The word "Advent" means "the arrival" or "the waiting". From the moment Adam and Eve stepped out of the Garden, "the waiting" began. They stepped out of perfection and into pain, fear, decay, death, and evil, but God (Don't you just love those two words "BUT GOD" in Scripture?) had a plan of rescue, and it was already in the works! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Advent helps us to focus, week by week, on a different aspect of the magnificence of God's great rescue story...a story that continues to this moment. Hope...Peace...Joy...Love. These four will helps us connect with those who waited before Jesus came and helps us as we walk together toward His coming again to finish it once and for all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This week "Hope" will be our emphasis. For those of you who have the book "Advent, The Weary World Rejoices," you will do the Daily lessons beginning today (Monday, November 18). There is an ebook available at Lifeway.com for those who would like to join us right away. On Sunday, November 24, if you have an Advent wreath of some kind, you will light the first candle, and consider all you have learned this week. On page 142 in the book is a short devotional for that particular day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Throughout the week, we will be talking about what God is showing us about "hope" as we wait expectantly for His arrival. You can comment here on the blog or on the Desert Vineyard Women's Ministry Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/DVWomen/ </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am looking forward to spending these weeks together and am praying the Lord would speak sweetly to you all, wherever you are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Blessings this week as we hope for what is to come and remember that Jesus was the hope those before His birth anxiously waited for!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">With love!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cherri</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-26306067807045983672019-11-12T06:03:00.000-08:002019-11-12T07:36:51.406-08:00Advent-The Weary World Rejoices!! Let's Get Ready!<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I am excited to begin this study for a whole bunch of reasons:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. I LOVE Advent! It keeps my focus on Jesus throughout a hurried and profoundly materialistic cultural season.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. I know me. If I do not spend time in God's life-giving Word, I will, by nature, slip back into "old" Cherri: anxious, fearful, self-focused. Yuck! I HAVE TO stay in the Word!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. I LOVE doing Bible study with friends! It really is one of my favorite things in life! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I am so ready to get started, but I thought first it would be good to have this Intro Week to get ourselves ready. In order to do this study with us there is one pretty important element you will need to purchase...the book <i>Advent the Weary World Rejoices. </i>You can purchase the book at Amazon or at Lifeway.com<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our Advent study will begin the week of November 17-23. Though, you really can begin this study anytime from November 17 to the first Sunday in December when Advent traditionally begins. A post will go up each week beginning November 17 on this blog and also posted to the Desert Vineyard Women's Ministry Facebook page and Instagram account. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are many wonderful family traditions that go along with celebrating Advent. What I love about this particular study is that it includes activities to do with family members of all ages from creating a beautiful wreath from dried orange slices and cinnamon sticks to making homemade marshmallows!! In our family we loved to read Christmas books. We have BOXES of them! My children definitely had their favorites like our ragged, torn copy of <i>Bright Star! Bright Star! What Do You See!</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is one element of Advent I wanted to talk with you about: The Advent Wreath. Many years ago one of our children created an advent wreath at school out of a straw wreath, pine cones, plastic pine and holly twigs, and four wooden candle holders. I loved that wreath. Over the decades the straw has fallen out, pine cones were missing and the little wooden cups that held the candles began to tip so that the candles, instead of being straight and tall on the wreath, were slanted at various angles making it look pretty wonky! It has been hot-glued back together more times than I can count. Eventually, there was no amount of hot glue that could make it "fire worthy." It was definitely becoming a hazard to light. I could not possibly part with it, so it sits in a Christmas storage box. This year I am creating a new one with the help of grands and a new Advent wreath tradition will begin!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Advent wreaths are simply an object lesson on wonderful truths about the birth of Christ. It reminds us that:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">* The world waited expectantly for the Messiah to come. Each week signifies a different aspect of that expectancy: Hope Peace Joy Love.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*This is a dark world in need of a Savior and Jesus is the Light that entered into this dark place and changed EVERYTHING.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*We need to prepare ourselves to be really moved by the outrageous TRUTH that the Creator of the Universe chose to step out of His perfection and step into the human imperfection in order to save us! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are SO many wonderful and creative ways to use this tradition to enrich your Advent celebration. All you need to do is search "DIY Advent Wreaths" in Pinterest and enjoy!!! This wonderful tradition does not need to be a wreath or have the traditional purple and pink candles. Your Advent Wreath can be as creative as your imagination will allow! I will close this post with some pictures of Advent "wreaths" from Pinterest. Love you girls and I am looking forward to getting back into the blogging mode for a bit!!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Simple And Popular Christmas Decorations, Table Decorations, Christmas Candles, DIY Christmas Centerpiece, Christmas Crafts, Christmas Decor DIY" class="hCL kVc L4E MIw" height="400" src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/14/e4/40/14e440705672c578022e7597ba76f637.jpg" width="240" /> </span></div>
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<a href="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d5/48/53/d548539d13df2d646a6a75a76574de1d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Celebrate the season with intention, by making this beautiful centerpiece. How to Make an Advent Wreath, DIY Advent Wreath, Modern Advent Wreath, by @CraftivityD" border="0" class="hCL kVc L4E MIw" height="400" src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d5/48/53/d548539d13df2d646a6a75a76574de1d.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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<img alt="This Advent Wreath CROCHET PATTERN comes with 6 videos plus many pictures for 6 different patterns assembled to be one advent wreath! Usually I charge $2.50 per pdf, but here you will get 6 patterns in one for only $10 where all the pictures are added to the back as reference so" class="hCL kVc L4E MIw" height="265" src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a3/e1/9e/a3e19ec197c1f6c74ce67f9ed7d7d676.jpg" width="400" /><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-11527" height="267" src="https://meaningfulmama.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/1-mason-jar-advent-calendar-017.jpg" width="400" /><img alt="3:e Advent....:))" class="hCL kVc L4E MIw" height="400" src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/8d/73/1e/8d731ece14a416d6250622f1b0379f49.jpg" width="400" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-36243602364104325392017-07-27T08:39:00.002-07:002017-07-27T08:39:18.471-07:00The Unparalled Static of the Rivals in Our Lives<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"In this life the<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">r</span>e is so much static. The vibrant, unrivaled God-life you long for will not be found by casual pursuit. It requires concentration in a world bombarded with distractions. If you are not intentional, you will be diverted by the many distractions that vie for your attention"</span></i>~Lisa Bevere</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Peter and I used to play <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Scrabble d<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">uring our early <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">years of marriage. There is a reason why we don't any longer. I hate to lose...to him. <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There was a time when <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">a game of Scrabble</span> was our evening entertainme<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">nt<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, es<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">pecially when I was pregnant with our first child. I am going to confess something now on the internet...I ch<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">eated. I would excuse myself to use th<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">e restroom...because after all, pregnant women when need to go when they need to go. What <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Peter didn<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">'t know was that I had stashed a Lamaze book in our dirty clothes<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> hamper. By the time I hit the board with my 8 l<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">etter<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">double <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">space</span> on a<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> "q<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">,"</span> trip<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">le word <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">extravaganza</span> of a medical La<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">maze term, Peter did not know what had hit him. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeF3KqMmNmYjc-Zl2TUufoCKWSbjk1eJRMpebi5kC-QWDaT-YPDexwzZPBDnUkUzZSTLNbmitjbhvGkSfzOmJwOWgTCJd4EVZ0U2RexgDu0zbMvrT9KXjlqVXyrqLAz-gXATaFvxb6XWiR/s1600/scrabble.article.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="460" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeF3KqMmNmYjc-Zl2TUufoCKWSbjk1eJRMpebi5kC-QWDaT-YPDexwzZPBDnUkUzZSTLNbmitjbhvGkSfzOmJwOWgTCJd4EVZ0U2RexgDu0zbMvrT9KXjlqVXyrqLAz-gXATaFvxb6XWiR/s400/scrabble.article.jpg" width="400" /></a>But one night<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, even with all my "extra help<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">,"</span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I could see I was going to lose. So I did w<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">hat any other good<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> and l<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">oving wife would have done...I <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">picked that board up <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">and slammed </span>it closed as hard as I could<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. L</span>etters flew across the room. Yep...true <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">story<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">.<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span>At that moment I did not see Peter as my handsome<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, young husband...he was my rival and I HAD TO WIN!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQMPTMqOdAhSQejCngMe9oOYrra6fNccIOEEPGNNsRa0Hqbd7yqf7phFu46s8FTyvf4IMYaLPXlIVioWsOkfUiQbzFLo71wgKtIkMeLlNP6mZ7SsT6vtbXMgzF5AoDPR3rQiKZhp8Fddw/s1600/scrabble_game_over_by_xtean-d3cedft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="841" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQMPTMqOdAhSQejCngMe9oOYrra6fNccIOEEPGNNsRa0Hqbd7yqf7phFu46s8FTyvf4IMYaLPXlIVioWsOkfUiQbzFLo71wgKtIkMeLlNP6mZ7SsT6vtbXMgzF5AoDPR3rQiKZhp8Fddw/s400/scrabble_game_over_by_xtean-d3cedft.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Lisa Bevere <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">writes in her book <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">when relating the story about David and Saul that<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> "<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">David's best brought out Saul<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">'s worst." Oh, <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">man! I have lived that out in honest to goodness real life. Seeing others as rivals and our victory the only option to happiness is a huge di<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">straction from the <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">life <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">God has intended for us.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are other distractions that rise up as rivals in our minds...like our own self<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">-talk. Recently I spent an en<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">tire one hour drive having a looong con<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">versation with my husband who was not there. Now before you <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">start think<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ing you need <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">to get me s<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ome help</span></span>, let me <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">explain a bit</span>. Peter <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">had really ticked me off before I <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">left on this little trip<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. Since I am a word girl, I<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> lived and relived what I w<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ould say</span> when I saw him later that evening. Let's <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">just s<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ay it was a good thing he WASN'T in the car. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir01sbexim-E7CGXAvHoVaAyZad6rqHEhMUANXXkWtST4hUJ6Uj1mc8wL6-7eVXnXZetsX1XVShhbkFaH8uTyEMIWT95OJMgNanbydsakzYnn8BOJNtok9yQpe2eIzVGTXJrneYlYOBE2r/s1600/much_ado_about_nothing261110223615much_ado_about_nothing_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="495" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir01sbexim-E7CGXAvHoVaAyZad6rqHEhMUANXXkWtST4hUJ6Uj1mc8wL6-7eVXnXZetsX1XVShhbkFaH8uTyEMIWT95OJMgNanbydsakzYnn8BOJNtok9yQpe2eIzVGTXJrneYlYOBE2r/s400/much_ado_about_nothing261110223615much_ado_about_nothing_5.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The character, Benedict in Sh<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">akespeare's<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i> </i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">play, </span></span><i>Much Ado About Nothing,</i> said this <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">about Beatrice: "She speaks <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">poniards, and every w<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ord stabs. If her breath were a<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">s terrible as <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">her terminations (words), there were no living near her; s<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">he would infect to the north star." Very <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">defin<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">itely This could be said about me. Not good. Gratefully, the <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Lord has done a work in me to keep my mouth closed tightly when such thoughts are rotating through my mind.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Finally, somet<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">imes the rival</span></span>s in our lives are actual rivals...people who either we want what they have or they want what we have<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, or we both want the same thing. Compet<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ing for a job, <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">position, a title, or award<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> all require that yo<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">u have a rival. It is <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">in how you behave in these si<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">tuations that <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">is the real test. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">My daughter-in-law, <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jen recently wrote a wonderful blog piece entitled "<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">K</span>eep Playing." <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You can read it here:</span> </span><a href="https://jenkthompson.wordpress.com/2017/07/22/keep-playing/" target="_blank">https://jenkthompson.wordpress.com/2017/07/22/keep-playing/</a> In this post she relate<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">s the story of my eight year<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> old granddaughter<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, Rebekah, who had been playing in a s<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">tate all star <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">tournament. Rebekah's team lost <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">both their games by A LOT and when Jen found Rebekah crying she was sure th<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">at it would be for the obvious reasons, but when she asked Rebekah why she was crying<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, Jen was <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">surprised</span> to <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">find that <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">the <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">tea<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">rs wer<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">e not from anger or <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">embarrassment</span>.<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Rebekah simply</span></span></span></span></span></span></span> said, "I just want <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">to keep playing." <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">some <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">deep truth <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">in this innocent statement of <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rebekah's.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><img alt="Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, standing and outdoor" class="spotlight" height="400" src="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/20228376_223788068144938_1662975376964814309_n.jpg?oh=3732565ae4d0df8e5f4b3cdfa728d664&oe=5A37D716" width="320" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">R<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">e</span>cently, I h<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ad</span> a friend who I watched<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> go through just such a situation. <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When th<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">e po<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">sit<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ion she had held was given to another, she was hurt...to say th<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">e least. More accurate<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">...she was heartbroken...and then i<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">t <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">morphed int<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">o anger. But w<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">hat happened next is a monument to her willingness to humble herself and stop the plans of the e<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">nemy. Instead of <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"grabbing her ball and leaving" she instead said, "How can I help?" <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"W<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">hat can I do to make this better?" <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Instan<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">taneously th<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ings changed. What could have been a disaster for many<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">turned instead into a blessing for many. My friend decided to "keep playing<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">," and to this day, I am still impressed with this kind of h<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">umility.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here's the thing. All the time while I was <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">pondering this subject, the Lord kept bring<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ing to mind the verse in Ephesians <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">6:12 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, agains<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">t the s<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">piritual forces of evil in <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">hea<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">venly pla<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ces." (ESV). All<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> these r<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ivalries<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span>might have the faces of people, but the real enemy is forces we cannot see ex<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">cept in the outcomes...like Scrabble tile<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">s <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">sailing</span> through the air, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>or gravel flying as someone peals out of the driveway (who would do that?) or in <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">divisive talk</span> to gain a <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">fol<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">lowing fo<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">r your sid<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">e or a family or church shattered by <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">division</span>. Honestly, it is very much like the <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">heavenly angel and the pitchfork guy sitting on o<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">pposit<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">e shoulders as we decide: </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">How are we going to handle this?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVaOiUBLD4zQMtrKczECTjLEQOASFw_oD1RU9K4KBgggSLad6uBR1LxYEj727LhJuV9hWuNJQ5APpQ8w2xdxnzjURL2vvlXqbV1Lut0F528NPQOHxjlMItApduCvEC54WKVFREcqxoP50J/s1600/kronk-shoulder-devil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="640" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVaOiUBLD4zQMtrKczECTjLEQOASFw_oD1RU9K4KBgggSLad6uBR1LxYEj727LhJuV9hWuNJQ5APpQ8w2xdxnzjURL2vvlXqbV1Lut0F528NPQOHxjlMItApduCvEC54WKVFREcqxoP50J/s400/kronk-shoulder-devil.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We have incredible power to <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">unleash the wrath of God <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">on those "spiritual forces of evil in heav<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">enly pla<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ces<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">" by our choice. How do we react to <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">all th<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ose things <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">that</span></span> rise up <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">as rivals to what we truly shou<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ld be doing? Can we humble ourselves and let others "win<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">?" Can we be gracious when we see the best <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">in others? Can we crush the enemies head by letting go of <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">w<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">hat we feel is our right?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I watched it happen. I witnessed what can happen when we choose to NOT get distracted by <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">rivals<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">T</span>he power of humility and selfless love<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> triumphed</span> so <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">gracefully</span> it sp<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">illed out and <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">transformed a difficult situation in<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">to on<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">e of infinite beauty. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Be intentional<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. Let me make this personal...</span><i>Cher</i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>ri</i>,<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <u>you</u> be intentional...don't get <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">dist<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">racted <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">by rivals</span></span></span></span></span> who b<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ombard your mind <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">diverting your attention</span> from what is true and valu<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">able</span>. Focus on wh<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">at is REA<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">LLY happening<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">o</span>pe<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">n your eyes...<b>see</b> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">your <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">rival for who he truly is </span></span></span></span>and fight the good fight with h<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">umility and wisdom.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Until next week...with love to you, my friends!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Cherri</i> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new 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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-9853273583837158992017-07-18T16:53:00.000-07:002017-10-30T11:37:57.077-07:00A Green-eyed Monster<span style="font-size: large;">"Comparison will attempt to puff you up through the insidious vehicle of pride or it will push you down through the tyranny of insecurity."~Lisa Bevere <i>Without Rival</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">My sister, Joni, is a beautiful woman. </span><span style="font-size: large;">She is my younger sister by 15 months. </span><span style="font-size: large;">
At fifty-nine her blue eyes still shine, and she is
just...honestly...lovely. Our mom and dad both had brown eyes, so when
Joni was born with her sparkling blue eyes they were thrilled.</span><br />
<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="spotlight" src="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p235x350/37435_1535939965389_5307169_n.jpg?oh=87ff7d40b0d480b45e19aac5156906f0&oe=59F2E5A6" /></span><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">And <u>that</u> began a decades long desire in me for blue eyes. It hadn't dawned on me until lately that I hadn't given much thought to the color of my own eyes back then. They weren't blue, so that made me "less than" in nobody's opinion but my own. Here is how deep this insecurity weaved itself into me. A while ago at a gathering in my home, my mom was telling this cute story about Joni and how she told someone once that she got her blue eyes from our Siamese cat. I had heard this same story 500 times. Before my mom finished, I said out loud to everyone, "Yes! Yes! For the fifty millionth time! She got her eyes from our Siamese cat!"</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Niobe050905-Siamese_Cat.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Niobe050905-Siamese_Cat.jpeg" border="0" class="shrinkToFit" height="400" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Niobe050905-Siamese_Cat.jpeg" width="296" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Silence... </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Everyone in the room looked at me as if I had just lost my mind. My
poor mom sat stunned and finally said, "Cherri, you wrecked my story" to
break the awkward silence in the room. Fifty-five years of comparing my
own green eyes to Joni's blue had boiled over into one monumental
moment of insanity! Another one of those "Can I have a do
over" moments:(</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> <i> </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We LIVE in a world that compares EVERYTHING. You can't escape it if you tried. And no matter what, the minute you engage your thoughts toward comparison, there is no way to come out ahead...NO WAY. As the quote from Lisa says above, you are now either filled with pride or stricken with insecurity. I heard once that pride and insecurity are the flip sides of selfishness...both are self-focused. Isn't it the truth that for some reason none of us really want to admit too much to pride, but we will share our moments of insecurity sometimes like a badge of honor...oops...that pride is a slippery bugger! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There was a time in my life when I was horribly insecure about my mothering. Without a doubt I can tell you my thoughts were pretty much wholly on guess who? Yep! Me! I would think about my failings, how I could do better, how much therapy all my children would need from having such a mother, and over and over I would silently compare myself to every other mother in my sphere. In the deepest places of my heart, I always came up lacking. These thoughts plagued me day and night and made me a crazy person. </span><br />
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I wrote once in our parenting curriculum "nothing is as pathetic as an
insecure mother...we do nutty things." Truth! Lisa Bevere says "the
more we do his (Satan's) work, the less he has to." He did not have to
work hard on me at all during that time. My unhealthy self-focus had
sin in my life on auto-pilot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEtKlsZEqqBChYaYJQupUjgudUQoq5pbz8VrzuPsHMIsnnxKyQCqGA9RsYfq8MM8vLZ2jVfDDZ7iQezbDq8qo92b0MsrZHk9OTJDdfI6ZZiyxvMdGF2AiDVM5Mw1i7V6Kw9762BfMavGXX/s1600/Insecure-Woman.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="457" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEtKlsZEqqBChYaYJQupUjgudUQoq5pbz8VrzuPsHMIsnnxKyQCqGA9RsYfq8MM8vLZ2jVfDDZ7iQezbDq8qo92b0MsrZHk9OTJDdfI6ZZiyxvMdGF2AiDVM5Mw1i7V6Kw9762BfMavGXX/s400/Insecure-Woman.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But I had it easy-peasy compared (ha ha:) to what this current generation of young women have to deal with now. There is SO much online through social media to keep the models of comparison rotating relentlessly into their sight at lightning speed. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Pinterest...I love Pinterest by the way...it has a TON of great ideas; however, it has become the mecca for comparing our lack against others perfection. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguR5klHxrQ0DA5SD82ce1_0VwrZ2da9JNyemafzBRNwQ2NoNsBbZTlgPtjdJW6gUANBGQls0hRtrcekMHiU0XjGvCfC-4WjmEN5WonxMqARLt1T48rFAN81fc2mN1-tKKaQFiMyDOYgu-T/s1600/Pinterest_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="1600" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguR5klHxrQ0DA5SD82ce1_0VwrZ2da9JNyemafzBRNwQ2NoNsBbZTlgPtjdJW6gUANBGQls0hRtrcekMHiU0XjGvCfC-4WjmEN5WonxMqARLt1T48rFAN81fc2mN1-tKKaQFiMyDOYgu-T/s400/Pinterest_logo.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> I have talked with women who get depressed looking at the never-ending barrage of pins on Pinterest because it all feels so hopelessly far from their reality. They could never be as in shape and healthy~keeping up with the latest or best work-outs for new moms, the working woman, the middle aged or like me "safe for the golden girls," essential oils, fermented foods, best supplements, the most recent list of "dirty dozen and clean fifteen," or cook the amazing meals in a pinned out, beautiful kitchen every day as some. </span><img id="img" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/180/482490459_4ab7b7b8f2_o_d.jpg" style="height: 370px; width: 527px;" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> They will never have a perfectly organized pantry </span><span style="font-size: large;">or sewing/craft room/she-shed.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Her finances could not afford the farmhouse out on the acreage where she raises grass-fed beef, free-range chickens, and her own sheep to sheer for her children's clothes each winter</span><span style="font-size: large;"> and grow her own organic vegetables and fruits</span><span style="font-size: large;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8rw2nBBxiQilSPXWMboDuI_8kx4_AJuY5N1t7_9HkcE61J4pPbT-_NLq9-hkrFq2Op7amZ19tBGegIF5BVoGO5NCWkKoYKvLtYfog3pMCmgbYrpORwDPAelNsucG5yFCqDdTwK088HRs/s1600/bulk-vegetable-seeds-organic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8rw2nBBxiQilSPXWMboDuI_8kx4_AJuY5N1t7_9HkcE61J4pPbT-_NLq9-hkrFq2Op7amZ19tBGegIF5BVoGO5NCWkKoYKvLtYfog3pMCmgbYrpORwDPAelNsucG5yFCqDdTwK088HRs/s640/bulk-vegetable-seeds-organic.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">She will never possess a wardrobe that accents her shape and coloring to her best advantage. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1ZwEDwDsiGHXJxy7hmOP4apBOox_eqkbTey1pb4X8ojkkTnfXh3bTc2e_bN67K44MUD1Q5sVAZwWvMUlYVMWM-TSpxglcICI3rZbg0ERN08nGXOuov2DaCwiNUJN4-WoYMFnW76YbdwR/s1600/body_types.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="381" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1ZwEDwDsiGHXJxy7hmOP4apBOox_eqkbTey1pb4X8ojkkTnfXh3bTc2e_bN67K44MUD1Q5sVAZwWvMUlYVMWM-TSpxglcICI3rZbg0ERN08nGXOuov2DaCwiNUJN4-WoYMFnW76YbdwR/s400/body_types.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Without exaggeration at all, the list goes on and on (and I didn't even get into the party/shower/wedding boards!) Let's just say I am glad I got married in the day of cake and punch with bowls of peanuts scattered around!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So what is the answer to this constant push to look at others and ourselves with an invisible measuring tape of whatever we are insecure or prideful about? I think it is first to do exactly what we have been talking about these past few weeks: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. Realize we are loved, one of a kind, cherished, and valuable to a God who is without comparison</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. Recognize who He is and what He has done on our behalf and finally... </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. Discover that looking to the benefit and good of others frees us from the bondage of ourselves...that miserable sin on auto-pilot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Can we get there? To the place where we can rejoice over the joys and successes of others? Here is the tough question for us moms...Can we celebrate the successes of other children over our own? Can we hope the best for those who are seemingly the ones with favor? The ones who seem to live the golden life? Will we finally see that pushing others ahead, holding others up, serving others and hoping the best for them, is EXACTLY what pleases our Father because it is then that we are more like His Son than any other time and we shine. WE SHINE because it is SO different from what everyone else is doing. Beth Moore in her book <i>90 Days With the Beloved Disciple</i>, said that Christ laid aside His crown, His glory, and even His life, but never once did He lay aside His Sonship. And so it is with us. Honestly, when you really think about it, we have pathetically little to lay aside in comparison. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><img id="img" src="https://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fa/61/d8/fa61d85ffdf8818cee0aa2f2257dc8f5.jpg" style="height: 330px; width: 640px;" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Thinking too much of ourselves...thinking too lowly of ourselves...both are roads of self-focus that tie our hands behind our backs in the work of His Kingdom. We need to be formidable force for His Kingdom in this one life we are living out for Him on this earth. I know I've already wasted FAR too much time on the ridiculous (see above). </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Blessings and love as we swim upstream together against the waves of comparison!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Cherri</i> </span><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-38141932165513438132017-07-10T14:07:00.001-07:002017-07-10T14:07:17.441-07:00Together We Are One Wise Woman!: The Unrivaled Promises<a href="https://togetherweareonewisewoman.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-unrivaled-promises.html">Together We Are One Wise Woman!: The Unrivaled Promises</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-14498200329348400202017-07-10T14:05:00.001-07:002017-07-10T14:05:44.936-07:00The Unrivaled Promises <span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I never was much of a princess kind of girl. You would have found me catching bugs and lizards, riding my bike and building forts rather than playing with my Barbies (Though I did have a cool one with a bald head and three interchangeable wigs!).</span></i></span><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img id="img" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/7856586074_f9e47b1894_o.jpg" style="height: 393px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 362px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I could probably pay-off my house with this now:)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> So when I come upon "princess stuff," even in a wonderful Christian book, I have a tendency to want to bust through quickly and get on with it. That's what happened when I began to read this week's chapter "A Promise Without Rival." I could feel myself cringe a little as I began to read, "Imagine there is a knock at your door..." As I continued reading (as fast as I could) I realized that though I might not be connected to this kind of imagery, there are many who would. Like my granddaughter, Adley. She LOVES the whole princess thing and this kind of story would reach to her very soul! And whether you are "princessy" or not, the truth is, in Christ, we are of a royal line. </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But in reality this chapter is not so much about princesses, as it is, at its very core, about the promises of God on our lives. Now that is something I can wrap my heart and mind around! Here are a some of my favorites:</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Exodus 14:14</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LORD <i>will fight for you; you need only be still.</i></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXAzt1_bWhuVEYe9aPjtevPgIlZm9A6oWSrvItrWiX5lID2nAQVdR_pCHSyvWsr9TTQzECV0_Ws_ncrlFFPrswSZurXMnDRiqbNO7DidXJ4mUbp5pB69pIhq3QWkny8_KXQMNbkB_HHdL/s1600/IMG_9889+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1600" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXAzt1_bWhuVEYe9aPjtevPgIlZm9A6oWSrvItrWiX5lID2nAQVdR_pCHSyvWsr9TTQzECV0_Ws_ncrlFFPrswSZurXMnDRiqbNO7DidXJ4mUbp5pB69pIhq3QWkny8_KXQMNbkB_HHdL/s640/IMG_9889+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Isaiah 40:31</span></i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">but those who hope in the </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LORD<i> will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.</i></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Isaiah 54:10</span></i></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LORD<i>, who has compassion on you.</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzkKABnMtl6he2UoO9rFXWgNF-mDyTkuytbBon2-M3z8IXFjdqzeu_BFVlYbjWEIG8ARVhTGkEkg5Bij60OtgI1tlV2OCfXYBinKas2mRepXULD6KuJDIwfKU5bprzsj31OHeXvbrqeyy1/s1600/IMG_4360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzkKABnMtl6he2UoO9rFXWgNF-mDyTkuytbBon2-M3z8IXFjdqzeu_BFVlYbjWEIG8ARVhTGkEkg5Bij60OtgI1tlV2OCfXYBinKas2mRepXULD6KuJDIwfKU5bprzsj31OHeXvbrqeyy1/s640/IMG_4360.JPG" width="640" /></a></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Isaiah 61:1</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Spirit of the Sovereign </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LORD is on me, because the <i>LORD </i>has anointed me</span></span><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span>to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners...</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">James 1:5</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Deuteronomy 31:8</span></span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The </span></span></span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LORD <i>Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpo7nvxk6i9R1U8nuFuCiH0kEeV8bjbnNme2tV94gBkl4IaH0ZUd_3XxkwD4TLK5CfjqWwqVZM915H2rBrUiOwgRhONEg5K8XtGKQDodjCPPqMJ7hy5-Q2AhVhAomFOJmTctTIKpBjkLl/s1600/IMG_3118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpo7nvxk6i9R1U8nuFuCiH0kEeV8bjbnNme2tV94gBkl4IaH0ZUd_3XxkwD4TLK5CfjqWwqVZM915H2rBrUiOwgRhONEg5K8XtGKQDodjCPPqMJ7hy5-Q2AhVhAomFOJmTctTIKpBjkLl/s640/IMG_3118.jpg" width="640" /></a></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Jeremiah 29:11</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For I know the plans I have for you, declares the </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LORD, <i>plans to prosper you, plans to give you a hope and a future.</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">John 8:36</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Psalm 86:5</span></span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.</span></span></span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Psalm 9:9-10</span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The </span></span></span></span></span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LORD<i> is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, </i>LORD,<i> have never forsaken those who seek you.</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-U4mGt8HGdcth1Vr1Opj96kkMAYmIAiO7NUe0f-8_v8r3iYla0rDBl_W9ObmaDzrgsozZ8T2lThZ1mWAxNePbn0BX7QdEj2xflVqfVx8oh9Ar6bs_i1Mr3kbzVSf3q-UgpVcmo6CVmh2G/s1600/IMG_7519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-U4mGt8HGdcth1Vr1Opj96kkMAYmIAiO7NUe0f-8_v8r3iYla0rDBl_W9ObmaDzrgsozZ8T2lThZ1mWAxNePbn0BX7QdEj2xflVqfVx8oh9Ar6bs_i1Mr3kbzVSf3q-UgpVcmo6CVmh2G/s640/IMG_7519.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Philippians 4:6-7</span> </i></span></span></span></span></span></span><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.</span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Proverbs 3:4-6</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Trust in the </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i>Ephesians 3:16-19</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, bring rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Luke 11:9-13</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv2CH6ai4sDANwp4f791BgcTFpJ7AXZljGwyOYkgUUMXKnRVJimBNppuiHT1ye_zSAsT6KD2c4GVHXMWhVuuzHkisot7UPslV7BFoo0umDfM06OcMsrCMbytT7xuwXf6ABX8Xcje-_Iebb/s1600/Old_Santa_Fe_door.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1538" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv2CH6ai4sDANwp4f791BgcTFpJ7AXZljGwyOYkgUUMXKnRVJimBNppuiHT1ye_zSAsT6KD2c4GVHXMWhVuuzHkisot7UPslV7BFoo0umDfM06OcMsrCMbytT7xuwXf6ABX8Xcje-_Iebb/s400/Old_Santa_Fe_door.jpg" width="382" /></a></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i>I could go on and on. Each one of these wonderful promises have meant EVERYTHING to me during different times of my life. I clung to them like a drowning person to the one stable thing within her grip or sometimes they lit my path like a flicker of hope in the future. At other times, they were the </i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">my only "how to" when searching for an answer or my way.</span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>C. S. Lewis, who can, at times, bring a truth to light in such a way that it smacks you upside of the head, does this in one of my favorite quotations: </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>"If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased."</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdwrlgA0KdJdUHe7pcBN0Ai0AXuD8i5H5_SuHiaDMyD3Xw4NP_UTB14o54S6sjNqdtOxVR07IY_Av6LL1M_awAJvHGwFUSqmvO3ytmUwsEEhfSzkULwzPXU6nhHJ4HjKFBy0xHVvT7dkT/s1600/IMG_8807.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdwrlgA0KdJdUHe7pcBN0Ai0AXuD8i5H5_SuHiaDMyD3Xw4NP_UTB14o54S6sjNqdtOxVR07IY_Av6LL1M_awAJvHGwFUSqmvO3ytmUwsEEhfSzkULwzPXU6nhHJ4HjKFBy0xHVvT7dkT/s640/IMG_8807.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i>"We are far too easily pleased" with a lot of silly stuff we idly spend our time on day after day. What could the Lord do with our lives if we embraced the truth of His great promises and stopped believing the enemies whispered lies of "too late," "too young," "too old," "too difficult," "too risky," "too damaged," "too uneducated," "too much for me."</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i>What. Would. Happen?</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i>That is a question I would LOVE to see the answer to:)</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i>Whether you feel like a princess or not, the truth is in Christ we are royalty, chosen by Him, loved and sacrificed for, blessed and given the greatest promise of all...the Holy Spirit within and someday the Lord has promised we will see Him face to face!!!</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i>I am praying right now that we would begin to get a glimpse of how monumental all these promises mean to our lives. May we know Him and His great goodness, hear the Holy Spirit speak and walk forward in all the promises He has for us each day!</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i>Which of God's promises have meant the most to you lately and why? </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i>How is God asking you to step out in boldness into His promises for your life?</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i>Blessings to you this week!!</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cherri</span> </i></span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></i></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-84164777794856363442017-07-05T16:21:00.000-07:002017-07-05T17:10:17.296-07:00A God Without Rival...Who Do You Believe He Is?<span style="font-size: large;">One evening some decades ago, I was sitting with a beloved mentor in her living room. We were taking over how I felt about God. Who did I think He was? How did I feel He thought of me? She made me face something that began a journey of knowing God better and truthfully. You see, when I answered those questions without fear of judgement, in a safe place, with a safe person, I could say what was a fear deep in my soul...I was terrified of Him...He couldn't be trusted...He could love and bless me one moment and crush me the next. I feared Him alright, but it was not the awe-inspiring kind of fear; it was a horrible gnawing fear of being punished but not knowing what in the world I was being punished for. I walked through life with a dark cloud over my head, continually ducking for cover and trying my hardest to stay safe, unnoticed, and perhaps good enough to "stay out of trouble."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><img alt="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/120926/wide_article/width1356x668/f4n65dxg-1462238115.jpg" class="shrinkToFit" height="195" src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/120926/wide_article/width1356x668/f4n65dxg-1462238115.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">After this gut-wrenching confession I had dared not reveal to anyone, this sweet woman looked at me and asked, "Cherri, was your dad an alcoholic?" I was shocked. I grew up NOT talking about our family's problems. You didn't say anything to anybody. How could she possibly know? But Dee was one of those dear, wise and wonderful Christian women who kept in touch with the Holy Spirit within her. She began to speak truth to me about the Father, and though the change of heart did not happen instantaneously, my heart did change and continues to as I learn more and more about who God truly is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">What I found is I had, without even trying to, transposed my experiences with my own earthly father onto my Heavenly One. My dad was a great dad when he wasn't drinking, so I had no problem with believing God could be good, kind and affectionate. However, this same father, who I loved dearly, could turn into something completely different when he drank. No physical abuse, but plenty of verbal, and it never made any sense to me. </span><span style="font-size: large;">This
cartoon is actually a pretty good depiction of what happened in our
family. When dad drank, he saw everything...even his kids though the
distorted view of the bottle.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> I grew up unconsciously dividing my father into "good dad" and "bad dad." This carried over into my relationship with my Father God. I loved and trusted Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but God, in my mind, could be a mean one at times and you never knew when it was coming. Scary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">One of the attributes of God I have recently been sinking my thoughts into is His ability to be "over" time. It is a wonder to me to ponder the truth that God is every bit as present in my past as he is with me right now as He is in my future. Think on that a bit! Last year at a Living Proof Conference, Beth Moore, said something I cannot forget...that because God is omnipresent in our past, present and future, we can ask Him to pour healing out on those things that hurt us in the past and have had repercussions in the present, so they don't have power over our future or subsequent generations! WOW! This is a weighty thought! </span><br />
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<img alt="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6y2uGcffKhNY9Ho7jv6ylDDYyKan6kHeYbIfCKOp5OJyCkJ-bK9QuOhyugQ2wkXq2g6Q9CP8Fnr9XFrQfJX9OU1LS7UT3W8TPsYGuAHr2TKzDy_qoBdzIYMaWw7uUH1fwA-YrCwnmExQ/s1600/God+omnipresent.jpg" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6y2uGcffKhNY9Ho7jv6ylDDYyKan6kHeYbIfCKOp5OJyCkJ-bK9QuOhyugQ2wkXq2g6Q9CP8Fnr9XFrQfJX9OU1LS7UT3W8TPsYGuAHr2TKzDy_qoBdzIYMaWw7uUH1fwA-YrCwnmExQ/s400/God+omnipresent.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">My prayer for myself and for you, dear friends, is that we would be delightfully surprised by God as He reveals who He is to us daily. Augustine said, "God is best known in not knowing Him." I had to think on that one for a bit, but I think I get it! This life we live, no matter how many days we have, can never possibly get to the place where we can say, "I know God completely and perfectly." He wouldn't be infinite, unfathomable...He wouldn't be God. There is ALWAYS more to learn about this great and loving Creator! What an adventure!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">How about you? How do you see God? How do you feel about Him? How has He delighted you? Which of the "I am" statements about God on pages 39-41 in <i>Without Rival</i> means the most to you right now?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I hope this week has been and will continue to be a blessed one for you!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Cherri</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>**</i></span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>You will find </i></span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>a bit of my dad's story in the blog post, "What if What We Think is True is Not True at All" here: <a href="https://togetherweareonewisewoman.blogspot.com/2015/07/" target="_blank">https://togetherweareonewisewoman.blogspot.com/2015/07/</a></i></span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-21647995001153336032017-06-26T06:52:00.000-07:002017-06-26T06:52:47.427-07:00An Identity Without Rival...Who Are You?<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Boy! Is this a loaded question! Who are you? I have definitely answered that question differently over the years: oldest of five, daughter, sister, wife to Peter, mom of six, nana to twelve, lover of nature, secretary (back in the day:), teacher, assistant to Nancy, Bible study leader, blog writer, women's director and also daughter of an alcoholic, anxiety ridden, fearful, alone, a failure, broken and lost. My mood can swing widely as I answer this question out loud in response to the question and other times to myself as I deal with the myriad of "identity crises" I have put myself through. </span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In Lisa Bevere's book, <u>Without Rival</u>, the very first chapter deals with our identity as Christian women. She says far too many are "...content to allow the shallow confines of what they do or what they have define them...Jobs change and skills can be lost and things can be stolen. Even important relationships can be stripped from us. What you have and what you do and who surrounds you can change..." </span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So let me be honest...these are usually the first words out of my mouth when asked "Who are you?": "I am Cherri, married to Peter for over 40 years, mom to a wonderful half dozen, nana to an even dozen. I've lived in the Valley all my life and currently live out in the country. I work at the Desert Vineyard Church as the Women's Director. I have dealt with stress induced anxiety in the past, my father's alcoholism, miscarriage, other tragedies and my own myriad of insecurities. </span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All this is true. Think about your answer for a moment...Again...All truth. But not the realist truth...the foundational truth of who you are.</span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Get ready for a complete shift in thinking. If we can wrap our minds around this truth and REALLY BELIEVE it, much will change in our lives. Here is this life altering truth:</span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> It's just SO "Christian," and we have heard all this so often, we will let these powerful words go through our mind without so much as a warm, fuzzy feeling. THAT. IS. SAD. When you get it...you will feel the beauty of these words to your very soul: "I am deeply loved (by God HIMSELF)...absolutely forgiven (because of this great love)...God's masterpiece (unique and loved uniquely by this unfathomable Creator)...chosen and set apart (to bring Him glory with my life)...secure in Christ (the anchor of who I am). THIS is my identity. BOOM!</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">When things are not going right in my life at work, at home, in relationships...when my past regrets and mistakes rear their ugly heads, when I blow it now and wish I could have a "do over"...when life isn't fair and my heart breaks...when the unexpected happens and changes bank accounts, relationships, position or health...THIS wonder remains: He, the LORD of the Universe, loves me with boundless and faithful love NO MATTER WHAT. THIS is my identity.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I don't have to compete to be noticed by Him. I don't have to do and do and do to finally get His approval. I don't have to be young, thin, and perfectly put together for Him to see me as beautiful and precious. And His love for others does not take one whit from His love for me, so I can celebrate and enjoy watching God lavishly love on others! What freedom!</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Oh, LORD, help us to grasp this...to not let it pass us by without taking the truth about who we are deep into our hearts. Block the "whispered lying innuendos that assault" our minds telling us we are "not good enough, young enough, smart enough, fast enough and rich enough." May our identity never shrink from who we truly are to the expectations of this world.</span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Do you find it difficult to describe yourself outside of what you do? Your past? Your age? What you have?</span></span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ask the Lord to speak over you truth. Listen to what He whispers to <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">yo<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">u. What did you hear?</span></span></span></span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">riv<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">als have </span>d<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">etract<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ed</span> you from your abilit<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">y to embrace your identity and receive God's love?</span></span></span> </span></span> </span> </span></span></i></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-32900388764207377812017-06-06T15:27:00.003-07:002017-06-08T06:16:38.514-07:002017 Summer Book Blog "Without Rival" by Lisa Bevere<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZnxqqq7l23LPbjYU1dZ-2cU1sUO9wdrVAZJXHCECw3NsLyfRc5Vk5AD_SmLBbrkxQ6_HUNkAIpev2tWMSG7WFZgU4cHF9WZoEuMiYpuLDNP2u-lRzRcpRvY1OfYfVhdxV9tSpemq13kr/s1600/schools+out+bored+cartoon.jpg" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZnxqqq7l23LPbjYU1dZ-2cU1sUO9wdrVAZJXHCECw3NsLyfRc5Vk5AD_SmLBbrkxQ6_HUNkAIpev2tWMSG7WFZgU4cHF9WZoEuMiYpuLDNP2u-lRzRcpRvY1OfYfVhdxV9tSpemq13kr/s400/schools+out+bored+cartoon.jpg" width="400" /></span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I LOVE this cartoon because it is SO true!!</span> And boy!! Do I remember those days!! How many <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">times did I hear, </span>"I<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">'m bored"? And my<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span>answer was always the same: "For cryin' out loud! I'm not! <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Let</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">me</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">give</span> you so something to<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span>do<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">.</span>" <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Never did have any takers!<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">:)</span></span></span></span></i><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </span><br />
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<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">Summer
is just around the corner...school is over...the kids are
home...YIKES!...vacations are planned, looked forward to and
endured...er...enjoyed:) and we, ladies, take to the web and stay
connected through the summer book blog!</span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you are back...welcome back!!! If you are new to our blog...we are so glad you are joining us!!! My hope is that we will have a great time reading and discussing the book chosen for this summer.</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Over the next <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">cou<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ple of m<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">onths</span></span></span></span> we will be reading Lisa Bevere's, <u>Without Rival</u>. It is a brand new book currently on the New York <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">B</span>estseller <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">L</span>ist! </span></i><br />
<img class="CToWUd a6T" height="400" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?ui=2&ik=84bf086322&view=fimg&th=15c7da2807eb0a3b&attid=0.1&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ-YkeMELi6oLgo2i5Vg6UgYeFoIYU4QV0vr6b7P9h75oeW4fZyB8939gsHFwsYWXhLfpQXIUucVyIjurBEbTx_UqZoGjXbXwlpB7UqH2eh6oENbcTtNdfRlOoI&sz=s0-l75-ft&ats=1496756430218&rm=15c7da2807eb0a3b&zw&atsh=1" tabindex="0" width="324" /><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">was <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">in the aud<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ien<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ce some years back when she was the <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">guest speaker at a Women's Cultivate Kindness Event. I <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">was drawn to<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> her desi<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">re to see women<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, young and old, become <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">what the Lord had created them to be in His Kingdom. There is NOTHING laid back or "beating around the<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> bush" when it comes to Lisa and her message to women! F<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">asten your seat belt<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">s! <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Here is <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">how you can get your copy<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> of <u>Without Rival</u>...</span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At Amazon this book is $10.12 and if you have an Amazon Prime account there is no shipping! This is the link for the book at Amazon:<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Without-Rival-Identity-Confusion-Comparison/dp/080072724X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496343791&sr=1-1&keywords=without+rival+lisa+bevere" target="_blank">Without Rival Amazon</a> </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">CBD.com (Christian Book Distributors) has this book for $8.49 plus shipping and handling. The link for this book at CBD is:<a href="https://www.christianbook.com/without-incomparably-uniquely-loved-powerfully-purposed/lisa-bevere/9780800727246/pd/727242?event=ESRCG" target="_blank">Without Rival CBD</a></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We will be starting our conversation on <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Chapter 1</span> beginning the week of June 26-30, which should give you all time to order and receive your book. This 10 week book study will end the week of August 28-September 1. </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Every blog post will be posted on the DV Women's Facebook page. You can find us here...> (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/114205638666308/" target="_blank">DV Women's Ministry Facebook Page</a>) Please ask to join our group, and you will receive<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span>a<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ll</span> blog activity on your personal page. We will be discussing the book on this blog in the comments below each p<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ost</span> and also on the DV Women's Ministry Facebook page. Some have found discussion on F<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">acebook easier than posting here.</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></i><img class="CToWUd a6T" height="640" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?ui=2&ik=84bf086322&view=fimg&th=15c7da2b42ce48a0&attid=0.1&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ-Oa3VIbrj5zBQkJWJjOt8bM1v9XVg_o2ozcID8wpH91CwSr7wVvyoZNm--wC2FzMJc0eMcQl54vGEnEwBtRCzsSDsdbh_fTQ9NRMXOyaNFnkaudyCmMixjC_w&sz=s0-l75-ft&ats=1496756437765&rm=15c7da2b42ce48a0&zw&atsh=1" tabindex="0" width="480" /><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This would <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">also be a great book to have a journal available to write your thoughts, pr<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ayers<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">,</span></span> and answers to the <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">questions at the end of each <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">chapter. Please join <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">me this summer! Grab a cup of coffee or tea, <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lisa's <u>Without Rival</u>, <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">your Bible, a journal<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">,</span> a pen, your computer or smart phone, and <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">sit with</span> me as we talk th<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">rough this thought prov<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">o</span>king book! For a little added blessing<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">...<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lisa's </span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">publishers have given me permission to post some of her videos on this blog!! So be looking for those as well!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Blessings, my dear sisters, over these wonderful summer months ahead! May we all come to better know the love of our Savior that is "without ri<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">val"!!!</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">With love<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, </span>joy and just a little bit of boredom for the summer!! :)</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Cherri</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-68551944686777455952016-08-27T07:16:00.001-07:002016-08-29T08:01:40.696-07:00Appointed<style>
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</style> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By Guest Author, Jackie Hempel</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All I was trying to do was make memories. Instead I watched the
sweat drip down the sides of his little angel face while he held out that
tattered sunflower. He was hot. I was too but not to the extent he was. His
legs are little ovens in the slippery New England summer. I saw that bead of
sweat drop and my breath caught. In an instant the heart raged forth, even if
for a second, I recognized it. I<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>ve known it before, worn it like a
garment in certain seasons of life. <i>What were you thinking God</i>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdlpWW2nOjU0U8Sh5tssL6F_7UQXmrEi7paVSLLGIeJkmH418xgTYeLosCrntzNfhESbbtLd8Ieopzb9t0WdlQXo3hEK0G7qqRfsf3CwHTgHnAqzD_XaX7b4aiptJLSyvAzcD39iSu6rXs/s1600/-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdlpWW2nOjU0U8Sh5tssL6F_7UQXmrEi7paVSLLGIeJkmH418xgTYeLosCrntzNfhESbbtLd8Ieopzb9t0WdlQXo3hEK0G7qqRfsf3CwHTgHnAqzD_XaX7b4aiptJLSyvAzcD39iSu6rXs/s640/-3.jpg" width="480" /></a>A mom friend on Facebook posted some beautiful pictures of a
sunflower field at a nearby farm and I thought, <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span>I could pull that
off too.<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span> And I did. Except it was hard and broke my heart a bit and
most of the sunflowers were dead. Which had me reflecting on the story God has
called me into and had me questioning Him all over again. Like an ebb and flow
of the tide. We are fine, <i>and then sometimes we aren</i><i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>t.
</i>Why <i>my</i> sweet boy? Did I do something wrong? Did you see this happen
God? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In those moments when I see the beads of sweat dripping down his
face, falling to the earth, creating mud not flowers, there<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>s
nothing beautiful in that moment. And I struggle with understanding how He is
bringing good out of a little boy who needs clunky, hot prosthetic legs to run
like the wind. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1WeNG3LExFWjg0WtPrZkTjQ9DecYydrSeIkIyfEOS59LlB523W37VlccX73WSNU3PgWRQFn1uwL3CrhbcPu7bjupWezsThK2exG8sakjd3QGIr5JdXKfEZ_Z2U1jFHJlXHcwZcLc2jCo/s1600/-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1WeNG3LExFWjg0WtPrZkTjQ9DecYydrSeIkIyfEOS59LlB523W37VlccX73WSNU3PgWRQFn1uwL3CrhbcPu7bjupWezsThK2exG8sakjd3QGIr5JdXKfEZ_Z2U1jFHJlXHcwZcLc2jCo/s640/-2.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In our text this week, author Angie Smith discusses <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span>Fear
of God<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>s Plan for My Life<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span> and I have to wonder how many of us
feel this way, afraid of His purposes for us, feel like we<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>ve
gotten the short end of the stick. Blind to the blessings, overly aware of the
hurts, griefs and valleys? You see, dear friend, I want to believe that the God
I serve is good. That although <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span>his ways are not our ways<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span> they
are still better than my ways will every be, but in those moments, those tiny
seemingly insignificant moments, when sweat gets swallowed up by the parched
ground, I think to myself, <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span>Lord! Feet. You make them every day.
How hard is it?<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span> And then the evil sneaks in, slyly at
first and then with triumphal roar screams, <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span>I could have done
this better myself.<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span> Like I have the power to form the
precious life in the womb. And His question to Jonah, <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span>do you have good
reason to be angry<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span> calms the storm. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrVcUYBQlRovwHfePLBjjmUEqYdaQoFogf7XDUcLv4LHQ097-RqqxWuW1jnO4ALptI-pCnoR0X8vQodH6zjCHMxuiZ4Q9PRa-r1fKeWAs66xavyIethoDMq9i_tEKsZwfrbckN1dTXTd6/s1600/-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrVcUYBQlRovwHfePLBjjmUEqYdaQoFogf7XDUcLv4LHQ097-RqqxWuW1jnO4ALptI-pCnoR0X8vQodH6zjCHMxuiZ4Q9PRa-r1fKeWAs66xavyIethoDMq9i_tEKsZwfrbckN1dTXTd6/s640/-1.jpg" width="480" /></a> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We all get to a place where we realize our ways truly aren<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>t
His ways. We question Him. We begrudge Him. We wonder. We wonder about the
holes in our lives, the hurts, emptiness where there should be fullness,
abnormal where <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span>normal<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span> reigns.
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span>The relentless sun shines light in the crevices we have in
our own lives, and on the abundance that everyone else seems to have<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span> (pg
137) and we think, even if momentarily, that we could do it better ourselves.
And we do well to remember the question and relinquish our hold on our lives to
Him, recognizing humbly that this is His story.
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>re bent and broken and bruised. They<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>re
missing petals lost to missteps and tumbles. He still has trouble walking on
bumpy ground. They<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>re worn but still trying to be lovely.
And they sit in my living room reminding me that life is bent and broken and
bruised and we<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>re all still trying to be lovely. To believe that God<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>s
plan for our lives is better than our ways could ever be<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">—</span>that is a place
where I want to stay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwI1-NiEheC4METH0Z5xERy0T8DpprX1HwrbTXnstB6dtVzT5-DNc7AHnX5Fnfca3ym-NvQnI2TLUrljrfDPWfVSjepC3wG_Lh0piCwKyrUdUbKcolkohR4MSUXtU21B9XCgUzBqwsbgp/s1600/-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwI1-NiEheC4METH0Z5xERy0T8DpprX1HwrbTXnstB6dtVzT5-DNc7AHnX5Fnfca3ym-NvQnI2TLUrljrfDPWfVSjepC3wG_Lh0piCwKyrUdUbKcolkohR4MSUXtU21B9XCgUzBqwsbgp/s640/-4.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Friends, do not this day, fall into the temptation to believe
that you can do it better, that you would be the better God. Choose to be
reminded of your place. With lowly humbleness remember what Angie Smith reminds
us so gracefully of, a constant dying to self which leads us into trusting the
Father. Commit your life to walking beside your Lord, remember the sacrifice of
Jesus on the cross for all the brokenness around us. For the pain we have
known, the questions that we have and the hurts in our hearts. Choose a place
of worship where you hear His love falling around you like a summer storm,
beating away the questions and the pursuit of control. Hand Him the reigns and
fear not God<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>s plan for your life. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-23496600397202481072016-08-23T06:48:00.001-07:002016-08-23T06:50:28.042-07:00The Boys Were Here!!! <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Haven't heard from me in awhile??? Well, I have a good excuse. My grandsons came for a visit:). Nate (5) and Evan (3) came to "Nana and Papa's house" while their parents went on a well deserved vacation up the coast of California. All I can say is "No wonder they looked so relaxed and refreshed on those Facetime calls this week!!"</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnkGCjHkYk6p3dEVkzaoDNJ9vf19LmEZB3Dhhd6arvXbc282gcKj6iB6i9MGUe4haokCyLB-sCkYpibbvWHhHqkOm4-w0WdFyrUFqMDyFiha7CFRpExxuEHgBGeSylBjmrRlAFalwJBby/s1600/IMG_9248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnkGCjHkYk6p3dEVkzaoDNJ9vf19LmEZB3Dhhd6arvXbc282gcKj6iB6i9MGUe4haokCyLB-sCkYpibbvWHhHqkOm4-w0WdFyrUFqMDyFiha7CFRpExxuEHgBGeSylBjmrRlAFalwJBby/s400/IMG_9248.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLjwntDL8tUP_B9cgsLH6OxdvN5JLH-CMU_Hz8Q6T9Stvwa0rkTmPLgYNuNcLaeJ5xGfYKJGGXtuh2etC-BGAQvLEcDawUUtiplW01IfrMTEQe8LVez8FOUfvBxfuwOABswjdWXaFIiqLj/s1600/IMG_9253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLjwntDL8tUP_B9cgsLH6OxdvN5JLH-CMU_Hz8Q6T9Stvwa0rkTmPLgYNuNcLaeJ5xGfYKJGGXtuh2etC-BGAQvLEcDawUUtiplW01IfrMTEQe8LVez8FOUfvBxfuwOABswjdWXaFIiqLj/s400/IMG_9253.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Phew! Those boys are B U S Y! There isn't a mud puddle that isn't bathed in, a bug that isn't captured, an obstacle that isn't scaled. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My two Australian Shepherds, Livvie and Luna, were in heaven! Two little boys who were equal to their level of energy!!! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8IvLHZO1WQAXt7lIK-7lTO9JYPGFpMgvMW4dmp2wajT3nJoxnoTN1-VDeApSOMiYGdBK67n1D3bEygm4GSUyMcBRDFw8tH2HDAw2P2A_0rF_q8Ef3om7E40mcuAhufySx79Lduqsg8pm/s1600/IMG_9327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8IvLHZO1WQAXt7lIK-7lTO9JYPGFpMgvMW4dmp2wajT3nJoxnoTN1-VDeApSOMiYGdBK67n1D3bEygm4GSUyMcBRDFw8tH2HDAw2P2A_0rF_q8Ef3om7E40mcuAhufySx79Lduqsg8pm/s400/IMG_9327.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
And let me just say, when little boys are visiting, you hear yourself saying the weirdest things like: "Don't use that saw on the entertainment center!" "Yes, I did see the bubbles you made in the toilet." "No, you can't climb to the top of the windmill." I had forgotten that you are constantly in a state of "high alert"! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I honestly had good intentions of sitting down at night and writing this past week's blog post, but that did not happen. These boys got up at 5 am!!!! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7maT49EYxu1n3ZZtfTcvJ5D8bDIwxG8G1bRPkOREhOJwPD1xX8NgcI0zdsQGtAukaVQDFZt8bDVWZX2alojkC3Gb4gYFAe0EryOUe_cKimUwm3hFxjx08U4TzRHTj_1dBbwaQ_3OIDL2S/s1600/IMG_8908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7maT49EYxu1n3ZZtfTcvJ5D8bDIwxG8G1bRPkOREhOJwPD1xX8NgcI0zdsQGtAukaVQDFZt8bDVWZX2alojkC3Gb4gYFAe0EryOUe_cKimUwm3hFxjx08U4TzRHTj_1dBbwaQ_3OIDL2S/s400/IMG_8908.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By the time everyone was bathed, snacks eaten, snuggled up, books read, prayers said, and one last drink of water given...I was D O N E. I couldn't even <i>think </i>a word let alone write one!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yesterday we dropped the sweet grandboys off with their other grandparents, and I drove away with a lump in my throat. As crazy as those days were, I loved every minute and look forward to the next time.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlC5WzjVrwm_dS2WHTSjCQNaO4GA1_ATWU8RWSdSzEX0i2Hj2cesg1UP7to04WqaYjgYnZOc5JCHNiAZw9zjsyujxbOraCkAiyea3cF4NejRku8ByVcN5XYc-NI8zTPT2pc5bekXkgruaT/s1600/IMG_9348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlC5WzjVrwm_dS2WHTSjCQNaO4GA1_ATWU8RWSdSzEX0i2Hj2cesg1UP7to04WqaYjgYnZOc5JCHNiAZw9zjsyujxbOraCkAiyea3cF4NejRku8ByVcN5XYc-NI8zTPT2pc5bekXkgruaT/s400/IMG_9348.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So this is my LOOONG excuse for not getting the blog post done and my encouragement to you young moms: YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!!! That you can do <span style="font-size: x-large;">ANYTHING <span style="font-size: large;">other than mother your little ones is superhuman, and I salute you!!! </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tomorrow I have a treat for you...my sweet, dear friend Jackie Hempel has written the blog post for this week. Believe me! You will not want to miss this post!! Check out her blog <a href="http://www.mjandcade.com/" target="_blank">Many Lovely Things</a> here. You will love it and her guaranteed!</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Blessings to you!!!</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Cherri </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span> </span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-60036021854666605812016-08-09T15:01:00.001-07:002016-08-16T07:52:06.110-07:00Casting Stones-The Fear of Our Past<style>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I had taken this heartbreaking call a hundred times before from this sweet, beautiful sister in Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was sobbing
on the phone; inconsolable and grief-stricken over a baby she had aborted nearly forty
years ago. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">As in many
of these stories, the man who was pressuring her into abortion left her a short
time later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All was not lost
though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She met a wonderful man and had
two handsome boys; and, in the midst of this life as a young wife and mom,
found the Savior of her soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All should
be well, shouldn’t it?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">A black
cloud settled over this woman’s life, and the voices whispered:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“That little one you threw away…that was your
daughter…your only daughter.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“She would
be ten now…sixteen…eighteen…twenty-one.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She would be graduating high school…going to college…getting
married…raising a family.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then would
come the moments the loss, grief<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
guilt were overwhelming, and I would get a call.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Each time I
would listen as she would talk of the latest counseling, the new
anti-depressant medications, the frequent dreams she had that tormented her of
a beautiful little girl running in the yard playing, smiling up at her with pure
love and adoration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She tried everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She named her little girl and even had a
memorial service for her through a group trying to help women overcome this
kind of loss in their lives. She had her daughter’s name tattooed on her ankle,
went to work at a Right to Life clinic in her town.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Why did
this deep sorrow and regret keep welling up within her?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><img alt="https://thisfragiletent.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/woman-caught-in-adultery.jpg" src="https://thisfragiletent.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/woman-caught-in-adultery.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">This week
we are talking about the “Fear of My Past Catching Up to Me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our author Angie Smith entitled this
chapter:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The First Stone” and retold
the story of the woman caught in adultery from the Gospel of John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
wonder…did this woman think she deserved to be stoned?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, I think many of us believe we
deserve to be “stoned’ and if someone else doesn’t stone us, we will stone
ourselves.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><img id="img" src="https://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/122/0/e/stones_by_hanxs-d3feunf.jpg" style="height: 398px; width: 706px;" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">This is
what was going on with my lovely friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She had accepted God’s forgiveness for all of her sins…except this
one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She deserved punishment…She
deserved a “stoning,” so she spent years not only tormenting herself, but
trying to pay the price.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If I do this
one next thing, that will be enough.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Except it was never enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><img alt="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigtNlLIIeeb0j9xsT06O5VTfE_QD4YcfH27yFe84_g_0hbArfrMoq8E_m6imJ0YftVChCRJC61-26QwA1BFuHsuoYTNCw4QY_P2N6uiZnRRAcJ84iGO_Qh2rq-tT8UYwSWrb5_9QCo6MCQ/s1600/stones.jpg" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigtNlLIIeeb0j9xsT06O5VTfE_QD4YcfH27yFe84_g_0hbArfrMoq8E_m6imJ0YftVChCRJC61-26QwA1BFuHsuoYTNCw4QY_P2N6uiZnRRAcJ84iGO_Qh2rq-tT8UYwSWrb5_9QCo6MCQ/s1600/stones.jpg" /> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">It can
NEVER be enough…no matter what we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
can never do enough or punish ourselves enough to make up for what we have
done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hear this truth sung in songs,
preached in sermons, written in Christian books over and over:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Christ is enough.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But even as Christ followers we have to face
an ugly truth:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do not believe
Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was enough for this one special sin of ours.
This is the ONE that cannot be redeemed by His love and power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we add our works to His Great Work to try
to find our own peace and when that doesn’t work, we begin the “stoning” of
ourselves with regret, “if only,” guilt and even self-hatred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">It is when
we finally see Christ for Who He Is and what He has truly done, that the weight
of our “special sins” fall off, and we can finally feel completely forgiven and
redeemed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love this line in the Mercy
Me song “Dear Younger Me”:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“…<i>you were
never meant to carry this beyond the cross</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We were never meant to carry our sins..<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">any of them</i>…beyond the cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The song goes on to say these beautiful words:</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Dear younger me<br />
It’s not your fault<br />
You were never meant carry this beyond the cross</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">You are holy<br />
You are righteous<br />
You are one of the redeemed</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">A brand new heart<br />
You are free indeed</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">My
friend?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I praise God that she finally
came to see that her Lord, He had covered her sin once and for all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SHE DID NOT HAVE TO DO ONE MORE THING!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was holy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She was righteous!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her entire
life redeemed!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was finally free from
the hold this sin had on her heart and mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">He…our
Jesus…IS truly enough!!!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-4587850149502214662016-08-03T14:16:00.001-07:002016-08-03T17:18:07.441-07:00Hannah's Story<style>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">by guest writer Susi Rowley</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Seventeen years ago this month my life was changed forever. My brilliant,
nearly four year old daughter, Hannah, was diagnosed with leukemia. The fact
that statistics said she had an 80% chance of survival up to five years wasn't comforting
to read, even when told by the staff at CHLA (Children’s Hospital of Los
Angeles) or to hear repeatedly from our friends and family. Yet I heard it
often. A 20% chance my amazing Hannah would die was no comfort at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that time, I had been a Christ follower
for eighteen years and little Hannah had given her heart to Jesus just three
months earlier.</span><br />
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<img alt="" border="0" class="spotlight" height="400" src="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/994831_10151828474768900_356413790_n.jpg?oh=9b1bf146c50f70e722d3455bd0fc6b47&oe=581B2374" width="300" /><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Over the next four years and nine months, the fear and reality of death was all
around us. The Lord brought so many families into our lives, most of whom had
children given about the same odds for survival as Hannah; however, many of
these precious babes died.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtMCPTrkF8djBerT6DV8WIUXUSznhZ7ifQy3vmyGP-dE23F2WBlr8MSsJ5cL5_VVBCR-wrX-JISCrdVeN5E6CCWCQCJpK2f_eYz_HrLuBcREW4VyNrsXhtXWwVqOr-7L5sXIJ3-L5npcd/s1600/susi+young+family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtMCPTrkF8djBerT6DV8WIUXUSznhZ7ifQy3vmyGP-dE23F2WBlr8MSsJ5cL5_VVBCR-wrX-JISCrdVeN5E6CCWCQCJpK2f_eYz_HrLuBcREW4VyNrsXhtXWwVqOr-7L5sXIJ3-L5npcd/s400/susi+young+family.jpg" width="302" /> </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;">How do I keep going with death and sadness all around? First, I wholeheartedly
believe that our family, including Hannah, was put in that hospital "for
such a time as this.” It wasn't fun or easy, but minute-by-minute we as a
family chose to let the Lord be glorified in each situation.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6187423214160528044" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3UqYLFhmVEZpLNU7b_apS9R192OtwLjRAZz4du9a8H4HiVAvVCdB94IPGI2ECaekquXT_upOtiTua7NReLhf6CrJLXiGIbzeJAybz7D-DKcP-AiYIxAsPDyh_KQh3DYeCRZU8tzn3ScQb/s1600/hannah_guitar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3UqYLFhmVEZpLNU7b_apS9R192OtwLjRAZz4du9a8H4HiVAvVCdB94IPGI2ECaekquXT_upOtiTua7NReLhf6CrJLXiGIbzeJAybz7D-DKcP-AiYIxAsPDyh_KQh3DYeCRZU8tzn3ScQb/s400/hannah_guitar.jpg" width="266" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;">That being said, seeing the Lord seemingly ignore our plea for help and call
our amazing gift home to be with Him, while she suffered the unimaginable pain
of an intestinal infection and leukemia ravaging her little body, broke my
heart. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to think that the Lord was going to be more
glorified in Hannah's death than He was in her life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;">She was so very loved in her short eight and a half years. Once she got sick,
God's people loved our family incredibly well. People all around the world were
praying for Hannah, which meant they were drawing closer to the Lord through
her journey. She once told me she would live a life of sickness if it brought
glory to her Lord. She also used to encourage me to remember that if the Lord
chose to take her home with Him, she would be in the presence of the Most High
God, and I should rejoice and not be sad. (She also prayed fervently for
several moms she knew who had lost their children to cancer and weren't able to
minister to their other children due to the grief they were experiencing, and
she certainly didn't want that to be me.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zvptyDW6xWUjnCrMx2eTMOk1HRnZT2QLwxdYXW5OHvFv2aulHKnqggSFngGkIljRMXXSv-NceOQPvehwQGDXS2lLbeC4kfLfpnnlgZOH3EoPH45xHflGq_HEu88q2zLAiTPzb_8JccYj/s1600/hannah+and+susie+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zvptyDW6xWUjnCrMx2eTMOk1HRnZT2QLwxdYXW5OHvFv2aulHKnqggSFngGkIljRMXXSv-NceOQPvehwQGDXS2lLbeC4kfLfpnnlgZOH3EoPH45xHflGq_HEu88q2zLAiTPzb_8JccYj/s400/hannah+and+susie+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br />
The truth is God can't be glorified in the "why.” Picture your own child
begging to go play at the park, "daddy is on his way home and mommy has to
make dinner, maybe tomorrow" you say. However, no answer you provide is
sufficient for your little one who only wants to hear you say, “YES.” If
I repeatedly ask God why, even if He gave me a legitimate answer, my response
would still be "but why"? I would be responding just like my child's
response to me. No answer God gives me will make sense.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6187423214160528044" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHWq8Ma_TAVS3kB2XOR9xpBVJ7E6oDGSfhBWwmF8NPb29QiWF-Ljj6RtSk-SVFaGf8Tj-KyDptWUR7ipMzQBXHl-rPHDEUJZXtt1Q135XC9AWGXoI03rCQWEuftmyV-tonCrjGxA1A7dz/s1600/susie%252C+girls+and+aussies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHWq8Ma_TAVS3kB2XOR9xpBVJ7E6oDGSfhBWwmF8NPb29QiWF-Ljj6RtSk-SVFaGf8Tj-KyDptWUR7ipMzQBXHl-rPHDEUJZXtt1Q135XC9AWGXoI03rCQWEuftmyV-tonCrjGxA1A7dz/s400/susie%252C+girls+and+aussies.jpg" width="323" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br />
We simply need to cast our fear on the Lord and trust Him for the strength to
go through whatever valley may come our way. You WILL NOT have the strength
ahead of time. Stop worrying about the "what ifs.” Only if a tragedy hits
your family, will God flood you with the strength to go on. Fretting over all
that "might happen" or "could happen" won't bring glory to
God and will hinder your ability to serve and minister to your most precious
gift…your family.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibo2J4erqnXF4FFEz_ZTUtwCdawFSfzgt5_WIIH45bYZupmb2YOFVUGp4na8qUBKAHHPM-AEzg6e-5gKvNu5WwsNiZtwXkAYMjuY-30CAac9Okni0jab1w8wyNxaEnQr2g3IVLvS645VGZ/s1600/smiling+abagail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibo2J4erqnXF4FFEz_ZTUtwCdawFSfzgt5_WIIH45bYZupmb2YOFVUGp4na8qUBKAHHPM-AEzg6e-5gKvNu5WwsNiZtwXkAYMjuY-30CAac9Okni0jab1w8wyNxaEnQr2g3IVLvS645VGZ/s400/smiling+abagail.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcBMlRl8xUBpFfLKxA-nhSaKpPaKtw8QWRhug209sk_vr7yu3EgO0o0_yokIwqg5WIO-8L2n5zzHeojhmxM3wQHUma1m75kgWPd7mcRBB0tNTRDGxOKhpOoT3a4WXenIiAdX61fEB8LqKL/s1600/laughing+abigail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcBMlRl8xUBpFfLKxA-nhSaKpPaKtw8QWRhug209sk_vr7yu3EgO0o0_yokIwqg5WIO-8L2n5zzHeojhmxM3wQHUma1m75kgWPd7mcRBB0tNTRDGxOKhpOoT3a4WXenIiAdX61fEB8LqKL/s400/laughing+abigail.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br />
Hannah has a beautiful younger sister who is currently in Guatemala on a
mission’s trip; she is also praying about serving on a ten-month mission trip
in early 2017. It would be so easy to quench her desire to serve the Lord
because of fear of losing our Abigail. My husband and I have purposed in our
hearts to trust the Lord on her behalf and not let the death of our first child
cause us to hold Abigail back from God's calling in her life. We also have seen
first hand that we can't choose to live or die. We can however wholeheartedly
trust in the One who holds the keys to life and death.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03WfMUINTlrzyjCgHxoLh1mQRFicSYfE3ZG8OrMz9fl4RipXyxdQmGYdrmJxBfva8wzkXKncBbidHnx1xydLJRKxJRNzJhwmkoElfBMgtG65dKrr__LFMnHOlQkR2KQWQjl_fsuGAS_Oz/s1600/susi+family+zip++line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03WfMUINTlrzyjCgHxoLh1mQRFicSYfE3ZG8OrMz9fl4RipXyxdQmGYdrmJxBfva8wzkXKncBbidHnx1xydLJRKxJRNzJhwmkoElfBMgtG65dKrr__LFMnHOlQkR2KQWQjl_fsuGAS_Oz/s400/susi+family+zip++line.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br />
The Lord was with us in that hospital room in the final day of precious
Hannah's life. He hadn't abandoned our amazing little girl in her greatest hour
of need. She was awake and alert and in unimaginable pain yet she suffered
holding onto her faith until the very moment she reached over my direction
looking far above and beyond my eyes, smiled the most beautiful smile I had
ever seen and said "I'm in, I'm in.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRyMVCN9-KZCjHVkvPIx4g-x_ZWtEBC1mJ71FoEMqoDmEdMFh1qKbsbec-xUYnrMk_ksLXKh-kDW-hncozV9W79185cxHlYspF1PtLhohuI1ZPLfFZlJ29w0AtULCKVFKL1XzKYaAIkErj/s1600/hanhan+celebration+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRyMVCN9-KZCjHVkvPIx4g-x_ZWtEBC1mJ71FoEMqoDmEdMFh1qKbsbec-xUYnrMk_ksLXKh-kDW-hncozV9W79185cxHlYspF1PtLhohuI1ZPLfFZlJ29w0AtULCKVFKL1XzKYaAIkErj/s400/hanhan+celebration+poster.jpg" width="286" /></a></span></div>
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I believe that death isn't in our DNA. Because God created us as eternal
beings and death only came after the fall, dying never sits well on our hearts.
Even if a loved one lives a long life, we don't want them to go and miss them
terribly after they are gone. I always told my girls that death is the
devil's last-ditch effort to get us to denounce our Savior. Many times and
certainly in Hannah's case, the horrible suffering is just the devil working
overtime. We give glory to God in and through our suffering. Oh, the crowns my
little girl must have received when she entered into the presence of her God!
We made a pact that day that we would meet her at the Tree Of Life... We truly
have a little treasure in Heaven, and Heaven is a very sweet place for our
family.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GGc-XuPXGkNAQODA8ugiUUcjmu1IJV-q40m2cP8L-KCbjvkLxvpK1KgpdPzTewm5ZgD2bQg6Autz7cSS5zmoDyKKI_vJ3nJWMi4zDHPlwYugLIe2mAWYL4sMSpM8DQimvtoLxLeCwImF/s1600/susi+and+candy+shop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GGc-XuPXGkNAQODA8ugiUUcjmu1IJV-q40m2cP8L-KCbjvkLxvpK1KgpdPzTewm5ZgD2bQg6Autz7cSS5zmoDyKKI_vJ3nJWMi4zDHPlwYugLIe2mAWYL4sMSpM8DQimvtoLxLeCwImF/s400/susi+and+candy+shop.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-50073063032916799112016-08-02T17:32:00.000-07:002020-07-06T07:12:21.109-07:00A Different Way to Consider Death<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you have ever been to a baby shower or sat in a obstetrician's office, you've heard them...labor and delivery stories. Oh, my goodness! How we love to tell our stories of those life-changing moments. Having six of those experiences myself, I have heard my fair share of "birth stories." Like the roommate I had in the hospital after my very first 36 hour labor with son #1 (It is a miracle of God I ever had another!). As I lay in my h<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">o</span>spital bed the color of the sheets, she calmly looked over at me with a smile on her perky face and told me: "Oh, my gosh! I barely made it to the hospital! I had a little backache a couple of hours ago and had NO IDEA I was in labor until I felt a little cramping and the need to push." Say what??? A little cramping?????</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had changed my mind <b>half<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-</span>way through</b> the birth process with my son and told the nurses: "I <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">am</span> going home. I've c<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hanged my mind<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span></span>I d<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">on't</span> want to have a baby anymore." See ya later! <b>NOTHING</b> could be worth what I was going through.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But I was wrong. The minute they put that darling, beautiful boy in my arms, I would have done it again...right then. That is exactly why I had five more after Peter...<i>I knew the joy</i>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Death is much like birth. In fact, sometimes I think it is exactly like birth. Ju<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">st as with births, t</span>here are all kinds of "death stories." Some are easy and peaceful...some painful and long, but in all there is a "birth" from one world to another. For those who have loved the Lord Jesus and accepted His sacrifice in place of their sins, there is a "birth" from this dark world into the Light of His glorious presence where there is no more pain, no more fear or anxiety...a new life of pure peace and joy. Those of us who know Him, no matter how difficult our death, we will exclaim with joy, <i>"Oh, this is worth it!!!"</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZF7UbrIIAH7f9ccfo3roy-BA6kC0auTV61ZSfCe_Cp80_UbjzoTY3TWZKgv2EiKu2h3mHXJw-V5v5D9UkvFYKYKAy-cf_j68bB4am6YQTB9Bsr_qjFh4kxrmgWdwpJf6ZVVsry978zWSN/s1600/sunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZF7UbrIIAH7f9ccfo3roy-BA6kC0auTV61ZSfCe_Cp80_UbjzoTY3TWZKgv2EiKu2h3mHXJw-V5v5D9UkvFYKYKAy-cf_j68bB4am6YQTB9Bsr_qjFh4kxrmgWdwpJf6ZVVsry978zWSN/s400/sunset.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">BUT...it is as difficult to wrap our minds around this as it is for an infant in the womb to yearn for a world that he has never seen or experienced. </span></i></span> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The reality is for those of us who know the grace of Jesus in our lives, to God, our good Father, death is a welcoming home. It is our birth into His loving presence and arms. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Come to think of it, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">it</span> makes complete sense that Jesus called this new life in Him being "born again<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">!</span>" </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you don't know this Jesus who has made a way for you to perfect joy, peace, and love in the presence of the Father, it is NEVER too late, nor are you ever too far gone. How He loves you and waits for you to accept this free gift of new birth into TRUE life. If you cannot find someone to talk with about Jesus, you can message me here. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Or click on the link to join the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DVWomen/" target="_blank">Desert Vineyard Women's Ministry Facebook Page</a></span></span></span> where you can find<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> a group <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of loving and compassionate women who would love to</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">answer<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> your questions and give support for your walk with Ch<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rist<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If we could grasp the truth <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of death and what it means to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to those who fo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">llow Jesus as Lord</span></span>, we would not fear death. C<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span> S. Lewis puts it this wa<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">y: </span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>“Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with
regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.”</b></span> </i><b></b><i><br />
</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Well, my sisters, (and occasional brothers:) this is <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a tough subject to tackle for all of us. My hope is <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">that as we think of Truth...His Truth..that our fear of death will fall away, so<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>we might live this life with JOY!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Speaking of "joy<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">," </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have asked one of the most joyful people I know, my dear friend, Susi, to write a post for this week on "The Fear of Death." I have watched <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Susi and her</span> family live out a life of hope and joy AFTER losing their daughter,Hannah, to cancer. You won't want to miss "Hannah's Story" tomorrow on the blog!!!!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Blessings, sweet ones!!!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cherri </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-31568142168449029102016-07-26T10:49:00.001-07:002016-07-26T12:44:25.043-07:00The Fear of Failure<style>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Fear of Failure</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Well, if we have hit upon a
universal fear, this has got to be it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are not many of us who say, “I just can’t wait to fail.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The truth is, for most, success is how we
measure ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Angie Smith in her
chapter, “Midian’s Hand,” sure turns that widely held value on its head!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLyAyqqdAVREJV3W3vZw1NnUm1pdLx2SjUgi575C6bpxce9KSYA0YDWykJ6lEWxbijYwh9zYF58v4vy7wihE4ttjDfNuPN4reDL-rnNa65xBUpMwiE-b7EqfH2fQa6g0M5aaSLQ60n5RP/s1600/success-and-failure-sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLyAyqqdAVREJV3W3vZw1NnUm1pdLx2SjUgi575C6bpxce9KSYA0YDWykJ6lEWxbijYwh9zYF58v4vy7wihE4ttjDfNuPN4reDL-rnNa65xBUpMwiE-b7EqfH2fQa6g0M5aaSLQ60n5RP/s320/success-and-failure-sign.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">After telling us about her
father who is reading all kinds of books on painting and has all the supplies
but won’t paint a stroke, because he is afraid it won’t be what he envisions it
to be, Angie makes this highlighter worthy statement:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“To me, failure means it
doesn’t turn out the way I wanted it to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To God, it means I didn’t pick up
the brush.”</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span><img alt="" class="_4-od img" src="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t34.0-12/13819690_10208730138746653_1254577506_n.jpg?oh=89ee03eccaa1d80d104328a88584201e&oe=57997F3A" style="height: 574px; width: 323px;" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Whoa!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she goes on to say this REALLY crazy
thought…many times God uses our failures for a “greater cause.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our failures???</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Years ago when my son Peter
was a young, he decided he wanted to play basketball in the city leagues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My husband and I, neither of us had ever
played much basketball, and Peter was not the tallest kid out there, but we decided
that it would be a good idea for Peter to play an organized sport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Let’s just say the season was
less than stellar for Peter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t
make a basket until the very last game and that one was for the opposing
team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To tell you the truth, I wanted to
pull him out half way through the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not only was it difficult to watch your child fail, the parents were
pretty insensitive and down right cruel at times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had really had enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My husband, however, would not allow Peter to
quit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">When the season FINALLY
ended, I </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">was relieved and never wanted to darken the doorstep of a basketball
court again. I truly thought Peter would feel the same, but he had other
ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He actually wanted us to buy him
a basketball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we did and a friend
gave him a Larry Bird videotape (some of you youngsters are asking yourselves
right now WHO is Larry Bird and WHAT is a video tape…but you will Google it and
find out</span><span style="font-family: "wingdings";">:</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3546/3332208813_7c1578df79_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3546/3332208813_7c1578df79_z.jpg" border="0" class="shrinkToFit" height="320" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3546/3332208813_7c1578df79_z.jpg" width="264" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Peter
spent a year wearing the tread off of numerous basketballs practicing the
drills on that video.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">He bounced that
basketball all over the mobile home and jumped EVERYWHERE until my nerves were
on edge! By the time city leagues came around, a basketball was just another
body part to Peter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He could spin it not
only on his finger for<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> infinity</i>, he
could spin it, bounce it off his knee, his head or YOUR head and back to his
finger not wavering once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Time for city league basketball came once again, but this time by the end of the season, Peter was the highest scoring player.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He went on to be the point guard for his high
school team, winning awards and in his adult years, coached a high school
team to a league championship and to the quarterfinals in California’s Southern
Section play-offs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I wanted Peter to quit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had not a clue that in that season of
failure, was a life lesson that would teach far more than had he been
successful right off the bat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My fear of
failure could have cost Peter all the good in store for him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span>
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--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial rounded mt bold"; font-size: 26.0pt;">Failure</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial rounded mt bold"; font-size: 26.0pt;"> </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial rounded mt bold"; font-size: 26.0pt;">is not the opposite of success it is PART of success!</span></i><style>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">It is a “win-win” for us
because we serve THE Redeemer!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lord
has good works for us to accomplish…kingdom work to be done!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can’t allow our fear of failure to rob us
of great things He has in store for our future!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even if we hear Him wrong, or we try the first time and our best effort
crumbles to dust in our hands, the Lord redeems even this!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><img height="320" id="img" src="https://kingdavid.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/552037_473897042634242_1333503239_n.jpg?w=614&h=614" width="320" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I went to a You Lead Conference
recently and listened as one of our speakers encouraged us to NOT allow failure
to make us give up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She gave us story
after story of how her own first attempts had mediocre and sometimes even
disastrous results, but she learned and tried again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually, it led to a thriving and ever
growing women’s ministry that reaches thousands!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span><img height="253" id="img" src="https://techedwards.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/failure-success.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">How does the fear of failure
impact your life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are you afraid to
try because you think you are not “good enough” or that old two word “what if”
enemy keeps putting an end to some good thing in your life you haven’t even
begun?? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">My friend Melinda Byers is an extremely talented artists. She kindly sent me pictures for this blog: the empty canvas at the beginning...everything ready, but not a stroke taken. And these that show the progression of what can happen when you DO pick up the brush!!! </span><br />
<br />
<img alt="" class="_4-od img" height="258" src="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t34.0-12/13823162_10208730342871756_1761515688_n.jpg?oh=4844a8e721b31c3c895bbbfd73f4795d&oe=57998A9A" width="320" /><img alt="" class="_4-od img" height="250" src="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t34.0-12/13814556_10208730342911757_1752226144_n.jpg?oh=09ec28b9b52e7b4d0899b03a775848b4&oe=579A6C6F" width="320" /><img alt="" class="_4-od img" height="254" src="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t34.0-12/13819785_10208730342951758_1912697144_n.jpg?oh=9fc79273c422f3d488d17edba1077be0&oe=579A880E" width="320" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Pick up the brush,
girls!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And see what the Lord would
paint on the canvas of your life!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">You are dearly loved and prayed for, girls!!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Cherri</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Check out my sweet friend, Melinda Byers website. You will LOVE her artwork! Thank you, Melinda!! You are the best!!! Click here: <a href="http://www.mbyers.com/?pageID=1068810" target="_blank">Melinda Byers Artwork</a> </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-49900228600913735202016-07-18T07:27:00.000-07:002016-07-18T21:42:45.481-07:00The Fear of Being Found Out<style>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The Fear of Being Found Out</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">What keeps
us in hiding? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What keeps us from showing
we really don’t have it together… life isn’t that “rosy” at the
moment…we aren’t “fine” or “okay” at all?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBIVdtkr5Gv1-r7tDuZxG13c_BBpX2A0UHLRHjNDpKN3qM1l0cKZm1FU4XX_7c5TPg_uJDOPmcHiei6pWoCUiL-2qlNOivg0Y0IPlJCw0RWJQw4s2GyY29tVXtiNo5MRth5r4xARcfDlOP/s1600/found+out.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBIVdtkr5Gv1-r7tDuZxG13c_BBpX2A0UHLRHjNDpKN3qM1l0cKZm1FU4XX_7c5TPg_uJDOPmcHiei6pWoCUiL-2qlNOivg0Y0IPlJCw0RWJQw4s2GyY29tVXtiNo5MRth5r4xARcfDlOP/s320/found+out.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">One of the
reasons can be the fear of judgment and being “hammered” with Bible verses that
apply to our particular brokenness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgknSnGLKJ52tKLO18OFluAM-u5fU8MuY0vi0IqTwmfrzC-ZTj6yjLhyphenhyphenE_VDwMWannmx-aiBW8C2wQz5yUgU-zexMQLS7mzxzbtLfPGxgSUfbGgsMTFGNMm0ONj5Hd77qdxujQKcJ6xEbe-/s1600/found+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgknSnGLKJ52tKLO18OFluAM-u5fU8MuY0vi0IqTwmfrzC-ZTj6yjLhyphenhyphenE_VDwMWannmx-aiBW8C2wQz5yUgU-zexMQLS7mzxzbtLfPGxgSUfbGgsMTFGNMm0ONj5Hd77qdxujQKcJ6xEbe-/s320/found+2.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Angie mentions this in the chapter “Chasing His Hem:” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I can think of several times that I really
opened up about something I was struggling with and it was met by a posture and
spirit of judgment coupled with Bible verses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wanted the Bible verses, but in the spirit of love and grace.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Proverbs
agrees…wisdom absolutely should be given, but tempered with kindness:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQtapE3Bgl7saFDzLQdDaOyniljfFxPukkTwV4RWrNneUv3GVR-p-qDFnp1shB9UYiLExRt2_fCtpCtl_JUTUQpmuoI9JMinnLQ4nb5mRXBZzauEnWaepeJF19Jv9MNm0mKLhdvvueAy3/s1600/found+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQtapE3Bgl7saFDzLQdDaOyniljfFxPukkTwV4RWrNneUv3GVR-p-qDFnp1shB9UYiLExRt2_fCtpCtl_JUTUQpmuoI9JMinnLQ4nb5mRXBZzauEnWaepeJF19Jv9MNm0mKLhdvvueAy3/s320/found+3.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I have been
guilty of “holy spiriting” people, especially my family members and MOST
especially, my husband:/.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took a dear
friend to speak some honest truth to me: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I make a “lousy” Holy Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have found throughout the years the ones
who have had the biggest impact on my life are those who have spoken to me
honestly, with Godly wisdom, humility, kindness and my best interest at
heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Another
reason we want to hide…or at least I want to hide as Angie writes is the fear
“… we will let people down and not meet their expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think many of us feel the real ‘us’ will
be exposed when we don’t rise up to what someone else thinks we should be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So many of us feel burdened by our <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">perceptions</i></b> of the expectations of
others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We often live our lives trying
to avoid letting people down.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know
this one well…I lived it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I love that
Angie entitled this chapter “Chasing His Hem” after the woman who reached out
to touch his hem with a mustard seed faith and found herself healed of an
embarrassing, ostracizing; and, I am sure, debilitating bleeding problem she
had suffered with for years. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOJyZXBt8NrGMCIcpBF0JePcH8ynk_6Hmhr1_40F2dYnF18pLtbgvSfP2JjfnlJP51vNh2R_-sWZ9M0-F-P3_DgCfy3T0L-ociyj9zIXJxBBoiX__vZIiyf-MXK8uyiDfA0LGhxOQwtEgZ/s1600/found+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOJyZXBt8NrGMCIcpBF0JePcH8ynk_6Hmhr1_40F2dYnF18pLtbgvSfP2JjfnlJP51vNh2R_-sWZ9M0-F-P3_DgCfy3T0L-ociyj9zIXJxBBoiX__vZIiyf-MXK8uyiDfA0LGhxOQwtEgZ/s400/found+4.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I reached
for His hem one Sunday morning in church after listening to my pastor, David Parker, give a message the Holy Spirit spoke straight into my broken heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was desperate for the Lord’s touch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew nothing else would do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only Jesus could heal the deep wounds that I
had covered for years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Reaching for Him,
I began to cry, first silent, streaming tears, but then a deep grief welled
up in my heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “old” Cherri had
just died a very ugly death…and I knew it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was no going back now…It was blatantly obvious I was NOT
“okay.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>EVERYBODY knew that I was not
the strong, resilient, always joyful, completely together “woman of God” that
had been on display for all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
they saw now, was the “real” me…a puddle on the sanctuary floor as they filed
out quietly around me, and Peter, always Peter, my earthly rock, by my side
rubbing my back and letting me know that all will be well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Here is
what I learned from that very vulnerable and humbling experience:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I survived!</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It did not KILL me to let others know that I am broken too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><i>I found compassion, understanding and unconditional love from the people around me! </i>The fear I had of judgment was a false perception that kept me in my own private prison. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I found freedom!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">This is the MOST glorious part of the whole thing…that very
painful moment freed me from caring about putting up fronts anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">He truly can redeem anything!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I can see that the Lord had plans for all my “ugly”
brokenness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He knew taking me through
that time of anxiety, depression and breaking, would lead me to, not only
freedom, but the ability to empathize and point other sweet, suffering women
toward His beautiful healing as well</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">.</span></div>
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<img height="266" id="img" src="https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M21e63f922e79e311eb935de4b975c5c6o0&pid=15.1&P=0&w=270&h=180" width="400" /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">And sometimes, being “found out” can
be one of the best things that ever happens to you!!!</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am so grateful that the Lord led me through a valley I never thought I
would survive, to the place where I realize the truth:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Angie’s beautiful words say it like this:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">You are the one I stop for.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">You are the one I long to heal.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I know your name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know your heart. </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I know everything about you,
including that we would meet here today.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">You are the one who sought me and </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I delighted in knowing your hand
would reach for My hem in faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">What you saw an act of desperation, </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I saw as an act of love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">How many never reach out to Me at
all because they don’t think it would make a difference?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Now go in peace and newness of life.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Dear sisters, have no fear!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Peace </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">newness of life </i><i>are within your grasp…just reach for His hem!</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Love you dearly!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Cherri</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> Do you struggle with this "fear of being found out"? Why do your think you hide the "real" you? You can answer here on the blog, but you can also answer on the DV Women's Ministry Facebook page. Many have found that easier. Just ask to join! </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-80633259433917147672016-07-07T17:13:00.002-07:002016-07-08T13:29:05.231-07:00Breaking The Social Anxiety Chains That Bind!<style>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">“Come join! Come
join!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they call to me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">I stretch my
hand, but I can’t break free. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">A thought inside
my head revolving, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">It’s not to you
they’re calling. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Pull back your
hand, buffoon,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Before they see
You </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">And wryly sing a
different tune.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Travel back with me to my
awkward junior high years, where everyone has braces, pimples flourish, notes
are passed, and there’s an overwhelming aroma of Bath and Body lotion, cologne
and BO. </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">I walked into this foreign world and saw a sea of faces I didn’t know,
but I was fortunate to find two kindred spirits. We were inseparable, we played
sports together, shared happy and sad days, vented to each other, and had
ridiculous inside jokes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Fast forward four years…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">We were now upperclassmen. The teachers liked
us. We were pretty good at sports and were elected class officials. As the year
progressed, I was given special attention and recognition in front of my
friends, by teaches, coaches and some peers in our school. My successes were
noticed, even my mediocrity was praised. For some inexplicable reason, this
strange halo of favor hung over me throughout the year. Initially, I enjoyed
the attention, but my friends became increasingly hurt and offended, and shared
their feelings openly with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the
year progressed, this cycle continued and recognition in front of my friends
stung them deeper and made me want to shrink ever smaller.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">The night of the school
awards show came, a friend spoke of an award she hoped to receive. But when the
winner was announced, they called MY name. My face burned. My muscles tightened.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and I wanted to disappear. I walked
on stage to accept the award in front of the entire school. The teacher asked
me to say something. I went blank. What do I say? I anxiously blurted out an
ill-conceived, but quick reply. “I just want to thank all the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">little</i> people who helped me get here,”
and quickly exited stage left. Let me invite you into my mind immediately
after, “Ugh! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little people? Why did I say
that? What do I do with this plaque? I can’t bring it back to my seat.” I found a dark place under
the bleachers to hide it before walking back to my friends. Once I got to my
seat, my friends were missing. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">From that point on, I became the “inside joke."
They whispered and laughed as they peered at me and hurriedly walked several
steps ahead. We were no longer, “kindred spirits;" our friendship was undone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the end of the school year I felt despised
by the people who knew me best, and I just wanted to disappear. I transferred
schools my senior year and sunk deeper into the fog of social anxiety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, I was the new girl, but at least if
people didn’t like me, I could say it’s because they didn’t really know me.</span><br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUMBCy2cUGzb-yK-isQ_4i0LHvsHi6vhl8uBMvwbpdbPCGH2nfmQwMAnoCtL9gluXQJGTqPMmYa9bGzdqgAz3gDhS0matbybgOAkFya8qo1sMgXM1q_ePDJiriWKvnGwSzd-lRIbj8Qqf/s1600/social_anxiety.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUMBCy2cUGzb-yK-isQ_4i0LHvsHi6vhl8uBMvwbpdbPCGH2nfmQwMAnoCtL9gluXQJGTqPMmYa9bGzdqgAz3gDhS0matbybgOAkFya8qo1sMgXM1q_ePDJiriWKvnGwSzd-lRIbj8Qqf/s320/social_anxiety.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">I understood where my friends
were coming from. We saw ourselves as equals. How could anyone elevate one of
us over the others and do it so publicly? My friends certainly had reason to
feel frustrated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haven’t we all
experienced some degree of that? You want a promotion, someone else gets it, then
you think of a million reasons why it should have been you. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Social anxiety is an
unreasonable fear of social situations, based on the belief that people will
judge you. The physical feelings and reactions I had the night I received the award
are duplicated whenever I feel I’m at the center of attention. Sometimes just
speaking to someone I view as important or intelligent will illicit this
reaction. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Here are four ways that social anxiety plays out in my life:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><u><b><i>Lethargic Living</i></b></u>. I recently
attended a conference and the speaker was Lisa Bevere. She spoke about “living
fully awake.” I love this! We cannot live fully awake if we let our anxiety suffocate
us. I am guilty of giving in
to that struggle at times. I have lethargically moved my children through their
days and stealthily avoided peer conversation. Adding children to our family
multiplied my anxiety. I felt the magnifying glass grow larger as my adorable
goobers got older and started acting like children.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I notice when people give
disapproving glances<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">,</span> my body reacts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a result, when an opportunity arises to be
a part of social events my choice is often to stay home. Then, what do I do at
home with my kids? The same “stuff” we did the last couple of weeks. If your
days gray together and you can’t remember what you did on Monday, because it
was so similar to Tuesday, Wednesday, etc… then you are living a life of
lethargy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">A motivating factor to
change lately; however, has in fact, been my kids. I don’t want to perpetuate anxiety in
their lives and I want them to have friends. I’ve come to realize it’s hard for
them to have friends if I choose not to interact and build relationship with
their friend’s Moms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><u><b><i>A False Sense of Control</i></b></u>. One
day, at work, I was asked to speak to a teenager, we’ll call her Eve, who had
been diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease when she was nine. She started hiding her
medications instead of taking them and as a result landed back in the hospital.
Initially, Eve denied knowing why she was hospitalized, denied having symptoms
of Crohn’s, and even denied being diagnosed with Crohn’s. Eve’s illness was
taking over her body, because she made a choice to ignore her illness, and in
doing so she gave her illness control. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">It’s easy to look at Eve and think,
“What in the world, kid! This is your body! Take care of it.” The truth is that
anyone who feels like they are incomplete or broken will try to pretend like
they’re not. I try my hardest to avoid anxiety-inducing situations, so I can
feel like nothing’s wrong with me. </span><br />
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<a href="https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M56efb940ff13305a45dad62821d055fdo0&pid=15.1&P=0&w=208&h=152" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" id="img" src="https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M56efb940ff13305a45dad62821d055fdo0&pid=15.1&P=0&w=208&h=152" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">By doing so I continually make my world
smaller. My anxiety is running the show. Let’s stop pretending. We are all
broken, but that’s why there’s Jesus.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><u><b><i>Self-fulfilling Prophecy</i></b></u>.
When we allow our anxiety to permeate our relationships, we will lose
friendships and/or potential friendships. There have been times when I or my family
have been asked to be a part of something. Simultaneously, I’m thinking, “Yes! …
But No.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><img height="266" id="img" src="https://4mygodsglory.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/yes-no-signs.jpg?w=714&h=476" width="400" /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"> I truly want to, but I can feel the anxiety dancing in my chest. Even
if I say yes, I’m soon looking or hoping for a reason not to go. Not because I
don’t love the people who invited us, but because I have let my anxiety cripple
my movements. A lot of times I talk myself out of going and eventually those
friends stop inviting me. I have rejected them one too many times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><u><b><i>Inactive Players in God’s Plan</i></b></u>.<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://deadpoet88.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/chained.jpg?w=406" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" id="img" src="https://deadpoet88.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/chained.jpg?w=406" width="307" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b> </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: large;">My anxiety can bind me.</span><span style="font-size: x-large; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">I see my
weakness and I decide I’m not as capable or as needed as others. We are gifted
opportunities to be a part of God’s plan. God is saying, “Come join, come
join!” If we pull our hand back his plan will happen without us. What do I mean
by<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> inactive players</i>? We have
chosen God’s team, but we choose only to watch, not even from the bench because
then we could be called up. No, we are nursing an old injury, watching the team
play and thinking about how good it would be to be out there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">So, how do we fight? We go!
We serve! We bravely allow ourselves to be awkward sometimes. I love that Angie Smith spoke of Leah. I had never noticed the part about her having “weak eyes”
before. Not long ago I read through the book of Judges and what struck me was
how imperfect the Judges were. The majority had something that could be perceived
as a weakness or undesirable. God elevated prostitutes, foreigners, women, tax
collectors, poor speakers, the list goes on. Here’s what I believe God is
saying through these stories. Be willing and I will use you! <u>Don’t let your
brokenness stop you from being a part of something great.</u></span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This post was written by guest author, Kirstin Fowler.</span></i> </span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-20054832961612243302016-07-06T07:28:00.000-07:002016-07-06T07:33:10.046-07:00The Life-Changing Power of Kindness!!!<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">It was at a
women’s Bible study leaders’ meeting that I received an up close and personal
glimpse at the healing power a simple act of kindness can have.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">We were
introducing ourselves around the living room, giving our names and little bit
of info about our involvement in women’s Bible study when we got to one sweet
lady, and she said as she pointed across the room, “I wouldn’t be here tonight
if not for Regina.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She told us the
very first time she came to Bible study, she looked at the large room filled
with smiling women in happy conversations and thought, “There is NO WAY I can
fit into this.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She turned around and as
she was walking out the door, Regina ran up behind her and asked if there was
anything wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As she explained that
she thought it wasn’t the right Bible study group for her, Regina put a kind
hand on her arm and asked if she would just stay for one evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She then walked with her new friend back into
the room and introduced her to a group of those smiling faces, delighted to have her at
their table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">And that was the moment
that changed everything!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since that evening,
she has been not only attending Women's Tuesday Night Bible Study, but helping and leading in Women’s Ministry in our church and on top of all that, has many
wonderful friendships as well! The incredibly, life-changing power of kindness can do wonders!!!</span>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<img id="img" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB9wWoZsEx7UmH6McLVoV1yzR-HtbTSoqDAvPbDWp27-IJoJQ0w1ELWiTpipHI-cGsLJCMleEYJPPbibPMOw3p9mo4BeMvX4BkV9LdZYqIdOSHMQaP5BbQ0zUaHgsm28u0MpYzR0YL1mA/s400/545624_364031800317Prov+3_3+trust+and+love.jpg" style="height: 298px; width: 400px;" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Recently, I
was blessed to hear Tammy Brown, a pastor at Sandal’s Church in Riverside speak
on “kindness,” and the power practicing this one attribute can have on the
lives of others…even the power to heal past wounds of rejection, abandonment
and betrayal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tammy spoke that many
times a “mean girl” attitude is masking fear and insecurity that is a direct
result of hurt and anger over these very issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s a different kind of “what if”...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">”What
if we became curious about what is causing the unkindness rather than returning
unkindness for unkindness?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was the
question Tammy posed to those attending the “Cultivate Kindness Conference,”
because her hope is that as Christian women we would reject the “mean girl”
culture that has us saying cliché statements such as:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Girls are just really mean” and “I don’t
like women,” and begin to cultivate a completely different attitude.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<img height="300" id="img" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqHaN0KGiSu4gKMIibJQjJehH62BhudQofyHuZsptlM5MUsYv9TRfT-vD08pWTaVM3B5VEaQAj2r4_4gURaVFI9vdB_NkVNPi0sNM_XLUZn_EVOyoKZ1ATfnidMNnhUQxaD7yZ5cC-I04G/s400/proverbs31.26+soft.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Isn’t that
an awesome thought?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That Christ can have
an impact on the lives of others who are suffering the wounds of rejection,
abandonment and betrayal through our kindness?!?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the truth is the more we focus on others
and their pain, the more our own pain is healed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the crazy wonderful way the Lord’s
Kingdom works…give and it will be given to you, forgive and you will be
forgiven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<img height="300" id="img" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N9F--EhUyoU/UNdfIshJ0CI/AAAAAAAAC1Y/OeZ5JtpeWQw/s400/act-of-kindness.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">This week
we will have a guest writer for the blog…my daughter, Kirsti.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kirsti, along with being married to Ryan and
mothering three VERY busy boys, is a Child Life Specialist at Loma Linda
Hospital Pediatric Emergency Department.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The reason I asked if she would write for the blog this week is because
she has been battling social anxiety caused by these fears that can sometimes
keep her hostage, a battle she is determined to win.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She graciously agreed
to tell her story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So her post should be
up within the next couple days. You can read a little bit more about Kirsti here: <a href="http://togetherweareonewisewoman.blogspot.com/2012/07/plastic-pearls.html" target="_blank">http://togetherweareonewisewoman.blogspot.com/2012/07/plastic-pearls.html</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Blessings
to you, sweet sisters!!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May we walk
out our lives with intentional kindness!!!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Cherri </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-26352990601999051962016-06-28T21:03:00.000-07:002016-06-29T05:02:36.231-07:00Stopping The "What if?" Spin Cycle In Our Heads<style>
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</style> <span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">Have you
girls ever read about the benefits
of meditating on the Word...giving wisdom, guidance, peace, joy, healing to our
hearts, minds and bodies and thought "IF ONLY!"? I have; but<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">,</span>
"I'm just not good at meditating" was my answer every time. When I <span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">attempt</span> to meditate on the
Word, my mind tends to wander <span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">far</span> and wide. One day I was reading in my
devotions <u>once</u> <u>again</u> about the great benefits of meditating on Scripture, so I
talked with the Lord and told Him how sorry I was about my sub par meditating
skills and that I would sure love it if He would send some of that ability
down into this heart and mind of mine....you know...just plunk that skill down in my brain. Funny thing...and I DO think the
Lord<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";"> loves</span> to be funny sometimes...is the next thought that came into my mind
was a "what if" thought that had been going through my brain the
night before. "See, Lord!!?? See what I mean?? I
can't even talk to You about meditating without my mind flailing off onto
something else!!" AND THEN IT HIT ME!! My "What
if" cyclical thinking IS meditating!! In fact, I realized that day
I was a really GOOD meditator. I was just meditating on the wrong
thing! </span><img height="250" id="img" src="https://betterthansurviving.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/meditation.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">What
if?? Two of the most terrifying words in any language<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">, </span>having the power to light a flame of fear that can ignite a wildfire of
panic-stricken anxiety <span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">that refuses</span> to be quenched by even a torrential rain of tears. </span><br />
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "lucida calligraphy"; font-size: 48.0pt;">What if?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "lucida calligraphy"; font-size: 48.0pt;"></span></b></div>
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</style> <span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">In Angie
Smith's book, <i>What Women Fear, </i>her chapter, "Sitting by the
Well~Fear of 'What If...'" addresses the two kinds of "What ifs"
that plague us...the "what if" of the unknown future and the
"what if" of a regretful past. Angie says it like this:
"The first idea is that something might happen in the future, and the
second is the fear we made a poor decision in the past and life could have
resulted differently." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">The constant
whirling of the SAME thought in our heads about what could happen or what did
happen, can spin out of control. Beth Moore calls it a mind "stuck
on the spin cycle." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">So then the
question is...how do we get out of this relentless hamster wheel of
thinking?? (I found this picture and I <span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">HAD <span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">to include it!)</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"><img id="img" src="https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M22eb08e739a27eddd18f74c282d34ac1o0&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300" style="height: 398px; width: 398px;" />We don't want to read another good book about fear and anxiety.
We want to be mentally, emotionally and spiritually healthy. Let's think
on this together.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">Something I always
find fascinating is God's truth proven out in science. There are numerous
studies out<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";"> </span>on how our brains work, and I could spout words
like "basal ganglia," "dorsalateral striatum" and
"dorsalmedial striatum" like I know what I am talking about:), but I<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";"> don<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">'t even know how to pronounce them</span>!</span> This is basically
what scientist in their studies have found over and over: Our brains LOVE
habits (and they have the rat studies to prove it </span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">:</span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">) because once we have
a habit in place, good or bad, we don't have to think much anymore. It
can take a rest. A habit is much like a well worn track in our
brain.</span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"><img id="img" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4144/5026094865_ed414468bd_z.jpg" style="height: 375px; width: 500px;" /> </span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">A thought gets on the track and BOOM! it is at the end without
much effort in between. Habits are the freeways of the brain. To
break a bad habit and/or create a new one takes thought..a lot of it. I
read a<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">n</span> article, "<a href="http://positivepsychologynews.com/news/emily-vansonnenberg/2011020116315" target="_blank">This is Your Brain on Habits</a>," by UCLA psych
professor and researcher, Emily vonSonnenberg, that gives five steps to
break a bad habit and cement into your brain a new one.
Here are her steps </span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">(In my own non-psych words)</span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"> with the Lord's <span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">truth</span> right <span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">beneath</span></span>: </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">1. Identify
a positive habit and behavior you would like to adopt.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+4%3A8&version=NIV" target="_blank">Philippians 4:8</a></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">2.
Identify the bad habit you want to break. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "" serif "" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "" serif "" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+corinthians+10%3A3-4&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Corinthians 10:3-4</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">3.
Recognize when you are beginning to head into that bad habit. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";"> </span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+corinthians+10%3A+5&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Corinthians 10:5</a></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">4.
Instead of acting on the impulse to "go there," refocus. Consciously
redirect your thoughts and actions to the new habit you want to
form. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+corinthians+10%3A+5&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Corinthians 10:5</a> AND <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=philippians+4%3A8&version=NIV" target="_blank">Philippians 4:8</a><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";"> </span><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+corinthians+10%3A+5&version=NIV" target="_blank"><br /></a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">5.
Substitute the new behaviors of the new habit for the bad behaviors of the old
habit. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+12%3A2&version=NIV" target="_blank">Romans 12:2</a> </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">Repeat steps
4 and 5 over and over. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8%3A+31-32&version=ASV" target="_blank">John 8:31-32</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">Basically,
these scientists have found the secret that has really been no secret at
all. The Maker of all minds in the universe says we have to stop thinking
and behaving the old way and start thinking and behaving the new way and do it
over and over and over and over and over...until our habit turns into
meditation and our meditation into abiding and our abiding into our
freedom. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">So the
"what ifs" from the past...capture them, lay them before the Lord and
allow them to be bathed in the truth...that the Lord turns our ashes into
beauty (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+61%3A1-3&version=NIV" target="_blank">Isaiah 61:1-3</a>) and redeems...makes good everything we hand over
to Him (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+8%3A28&version=NIV" target="_blank">Romans 8:28</a>).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">And the
"what ifs" of the future...capture them, lay them before the Lord and
allow them to be bathed in the truth...that the Lord is in control (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+19%3A21&version=NIV" target="_blank">Proverbs 19:21</a>) and His plan for us is good (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jeremiah+29%3A11&version=NIV" target="_blank">Jeremiah 29:11</a>).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">He is the
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation+1%3A8&version=NIV" target="_blank">Revelation 1:8</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation+22%3A13&version=NIV" target="_blank">Revelation 22:13</a>). Beth Moore said once that the Lord is as present in your past, as
He is right at this moment in your present, as He is in your future. You can ask Him to
pour healing balm on those past regrets, hurts and pains because He is present
in them. Time holds no constraints on Him! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">We want
freedom from the fear of the "what ifs" in life...let the Truth...let
the Word...let the Lord God heal us!!! </span><img alt="" class="" id="yui_3_5_1_1_1467128275552_727" src="https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Md5c72dd2dff26c25e23fa8bd4278263aH0&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">Let's talk
about how to find freedom from our bad thought patterns and encourage each
other to the new. What did you get out of this week's chapter? Please leave a post <span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">here on the blog<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";"> or on the DV Women's Ministry Facebook page. Simply ask to join ou<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">r page to join in on the conversation. <span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";">I truly want to hear what you have to say.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">Love you,
sweet sisters of mine!!!!!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">Cherri </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">PS If you want to read a little more on meditating on God's Word, here is a post from some years ago: <a href="http://togetherweareonewisewoman.blogspot.com/2012/07/its-cow-day.html" target="_blank">It's a Cow Day!!</a> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-88323662484933988442016-06-20T11:45:00.000-07:002016-06-20T14:10:28.755-07:00We Have An Enemy Who Thrives On Our Silence<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> I had always been fearful for as long as I could remember. At nine years old, I suffered with "KNOWING" I was dying of cancer for months, but would not say a word. In my mind, I did not want to burden my family with such dire news. So I "suffered with cancer" for months until a school nurse explained that most healthy nine year old girls get two little knots in their chest. True story! Another very clear childhood memory is stepping on a nail as a ten year old, barefoot tomboy one summer and being so fearful of tetanus and the dreaded "lock jaw," that I as crazy as this is...I told NO ONE until I could no longer walk on my foot. I had resigned myself to the consequences of having my jaw firmly locked in place since, after all, it was my own fault; I was supposed to be wearing shoes outside. I did not have tetanus, because I was up-to-date on my immunizations, but I did have a raging infection. For cryin' out loud! I could have lost my foot and even my life by a completely unfounded and unnecessary fear!!!</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "gill sans ultra bold"; font-size: 28.0pt;">FEAR
IS A LIAR</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Isn't it the truth that even in our grown-up lives we are often fearful of the imaginary. We fear a future that will <u>never</u> happen, but we fret over it as if it were the truest part of our reality!!! How many sleepless nights have I spent worrying over some "vain imagining" that NEVER materialized. I want those hours of sleep back!!!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Angie Smith says, "<i>We have an enemy who thrives on our silence. He doesn't want us to be in fellowship, sharing our hearts and seeking wisdom on how to live lives that glorify God in spite of the darkness we feel</i>." Can I just shout out an AMEN! to that???? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My silence when it came to my fears has caused me more stress and anxiety than I can possibly calculate. We diligently guard our secret fears as if they need protection from the light of the truth. When I think of how much anxiety I could have saved myself over the years by simply being honest about my fears and allowing others to speak truth to me, I want to smack myself on the side of the head and yell: "What were you thinking???" </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My challenge to you girls is to begin the climb out of those secret dark places by facing your fears and telling someone. Allow the Lord and others to speak truth to you, and your fears will begin to lose their grip on your heart and mind. When Angie first began to address this issue of fear in the lives of women, her email filled up with those who felt their fear was <b>the</b> most heinous, <b>the</b> most horrific, <b>the</b> most shameful, <b>the</b> singular fear unique among other women. If only those dear girls could have read each others mail, they wouldn't have felt so alone, fearful and ashamed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The TRUTH is we have a Savior who wants to shed His glorious light into our hearts and minds! His truth and grace have incredible power to fight and pull down the strongholds of fear and anxiety! Women loosed from these kinds of strongholds are no longer imprisoned in their fears and chained by their silence. They are a force our enemy does NOT want to reckon with!!!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Please leave a comment here or on the DV Women's Ministry Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/114205638666308/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/114205638666308/</a>about the introduction to <i>What Women Fear.</i> Your insight is so valuable to all of us as we read this book together!!! Let's shed some light on our fears!!!!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let me leave you with Angie's prayer for this week</span>:<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">God, be with us as we journey together through our fears. Bless us with understanding, with peace, and with wisdom to seek Your face when we start to lose our footing. Bless those who are reading with exactly what they need to take from these chapters, and inspire them to start moving toward a life that is filled with the mercy that satisfies our souls.</span></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With great affection,</span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Cherri </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187423214160528044.post-33312892774014698812016-06-17T10:31:00.000-07:002016-06-17T10:31:19.051-07:00Let's Get Started!!!!<style>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Welcome Ladies to the 2016 summer "Together We Are One Wise Woman" book blog!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so glad you have joined
us as we adventure together through this summer’s book by Angie Smith, <i>What
Women Fear</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I DO think it will be
adventure!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so excited that we have
women from all over the globe joining us this summer!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know we will be blessed by the insight the
Lord will give each of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every Monday,
throughout the summer, there will be blog post here about the chapter we will
be addressing that week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will also
be posted on the DV Women’s Ministry Facebook Page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/114205638666308/?ref=br_tf" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/114205638666308/?ref=br_tf</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are more than welcome to join us in
either place or in both!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We will be reading the introduction in Angie’s book because
it is SO good, I don’t want anyone to miss it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <b>
</b></span><b>So on the very first week, beginning June 20, we will be talking about
the introduction to <i>What Women Fear</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What I would love to do is have you introduce yourself your
first post and give a little background, so we can get to know each other better.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Let me start us off:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">My name is Cherri Thompson and I will be hosting the blog
this summer. I live on a small
“ranchette” on the western edge of the Antelope Valley in Southern California
where we have Australian Shepherds, a cat that is SUPPOSED to be mouser…not so much…chickens: Tinker
Bell, Ariel, Belle and Prince Charming (take a guess who named the
chickens???), tortoises, a bearded dragon, a pond with a few fish, toads and
frogs (ones that have managed to <u>survive</u> me:)
and a family of ravens who kick out a baby each year for us to care for. This is last year's crazy raven, Pinkie:).</span></span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHceswXgOLMaXhIj8u4qDMAZesljAykYubmFpYK28BQYMSXD9h2MTgMPeYTrCjRGt3d35pAYdOqjK2pfyF7MrpRqptGs2DTuNsxeuPp-MALJtDi568zs60QEiNT7WB044haD2gajO3PBLX/s1600/IMG_4497+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHceswXgOLMaXhIj8u4qDMAZesljAykYubmFpYK28BQYMSXD9h2MTgMPeYTrCjRGt3d35pAYdOqjK2pfyF7MrpRqptGs2DTuNsxeuPp-MALJtDi568zs60QEiNT7WB044haD2gajO3PBLX/s320/IMG_4497+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a> </span></span></span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Weird, but true! I work at the Desert Vineyard Church in
Lancaster, CA as an assistant to Nancy Parker, our Women’s Ministry Director…the
best job EVER! I have six children and
soon will have an even dozen grands! I
love Bible study, working with my husband around our place, gardening and
hanging out with family and friends.</span></span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am excited about what the Lord has ahead for us and some guest writers
who will be contributing this summer! </span></span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></b></span></span><br />
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<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Before I go for today, I would like to encourage you girls
to read Angie Smith’s book, “I Will Carry You.” </span>
</span></span><img class="image-stretch-vertical" height="320" id="igImage" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51uLgBbgNCL.jpg" style="max-height: 500px; max-width: 323px;" width="204" /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is a tough and breathtakingly beautiful read…I had tears streaming down my face as I read it in
one afternoon, but I think it will give you even more of an appreciation for
Angie and her ability to speak on this subject.
Definitely a book worth your time to read!!! See you next week!!!!
Have a blessed week!!!</span></span></span></span></div>
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cherri</span></span></i></span></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">PS. I have NO idea why the fonts are different sizes on this post!?!! I have tried for hours to fix but finally just gave up!!!!</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></b></i></span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com17