A Woman Standing

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A Woman Standing

I am strong, I am mighty, brave and bold. Nothing the enemy throws at me will take me down. No amount of weaponry can penetrate the battle armor God has cloaked me in. I am like the lion, fearless because I know I am the greatest in this land, for I have been sent here by the Creator of all.

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As A Christian, There Is No Choice

Although I have never shied away from my support for Donald Trump since he first took the debate stage in 2015, in public, I often state my reasoning for such support is due to his policies. I am a “build the wall”, help our veterans, pro-school choice, pro-fracking, and imposing tariffs on Chinese goods kind of gal, so my promotions of the man should be expected.

But, what I do not discuss as often when talking about politics to a friend or a neighbor is my support for Donald Trump due to my Christian faith. Many Christians refuse to support Trump due to their disdain for his personality. Such Christians desire someone who speaks correctly, never ruffles feathers and solely sticks to the talking points. They want someone who is presidential in character and eloquent in tongue.

That, clearly, is not Donald J. Trump.

For years, we have allowed such reasoning to go unquestioned. Christians, such as myself, have defended Trump’s policies but have listened as fellow Christians expressed their frustration towards the man due to his personality, his posts online, that rude thing he said two decades ago, or the insult he threw during a debate, resulting in their refusal to vote for him.

But, this election, such frustrations are no longer a valid excuse for Christians not to support Donald Trump for President in 2024.

Why? Because it is truly unacceptable for any God-fearing, Bible believing Chrisitan to vote for the Democrat nominee.

I can already see the eye rolling, cringing, and hear the huffs and puffs from holier-than-thou Christians at such a statement.

But, it is true, and allow me to tell you why.

You Never Know

Nearly a year ago, I received a phone call from an old coworker and friend I had not spoken to for several years. It had been so long I was surprised to see their name pop up on my caller ID.

The conversation began lighthearted, with lots of details about all the ways our lives had changed since we last saw one another, but soon the individual began telling me about frustrations and disappointments they had been dealing with, from work to personal life. We ended up talking for over an hour. Eventually, I asked if I could pray for them.

Over the past year we have text back and forth a couple times and had one or two short phone calls. Several days ago they text me asking if we could catch up so we set up a phone call for the following day.

Like any call, we started by just talking about our lives, but the individual soon told me they wanted to talk because they had something to tell me.

“When I called you a year ago, I was in a bad place,” they said. “The Lord put it on my heart to call you,” they paused. “I feel like I can tell you this now since I am in a much better place, but that day I called you I had multiple thoughts of suicide.”

Faith And Delivery

While talking with a friend this morning about faith, words came out of my mouth I had never thought before:

“Faith is like giving birth.”

Even while the words left my lips I thought, “what the heck does that even mean?” God, fortunately, gave me clarity.

Most women, including myself, get to a point in the delivery room when they think, or say out loud in my case, I just can’t do this anymore!

Love Like No Other

Six weeks ago, the greatest blessing of my life entered the world; my sweet baby girl.

Everyone tells you the love you have for a child is unlike any other, that the feeling is overwhelming and the emotions uncontrollable, but nothing can prepare you for the reality of experiencing that all-consuming love for the very first time.

In between the diaper changes, feedings, baths, spit ups, wardrobe swaps, and attempted sleep, the thought crossed my mind that I have no idea how God did it-how did He allow His Son, His lovely, perfect, beautiful, and harmless Son to sacrifice Himself for an undeserving world?

Christian Silence

The broad refusal to condemn the Hamas attack on Israel is one of the most disheartening things I have witnessed because it shows what is at the heart of so many.

The current situation between Israel/Palestine/Hamas/Gaza has shown that far too many are willing to remain silent when faced with terrorism, as well as take a perspective that is completely feeling based yet has no factual evidence.

I am particularly infuriated with Christians who attempt to placate this horrendous situation by saying the history between Palestine and Israel somehow justifies the actions of terrorists.

Israel

When it comes to writing about the horrors Israelis are experiencing right now, it’s difficult to find the right words.

All I can do is pray.

Oh Lord, I pray for those suffering in Israel. I pray for the women and girls, the boys and men taken as hostages to be used and abused. I pray they know there are millions of people around the world praying for them, standing with them in the Spiritual realm, believing they will get through this atrocity. I pray you fill their minds with thoughts of peace, that regardless of the horrors they have endured, they know their God is with them, standing beside them, loving them and holding them through this.

Overwhelming

This morning, I received the link to a sermon of one of my clients preaching at a church near me with a comment on how good the teaching was.

This made me start thinking about my client and all I have seen “firsthand” while working for his ministry as a communications contractor. The more I thought about all I have seen, heard, witnessed, and experienced, the more astounded I became at how much God can do with one individual when that person lets go of all limitations and allows God to truly be all He can be in our lives.

In just 20 years, God took this man from an on the road preacher, visiting small mountain towns and hardly bringing in enough money to pay the bills, to a globally known teacher who gives away millions of dollars every year.

How? The man stopped placing limitations on the Lord.

Casting You Cares

Last night, I became entangled with concerns for my company. One of our clients hasn’t been responding to emails, has missed meetings and hasn’t done a single thing we’ve asked of them in order to properly fulfill our contractual obligations. Payment is due Friday, but we haven’t received a reply to any of the three emails we’ve sent regarding their invoice.

As I thought about this while trying to fall asleep, my mind began to wander to other clients and soon thoughts of “what if” crept in. What if this client isn’t happy with the work we’ve provided, what if that client is frustrated with what we suggested they do, what if they decide not to extend their contract, what if my company falls apart…on and on my mind circled around all the things that could possibly go wrong. Pretty soon I was in such a state of anxiety I was nearly in tears and knew sleep wouldn’t come any time soon.

Right as I was about to reach for the lamp, the Lord said to me, “you aren’t casting your cares on me.”

I Believe

Something that has been on my mind a lot lately is the individuality of our relationship with the Lord and how none of us can condemn someone else based off of what they do, or do not, believe when it comes to the Word.

One of my clients is a global Ministry. They believe in what many would call “extreme” Christian beliefs, such as speaking in tongues, baptism of the Holy Spirit, supernatural healing, God led prosperity, even, dare I say, raising dead back to life. Many claim them to be a cult and the media absolutely loves to diminish and demean everything about them.

I also have others in my life who don’t believe in any of these things. Who believe God is a creator, but that is the extend of His relationship with His children. They claim prayer makes us feel good, but the fulfillment of prayer is completely up to God. God may choose to listen and provide, or He may not, the decision belongs to Him alone.

The Power Of Our Words

Sometimes, God shows us just how powerful our words are and how important it is to cover every aspect of our lives in prayer.

Recently, my husband, who owns his own company, has had an awful experience with one of his sub-contractors. The project his company has been working on since May, one of the biggest projects they’ve done so far, was supposed to be finalized by June 21. Unfortunately, the sub-contractor was unable to provide the promised materials by the agreed upon date, so the project was pushed back 5 days, then 7, 10, 15…finally, the sub-contractor said they will not be able to provide the materials until sometime in August!

Clearly, this has caused stress for my husband, and myself. This project was more than just one single job, it was the beginning of multiple opportunities with the client, a very valuable, and influential, resource in the industry my husband works in. Since my husband is the primary contractor it’s his name on the line and his company is the one suffering and whose name has been tarnished. To be weeks late has truly been devastating.

The Lord Healed Me!

As I have written before, I’m currently pregnant with my first child, a healthy little girl. Although I am overwhelmingly grateful for this blessing and love this baby fully, pregnancy for me has been, for lack of a better word, a challenge.

Instead of getting into all the symptoms I’ve faced and the emotional roller coaster those symptoms have taken me on, I’ll just focus on the most recent one.

For the past four weeks I have been battling some sort of eye infection/allergic reaction/allergy that has resulted in the area around my upper and lower eyelids to be bright red, swollen, itchy and flaky. For weeks I have looked like I’ve just stepped out of a bout in the boxing ring, a bout I clearly lost.

Being a strong proponent of natural remedies, because I truly believe if the devil brought something into this world God has a natural way to heal it, I tried all the therapies I could think of – ice, heat, coconut oil, olive oil, cucumber slices, potatoe slices, honey, stopped eating gluten, stayed away from dairy, changed my makeup, got rid of my pillow, switched toothpastes and deodorant etc, but nothing was making a dent. I am not a fan of western medicine (although I must say I do have several wonderful people in my life who are doctors and nurses), but I finally set up a consultation with a doctor after talking to the nurse at my prenatal clinic.

Simple

We live in a very complex and confusing world. What was once right is now wrong and what was once truth is now purely opinion. Different perspectives and beliefs bombard us on all fronts making it difficult to know what to believe, say, think. This bombardment of false information and new “truths” has complicated things to such a degree it is truly overwhelming.

Lately, I have been faced with frustrations and disappointments, resulting in my attitude not being what it should be. I was shorter than usual and found myself getting annoyed with even the smallest things. I realized something was off but just didn’t know how to deal with it. One morning in prayer, I asked God to help me, for Him to send me to a verse that I could stand on and make my own. I opened my bible and sure enough God took me exactly where I needed to go. I began reading the verses He gave me every day and since then everything has been – simple.

My attitude is lighter, my perspective is cheerful and my overall view on life and all that is happening around me is far more optimistic.

One More Lap

I have had many conversations with different people who are all experiencing the same thing: a frustration with the waiting. Waiting for a career change, waiting for an answered prayer, waiting for their special someone, waiting for the door to open, waiting, waiting, waiting for God to move.

Yesterday, while talking to a friend about this topic, I said something that struck me so much that I have been thinking about it ever since:

Sometimes, God needs us to take another lap around the desert before we are ready to go into our promised land.

You see, God isn’t going to let us walk into a land we are not ready for, even though we may feel like we’ve been ready for a long time. The Israelites had a year long journey from Egypt to Canaan. God had them take a longer route in order to purge them of everything Egypt had tainted them with. When they arrived, Egypt was still very much in them, and they weren’t ready to enter. They felt ready, believed they were ready, wanted to go in and eat of the fruit, but God told them no, therefore they walked around the desert for an additional 40 years.

Desire For My Daughter

Today, on my birthday, I was told “God’s greatest gift lives within you”. I am currently pregnant with my first child, a baby girl. Although there are many years between us, there are so many things I would like her to know, to experience, to run with through life. So, below are the desires I have for my daughter:

Know you are loved. Not only by your father and me, but by the Creator of the Universe. You were placed on this earth for a purpose, a destiny, a Heavenly call. You are known by the One who spoke the world into existence, who told the mountains to rise, the valleys to go deep, the oceans to wave, the trees to sway, and the sun the shine. Your name is always on His mind.

Know you are worthy. The world may tell you you aren’t “enough”; pretty enough, smart enough, talented enough, but your Father believed you were more than enough for Him to give His most precious gift. He gave it all for you, He sacrificed His heart so you could spend eternity with Him. So, no matter what the world may tell you, know you, simply you, were worth the Son sacrificing Himself so you may live.

“Woke”

I have become increasingly annoyed with the demonic “woke” agenda being forced into our schools, malls, grocery stores, and every day lives.

While googling an article for work, I saw today’s Google image of a woman holding the LGBTQI flag with a female couple holding one another in the background. God made man to be with woman and woman to be with man. That being said, I don’t believe I have a right to make anyone believe anything, yet the public need to promote and force ani-Christian ideologies has become aggressively normalized in today’s society and is, frankly, disturbing.

Shockingly, the ridiculous Google image wasn’t even close to the most obnoxious or disappointing thing I saw today.