Jesus – A Woman Standing

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.”

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.

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.

It Is Finished

[Repost]

The weight of the Lord’s sacrifice does not escape me. I feel it now as I
sit here. He gave everything for us, for me, people He did not yet know but
already loved, loved enough to hand over the most important thing in not only
the world, but in all the universes and all the worlds, in all the ages and all
the eras.

When Adam and Eve fell, God watched the fall from Heaven, His heart falling
alongside them. How could they do it, He probably wondered. I
created them to be above all, yet they desired to be beneath. They want the
world more than they want me. In a moment, He made a plan, for there only
was one way to get humanity out of the problem they created for themselves.

Continue reading “It Is Finished”