Thankful

As I sit here and think about this past week I can't help but to be thankful. This past week was not the easiest for me as I have been struggling, but as my dear friend Cindy has said..."when life gives you lemons don't forget the sweet stuff!" Dear friends, can I share my "sweet stuff" with you?! First off, God has blessed me with some pretty amazing ladies, who I can be raw and real with and who lift me up in prayer. I am beyond thankful for each lady He has hand placed in my life, for their encouragement, prayers, and examples. There were MANY times this week that I had to sound my trumpet and asked for prayer, and they were there and ready! Which, leads me to my second thankful-GOD! I love that we serve a God who is all knowing, loving, forgiving, and...I could go on! I'm beyond thankful that I can cry out to Him at anytime, in any place, for anything. Isn't He just the best! I'm also thankful for the sun-yes, that big yellow thing in the sky! Its been a long winter here in the mitten (which means a lot of days with no sun) and its nice to finally see and feel it! Friends, how many days do we let go by without being thankful? How many blessings do we receive without thanking God for them? How many times do we let the distraction of a bad day (or week) keep us from seeing the "sweet stuff"? I'm gunna be honest here, I'm guilty.I'm guilty of not giving God the praise when He is so deserving. I'm guilty of letting the "lemoms" of life get the best of me at times. This weekend has been full of some good time on my knees crying out yo God, asking for forgiveness, and asking for help as I walk into this next week. I know that I can't do it on my own, thank God its in His strength that we can get through this whole "life" thing! I want to encourage and challenge all who are reading this to not let a day go by without being thankful. I don't care if its for your toothbrush, husband, job, or something God is doing in your life. I strongly believe that once you start thanking Him for things it will become easier to find more things to be thankful for..and it actually becomes fun as well! Oh, one last thankful-YOU! I may know you, I may not, but I'm still thankful for you. YOU are a child of God, a wonderful masterpiece, and are dearly loved by an awesome God. I pray as you read these words, you hear God whispering in your ear how amazing He thinks YOU are...no matter the struggle, the rough week you had, or how much you mess up. He loves YOU!

Be Still

It's a Friday night, I'm 26 years old, and I'm sitting in my apartment doing nothing...and LOVING it! I have learned to love being still (crazy I know)! If you know me, you know I'm very much a people person and love to stay busy. But I'm gunna be honest here, I've felt like God has been calling me to stillness. To listen. And to push my busyness aside. I have been trying my best to put this into action and God has blessed it! My devotion time has been sweeter, prayer time richer, and every day life easier. It may sound crazy, but this whole stillness thing works! I think as a whole we all tend to get busy...cought up in, well, everything. I can just picture God looking down on us and thinking, "Hello, child of mine, I'd love to spend some time with you...listen to you...and even talk to you." I honestly don't know how people get through life, even one day without sitting at the feet of Jesus. But what blows my mind even more, is how we think we can live an abundant purposeful life without being still before Him. We tend to make devotion time about reading a good Christian book, praying to God about our "wants" and "needs" and then calling it good and checking it off our to do list. Friends, this use to be me. I thought my walk was good and I loved life. Let's picture like this-if you and I had coffee together and all we talked about was our wish list,"needs", and then left...would we have a good relationship? No! When I sit down to have coffee with a friend I love to hear about what's on their hearts, what are they struggling with, and how I can pour into and be praying for them. God wants that to! He wants you to come to Him with everything and then He wants you to SIT and be STILL in His presence. I have felt more peace and joy since I started doing this, AND I have been seeing and hearing God...yep, that's right...HEARING! No, I'm not hearing an audible manly voice, but He IS speaking to me! He has been using His word, His people, books I'm reading, and even situations I've been in. It's been amazing to experience! He has even gone as far as putting a new calling on my heart and has been opening doors (we shall see what He is up to in time)! I strongly encourage and challenge each of you who reads this, to be still and listen...you never know what God may be trying to show or tell you! My prayer for you is that you step away from the busyness and step into the amazing presence of our Sweet Abba. My hope is that you experience Him in a whole new way and that your relationship with Him deepens and becomes sweeter. Until next time blogger friends!