Happy Birthday Marianne

 

But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. 

John 3:21

 

On this day, forty-five years ago, I fell in love when a sweet precious bundled of love was placed in my arms.  There has not be a day go by that I do not thank God for blessing my life with my sweet baby girl Marianne.  She is as precious to me today as she was when I was carrying her.  I knew from the start that I was being blessed with a baby girl, no ultra sounds at that time I just knew.

 

Baby girl you make our family special by just being you.  We love spending time with you and doing nothing special.  A phone call from you brightens our day but it goes way beyond what you do or say.  It is the beautiful person you've chosen to be.  Baby girl you are a woman that is special to so many.  You not only express your love for others, you actually carry out that love by helping, praying, caring for all those you love.  Sweet daughter you have grown in to a beautiful woman that we are so proud of. 

 

Happy Birthday Marianne!

You are loved more than you will ever know.

 

Love,

Mom & Dad

Empowered to Soar

 

"Those who hope in the Lord 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."

Isaiah 40:31

 

This past weekend was absolutely the best!  I had the honor of attending the Women's Conference "Empowering Women to Soar" with 5 other ladies from our church.  It was a time for us women to come together for a weekend of refreshment, inspiration and empowerment to SOAR in every area of our lives.  A time to renew our spirit, be strengthened as a resilient overcomer, deepen friendships and enjoy sisterhood.

 

We headed for Fresno Friday evening as the host church was kicking off our weekend with a potluck dinner.  After dinner we heard Sylvia Lopez's awesome testimony, what an amazing lady, and guest speaker for the evening was Pearl Magnum.  Miss Pearl spoke on the scripture Isaiah 40:28-31.  How our strength comes from God, how God's power will rise up in us and make us strong.  When we want to get over mountain tops we have 2 options, we can to choose to hide or we can soar over them.  She spoke on how the Eagle does not start out soaring but takes baby steps with Mama Eagle pushing the Eagle out of their comfort zone.  God does this with us.  We have to step out in faith from our comfort zone and God will take us to the next step.  We will soar as an Eagle with God's power guiding and leading us on the correct path.

 

Saturday started with a power breakfast, a morning gathering and then we were off to whatever class we had signed up for.  My first morning session was Power of a Praying Woman led by Tracy Stephens. Matthew 21:22 was the scripture for this class.

 

"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

 

Tracy gave us the different steps of prayer and here are just a few.  When we pray we are communicating with God, believe when we pray, faith allows our prayer to be sincere, be open and honest with God, pray from your heart.  As women it is easy for us to become impatient with family conflicts, broken friendships and even with God.  But when we pray we need to be patient and humble and let the peace of God come over us.  We must create a strong spiritual balance in our lives that will allow us to be our maximum to God.

 

My second class for the morning was Spiritual Collage.  I signed up for this class before I read the description and once I had read what we would doing in class I almost changed my mind as I had just made a collage for the Made to Crave study I finished.

This is the collage I made for Made to Crave and it shows the things I was seeking God's protection over, the provisions God has given me and the process by which I can attain my goals.  I am so glad I went ahead and stayed with the the Spiritual Collage class.  In this class the goal given to us was to create a collage that depicted our life as to where we had been, where we are now and where we want to be.



This is my spiritual collage.  The bottom left corner symbolizes that I have been forgiven by God, the upper left shows that no matter what trials come my way that God will carry me through them and I will have peace.  It also symbolizes that I need to spend quiet time with Him daily and wait on Him.  Since I like to sew and create things the center depicts a sewing kit which reminded me that I was knit together by God's hands.  The upper right is all about family and friends and I am very grateful for all the people God has blessed my life with.  The bottom right stands for the woman I am becoming.  I am beautiful and fragrant woman.  I will stand on that mountain top and I will soar for Jesus has set me free.

 

Since busy women are often too busy to pamper themselves Saturday afternoon was set aside for some pampering sessions.  We could choose to have a facial, manicure, massage, attend a fitness class, a self defense class or spend some time in fellowship with others.  I chose to have a facial and I must say it was wonderful.  Tried different kinds of cleansers, moisturizer, makeup, etc. and it felt really good to pamper myself.

 

Myself and Doreen decided we wanted to sing in the Celebration Choir so off we went to choir practice after the pampering session.  Celebration Service was set for Saturday evening and what a celebration it was.  The choir sang two songs, In This Very Room and I Am A Vessel.

 

It was a weekend of inspiration and I thank God for the new friendships, for the fellowship and most of all for the power He has given me to Soar!

Beautiful!!!

 

My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.  I give them eternal life.  John 10:27-28

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous the past couple of days here in the city with small town charm.  This past Sunday my sweetie and I decided to go for a drive and take in all the beauty that our Heavenly Father has blessed our great planet with.  So we headed to Lindsay for a Starbucks, drove out to see the remodeled city park and headed out toward Rocky Hill.  It is still a little early for the spring flowers but the air has been crystal clear and the snow capped mountains are absolutely beautiful.  Some of the fruit trees are in full bloom and they are displaying their colors well.  Here are a few pictures I snapped along the way.

 

After our drive through the country we ended at my sister's house for a short visit.  They had just planted some new flowers so I decided to take a few pictures.  Their yard always looks so pretty!  I also got a shot of Rocky Hill and a picture of their oranges that are absolutely delicious!!!

 

 

Just look at all the beauty that God has blessed us with!  If we have all this beauty here on earth just think how beautiful heaven will be.  I am so glad that Jesus found me and me the greatest gift of eternal life with Him.

I will Sing The Wondrous Story

by Francis H. Rowley, 1886

 

I will sing the wondrous story

Of the Christ Who died for me.

How He left His home in glory

For the cross of Calvary.

 

I was lost, but Jesus found me,

Found the sheep that went astray,

Threw His loving arms around me,

Drew me back into His way.

The Cinderella Effect

 

If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.  John 8:31-32

 

As long as we remain in our past going over and over the wrongs we have done or the wrongs that have been done to us we will never be truly free.  I am reading a really good book about how we are all, in our own way, Cinderella.

The author talks about choosing to remain in the cinders of our life or to grown from the ashes.  This excerpt spoke to my heart this morning.

 

"The Bible clearly states that everyone's life has purpose.  He expects us to believe his Word and work diligently toward our freely chosen goals. When we fall, we must choose to believe what God says about us rather than believing the voices that say our bad behavior proves we are not eligible for the good life God has for us.  We must believe we can change and courageously continue to work toward change, regardless of our setbacks.  First we walk by faith, and then (as a result of believing we do have purpose) God will cause his good will for our lives to unfold."

 

"God longs to show you off at the dance of life.  And when you catch the vision of his dream for you and truly believe that you one of his eligible maidens, you're already on your way to the ball!" 

 

Don't choose to live your life in the cinders choose to live from the ashes!

 

He Set Me Free

by Albert E. Brumley, 1977

 

Once like a bird in Prison I dwelt.

No freedom from sorrow I felt.

But Jesus came and listened to me,

And Glory to God He set me free.

 

He set me free, yes, He set me free.

He broke the bonds of prison for me.

I'm Glory bound, my Jesus to see.

For Glory to God, He set me free.

Friend

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  John15:13

 

When I stop and think of what Christ did for me thousands of years ago it boggles my mind.  For Him to died a horrible death on the cross for me so that I could have eternal life with Him and our Heavenly Father.  That is love!

 

What A Friend We Have In Jesus

by Joseph M. Scriven, 1855

 

What a Friend we have in Jesus,

all our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

everything to God in prayer!

 

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

everything to God in prayer.

Love Lifted Me

 

God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.  1 Samuel 16:7

 

How often do we look at someone and judge them by their appearance?  We can all say that we don't but guess what, we all do.  We question why is that person homeless, why do they treat their family that way, why do they eat the way they do, why don't they take a shower, why do they live the way they do, and the list goes on and on.  We choose to judge them by their appearance, come on now you know you do, and wonder why they could let their lives get that way.  What we should be doing is looking into their heart.  Have you ever thought about how someone thinks of you?  All of us are quick to judge not knowing the circumstances of some one's life.  Remember none of us are without sin and should not be judging how someone else lives their life.  What we should be doing is loving others the way Jesus loves us.

 

Love Lifted Me

by James Rowe, 1912

 

I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore,

Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more,

But the Master of the sea, hear my despairing cry,

From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.

 

Love lifted me!  Love lifted me!

When nothing else could help

Love lifted me!

 

This song brings me great comfort for without the love of Christ how lost would I be.