Who are you?

"A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far above rubies."

Proverbs 31:10

*

Who are you, what do you do, what do you look like, and what is your age?

It does't matter. 

What matters is if you love the LORD

 with all your might and accept Jesus as your Savior.

*

"If you confess with your mouth 

Jesus as Lord, 

and believe in your heart 

that God raised Him from the dead, 

you will be saved; 

for with the heart a person believes, 

resulting in righteousness, 

and with the mouth he confesses,

resulting in salvation."

Romans 10:9-10

*

The world does not hold on to the value of people 

unless they are in some profession deemed important

by the world.

I was asked once, "Don't you have a job or something?"

*

"Whatever you do in word or deed, 

do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks 

through Him to God the Father."

Colossians 3:17

*

 Mothers, homemakers 

are not held in high esteem 

and may never be again,

but this does not show your value.  

Your value as a mother, as a homemaker, as a person 

comes from the LORD.

Do not believe the lie

that you are not valuable.

*

"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? 

And yet not one of them 

will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

So do not fear; 

you are more valuable than many sparrows.

Matthew 10:29-31

*

The LORD knows you and He sees you.  

He has not forgotten you.  

He holds you in the palm of His mighty hands.

Run to Him.

Draw near to him.

He is your strength and 

He is your comfort.

*

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 

who comforts us in all our affliction 

so that we will be able to comfort those 

who are in any affliction with the comfort 

with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 

For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, 

so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 

But if we are afflicted, 

it is for your comfort and salvation; 

or if we are comforted, 

it is for your comfort, 

which is effective in the patient enduring 

of the same sufferings which we also suffer; 

and our hope for you is firmly grounded, 

knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, 

so also you are sharers of our comfort."

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

*

Praise the LORD!

*

Broken, frail me can smile at the future

I was with two dear friends this week.  Each of us have gone through great agonies, we are still going through them, with some of the great agonies becoming great victories.  Each of us know pain and sufferings of long standing.

As we chatted, laughed, cried through our Bible Study one of these precious ladies turned towards me and asked,

"How do you do it?"

I didn't understand what she meant.  We had not been speaking of my agonies at all and I didn't want to~~~ but she was wondering how I was able to smile, to continue, to look to the future....  

Certainly, she knows!  She has been through so much, and yet, she has relied on the LORD throughout!  

But that day she saw me, and she needed to ask, she needed to know.  Her agonies through her life had drawn her close to the LORD, but that day, these last weeks, she had been grieving anew after losing a precious son to a car crash where the other person had been texting while driving.

I looked at her with such compassion.  This precious woman has given me hope every single time I have ever seen her~~~even at her treasured son's funeral.  Her faithfulness is a beautiful example which we all look to achieve, and yet, here she was asking me how I do it.  

We all need to be reminded of the LORD even when we know Him!

Of course, the LORD is how I do it.  This is not of me, I rely on the LORD.  The agony is in me, sometimes right on the surface, and other times so deep inside.  I live every moment remembering the agony, but giving it to Him, allowing Him to take it, to handle it, to work in me, to work in them.  

It is an all the time thing.  I live and breathe relying on Him.  Part of my testimony is that these have been the worst years of my life, and yet the very best years of my life, because I have drawn closer, and closer to the LORD in my agony~~~and isn't this our greatest desire to be closer to Him?

"I get up and do next things" for Him, because of Him.  Sometimes I do them with great gusto, praising His name, and other times I do not want to do them at all, but I do them, and I praise His Holy name.  Sometimes I can smile to the world easily, even though my agony is right there hurting so badly, and other times I smile when I do not feel like it at all, and I do not want to~~~but others need to be loved and encouraged ~~~so I smile and love on them.

I am not a super-Christian. I am broken, frail me.  I live in the moment with Him, for Him.  If you ask me what I did yesterday, I probably won't remember, and usually I do not even try to remember.  I am living right then and thinking of what comes next.  My life is for Him, and I want to have Him shining through me so others will see it. I don't have time for yesterdays.  

Because of Him, even in my agonies, I can smile and laugh at the future.

Proverbs 31:25
"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles [laughs] at the future."
NAS/NIV

Moving on Day

Today I decided to "move on".  

It is a full day, and I am way too busy even to write this, but here I am.

I have accomplished one thing after another this morn in a rush so I could get to the things which must be priority today.  Just like "If you give a mouse a cookie"...I went from one to the other, never really breathing as I went.

Eventually the kitty was so thankful she was finally on the "list" and received her breakfast, and then I saw the pile of letters to be mailed.  So I grabbed them, and out I ran to the mail box.  On the walk back to the house I began to "slow down" in my inner person as I was admiring the flowers on the south facing porch.  I realized I must water them next, but there were those porch railing pots looking so lovely, although completely ridiculous.

In the spring I had planted them with a magenta wave petunias each and also a few "thumbelina" zinnia seeds.  When the seeds germinated I was so excited! How lovely these pots would be!  As they continued to grow...they never stopped!  First one foot high and then two.  Every wind storm we have received has blown the pots almost off the railings as the zinnias have been like sails in the wind!  

Today I decided to move on.

I walked right over and lugged those two pots off the railing.  The thumbelina zinnias are now topping 3 feet!  Although as lovely as can be, they are too tall for a flower box.  I placed the two pots in the crook of the porch and house right below where they were, so they are now filling up the space where day lilies have faded.  The flowers are still lovely and will be through the fall, but they will no longer be blocking the porch's view, being a sails in the wind, and looking rather silly for flower pot plants.

As I was moving the zinnia pots, I contemplated how I had finally decided to "move on" with them.  It took a few weeks of thinking how tall would these zinnias grow before they stopped, and what should I do with them.  Today became the day, and I did it.

In our everyday lives we have lots of things with which we must deal.  As precious children of God we have His wisdom, strength, and comfort to help us.  

Even so....there are many days and days where we hold on tightly to situations we have no control over.  Days rush by and even lifetimes fly by as we hold on to our pain, our situations where we have absolutely no control~~~we just "feel" and "think" we have control over them.

Through my own life I have held on tightly, and I have also let go of many things.  As my time as His child has progressed, I have learned the difficult lessons of letting go of things I never had any control over.  

The trite saying, "Let go and let God", is not what I am talking about, as we all know how serious our own pain has been.  Allowing the LORD to take your agony is usually not an easy thing to do ~~~ "to loosen the grip of your controlling hand"  of things which you have grieved over for so long.  Personally, I have had very difficult times of allowing the LORD to have my pain, and other times it has been as easy as breathing, I suppose because I trust and know Him and realize it is time to allow Him.

When we are His child deciding to move on doesn't mean we live in a dream world. 

"Oh, this and that never happened"

Our agonies, pain, memories, struggles, heartaches....remain in our minds, our hearts, but now the LORD is being allowed by us to work in our inner most person.  We have allowed Him to finally take what we never were suppose to control.

He has already been working on our heartaches, but now He can work in us as we allow Him to do so.  This all takes time.  We have lots of pain in there.  Lots of things which are still happening in our lives which are not over yet---so our level of agony is still high.  

When we decide to move on a whole new day begins!  A whole new breath of fresh air is given to us.  We can rely on the LORD to carry us throughout our trials which are too big for us to even think about, much less be able to control.

Our agonies, our struggles, our heartaches, our sadnesses....may still be there, but the LORD can hold them as we allow Him.  He has already been dealing with them in His way and in His time, but now we realize it!  

Today, precious ladies, begin to think of your big ol' pot of overgrown zinnias which you have allowed to sit there flying in the wind and blocking your view.  Think about moving them down and over to the LORD's capable hands.  Your grieving may continue, but as you allow Him to take control of what you have thought you had control over, He will help you even more so in your grievings because you are open to His almighty touch in your inner person.

How can we continue to live fully, and how can we smile?  How can we find joy in this evil world?  We can do this when the LORD God Almighty is our God and we allow Him to reign in our lives, our broken, frail lives.

Proverbs 3 :5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your won understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Your value is above rubies

*

"A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far above rubies."

Proverbs 31:10

*

Who are you, what do you do, what do you look like, and what is your age?

It does't matter. 

What matters is if you love the LORD

 with all your might and accept Jesus as your Savior.

*

"If you confess with your mouth 

Jesus as Lord, 

and believe in your heart 

that God raised Him from the dead, 

you will be saved; 

for with the heart a person believes, 

resulting in righteousness, 

and with the mouth he confesses,

resulting in salvation."

Romans 10:9-10

*

The world does not hold on to the value of people 

unless they are in some profession deemed important

by the world.

I was asked once, "Don't you have a job or something?"

*

"Whatever you do in word or deed, 

do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks 

through Him to God the Father."

Colossians 3:17

*

 Mothers, homemakers 

are not held in high esteem 

and may never be again,

but this does not show your value.  

Your value as a mother, as a homemaker, as a person 

comes from the LORD.

Do not believe the lie

that you are not valuable.

*

"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? 

And yet not one of them 

will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

So do not fear; 

you are more valuable than many sparrows.

Matthew 10:29-31

*

The LORD knows you and He sees you.  

He has not forgotten you.  

He holds you in the palm of His mighty hands.

Run to Him.

Draw near to him.

He is your strength and 

He is your comfort.

*

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 

who comforts us in all our affliction 

so that we will be able to comfort those 

who are in any affliction with the comfort 

with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 

For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, 

so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 

But if we are afflicted, 

it is for your comfort and salvation; 

or if we are comforted, 

it is for your comfort, 

which is effective in the patient enduring 

of the same sufferings which we also suffer; 

and our hope for you is firmly grounded, 

knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, 

so also you are sharers of our comfort."

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

*

Praise the LORD!

*