Today is the Day

Today is going to be a great day. I can FEEL it!

First, today is the last day of summer school. We made it! All that is left is to monitor the final administration of the STAAR test. Although it really is the testing equivalent to watching paint dry, today is the LAST day of summer school! I know I mentioned that already, but it really did bear repeating once more! LOL.

Second, today is a friend's birthday. Although this has nothing to do with me directly, I still would like to give a public shout-out. Happy Birthday, You Sexy Beast! LOL. Kidding! (Actually, he really IS nice to look at, but I digress.)

Third, God is such an awesome father and protector. A few cars directly around mine got vandalized the night before last. My vehicle was protected, and I am so thankful. That's why I have purposed in my heart to praise him in advance as often as I can. I am not a Bible-thumping zealot, but I KNOW where my blessings come from!

Friends, there are so many things that we should be thankful for. I sometimes try to list off my blessings, but it is impossible to list them all. I sure hope you take the time to count your blessings today, even if this is a season of hardship in your life. Whatever you are going through, know that this, too, shall pass. EVERY storm eventually passes, and the sun will shine again. I promise!

If you get a chance and have the opportunity to listen to a song, check out this song: God Favored Me by Hezekiah Walker

I love you guys! Have a great day!

Exhausted

I know I should write something every day, but I am mentally and physically exhausted. Summer school is almost over, y'all! I promise to post something new tomorrow.

Until then, know that I love you and God loves you! :)

My latter will be greater... (Job 8:7)

I sought the Lord today about several things, one being the potential of a meaningful romantic relationship in my life. The Lord spoke to my spirit in great detail about some questions I had, and He spoke a word over my life that caused goosebumps to raise all over me.

There is a saying that people come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. The truth is that some people are just not called to fit into God's long-term plans for us. Perhaps they are there to teach us a lesson. Maybe that heartbreak was intended to be the catalyst that gets us moving in the right direction. Perhaps that person you thought just might be the one was really sent to renew the hope of something better and to get you to open your heart to receive the one God really has planned for your life. Just maybe that boss who seems to block your elevation at work has kept you from headache, stress, and a future that is all wrong for you. I am completely at peace with all of the answers that God gave me to the questions I had. Not all of them were ones I wanted to hear, but thank goodness that He does not operate according to OUR wishes!

Throughout our time together, I kept hearing, Your latter will be greater. Just trust Me and receive Me, and I will do some things that will blow your mind; things that will leave people scratching their heads in the natural realm. Trust and receive and I will show you that your latter days will be greater than your entire life before.

Wow. Just wow. I still have goosebumps even now. What God has for me is for me, and I want it. I receive it. My prayer is that you seek the Lord today and receive a word for yourself. You, too, can experience the greatest days of your life ahead. If God has a blessing for me, then He certainly is a big enough God to have one just for you.

I love you, and I pray all God's blessings over your life. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Plugging In

It really has been on my heart lately to reengage in my church. This morning, I investigated different ministry opportunities and sent out messages to the appropriate group leaders. In the meantime, I plan to set aside time each day to increase my one-on-one time with the Lord.

At church this morning, the first thing I did was write out my tithe check for the unexpected money I received yesterday. I couldn't help but marvel at the fact that God provided the seed for me to sow, and is still willing to allow that seed to be multiplied. Then the guest minister got up to preach and confirmed several things that the Lord has placed on my heart over the last few days.

I have a renewed sense of purpose and more hope than ever that my future is bright. I am so ready to continue pressing on and to walk out this wonderful life God has blessed me with. Although I do one day dream of walking out this life as part of a we instead of an I, I know that whatever the Lord has for me is just for me and is absolutely perfect.

I'll leave you today with something the guest minister said that I can chew on. Maybe you can too...

What I make happen for God's house, God makes happen for my house. - Steve Alessi 6/23/13

Right on time

I am very private with my troubles. In fact, there can be a friend who talks to me every day and still have no clue that I am going through something. At any rate, I have been in a really crazy position financially and, to be honest, I did not know how we were going to make it. I suffered a really severe allergy attack last night, complete with my face swelling. I took a dose of Benadryl and got somewhat better. I later told my symptoms to a neighbor who advised me to go to urgent care to get an allergy shot. The problem was that if I went to urgent care, I would not have had money left to meet any of my and my girls' needs should an emergency crop up. Although we were in a temporary bind, I never doubted though. After all, the Lord has sustained us through EVERY crazy time. I just thought, "Lord, You're going to have to move for me because I have nothing else that I can do."

And He did just that.

The sight of the mail truck caught my attention and I remembered that I had not checked my mail in a several days. To my surprise, there, in my mailbox, was a CHECK! Look at God! I returned to the car and burst into tears and started praising Him. My girls were concerned, and I explained that I was just overcome with happiness because there was a check in the mail. Kalyn said, "Mom, you only had a little money left and God took care of us." Yes, indeed He did. As usual, my daddy made sure that His daughters were alright.

Seriously, who wouldn't serve a God like this?

Dating 2013

Fast forward to 2013.

Here I stand as a divorced, single mother trying to navigate my way through the dating waters. I have to admit that the process is not inspiring much confidence at this point. Because I have been severely lacking in time and opportunity to get out and meet people the 'regular' way, I have opened up to online dating. To call it interesting is definitely an understatement.

Online dating has its positive and negative points. For example, it is, in my opinion, a great way to take your time and really learn how a person thinks. Since there is no actual face-to-face interaction in the early stages, you become forced to actually communicate. However, because there is no face-to-face interaction initially, you are not able to see their body language to determine if the words that are being typed really matches up with how they are feeling. Consequently, it is much easier for someone to be on the computer saying any and everything about who they are, how they feel, and what their goals are. If insincere, the chances of feeling frustrated once the actual meeting takes place is drastically increased because you feel as if you wasted so much time and energy on someone who was not the person you thought they were. In short, online dating is just as hard as dating offline. In both instances, a good relationship with God is paramount because discernment is crucial for weeding out those who are not genuine.

Add to the mix being a Christian woman dating, and it becomes a mess. In my experience, when you tell people that you are Christian and dating, one of two things happen: 1. They immediately assume that you must be boring or a prude. I had one person tell me that he was afraid to flirt with me because he saw me as a Mother Teresa type. Really, dude? Or 2. They want to "test" my Christianity by attempting to talk under my clothes. I think I have been approached by pretty much every type of sexual deviant you can think of! LOL. Don't get me wrong. I am BY FAR not a prude, but some of the people out there have taken things waaay to the next dimension!

So far, trying to reenter the dating world has not been a very successful endeavor for me. I have met some really nice men who I could see forging lifelong friendships with, but there have been no real sparks. I am hopeful, though, that God has the person He has ordained just for me that does not require settling.

I will keep you updated with any new developments...

Inside Out, Part II

Me: Yes?!!! What do you mean, 'Yes'? You are seriously trying to kill me?
Him: You said, "More of You and less of me, God." More of Me means getting rid of you.
Me: So you mean I will have NO life?
Him: More of Me means less of you. You choose your life.

Let me stop here to say that I was still a fairly new Christian at the time. Yes, I went to the occasional service growing up, and I attended catechism classes, but I was never really encouraged to read the Bible for myself or to develop a relationship with God for myself until I went into the Army and saw some new things. So there in Leesville, LA, I had a choice to make. I'd like to say I completely sold out to God and have been serving Him faithfully ever since. That would be a lie, though. The truth is, I did gain more of the Lord. Much more; but I also chose to keep some of the "me" He was willing to remove. In the end, I settled for a relationship with a man that was less than God's best for me. I know this because, although we both appeared to be serving the Lord, the commitment did not last. Instead, within several months, I began to see my new husband's violent side and knew that it was just a matter of time before the verbal and emotional abuse I suffered would turn physical. Thankfully, when I prayed for an out, the Lord provided me with one, and I was able to break free.

However, how different could my life have been had I truly trusted God and waited for Him to complete the work He started in me the first time?

I wish I could say I totally sold out for God even after the wedding debacle. Oh, I had periods where I was on fire for the Lord, serving Him with gladness and really growing in Him by leaps and bounds. I sang for the Lord, I worked with God's children, I had a robust prayer life. However, I still continued to have one foot in Heaven and the other in the world. In fact, I often sought my own way and, before too many years had passed, found myself back in a situation where I again settled for "good enough." But then again, there should have been no surprise there because I did not choose the BEST CHOICE as my first choice in the first place.

Fast forward to 2013.

Pt III tomorrow...