Asking

For my faithful readers who pray,
I am asking of you a favor.
My heart, as you know, is ready to move from this
stagnant place that I am.

I feel that God has stripped all the securities of my life;
Job, Boyfriend, Social Life, and Place to live, from me...
For a purpose.

I am ready to move, ready to follow,
ready to heed whatever HE may have in store.
So this is what I am asking.
Fast with me....pray with me.

Ask of HIM who knows all things,
That HE will reveal to me the open door
That HE wants me to walk through.

His Word promises so many things, but in James HE says...
"If you want to know what to do...then ask of God....HE will not resent your asking...He will tell you. But when you ask be expectant of an answer."

So I am asking of you to pray, expecting an answer.
What city, town, state, or country.
Where He leads I WILL follow.

Thank you.

The Battle

Thot's are tumbling 'round in my head,
My brain will not be still.
Thoughts of who I was,
Who I am,
And Who God has for me to be.

Around the bend,
Over the hill,
Across the ocean's depths
My journey is long and wearying.

What is the Master's plan?
What did HE create in me to be?
What is HIS purpose?

Cleaning is therapy.
Straightening the order of the physical;
A reflection of the work of the Spiritual.

Pain finds its way in;
Forgiveness heals.
Worry pushes and hammers at the door;
Faithfulness quiets the noise.
Anger rages;
Gentleness soothes.
Weariness overwhelms;
Strength comes in the shelter of the Rock.
Confusion torments;
Trust fights back.
Sadness comes in waves, threatening to drown,
Peace that passes understanding reaches out and pulls the swimmer into the boat.
Voices scream out for attention, trying to distract the one on the journey;
ONE quiet whisper, "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD."

The battle is won.

The Mother's in my life

(author's note: I realize this is a day late, but I did not have computer access over the weekend)
(2nd author's note: this may be a funny picture to post for a mother's day tribute, but this is one of my favorite pictures of my mother. This photo was taken the day that she got to fulfill a life long dream of going to Victoria Falls in Africa. The look on her face is radiant!
My ducky mom! I love you!)

This is just a small tribute to the mother's that God has placed in my life. I am so incredibly blessed. Not everyone even gets to know their mother. I not only know mine, but she is my friend. On top of that I not only have her, but God has placed several other women in my life that serve in motherly roles. This post is just a small way to show them the love that I feel for them in my heart.

MY MOM:
MOM, I am so glad that GOD chose you to be my mom. More than that I am so glad that you chose to have me. I recognize that you did have a choice and you chose me and I am thankful for that.
Thank you for teaching me about the GOD that you serve. From the beginning you taught me that HE loves me, that HE cares for me, that HE wanted to be my GOD. You showed me through example how to serve HIM, how to love HIM back and how to live for HIM daily.
Because of you I have a Joy unspeakable, and a Hope everlasting, and I am deeply in love with the GOD that never fails!
Thank you for that.
You taught me how to have a good time. Whatever my circumstance in life, you taught me to see the lighter side of it and have the ability to laugh at myself. You strove to make my life fun and taught me to look at the world around me with appreciation and wonder. You taught me to see beauty, even if I was the only beholder. Because of you, I know how to laugh till I cry and to bring joy into other's lifes.
Thank you for that.
You taught me how to dream. You let me know that it was ok to have a dream and to pursue it, even if you thought it was not the best place for me to be. When I fell you were there to pick me up and drive me home, and love me till I healed. Then you helped me find a new dream and have encouraged and loved every step of the way down my new path.
You have laid prostrate before the Lord praying for my life. A debt I can never repay.
Thank you for that.
I sometimes tease that 15,000 miles away is the perfect distance to have a healthy relationship with your mother. But my heart does not believe that. My heart misses you every day, and I long to see you. I am so proud of you, of the sacrifices that you have made in life to serve the GOD that you love and the family HE has given you. Thank you for teaching me all of my life. Thank you for raising me to the best of your ability, making me do what you thought was best with GOD's guidance, even when I didn't like it. Because of you, I know how to seek GOD's face and wisdom and make the hard decisions.
Thank you for that.
There is so much more to say, to take the time to post it all would be too long to read!
I rise up and call you Blessed!
My life is perfect with you in it.
I love you, mom!
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There is one other woman that I would like to pay tribute to on this day after Mother's Day. GOD put her in my life in the most unassuming of ways, as her employee....but HE, as always , had bigger plans.
Mama J,
I was put into the Workman family, by GOD's providence. He gave me a mom that is far beyond anything I could ever hope to deserve. But when HE then chose to separate us and allow her to carry out the things that HE called her too far away, He put you in my life. HE is so faithful.
My life in Abilene, and beyond is filled with memories of you. You continued to build upon the foundation that my mother had already laid and had begun to build. You encouraged when I needed encouraging, you loved when I needed loving, you lovingly chastised when that was needed. You rejoiced with me in my joys and successes!! You believed in me without a shadow of a doubt!
You have spent hours on your knees for me and I can never pay that back.
You taught me how to be free, and how to see what my dreams meant and how reach for them. You sat with me when I was in dispair and you waited patiently till I was ready to get up again, then you held out a hand and lifted me out.

Best of all, you brought me into your family and made me one of your own. Thank you for enriching my already wonderful life. I cannot imagine my life without you in it.

I am so blessed! I love you, Mama J!
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For the other mother's in my life, and you know who you are. Thank you for being living examples of what Mother's should be. Thank you for enveloping me and sharing your families with me. I look at each of you and see a beautiful woman. Better yet...GOD does!
Thank you!

Praise You through the storm

These are lyrics to how I am feeling! Matches my blog from yesterday. I love when there is a song to match my life!

Praise You in the Storm
Casting Crowns

I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day

But once again,
I say "Amen"and it's still raining
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God
Who gives and takes away

Chorus:I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again

My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy fallsI
raise my hands and praise the God
Who gives and takes away

Chorus
I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

Waiting

I read an article the other day on the “Enormous Leisure of GOD.” The particular illustration was of the person Moses. He knew that he was the person who was supposed to free GOD’s people from their slavery, however while he was ready to go right then and free his brothers and sister’s from bondage. GOD had other plans. He sent him into the desert for 40 years to herd sheep!!

Now, think with me here. This man has been raised in the palace of the Pharaoh. Couldn’t GOD have chosen to use him then? I mean he had pretty good access as the adopted son of the princess. But though humanly this would have been ideal, GOD had a greater plan. A plan that took 40 years to bring about.

Why 40 years? To we as humans this seems like…well, almost half a lifetime. But in GOD’s mind 40 years was really nothing. The Bible says that to GOD a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day. For him 40 years is like a blink.

So what is my point here…..

Why am I so impatient? I am SO tired of waiting on the Lord. Yet at every turn and step I try to take that is what GOD is telling me to do. Over and over I hear…

“Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD”

“Wait here”

“Wait for HIS reply”

“Should I continue to wait, now that you are silent? Must I also remain silent?”

“for I am waiting for you, O LORD. You must answer for me, O Lord my GOD.”

“I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.”

“They have set an ambush for me. Fierce enemies are out there waiting, though I have done them no wrong, O LORD”

“You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O GOD, are my place of safety.”

“I wait quietly before GOD, for my hope is in him.”

“I wait quietly before GOD, for my salvation comes from him.”

“I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched and dry. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my GOD to help me.”

“The LORD is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him.”

“As for me, I look to the LORD for his help. I wait confidently for GOD to save me, and my GOD will certainly hear me”

“I will climb up into my watchtower now and wait to see what the LORD will say to me and how he will answer my complaint.”

“But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.”

I could go on and on. The Lord is asking me to TRUST… to WAIT.

Just to bring this to reality. This is not easy. In fact, frankly, it sucks! (for those of you who do not care for this word please pardon it…but it is how I feel!) It does! I realize that GOD has purpose and a plan for me and I would love for that purpose to be revealed right now.

Yet apparently I am still in the training process. Don’t you know that Moses was so glad for all those years of experience herding flocks of dumb sheep and the years in the desert with GOD, when he then had to herd a flock of GOD’s people!! I am sure there were many times that he wished he could go back to the desert and away from the purpose that GOD finally did reveal.

I am ready for things to happen NOW! But GOD is saying wait. As HE has never failed me yet, I am willing to obey. My prayer is that I learn what I need to learn, and am granted the grace and the patience to not step in front of GOD’s plan for my life. My desire is to serve and to glorify. Nothing more, nothing less.

God is not in a hurry. We are. We get down before God and pray, then we get up and say, “it is all done now,” and in the light of the glory of the “vision” we go and do the thing. But it is not real, and GOD has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us (read..our stubborn selves) into shape, until we get into the condition in which HE can trust us with the reality of HIS vision for us.

Waiting......
The End