4/12/2024
As He SaidMany years ago, someone I cared for very deeply broke a promise they made to me. It truly crushed me, and it took me years to get past.
The pain ran deep. I found in those moments that we as Christians can do one of two things. We can either~ 1. Let the brokenness of humanity turn into bitterness and scar our relationship with Jesus and our trust in His promises to us, or~ 2. We can cling to those promises, understanding that Jesus will never break a promise He has made to us. Ever. I pondered this fact last Sunday as I read the gospel of Matthew and came across three small words in his resurrection account. Three words that broke through every trust barrier. Three simple words that meant everything to me. “AS HE SAID.” What a promise!!! Every promise in God’s word points to the gospel, and all of God’s promises are fulfilled directly or indirectly in Christ. Every promise made before His birth and every promise made after His glorious resurrection. Everything God has promised has been fulfilled or will be fulfilled, just as He said. Because Jesus is alive. He is no longer dead. Just as He said. Too often I take God’s promises for granted. I pick and choose the ones I want to cling to, instead of clinging to God Himself. I want physical results. I want that peace. I want that joy. I want that comfort. I want the promise. I forget about the praise. The praise in the promises He fulfills every single day. Promises to forgive. To meet my daily needs. To love me no matter what. To never leave me. To work all things out for my good. Promises that through His salvation I will be with Him for all eternity. As He said. I also find it interesting that God used Matthew to add those three small (but powerful) words in the first account of Christ’s resurrection. Matthew didn’t use a litany of proficient words to prove his trust in His Savior. “As He said.” That’s it. I am sure Matthew had trouble believing people when they made promises. As a tax collector, he was all about the facts. Either you paid or you didn’t. But this. This was fact. Jesus paid every debt ever owed. He was, and is alive. Just as He said. Choose to look to Christ today and rest in His promises. Take a lesson from Matthew, who knew the state of humanity all too well. Don’t allow past relationships to cause bitterness or scar your relationship with Christ. There isn’t a single minute you have to doubt Him and His love for you. In the middle of His horrific death on the cross, nothing looked good. It seemed all was lost. But God. God remembered His promises to all of mankind, His promises to me and His promises to you, and He fulfilled them. I do not say this lightly. I understand the pain many of you are going through right now. No matter how horrific your circumstances might be or what you might be in the middle of at this very moment, He will not break His promises to you. Cling to them, but more importantly~ cling to Him. He promises to meet our needs. He promises to hear our prayers. He promises peace, joy, comfort, mercy, strength and protection. He promises a love that never fails. He promises the salvation of our souls and eternity in heaven. He promises Himself. He promises to work everything out for your good~ just as He promised that He would raise from the dead. Let that sink in. JUST AS HE SAID. SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 28:6, 2 Peter 1:4, 2 Corinthians 1:18-2, Philippians 4:7, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 94:17-19, John 14:17-18, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Luke 1:72, Ephesians 2:4, Psalm 66:20, Psalm 100:5, Psalm 32:7, Isaiah 41:10, Colossians 1:11-14, Ephesians 1:7, Philippians 4:19, John 10:28-30, 1 John 5:11-15, Ephesians 2:4-7, 2 Corinthians 4:18, Romans 8:18, 28, 31-32, 35, 37-39, Psalm 31:14-15
3/1/2024
Please BewareEvery single day I have to block fraudulent profiles on my Holding Hope page. They usually attach themselves to someone else who has already commented on one of my posts, and seek their “friendship” with kind and inviting words. Their profiles always look professional, and quite often they pose as men in the military or medical field. They prey on women, hoping to catch someone unaware of who they really are. They appear to be one thing, but are completely the opposite. Please beware~
They aren’t your friend. They don’t want to be your friend. They want to steal your identity and destroy you. I couldn’t help but see a comparison. Scripture warns us that Satan is subtle and goes about sneaking and seeking. He gets into our heads. He lies, accuses, corrupts, destroys and steals~all while looking like an angel of light. He preys on our weaknesses, and once he has gotten into our heads he has us believing all his lies. ◦ Lies about relationships and loneliness: telling you that you will always be alone. ◦ Lies about insecurities, comparison and jealousy: she’s better, smarter, prettier, happier. ◦ Lies about social media: convincing you that this is what life is all about, this is what life should be. This is the life you will never have. ◦ Lies about self pity: no one cares about you. No one sees how hard you work. Your life is so hard. ◦ Lies about your job. ◦ Lies about your pride. ◦ Lies about what other people think. ◦ Lies about your spouse and your marriage. ◦ Lies about your church. ◦ Lies about your life. ◦ Even lies about Christ. What is a Christian to do? How can we possibly fight this? If Satan is that subtle, how will we even know what is a lie and what is truth? And that’s why week after week I post scripture. I cannot emphasize this enough~ my words cannot fight off the lies~ but God!!!! His words are power and we HAVE TO KNOW them!! We overcome when we continually draw nigh to God, by the blood of the Lamb, Christ Jesus our Savior. By the testimony of others. By God’s grace. By the power of Christ. By faith. By being rooted and grounded in His love. We overcome by acknowledging God in every single decision, by asking the Holy Spirit to shed light in our hearts and by being strong in the Lord. How do I know this? Because God’s word says so! I reminded you last week that the Christian life isn’t all rainbows and sunshine. It’s a battle. We have to know who our enemy is but more importantly~ we have to know who GOD is. Let me tell you just a few of HIS truths: ◦ You’re never alone ◦ You’re eternally loved ◦ You’re who God created you to be ◦ EVERYTHING we need is written in HIS word ◦ Our identity is in Christ ◦ He is our all in all Please beware~Satan wants to steal your identity. He will sneak into your thoughts, comments and actions, all the while telling you lies you carelessly believe. That fraudulent friend request will continually come. Satan will never stop until we are at home in heaven. Every single day, every single thing we need is in Jesus, the Son of God. Hold tight to that truth, rooted and grounded in the love of your Savior, Redeemer, Comforter and Friend. Our God who gave us eternal life. Our God who cannot lie. Seek wisdom and discernment through His word. In all your ways acknowledge Him. His light will not only show you the lies of the enemy, His light will show you the truth. The truth that only comes from the truest Friend. SCRIPTURE READING: James 4:4 James 4:6-8 Proverbs 3:5-6 2 Corinthians 4:4, 6, 8-10 Ephesians 6:10-13 Revelation 12:9-12 2 Corinthians 11:3 John 10:10 John 8:44 2 Corinthians 11:14 1 Peter 5:8-9 Hebrews 13:5-6 Deuteronomy 31:6 Jeremiah 31:3 Ephesians 2:10 Psalm 139:14 Galatians 2:20 Romans 8:37-39 Colossians 3:1-2, 23-24 Galatians 6:3 Romans 8:14-17 Ephesians 3:17-19 1 Corinthians 15:28 Psalm 119 John 15:14-16 Zephaniah 3:17 Titus 1:2-3 Colossians 3:16
2/16/2024
It’s Not Okay“I’m so sorry.”
“God is in control.” “Give it to Him.” “He has a plan.” “It’s going to be okay.” “God will give you the peace that passes understanding.”… But what if He doesn’t?? These are often the words of friends and loved ones when someone is going through trauma. They’re meant to comfort, but sometimes they don’t. What if your soul is completely wrecked? You’ve prayed. You’ve cried. You’ve begged, you’ve asked. But God remains silent. The pain does not dissipate. This week my husband and I were babysitting our four grandsons. The 2 year old tried to copy his older brother and ended up falling off of a bench. We knew immediately that something was very wrong. His parents were almost 2 hours from home, so we had to get permission to take him to the hospital. It broke my heart. His little body was hurting and he didn’t understand. Throughout the process of exams and X-rays and more exams and more X-rays, his big blue eyes looked lost. He was scared and crying. And over and over his grandpa and the doctors and the nurses sweetly repeated “it’s okay”. I even said it. But it wasn’t okay. Nothing he was going through felt okay. He only wanted to be held. He asked for his daddy, but even after His daddy came home and held him, he cried~because the pain did not go away. He had a broken collarbone and bruised ribs. I kept replaying it in my mind. How many times had we tried to reassure him that “it was okay”. Clearly it wasn’t okay. It was just our way of trying to soothe him. And how often do we as Christian’s do this with others when they are going through their own pain and heartache. When the tears won’t stop and they don’t understand why. We try to comfort with our words, but our words don’t give them the answers they’re seeking. It reminded me of the story of Job in the Bible, and all the heartache he went through. His friends had good intentions in the beginning, they truly desired to comfort him~they even cried with him. But in the end, they didn’t have the answers. Their words didn’t help because they weren’t the words that Job needed, they were the words of those lacking empathy. My grandson had to go through a lot of pain during his exams and X-rays. It was heart wrenching. The crazy thing is, there is no help for a broken collarbone. We do what we can to ease the pain. We are gentle with him, we console, we pray, but ultimately there is no answer. And so we try to give him the comfort he longs for. If you have a friend or loved one going through heartache of their own, you might not have an answer for them either. We can try to give hope. We can encourage with God’s word. We can say it’s going to be okay, but ultimately we can’t fix it or make it better. Only God can. Comfort comes in many forms. Everyone’s view of comfort is different. Ask God for wisdom and discernment when seeking to comfort, but more importantly ask Him to give you compassion and empathy for that particular person. Not what YOU would desire, but what THEY need. Sometimes it’s best just to love on them. Pray for them. Listen to them. Be there with them and cry with them. Don’t try to have all the answers. And if you are going though that pain yourself, be raw with God, just like Job was. There is nothing wrong with just pouring your heart out to Him. Letting the tears flow. Telling Him you don’t understand. Then crying some more. There’s such a lesson to be learned through the child like faith of a toddler. Isaiah doesn’t know how long he has to endure this pain. He doesn’t know why he is hurting, nor does he demand answers from his daddy. Day after day he crawls up onto his daddy’s lap, simply seeking comfort. He cries unashamedly. His daddy can’t take the pain away, but baby Isaiah trusts him fully to care for him as he heals, and ease the pain with his presence. And that’s exactly what we need to do in the middle of our own pain. Despite not having answers. Despite the heart ache, don’t give up hope… Day after day, climb up into your heavenly Daddy’s lap and trust him fully through the tears. Of this I am sure~ your healing will come. Romans 8:28 SCRIPTURE READING: James 5:11 1 Peter 1:6-9 1 Peter 5:7 Psalm 103:13-14 Psalm 91:4-5, 11-12, 14-15 Job 10:15 Job 16:2 , 4-5, 20-21 Job 1:22 Job 42:10 Job 13:15 1 Thessalonians 4:9 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
10/7/2023
Peace Be StillI barely came up for air when another wave crashed down upon me.
There had been a respite. I felt His peace, and relief swept over me. Trials seemed to be eased, and prayers answered. Until this week. It wasn’t a horrible diagnosis, a job loss or a death. It was a small attack of satan in the middle of the night as I slept peacefully, completely unaware. For the second time in a week, my Facebook account was hacked. Not only was it hacked, but the person posing as me posted evil pictures on my page, and in a chat. I woke up to a notification on my phone. Facebook told me I had violated their policies and I was locked out. I was sick inside. I couldn’t do anything about it. I couldn’t even defend myself. I couldn’t tell any of you, or ask for prayer. I felt so confused inside. Was this Satan attacking me, or God trying to teach me something? I prayed all day. I also tried to refute the issue, and somehow defend myself in order to get control back of my page. But at the end of the day, my weary heart realized it wasn’t in my control at all. It actually never was. And honestly, Meta may think they have control, but God has the final say. So I had to ask myself~ do I have enough faith to trust Him through this? What if Holding Hope disappeared? What if 12,000 followers became 1 and I had to start all over? What if I couldn’t use this platform to reach others again? What if God was saying “no” to me, would that be ok? What if the “busy” things I was complaining about in my heart last week were my reality this week? I am not questioning God. I am asking Him for discernment and wisdom to know why this is happening. I am checking my own heart for sin. I am asking God to overcome the wicked one, and the darkness that seemed to have won. It’s incredibly hard for me to be able to read the comments on my posts, comments asking for prayer or saying things are hard right now~and I am unable to respond. I am unable to encourage. But, encouragement won’t end with me. If my page were to end today, God is faithful. He will send others to those in need of encouragement. I am reminded of my words from last week again. I am not God. God will be God, with or without me, and He will get the glory. Satan may have attacked, but God has taught me so much in just a few short days. He is my light in the darkness. His light will continue to shine and He will prevail. And if I am able, that is the message I want to leave with you. Whatever you are facing today, continue to pray through it. That is literally all I can do right now. Continue to check your own heart. Continue to ask God for wisdom and discernment. Continue to fight that darkness with Jesus’ light. Even if you were falsely accused. Even if you can’t defend yourself. Even if you feel all is lost. Even when it looks like Satan has won and the winds and waves are just too much to bear, remember~ our God walks on water and our God walks on the wings of the wind. Our God is light in that darkness. Our God always makes a way. This morning I came back up for air and the winds and the waves did not overcome. I could hear His very words~Peace be still. And so I wait. As I write this I am still locked out, but I’m not alone. God is in complete control. None of this came as a surprise to Him. You are not alone either. You are never alone. God is with you. His light will shine through your darkness. He will calm the storms around you and He will prevail when all seems lost. Even in the unknown~The battle has already been won my friends, and Jesus is our Victor!! SCRIPTURE READING: Psalm 139:11-12 Psalm 34:4, 6, 8, 15, 17, 19, 22 1 Corinthians 10:13 Psalm 35:1-2, 7, 9-12, 15-23, 25, 27-28 Psalm 36:5, 7, 9-11 Psalm 37:1, 3-7, 23-26, 32-33, 35-36, 39-40 Psalm 104:3 Mark 4:39-40 Matthew 14:25, 27, 30-33 1 Corinthians 15:57 Romans 8:37 2 Corinthians 2:14 Deuteronomy 20:4 Romans 8:31 John 16:33 Isaiah 55:11
9/8/2023
Pain Has A Purpose“Pain has a purpose.”
When I am in the middle of heartache, I don’t want to hear that. There have been seasons in my life where I could not see any purpose in the pain I was going through, because I allowed Satan to tell me otherwise. Times I thought that perhaps God was punishing me, or felt as if God was nowhere to be found. Thoughts based on feelings, and not God’s truth. As a pastor’s wife and child of God I always felt it was my “job” to encourage. My life should be a picture of joy and happiness, a light shining for the world to see. And so, for a very long time I kept my pain neatly tucked away, deep down where no one could see it except Jesus. But then God told me to start this Facebook page. Suddenly I am sharing my life with the world. An open book. And I am vulnerable. But I do it. And the more I share, the more I see the purpose. God never asked me to hide my pain. I believe He wants me to share it so that others going through similar heartache can know, they are not alone. I can honestly cheer you on and tell you~“You can do this!!” Because with God’s help, I have. It has caused me to pray and trust God more than ever before. When I am in the middle of a really hard season, this page has made me realize that my journey hasn’t just been about heartache. My life has had so much beauty, beauty that far outweighs the pain. Beauty that tips the scales. Satan doesn’t want me to realize that. He doesn’t want you to realize it either. Within the last two weeks, three major prayer requests of mine have been answered. I had been praying for one for over 6 years. I had been praying for one for over 6 months and I had been praying for one for over 6 weeks. The days and weeks leading up to these answers were absolutely brutal, but God answered in phenomenal ways. Like literally~ ”Fall to my knees, miracle working” ways. I felt like a child at Christmas. Tears were shed. Praises were said. I could not stop thinking about how awesome God is. Until yesterday. Only seven short days later. I don’t know if it was fatigue. I don’t know if it was hormones. I don’t know if it was just the fact that all those buried emotions came to the surface~ but I could not stop crying. I tried to read my bible. I tried to pray, but the tears continued to flow. Not good tears. Not happy tears. Sad, mixed up, ‘filled with lies’ tears. And I realized right then and there that this life is a continual battle. That our armor has to always be on, because Satan will always attack, especially when we are feeling weak. He knows just how to get to me. My weakness is my thought life. He plants the thought, and I am so naive that I just continue to water it. It gets bigger and bigger until I am convinced it is true and I can’t get past it. I think that I can’t pray because my heart isn’t right, and I find myself stuck in a mess of my own making. In a moment of weakness I have forgotten all of God’s goodness and believed all of satan’s lies. And I’ll be honest, after months of “hard”, I am tired. I don’t want to fight. I don’t want to be in this battle. My brain is frazzled and I don’t want to think about anything. I don’t want to pray in these moments. I don’t want to get into God’s word. I want to sit on my couch, binge watch a show and eat ice cream. Heres the truth ladies~ WE HAVE TO FIGHT! Here’s another truth~ God wants us to have joy, satan doesn’t. Here’s another truth~ God’s words are power. Prayer is our life line. God has answered countless requests, He has come through for us time and time again. He has given us beauty from ashes. He has never left us. He has loved us more than life itself. The VERY life of His Son. That is true love… A week ago we took our 6 grandchildren up north for a little getaway. The days were filled with fun and laughter, lots of hugs, kisses and snuggles, but when bedtime came, so did the tears. Two separate nights, two of my grandchildren could not sleep because they were scared. They were scared because they were laying in bed allowing their thoughts to run rampant. I didn’t get mad. I held them close and allowed the tears to come, and then I asked them if the things that were making them scared were true. They knew they weren’t. I asked them if God wanted them to be sad. They knew He didn’t. I told them only the devil wants you to be scared and sad, not God. He wants us happy. And I told them to tell that devil to get lost, because God was with them. I encouraged them with something I used to tell my own children~to lay in bed and think about God’s goodness and all the wonderful, happy moments He has given us. Like Christmas morning. Like Jesus. It seemed too easy, but they were smiling and ended up falling right to sleep. Because that’s what child like faith looks like. And I wan’t to always have that kind of faith. I might not ever know the purpose behind some of the pain I have walked through, but I do know this. I never walked alone. It may have been an extremely lonely journey at times, but God never left my side. He didn’t get mad when I was scared and crying. Instead, He reminded me of His truths. Powerful truths to fight the lies. And when my focus turned to His truth, my heart could dwell on His goodness to me, and help me to remember all the beautiful ‘Christmas morning’ moments of my life. I want to encourage you today to keep fighting. To keep speaking God’s truths over satan’s lies. To remember how much God loves you and how He wants your life to be filled with joy. Don’t believe the lies ladies. Don’t fall into the same trap I did. Stop trying to figure out the purpose and just dwell in His presence. Once you do, you will see the path He has for you and realize that’s exactly where your fullness of joy is found. I desperately want you to know that there is beauty on the other side, and maybe one day the story of your pain will bring hope to others. You will cheer them on with the words~ ”You can do it!!” Because through God’s power~ You will know that you already have!! Psalm 16:11, 27:11-14, 34:19 Romans 8:18,24-39, 15:13 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 4:16-18, 12:10 Philippians 1:6 Isaiah 61:1-3 1 Peter 4:13 James 1:12 2 Timothy 4:5 John 16:33
8/18/2023
Don’t StopI am scared.
And I can’t process it. Countless times in my past I always knew God was in control, despite the pain I might have been going through at the time. Trusting God hasn’t been an issue for me. My faith has always felt so strong. But somehow, this time is different. Awaiting an answer to prayer. And if it is the answer I don’t want to hear, I’m afraid I won’t trust God when I hear the outcome. Because I won’t understand why. And it’s breaking my heart. I want to trust. I want to have faith, but just thinking about one resulting answer as opposed to another, and the pain it could bring, brings me to my knees. My faith has never been challenged so deeply. My stomach feels sick and my heart races. How can the days of waiting seem like an eternity, yet too fast all at the same time? Waiting and praying and begging God. And the fear. I thought I had so much faith, but this has done me in. I am truly scared. Because what if God’s will is not what I had so desperately hoped for? Will I still love Him? Will I trust Him? Will I be able to glorify Him still, or see that somehow it’s for my child’s good? It doesn’t feel good. Even as I write these words, through tears my heart is saying I won’t. And that terrifies me. In all my 57 years, I have never been at a crossroads like this. I have written countless posts on faith and trust, on God being in control and the peace that passes understanding, but this time. This time I feel completely at a loss. My faith is smaller than a mustard seed, like a dust particle floating past me. I keep trying to grasp at it, but it disappears. No words seem to comfort me in this moment. No scripture seems to bring peace. And even though I don’t know the outcome, I find myself asking God why. Because, as desperately as I am trying to hold on to it, my hope has slowly been fading away. Just like my faith. A tiny particle that I can’t seem to grasp. So, why write a post like this? Because I want you to know that just like the Psalmist David, sometimes all we can do is cry out to God. Pour our hearts out to Him and leave it all there. We might not know how to go on from here. We might feel hopeless and alone, even desperate… In this moment, that is how I feel. Maybe you feel this way too. All I can do is to keep crying out to Him. I won’t stop. I might not understand any of this, and maybe all my heart can do is cry, but I will cry to Him. I might feel like He isn’t listening. That He doesn’t love me. That He doesn’t care, but I won’t stop calling out His name. I won’t stop. I will remember His promises. I will remember the thousands of times He has come through for me. When I reach the other side of that outcome, whatever it might be~ I won’t stop. Because if I did, I let Satan win. And if it isn’t the answer I longed for and I cannot trust my emotions, in my weak and feeble state I will trust His word. I will repeat it over and over and over to my broken heart. I will speak its truth into my unbelief. And as the sunshine streams across my tear stained face, I will open my eyes and see. Thousands of dust particles floating in its brilliance. And I will fight to remember. Jesus, my Hope~ He has always been faithful. I don’t have to grasp at those particles. They surround me because The Son’s presence surrounds me. I will whisper His name continually through the tears. I won’t stop. And that tiny dust particle is enough. Don’t stop. Whatever you are going though. Don’t stop. Your tiny dust particle is enough. Psalms of lament~ 6, 13, 22, 25, 28, 31, 38, 40, 42, 46, 55, 56, 69, 71, 77, 86, 88, 102, 130, 139, 142, 143 2 Corinthians 1:3&4 Psalms 31:16, 37:5&6, 67:1, 80:3&19, 116
7/14/2023
Don’’t Let Satan Talk To YouI’m not a morning person. Not at all. I literally wake up on the wrong side of the bed Every. Single. Morning. I think my blood type is “tired”. My body literally screams at me~ “Just let me sleep!!”.
This morning, after not seeing my husband for two weeks (and being ecstatic at his return home the night before), I pour my coffee and he makes a comment. Nothing negative, just a simple comment about the day. I am silent, but in my mind I have a quick, smart mouth response. It’s not pretty. Inwardly grumbling, I turn and walk silently back upstairs. Coffee in hand. In my mind I’m thinking~ “He knows I’m not a morning person. I’m tired. I don’t want to talk to anyone, except maybe Jesus.” And then my heart is pricked. I am a terrible person. After that silent comment, my thoughts tell me~surely Jesus doesn’t want to talk to me. My thoughts have gotten me into more trouble than I would ever care to admit. This reminded me of the other night. As I lay in bed in the darkness, a thought entered my mind. I knew it was wrong, but I ran with it. I knew it wasn’t truth, but I didn’t fight it. I didn’t pray, I just let it take control. It put me in a bad place and I felt utterly defeated. I could picture satan laughing and chiding me~”Gotcha”. The beauty is, no where in the Bible does it say that Satan knows our thoughts. He can certainly place them in our path, but we are the ones who can choose to grab a hold of those thoughts, or fight them off. He doesn’t know whether or not he has won that battle unless consequential action is taken. Even then he cannot read our minds. But God can. This can bring shame, but praise God it can also bring SO MUCH HOPE. There’s so many lessons here. For the Christian who judges others actions, but whose thoughts are far worse. God is so clear in His word on this matter. Pride and arrogance on the outside, but dirt on the inside. God sees the dirt my friend. And He sees all my dirt. All the negative thoughts I have, but don’t say out loud. I’m so thankful they stay inside my head and don’t come spewing out my mouth. I’m supposed to be the “good girl”. Sweet Charisse. Pastor’s wife. I would NEVER speak some of the things I think out loud. And sadly I would never tell a soul some of the places my thoughts have taken me. Here is where the Hope comes in. Satan can plant that thought and his lies in our path. In our human frailty we can either choose to cling to that disruptive thought and let it take over, or we can continually remind ourselves that God is with us ALWAYS. Right in that moment we have the power of God, His Son and Holy Spirit to fight for us and take that thought captive. That my friend is incredible hope. We are NEVER alone in our fight against the evil one. NEVER. The moment you become a Christian, Christ lives inside you. Satan might try to get inside your head, but he doesn’t live there. Jesus does. And here is another bit of beautiful hope. We are human. We mess up constantly. Satan may know our weaknesses but praise God, so does Jesus. Our God knows what we’re going to do. He knows the times we’re going to fail and not call out to him for help. He knows when we’re going to give in and our thought life is not going to be pleasing to Him, and yet even with this omniscient knowledge comes His amazing grace. Mercy and help in time of need. Love. Incredible love. He never turns His back. The times my thoughts are judging. The times my thoughts are sinful. The times my thoughts are filled with worry or fear. The times my thoughts are angry, sad, mean, prideful, wicked, doubting, covetous, self destructive, self reliant. He doesn’t turn His back. And when my heart weeps for the path my thoughts have taken and I allow myself to believe the lie that Jesus doesn’t want to talk to me~when I know He is always there to rescue me and I still push Him aside. He still loves. And He tells me His mercy is new EVERY morning and GREAT is His faithfulness. Satan might come knocking but we don’t have to let Him in. Let us continually remind ourselves that God owns this house we live in and when we reach for that door knob, stop and turn to Jesus. Look at Him and be reminded of that mercy and faithfulness, then walk away from the door. Tomorrow morning when my feet hit the floor, despite what my body might be screaming, I’m going to talk to Jesus instead of allowing Satan to talk to me. SCRIPTURE READING: 2 Corinthians 10:5, 12:9, 13:4 Proverbs 6:16-23 Matthew 23:23-27, 28:20 1 Corinthians 6:19&20, 10:12&13 Matthew 5 Romans 5:8, 7:15-25, 8:28, 15:13 Galatians 2:20 Hebrews 4:16 2 Timothy 1:7 Psalm 42:11, 55:22, 62:11, 103:14, 121:7&8, 136:12, 139:1-18 Philippians 4:6-7&13 1 Peter 5:7 Isaiah 41:10-13 Deuteronomy 31:7&8 Proverbs 15:3 James 4:7 Lamentations 3:22&23 Ephesians 1:19-21, 3:20, 6:10 I Chronicles 29:11 Colossians 1:16 Romans 8:37-39
6/30/2023
When Life Isn’t A Joy RideI honestly don’t know how long I had been driving before I noticed the red and blue lights flashing in my rear view mirror. We live in a rural area. Long stretches of road with nothing but fields and beautiful views for miles. It’s wonderful, and doesn’t give much occasion to glance back at any oncoming traffic. Traffic is pretty nonexistent. I was singing along to some worship music with several kids in tow. Probably why I didn’t hear the siren. My children and their cousins were the reason I finally noticed. Fighting had ensued, followed by yelling (from me) “to knock it off or I’ll pull over!” It wasn’t until that moment that I finally looked in my mirror to see if they were obeying. Instead, I spotted flashing lights beckoning me to stop. So I pulled over. It wasn’t pretty. Apparently I had been speeding. 🤷🏼♀️ I was flustered, and when prompted to surrender proof of insurance, said proof could not be found. The officer returned to his vehicle, and of course that’s when I found it. When he came back I smiled cheerfully and said “I found it!” to which he replied. “Too late. I’m writing you a ticket.” My cheerfulness went right out the window. I’m sure the kids heard about it the rest of the way home. Isn’t that how life can be at times? We think we’re doing all the right things. We go to church and Bible studies. We read devotionals and blogs. We listen to podcasts and sing along to worship music. We coast through life enjoying the view, and then suddenly we are hit with an inconvenient attack from the devil. And we lose it. What we don’t realize is that~ all along Satan has been right on our tail but we were being too “spiritual” to notice. Too often all the good things take the place of the best things and when that inconvenience strikes, we can’t fight it. Suddenly we’re searching for truth, but we’re already in trouble. The Christian life isn’t just a joy ride. It’s a battle. We live in a day where knowledge and opinions are at our fingertips. So many people are telling us how we should live, that we don’t even search for that truth ourselves. We let others do that work, and in the process we miss out on all the wonders God has specifically for us. Wonders that only come from time spent with Him. Reading His words. Asking the Holy Spirit to show us what we need. Listening to the voice of God speak to our hearts. We want easy. We want quick. We want to glide through life and not have to dig for the answers. For the proof. Eventually Satan catches up to us. God’s word tells us that he goes about seeking who he can devour. How can we be prepared? By keeping God’s armor on at all times. The armor of God is so much more than a great Sunday School lesson or Vacation Bible School theme. It’s something you can study and glean countless knowledge from. I’m going to share a quick overview, but I HIGHLY recommend you get into God’s word yourself and look up scripture references that correlate with every piece of God’s armor. Armor God has specifically made for you! 1. The Belt of Truth- you cannot know what is truth if you aren’t in God’s word. Don’t let someone else tell you what is truth, read it for yourself. Jesus tells us HE is the way and the truth. God tells us to think on whatsoever things are true. Our hearts can so easily be deceived (even by ourselves) when we don’t know God’s truth. 2. The Breastplate of Righteousness- Righteousness only comes from Jesus. All our righteousness is like filthy rags. Nothing else can take the place of Jesus and the protection that He gives your heart and soul. 3. Shoes Fit for the Gospel of Peace- There is so much to learn from God’s word on the gospel of peace. God’s peace passes ALL understanding. When we are attacked, is this the reaction the world sees from us? 4. The Shield of Faith- Our faith will always be tested (proved) and it will not remain strong if we are continually relying on others for knowledge from God’s word. Faith strengthens when time is spent with the God of all strength. 5. The Helmet of Salvation- This is of utmost importance. Without the gift of salvation received by faith, the battle cannot be won. God’s gift of His Son’s death on the cross rescues us from eternal damnation. It renews and transforms our minds against anything the devil tries to deceive us with. Once received, salvation can never be taken away. It is our protection for eternity. 6. The Sword of the Spirit-God’s word is so powerful. It’s inspired. It speaks to our soul and spirit. It shows us doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction. I didn’t think it was fair when I received a ticket for not providing proof of insurance “fast enough”, because I still provided the proof. I’m not trying to compare that police officer to Satan but… 😂 Here’s the thing~Satan doesn’t play fair. Don’t coast through life on a joy ride with Satan on your tail, because he will catch up. Have your proof always ready and when he does show up, just speaking the name of Jesus will be your truth, because you know you’re ready for that battle. You’re strong in the Lord and the power of HIS might. His armor is all you need. Praise God for the gift He gives us in others, in the beautiful feet of those who share the gospel of peace. We all need specific men and women that God places in our lives, but their words should never take the place of HIS WORDS. Instead of allowing someone else (this blog included) to tell you how God is speaking to you, spend time in the presence of God Himself. That is a sweet, precious intimacy between you and your Savior. Nothing else can take its place. SCRIPTURE READING: John 8:32, 10:28-30, 14:16&27, 16:13&33, 17:17 Philippians 4:6-8 Isaiah 64:6 Romans 3:22&23, 10:15&17, 12:2&3, 15:13 Titus 3:5-7 James 3:17&18 Ephesians 2:8&9, 3:16&17, 4:3, 6:10-18 Psalm 119:165 Proverbs 3:5&6 Mark 9:23 I Peter 1:8&9, 5:8-10 2 Peter 1:19-21 I John 5:4 I Corinthians 16:13 Hebrews 4:12, 12:2 I Timothy 6:12 2 Timothy 2:15, 3:16&17 Isaiah 52:7, 54:17 Hebrews 2:1-3
6/2/2023
What Story Will Your Pain Tell?This wasn’t the plan.
In an instant, life changed and I desperately wished I could hit the rewind button. But I couldn’t. This moment had the power to rewrite the rest of my story, and I could not see a happy ending. I suddenly felt like I was in a dream. Day by day, trying to survive but living in a fog. Walking in darkness. Alone. This would be my life, because I could not go back and change the events that happened. And I cried for the memory of what I thought my life would look like. Have you ever been here? In this moment? Perhaps you are right now. As my husband was typing his Bible study the other day, I couldn’t help but think about this. He finished his first page and in his tired state, he hit “no” when prompted to save his work. We aren’t tech savvy. This has happened to me before and I knew there was a solution, I just had to find it. I warned my husband not to touch any keys but he was somehow sure he could figure it out. And he kept trying. By the time I googled the answer, it was too late. His study was gone. How many times in my life has this happened to me? What I thought my life would look like, disappearing within seconds. And my heart left broken like an empty page staring back at me, the cursor hovering over nothingness. What do I do now? How often I have tried to figure it out in my own strength. Trying, trying but failing. Sadly, there have been moments that turned into years upon years of me trying and missing all God had for me. Crying way too often, because this wasn’t supposed to be my life. What do you do when the unexpected happens? When your life is turned upside down in a moment and you weren’t prepared for it at all. When the shocking trauma blindsides you, and there’s nothing you can do to change it? When this is your new normal and you are left with a blank piece of paper representing the rest of your life? I am here to tell you that I did all the wrong things. For years. I kept writing on that paper and erasing it and trying again. Over and over. Until the day I finally gave God the pen. Ladies, I know it’s not easy because I’ve been there. Trauma leaves scars. It’s hard. So very hard. But God is our God of the impossible. And my life felt like a happy ending was definitely impossible. So today, I want to encourage you with a few things I learned through it all. It’s okay to have all the emotions, but don’t camp out there. Bring them ALL to God. Too often we cry about how it isn’t fair. How we don’t deserve this pain or how we do deserve to feel all the negative that our hearts are experiencing. We sit there in that muck and tell ourselves that we have every right to be angry or sad, scared and hurt or even depressed. And then we’re stuck. Exactly where Satan wants us. And we don’t even realize that we are hurting ourselves day after day with these emotions we are justifying. We begin to write our own story on that blank piece of paper, but this is not the story God wants your pain to tell. These aren’t God’s words, they aren’t even our words and in those moments we don’t even recognize that they are Satan’s. His lies. We have handed him the pen. It would be so easy for me to just say Trust God. He’s in control. The end. But when the hard really hits you, you don’t know what trusting God looks like because you are human and you’re hurting. And it’s in those moments that we need God to remind us. He understands our emotions better than we do. Not only because He created them, but He also experienced them Himself. There will be days that you are angry and don’t want to read His words. There will be days when you’re hurting so badly that you can’t even whisper a prayer, and there will be good days when God is your lifeline and you know deep down that He’s got this. You know you can trust Him. So what does trusting God look like? It is all of us in our feebleness understanding that God truly is in control and we are not. We were never alone in the darkness. He was always with us and He always will be. It’s looking back at all His goodness and looking ahead to the goodness to come. He knew what was going to happen. He knew all the hurt and anger, fear and sadness you would feel. He knew and because He allowed it, we have His promise that it’s for our good and for His glory. Instead of asking why, ask God to open your eyes to the truth of that goodness. And in the mean time, I highly encourage you to write down every single emotion you are feeling. Those emotions could change daily, and daily you will need God’s perspective. Once you’ve written them down, do a word study of each one in scripture. Google works great for this, so does an old fashioned Bible commentary. Give God that pen and let Him fill that blank piece of paper. Ask Him to take each emotion you are feeling and wrap it in His promises. Once you have God’s words written down, read them to yourself over and over. God’s words are power. Let them shout over Satan’s lies. Each day is a new day toward a different narrative. You can choose to wallow in what happened and what could have been, or you can decide that you are going to live your best life. You can decide that Satan will not have the victory and that cursor hovering over all the nothingness will suddenly be moving across moments of time filled with promises of joy and new beginnings. I’m not going to lie, it will be hard but God knows the outcome. I can say with 100% certainty, it will be worth it because today I can finally look back and see God’s story and His goodness. When I chose to let go of every emotion and give them over to God, my happy ending wasn’t impossible because my God worked the impossible deep within me. His power changed everything. And He gets all the glory. What story will your pain tell? Hand Him your pen my friend. SCRIPTURE READING: Revelation 12:9 Hebrews 4:15, 11:1, 13:5 Romans 8:26, 28, 37-39 Proverbs 3:5-6 Psalm 23:4, 34:4, 73:26, 94:19, 139 Deuteronomy 3:18 Isaiah 55:8-9 Exodus 14:14 Nehemiah 8:10, Isaiah 41:10 Ephesians 3:20 Luke 1:37 Matthew 19:26 Philippians 3:13-14 Ecclesiastes 3:11
3/3/2023
God Never Gives Up On His KidsMy daughter Andrea has always loved fairytales. She was in the 9th grade when the words “Once Upon A Time” began her own fairytale journey.
I watched her the other night. I had come to babysit. It was a rare and beautiful moment. The sun was shining, so she said she wanted to take advantage of the sunshine and walk to church. I stood in the doorway of the very home she used to dream about owning one day. She’s 34 years old, but somehow I thought I could protect her if I just made sure she made it to church ok. Our home and church are visible from her front door. The home she grew up in. And then I watched her husband. He was giving instructions to the boys and running a bit behind, so he decided to take the car. He slowly drove up to her as she walked. I could see her laughing. Her hand rested on his open window as his car crept along side her the rest of the way. In that moment my mind was transported back 20 years to that 9th grade girl and her crush, as she walked home from school and he pulled up along side her in his royal blue Ford Escort ZX2. He had cut off the tail pipe to replace it with a “cooler” tip, and the car had a sticker on it that said “Xtreme Racing”. To top it off, he installed blue lights, lights that caused our local police to pull him over (on more than one occasion). Many rules were enforced during her high school years. To be honest, I was scared. I had all these dreams for her future, and I knew how quickly one bad decision could change the course of her entire life. I was scared because I didn’t put enough faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. In the power of Jesus and prayer. In the sovereignty and providence of God. That 9th grade crush became her Knight in shining armor. A man I am so proud of. God has worked miracles in his life. A life once headed in the wrong direction. A heart changed by the gift of Jesus’ death on the cross and His complete grace, forgiveness and transformation. Mamas, this mama never prayed so hard. But my daughter’s fairy tale wasn’t a result of me, it was a result of Jesus. Too often parents try to control every aspect of their child’s life~ “Stay close to home when you go to college. Don’t move too far away. Marry a man that will keep you financially secure, or a women that doesn’t pose a threat to mama.”~ Don’t get me wrong, parents should have a say in every area of their child’s life, and in turn their children should honor and respect them. What I am trying to say is, yes we as parents have a tremendous responsibility and influence on our children, but we are not God. We are not the Holy Spirit, and there will come a time that we need to hand those children over to God and trust that He knows what is best for them. Mike Francavilla was best for my Andrea. Joey was best for my Jessica, Shannon was best for my Michael and Josh was best for my Kat. And the older I get, and the more I observe, and the more I relinquish my desire to control their futures and hand that over to God, the more I see fairytales unfold in their lives. Fairytales that only God could write. Fairytales with God’s “Happily Ever After” written all over them. I realize this isn’t always the case~ When it seems like unwise decisions have been made and our children’s path appears to be going in the wrong direction, remember that God never gives up on His kids, or ours. I know you might be scared mama, but I also know that no matter what situation your child is in, God can rewrite their story. As a mother I will always have a strong desire to protect my babies, but the more time that passes, the more I realize that the best way I can protect them is to give them to God. Every single day. Continually encourage them in His word. Love them with my everything and never, ever stop praying for them… I closed the front door and smiled down at her youngest as he gazed up at me. Tears of joy filled my eyes. I could write a book about her fairytale life and the hand of God upon it. As much as she realizes this now, one day she will realize it so much more as she watches God pen the words to her own children’s fairytales. Today I will savor this chapter and pray for the chapters ahead. The generations and books yet to be written with God’s “Happily Ever After” written all over them. “This is the LORD's doing; It is marvellous in our eyes.” Psalm 118:23 SCRIPTURE READING: Romans 8:27-28, 31-32 I Thessalonians 5:16-18 Philippians 1:6, 4:5-7 Proverbs 3:5-6 Matthew 19:26 Mark 10:27 Luke 18:27 James 5:16b Hebrews 13:5b I Corinthians 5:17 Ezekiel 36:26 I can remember getting my first biopsy. Watching the needle go in on the screen. Holding my breath. So many emotions wrapped up in such a small amount of time.
As I look back over my life, countless moments were held captive by two words. ”What if”. My todays were taken away by worry over my tomorrows. Always wondering what would be on the other side of this mountain of “what ifs”. Somehow believing every worst case scenario and sometimes living through them. Maybe hope was lost. And in that believing~denying Christ power by giving up and giving in. Not only allowing the devil to believe he had won, but believing that lie myself. Recently I have pondered Christ sacrifice on the cross for me. I have thought about that dreadful day when all hope truly seemed lost. I have wondered about all the emotions his disciples were feeling~ so many emotions wrapped up in this moment. This wasn’t supposed to be the end. How could this be? Can you imagine their discouragement? All the incredibly powerful miracles they had witnessed and yet, it appeared death had won. Satan had won. Pretty sure that’s exactly what the devil believed too. But Jesus’ followers did not know what was coming. Neither did the devil. When it comes to scripture, at times I think we tend to take the outcome of mountain moving stories for granted. The faith isn’t spectacular to us because we know how the story ends. But when faced against our own mountains, the “what ifs” overwhelm us and we convince ourselves that we won’t be able to get over them to the other side. Let me remind you today of your beautiful reality~Satan doesn’t know what’s on the other side of your mountain anymore than you do because unlike God, Satan is not omniscient. He is not all knowing. He doesn’t hold your future, God does. There is so much power in that statement. Take heart in the fact that the very men who LITERALLY walked with God on this earth~those handpicked and chosen by Christ~ went through discouragement as they faced a mountain they thought was unclimbable. Even more comforting is the fact that Jesus~being all God yet all human~asked His Father if there was any way possible to avoid the overwhelming sorrow that was upon Him. He knew the deep love He had for His followers, and the heartbreaking emotions and confusion they would be faced with. He knew the mocking, the beating and the physical agony that was coming. He knew that He would be taking the sins of all mankind upon Himself. Jesus knew what was on the other side of that mountain He was facing, yet in that moment, He poured out His heart to God. Jesus understands completely what you are going through. We might say we trust God. We might even believe we have mountain moving faith, but that doesn’t mean the trials we go through will be easy. Trials that can overwhelm us. “What ifs” that can loom heavy over our souls. Don’t focus on this idea that the devil knows the end of your story and that he has already won. Instead, focus on the fact that only God knows what’s on the other side. On that side of the mountain is the irrefutable reality that the same Jesus Christ who defeated death and once again walked with His awestruck, astonished disciples upon this earth, is the same Jesus who is alive today~ daily making intercession on our behalf. He is the victor of every “what if” mountain we face. And that side of the mountain? It’s always good. Always. Because God told us so in His word. There is no “what if” scenario that God doesn’t have an answer for. There is no “what if” scenario that God will not provide comfort for. There is no “what if” scenario that God doesn’t give peace to face and weapons to fight. There is no mountain you will ever climb alone. SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 17:20, 26:37-39, 28 Isaiah 51:12, 52:7, 54:10, 55:12 Mark 11:23, 14:33-36, 16 Psalm 90:2 Luke 22:41-44, 24 Romans 8:34 I John 2:1 Hebrews 7:25 Revelation 1:5,18 I Corinthians 15:19-23, 56-57 Philippians 2:10-12, 4:7 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 10:4 John 14:18 When I was in the third grade my parents told me we were moving. My little heart was broken. I think I cried for a month. I didn’t want to leave my friends, and the home I loved so much. I can remember throwing rocks at the For Sale sign in our front yard, I even pulled it out of the ground once and hid it.
But then we moved, and slowly I came to love our new home. The one we endearingly called “the farm”. My imagination came alive on that old farm. I began writing stories in the fourth grade. It was a place to dream, and I sat and dreamed a lot. I sat at my piano overlooking our beautiful apple orchard. I sat in the apple trees. I sat in the kitchen shucking corn and snapping beans.I sat on the hills overlooking acres and acres of breathtaking land. I sat in bed as my mom read to me each night. I sat in church and I sat in confessional every week. I sat on our horse and I sat in our hayloft. I sat on our cellar door and on our milk house steps. I even sat in our out house. And… I sat and cried when we had to move again. I loved that old farm. God had given me something beautiful and then taken it away. It wasn’t the first time little Charisse went through something painful, and it certainly wasn’t the last. Here’s the thing though, Today I can sit and I can see why. Not only did I become “me” on that farm, due to heartbreaking circumstances involving the move, my family came to know Christ. And today I sit at His feet. What a beautiful place to dream. Time and time again I thought God was taking the wonderful things I loved away from me because I did something wrong. Surely He was punishing me. But that wasn’t the case at all. Each time God took something, He replaced it with something so much better. He did it because He loves me. And now at the age of 57, I can’t even count the number of times God has done this in my life. Given me something better. With His grace in my heart and His word on my lap, today I sit and smile. When people invite you to sit, you know that old saying~ “Take a load off”? That’s literally what Christ tells us to do. Give Him the load. Imagine if we made a New Year’s resolution to sit more. I think people would laugh if you told them that was your intention. Sitting is such an easy thing to do. How often do we do it without a thought… but what if we actually did think about it every time we sat down? Giving all your heaviness to Christ and recalling all the times He blessed you with something better. Whatever you might be going through today, sit with Jesus. You might not understand things now, but if you will just sit with Him through it, you will see that His “beautiful” is always so much better than our own. No striving. No trying to figure things out. Just sitting with Jesus. What a beautiful place to dream. what a beautiful place to be. SCRIPTURE READING Jeremiah 29:11 Psalm 77:1-14, 78:4,6-7
12/30/2022
In The BeginningMy daughter gave me a precious gift this Christmas. A dainty bracelet with the inscription Proverbs 3:5-6. A daily reminder to me. One that I have thought about so often lately, and one that I shared with my girls on our last shopping trip together.
Back when I was in high school, our school put on a little production. I will never forget one of the production leaders teaching us a catchy tune to the verse Proverbs 3:5-6. That tune has stuck with me through the last 40 years, but the meaning of the verse has grown in its significance as each year passes. Lately it has been my life line and I find myself wondering why I didn’t truly live it for the past 40 plus years. My words said I did, my head thought I did~ but my heart and soul did not. I often leaned heavily on my own understanding, especially when life hit hard. Oh, if I had only truly trusted His sovereignty through everything. Through all the tiny inconsequential mishaps that I allowed to ruin my days, to the heavy grief that seemed to engulf my every waking moment~ My emotions ran ragged. Worry, stress, irritation and anger took over. Wishing things could be different took place too often, and at times fear overshadowed my days. I never stopped to fully take in the fact that God was in complete control of every single thing. Nothing was a surprise to Him. Nothing. If we could only grasp this fact as we head into a new year. Every morning waking up and praying this verse before our feet touch the ground~ “Lord I trust you. Help me not to ever lean on my own understanding, but to acknowledge you in every single thing today so that you will direct my paths.” Paths that lead to reactions that glorify Him no matter what life throws at us, because we trust Him and know it’s for our good. This simple prayer has literally changed my life. There’s an incredible comfort each morning as I place each future moment in His hands, and fully surrender my trust to Him. In the beginning God. January 1, 2023. A new beginning. A beginning with complete trust in the God who has been here before there ever was a beginning. The God who gives us no ending. The God of grace and hope and love. Trust in the Lord of new beginnings. Trust Him with all your heart. SCRIPTURE READING: Proverbs 3:5-6 Proverbs 16:9 Matthew 6:10 James 4:15 Psalm 36:23-24 Genesis 1:1 John 1:1 Isaiah 46:9-10 Romans 8:28 Ephesians 1:11-12
11/18/2022
Not My StoryMy son’s birthday is this week.
What do I want for my son? A child. More than anything, a child. My heart longs for it desperately for him. I thought it was my story to tell when I got pregnant with my son by mistake. I thought it was my story to tell when the doctor told us he would have birth defects and abortion was a recommendation. I thought it was my story to tell when we said “absolutely not.” I thought it was my story to tell when he had a fibral seizure and lost his hearing. I thought it was my story to tell when I watched him walk to school every day and he would wave at me the entire time, until he was no longer in sight. I thought it was my story when I watched his tenderness with his sisters, with children and with babies and couldn’t wait to see the day that he would become a daddy. A wonderful, compassionate, selfless daddy. I thought it was my story to tell when he slowly grew away from God. I thought it was my story to tell when I prayed for him to return. I thought it was my story to tell when he surrendered to God’s call. When I prayed for the woman God would have for him. The woman who would love God and my son with her everything. And God answered. I thought it was my story to tell when I saw the love she had for children and babies and I knew that one day she would be a wonderful, compassionate, selfless mama. And I thought it was my story to tell you today that she isn’t, because they have not conceived despite the years of trying. Despite the tears. Despite the prayers. It is an unanswered request. My story wasn’t really my story after all. One day it became my son’s story as he stood behind a pulpit and shared the journey his life took. The road that led him to today. The steps that God directed to this very place in time. The ache inside my soul for my son and daughter cannot be compared to the empty ache they feel. It is a loneliness and a longing that cannot be described. It is a “hard” a mama never wants to see her child experience. And yet, if ever that cliche quote were true, it is true of them~ “My story for His glory”. I know that God has a purpose. His timing is perfect. There is a reason. We do not know what the future holds, only God does. I never imagined a future for my son that didn’t include children. It crushes my heart to even pen the words. It’s a future I do not want to face. It’s a future I have to give to God daily, some days minute by minute. But it isn’t my story to tell. And today I realize, it’s not even my son’s story to tell. It’s God’s story. Today I can only tell you my chapter of that story. My son and daughter will continue it and in my heart I want to believe that perhaps one day, miraculously they will repeat it to their child and their child will continue to tell it. And in the telling, hurting hearts will be healed. I might not ever know the end of the story, but I’m so thankful God does. Whatever that ending might be, I know it will be good and wonderful and miraculous. It has never been about me. It’s not even about us. It’s about God. Future generations being brought to a Savior who loves them beyond any human love a mother or father could ever give. A hope for the hurting. Those future generations might not ever hold our namesake, but they can hold God’s, if we just continue to share His story. A story for His glory. Scripture Reading: “One generation shall praise thy works to another, And shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, And of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might. And I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, And shall sing of thy righteousness. The LORD is good to all: And his tender mercies are over all his works. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, And talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The LORD upholdeth all that fall, And raiseth up all those that be bowed down.” Psalm 145:4-7, 9, 11-14 “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; And his truth endureth to all generations.” Psalm 100:5 “This shall be written for the generation to come: And the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.” Psalm 102:18 “Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come, The praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. That the generation to come might know them, Even the children which should be born; Who should arise And declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:” Psalm 78:3-4, 6-7 “Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come”. Psalm 71:18 “Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, That he might make his mighty power to be known.” Psalm 106:8
11/11/2022
All About MeI was a somewhat self centered new bride. Thirty seven years later, and I still am at times. Everything all about me. It’s something I’m constantly working on. When we were newlyweds, we came up with our own little life plan. We were going to wait to have kids, spend a few years getting to know each other better and then start a family. Two months later I was pregnant. I was 20 years old. Funny, with my first pregnancy it was all about the experience for me. (I blame it on my immaturity😂) The cute clothes, the big announcement, the first grandchild, the family excitement. The idea of being pregnant was so magical. Until reality hit. I didn’t just have morning sickness, I had 24/7 sickness. Anytime, anywhere. When it hit, it hit hard. It was no respecter of time or place. And suddenly, it was no longer about that little baby growing inside of me. It was all about me. I whined. I complained. I cried. I pouted. I felt sorry for myself. I forgot about the “why” because I was so focused on me. But when my precious little child was born, everything changed. All the sickness of pregnancy and pain of childbirth was wrapped up in a tiny baby and when that gift was given to me, it was beyond good. She was my miracle. Her birthday is next week. She continues to teach me what selfless truly means. She is one of the most selfless people I know. Looking back I realize, if I had taken my eyes off of Charisse and focused on the miracle inside me, things could have been so different. I’m not trying to say that I miraculously would have avoided morning sickness, but a different outlook could have changed my life, and the lives of those around me. We are human. It’s easy to let the “what about me” feelings seep in and control us. It’s natural to want others to feel sorry for us when life is hard, to want a little compassion and even empathy. Life is hard. For some, unbearably hard. But even in the unbearable, we are not alone. There is a Miracle living inside us and His name is Jesus. From the beginning of time He has promised that He will always be with us and will never leave us comfortless. Some of us might be so focused on ourselves that we completely miss God’s “why”. Others might not ever know the “why” of their suffering until they are home in heaven one day. In either case, we can choose to glorify our Savior if we will learn to continually fix our eyes on Him. Sometimes we forget that. We take our eyes off the Miracle and focus on ourselves. My first little miracle’s name is Jessica. When she was born, everything changed. The miracle of all mankind’s name is Jesus. The season of His birth is fast approaching. He is our Wonderful, our Counselor, our Prince of peace. He is our Comforter and Sustainer. All our pain, all our sin and all our suffering was wrapped up in a precious little baby Who took it upon Himself when He died on the cross. When He was born, all of mankind was given the greatest gift of all. Everything changed. Our past, our present, our future. Our eternity. All the pain and all the “hard” that we might be going through will one day produce our own miracle. I know this to be true because God promises me that whatever I face is for my good, and I trust Him. I’m not trying to convince you that the hard will miraculously go away if we take our eyes off of ourselves and place them on our Savior, but I am saying that our lives will look a whole lot different if we do. And the lives of those around you will be better for it. Focus on the Miracle inside you. Focus on the miracle of Jesus. SCRIPTURE READING Hebrews 12:1-2 Galatians 2:20 Ephesians 3:16-21 2 Corinthians 13:4-5 Isaiah 9:6-7 John 14:18-20 John 3:16 Romans 8:28, 38-39 Isaiah 41:10-13 1 Peter 5:7 Hebrews 13:5-6
10/21/2022
What If Snowflakes Were Chocolate Chips?What if snowflakes were chocolate chips?
It was probably a day much like today. The fall of 1976. My husband was in the 9th grade when he sprained his neck during a gym class game of tackle football. And so, he was home from school~ alone, bored and unhappy. He knew where his mom hid the chocolate chips, so he made his way into the kitchen to sneak some before she got home. Wearing a neck brace made things a little tricky but he was sure he could pull it off. Due to his injury, the pain was too intense to turn his head or even bend over. With outstretched arms and bag in hand, he slowly poured some out only to have them spill all over the kitchen floor. A floor with black and white tiles. He found himself in a predicament. He could not look down. The best thing to do would be to back up, look at where the chocolate chips had fallen and then try to go to that spot to retrieve them. Each time he backed up and looked he was able to gather more, until he could no longer see any chocolate chips. Feeling quite proud of himself, he had no worries when his mom got home. Until she walked into the kitchen. “I see you got into the chocolate chips Michael”… He didn’t take into account that from far away, the black tiles made the chocolate disappear. This morning while I was reading God’s word, I couldn’t help but think of that story. One verse in particular stood out to me~ “He casteth forth His ice like MORSELS: Who can stand before His cold?” Psalm 147: 17. I don’t know why, but immediately my mind went to Nestle Toll House Morsels. Bear with me, I’m not trying to rewrite God’s word, it just really got me thinking about how we view our lives and what the lesson was in such a crazy concept~ What if snowflakes were chocolate chips? We don’t see the big picture the way God does, we only have a partial view. We pray and want answers immediately. We complain about our circumstances. We look for joy in things, instead of Jesus. We think that if our circumstances were different or if we could have that ONE thing, life would be better and we would find that happiness that’s missing. And when we fall prey to that line of thinking, we neglect to remember EVERYTHING God has already blessed us with. We dismiss His tremendous love, understanding and care for us. Psalm 147 brings out some amazing truths that we need to be reminded of. The entire chapter speaks of God’s glory and power. ~v.3 He heals the broken hearted (crushed or hurt feelings). ~v.5 His understanding is beyond measure. ~v.6 He lifts (encompasses and restores) up the meek (depressed in mind or circumstances). ~v. 11 He takes pleasure in those who hope (patiently wait and trust) in His mercy (kindness). And this is just a tiny handful of the abundant sweetness God blesses us with. Blessings that we often forget. Back to my snowflake analogy. Think about all the petty things we complain about. Winter is right around the corner, and I’ve already heard several disdainful comments about the impending snow. We complain so often about the things we don’t like, myself included. Here is something I would like us to ask ourselves: Do we honestly think God is just sitting up in heaven laughing and saying “I know how to make them miserable, I’ll give them a snow storm!”? It sounds ridiculous to say that out loud, but when we complain about the things in our lives we aren’t happy about, we’re pretty much placing God on a human level and blaming Him for it. We don’t see the big picture because we aren’t God. God has a reason for the snow just as much as He does for the wind and for the rain, for the sunshine and for the clouds. (Psalm 147) What if we looked at life differently, knowing that God put’s everything in our lives for a reason and trusting Him with that reason? What if we viewed snow with the same pleasure we view chocolate chips? When my husband spilled all those chocolate chips many years ago, he was trying to make a bad situation better by doing something that he shouldn’t have been doing. When he backed up, he didn’t see the goodness that was hiding in the dark areas, he only viewed the light. His brace was hindering him. Maybe if he had taken more time and looked more closely he could have seen the big picture the way his mom did, and things would have turned out differently (He probably would have enjoyed a lot more chocolate chips). What is hindering our view today? Sometimes we’re put into circumstances that make it hard to see or trust in God’s plan. We feel so far from God and like those black tiles, dark circumstances can make our previous blessings disappear. On the other hand, maybe some of us have simply become a complaining, petty people. Complaining won’t make a bad situation better, it will only make it worse. Whatever the case, perhaps it’s time we decide to step back and try to see the big picture by reminding ourselves of all the amazing ways God blessed us with goodness, even in the moments that seemed so dark. To back up and see where all the chocolate chips in our life have fallen. To go back to that time and retrieve the thankfulness that’s missing. We don’t see things the way God does, but if we patiently wait and trust in His kindness and steadfast love, the more we back up and look, the more we will see. All the times He has healed our brokenness. All the times He understood our pain. All the times He held us close during the most painful circumstances. And not just a tiny handful of love, but ALL the love He has poured into us~ Every single moment of every single day. The more we see, the more joy we have and the more grateful we become. Our view has to change. How different our lives will be when all our snowflakes become sweet chocolate chips.
9/30/2022
God’s PathsAs a child, my family traveled down south for vacation one year and I distinctly remember thinking that I would never live in Ohio~
especially not the Toledo area… (I’m sorry all you Buckeye fans) Well, you know the old saying~ If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans. Only a few years into our marriage we had moved from Rochester, MI to Stratford, CT and then… you guessed it~ Toledo, Ohio. “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths”. Proverbs 3:5-6 I never saw our path leading us there, but God did, and I’m so glad that we asked for His wisdom and guidance. I’m so glad that we stepped out in faith and trusted Him~because it changed my life. Three short years made up a lifetime of happy memories. Three short years that God used to prepare my heart for the future in ways I never would have imagined. *Sweet, precious, life long friendships were forged. *We grew close to our teen group and continually prayed for them, even after moving away. Today we are so blessed to see answers to prayer in the godly adults and parents many of them have become. *My faith grew tremendously through the trials of sick babies. *When my husband had to work out of state five days a week, I realized how often I had taken him for granted. Our marriage grew even stronger. *After many dormant years, I was somewhat forced to take up my piano playing again. I now play for our church every Sunday. *For a brief moment in time, my children attended a Christian school in the area. Today, many years later and many, many miles away~two of my children are married to spouses who attended that very same school. Not only that, but while my nephew was living with us he also met and married a young lady from the same school. *I learned the incredible beauty of a grateful heart. Through the heartbreaking tears of goodbye and an unknown future ahead, God eventually led us here, to our church family in Caseville. My husband has been the pastor here for 28 years. Too often we go about our days without truly asking God to direct our paths. Our days are monotonous. In our human minds, our daily, mundane activities don’t seem important to His kingdom. We don’t think of our normal “everyday” as big things for God. Unless something is going wrong within our routine, we don’t always factor God into the equation. But, when we choose to ask God to direct our paths and our steps, He delights in us and leads us to places we might not have ever experienced without that acknowledgement. Do you know how much easier your life becomes when you give God your days the moment you step out of bed? When you pray and ask God to order your steps and direct your paths, and then you trust Him to do just that? You begin to realize that everything that happens throughout your day was orchestrated and directed by Him, even if it wasn’t what you planned. Your faith grows. And when your little, everyday plans, or your really big, (sometimes life changing) plans are disrupted~ it’s so much easier to trust God, because you know in your heart that you have given your days to Him and asked Him to direct your paths. Psalm 32:8 Paths that will take you along the banks of green pastures and still waters. Paths of life and joy. Paths of peace that passes understanding and unexpected comfort. Beautiful opportunities to serve God and blessings that might have been missed had we not asked Him for direction. Paths that lead to our future and answers to prayer that will affect generations to come. Psalm 16:11, 25:4-5, 37:23, 61:2, 78:6-7 & 72, 86:11, 119:105, Proverbs 3:5-6, 16:9, John 14:26 & 16:13, Isaiah 30:21, 48:17 & 58:11, Matthew 7:7-11, Philippians 4:7. Every moment is big to God. Every moment can glorify Him. Every step~ whether that step is in a workplace or inside the four walls of your home~ every single step can change your heart and your life. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths~even if that path isn’t going in the direction you want, or think is best. Trust me on this one. God’s paths will always lead to the very best. Take that step of faith today. Psalm 23
9/23/2022
Taste And SeeWe took our grandsons to Dairy Queen last Sunday evening. My two older grandsons asked if they could share a banana split. I wasn’t sure they understood how large a banana split was, but they assured me they knew, and it wouldn’t be a problem.
They are 9 and 6. We were in the drive through. Our plan was to go around the corner to our break wall and watch the sun set over the water as we ate our treats. I explained to Gabe (the younger of the two) that while we were still in the car I was going to have Ethan hold the sundae until they were able to sit together on the bench to share. I expected a bit of arguing or even the very familiar words “that’s not fair”. To my complete surprise, neither were spoken. Gabe turned to Ethan and in the sweetest, most precious and sincere voice he asked~ ”Could I just look at it Ethan?” That right there melted my heart. His sweet sincerity brought tears to my eyes. I often read devotionals written for moms of young children on how to cope with the overwhelming moments. I remember those moments. I understand. The response of older moms is almost always an encouraging word to cherish that time because it’s over so quickly. But I rarely read about the “hard” of being a mom of adults~ When your adult children have walked away from God. When your adult children are all fighting. When your children are going through horrendous heartache. When their faith is being tried and their prayers aren’t being answered. When your children are all struggling in different areas and pouring their hearts out to you, but not wanting the other siblings to know. When your children don’t want you in their life anymore. Gone are the days that you can lovingly remind them to get back on God’s path when they have misbehaved~ and through tears they agree. Gone are the days when you can send them all to their rooms for fighting, and suddenly they’re giggling and playing like it never happened. Gone are the days that you can rock them as they snuggle in your arms and you tell them everything will be ok, and they believe you. Gone are the days when you are their everything. You pray and you worry and you wonder. How did things change so quickly? And you watch as each day passes. You find yourself wondering if things will ever be ok. And you want to hold those beautiful days again. The days you believed were overwhelming at the time. You understand now why older moms always told you to cherish that time. And then one day things do change, but not in the way you expected. Through his tears of heartache you hear your son telling you~ “everything is going to be okay mom”, because he truly believes that his unanswered prayers are “for his good and God’s glory”. And you are in awe, because your own heart saw the hurt he was experiencing. Your own heart could not see the good. His sweet sincerity brings tears to your own eyes. Not only has God allowed you to just look at His goodness and beauty. He has allowed you to taste it. “O taste and see that the LORD is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” Psalm 34:8 Just moments after my grandsons started in on their banana split, I heard them exclaim~this is the best thing I’ve ever tasted” Not once, not twice, but the entire time they ate until the bowl was completely empty. Oh how often we as moms can ask God if He would just allow us to look and see some semblance of an answer to our prayers for our children and their future. Could we just look and see and know everything will be ok? And then, sometimes without us even realizing, He does. He shows us. We not only look upon it, but we get to taste of His beauty. Some days a taste of Gods goodness might be right around the corner. Other days it might feel like you’ve been looking at the truth of His words about your children, but have yet to taste of it. And the road seems long. When it comes to your adult children, you might find yourself overwhelmed, heartbroken or even arguing with God. You might find yourself crying that it isn’t fair. This wasn’t your dream as you held that child so close to your heart and rocked them to sleep. But you can still choose to believe in the goodness God has to offer, even though you have yet to taste it. You can choose to open His word and partake in His promises. To trust in a beautiful future ahead and truly believe that you will one day say~ this is the best thing ever. As you whisper through tears~ “can I just look at it God?” He hears the sincere prayers that come from your heart. Taste and see ❤️ SCRIPTURE REFERENCES: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:18, 28 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, Neither have entered into the heart of man, The things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 “casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, When my heart is overwhelmed: Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.” Psalm 61:2, 5 “I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: And I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.” Psalm 52:9 “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. O taste and see that the LORD is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, And delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; And saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: But the LORD delivereth him out of them all.” Psalm 34:4, 6, 8, 17-19 “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: And establish thou the work of our hands upon us; Yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.” Psalm 90:17
7/22/2022
Help My UnbeliefIt hit me this week
My faith. Or lack thereof. If Jesus said I could move mountains with faith as small as a mustard seed, my faith must be the size of a dust particle. You know, the ones you can only see when the sun is streaming through the windows. That’s me. Boasting on my faith when life is all sunshine and happiness~ until a cloud rolls by~ and just like that, the little particle disappears into nothingness. I’ve had a lot of clouds roll by throughout my life. This past month has been no exception. My husband was scheduled for complete shoulder replacement surgery and I’ll be an open book here~ I was dreading it. The doctor, the nurses, the anesthesiologist and people who have had the surgery all warned me that my sweetheart would be in a tremendous amount of pain, and it would be hard. VERY hard. The doctor spoke with me after the surgery and told me that it was worse than he expected. Lots of muscle to get through. He cut, he drilled, he scraped, he chiseled. This would be a tough recovery. So I did what any Christian would do. I reached out and asked for prayer. Hundreds of people responded. It brought tears to my eyes. And yet, despite this, deep down I was mentally preparing myself for the worst. The “worst” never came. And silly me, I kept looking for it. Day after day. I then questioned it. Something must be wrong. How can he have ZERO pain with everything the doctor did? With everything everyone told me to expect? It has been two weeks and he’s not even taking Tylenol. The worst never showed up. The miracle did. And I realized that I didn’t look for the miracle or even expect it when I asked for prayer. And in that moment, so many other things came flooding to my mind. Pleas that I had been praying about for years. Things that God had miraculously answered. Prayers I had prayed with no faith at all, because I was convinced that the person or situation could never change. Prayers prayed for thirty years that had been answered. And I wept. Because God was so faithful to me despite my unfaithfulness. He showed me today that it isn’t about me and how large my faith is, because God doesn’t need my faith. I need my faith. When I uttered the request, He answered. He saw that tiny dust particle floating around and He created a miracle from it in my life. If someone had told me thirty years ago, or even ten years ago that some of my prayers would be answered ten years down the road, my flesh probably would have whined and complained. “TEN years???? That’s SO LONG!!” But, I blinked and it happened. Miracle after miracle after miracle. I continually find myself saying~ I believe, please help my unbelief. And He does. Over and over again. My great God breathed hope back into situations that seemed utterly hopeless. He restored, He healed, He answered. Always when I was least expecting it. When I wasn’t looking. When my faith was floating around like a dust particle… Think back to when you were a child. Do you remember seeing the sunshine streaming through your windows? Can you remember watching in awe as all the little particles danced in that sunshine? Do you remember thinking that somehow you could grab a hold of one and hold it in your hand, yet somehow they eluded your tiny little grasp? Hearken back to that my friend. That child like wonder and awe. That belief that anything is possible. Because it is. But only with God. That tiny particle of faith that you have never eludes Him. His power resides inside it. *Even a tiny faith holds all of Christ. He grabs a hold of that particle and makes something beautiful. He remains faithful despite our unfaithfulness. Today I look over at my sweetheart. There is no logical explanation for the fact that he has zero pain. Except God. Time and time again He has shown me~ Keep looking for your answer, even when your faith seems small because~ He is faithful. When we are looking for the worst, He is creating our miracles.
6/24/2022
Your No Might Be God’s YesI can remember sitting in Cobo arena with my parents.
Thousands of people were there to hear one man speak. I was probably only in 7th or 8th grade but I can vividly remember looking at that crowd and thinking how amazingly beautiful it would be if I were in that man’s shoes, reaching and encouraging thousands for the Lord. I prayed that someday, somehow I could glorify Jesus that way. I finished high school with a longing in my heart to be a teacher. I enrolled in college with a major in elementary education. I loved teaching and I loved children. I just knew God placed that desire within me and I prayed that someday that desire would be fulfilled. I got married and we started a family. Since grade school I had dreamt of becoming an author and publishing a book. I started with a course on children’s writing. I had so many thoughts in my head that I wanted my pen to tell. I prayed that someday, when my children were grown and my life was less busy God would allow me that dream. In each instance I asked God~ Would You allow this for me? Could You? But as the years went by~ I thought His answer to each of these was no. I have never gotten to reach or encourage thousands of people in an arena. I never was an elementary school teacher. I never wrote or published a book. I married a pastor and eventually we moved to a small town in the thumb of MI. No huge crowds. No large arenas. A pastor’s wife at a tiny church of less than 100. The years went by. I raised my children and watched and prayed as each left our little home and then one day... as I sat and listened to the broken heart of a woman seeking counsel, God whispered to my own heart to begin something new. That was this. The beginning of Holding Hope. And so, yesterday as I thanked Him for this beautiful privilege He has allowed me~ He showed me. He would, He could and He did. 40 years after the quiet prayer of a shy girl in the midst of thousands, He answered. He didn’t answer in the way I expected. No, I don’t get up in an arena and talk to thousands. From my very small town in the Midwest, God chose to use social media as His platform instead. Holding Hope. No, I never taught in a school. God brought me to a church where, for a long time I was the only teacher for the children there. For 25 years He has allowed me to fulfill that dream and today I teach along side my own children in that very same church. And no, I have never published or even written a book, but every week God allows this pen to write the stories He puts in my heart. Don’t give up. Wherever you might be right now, whatever your prayer, whatever your dream~ God has your answer. It might not come tomorrow or next week or next year. It might take 40 years, but He will answer. Hold on to that hope. You might be a student, sitting in a classroom wondering if God could ever use you to reach and encourage others. You might be a mama, sitting in the middle of babies and bottles and diapers with a “someday” dream tucked away in your heart. You might be a grandmother who hasn’t even realized that God has already answered your prayers. He has always been faithful, even in my unfaithfulness. My no was His yes. Search your heart for His yes and when you find it, you will find so many more answers to the prayers you have whispered through the years. Prayers you may have forgotten~ but He never did, and He never will. *Repost from 1/23/20 Quite often when we read articles on the topic of trust we think about the big, sometimes overwhelming things in our lives. Our finances or future, our country and politics, our children and families, our health or the health of our loved ones. The quotes~ “Trust God, He has a plan”, or “God is in control” come up time and time again. I have used those very words myself. Big issues like these can definitely steal our happiness, and when disaster strikes in one of these areas~ it’s often hard to trust God or try to understand why.
What I don’t think we realize is that our entire lives should be enveloped in the trust of God and His power. All those petty little things I talked about last week (the ones we can’t let go of) are also the petty little things we should trust God with. I seriously think I could write a book about all the different phases a woman goes through in her life, and all the different areas that come to mind when I think about all the little things that so quickly rob us of our joy. Sometimes we allow those things to completely destroy our happiness. We focus on the problem at hand instead of the big picture. In the grand scheme of things, that little bump in the road is just that~ a bump in the road, but we turn it into a ten car pile up. So let me ask you this ~ Do you truly believe in the power of God? Do you truly believe God can do anything? I have heard the argument that~ yes God is all powerful, but man has a free will and his sinful nature can often mess things up. It is true that man has a free will, but what we don’t take into consideration is that God is more powerful than any human’s will. If God so chooses, He can change any situation~ no matter how badly we have messed it up. We are human. He is God. Our God of the impossible. How quickly we forget that in our day to day encounters. So here is where the rubber hits that bump in the road: FAITH. Do you have faith in God’s power in your life? You know that old saying~”Don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill?” Let’s talk about those mole hills~a few of those small petty things. Small things that can erase every ounce of faith in God’s power within seconds. The things we don’t even think about handing over to God and entrusting Him with~ Interruptions in our schedules, our weariness, our relationships, our sadness, our hormones, broken appliances, unexpected guests, long lines at the grocery store, traffic jams, blizzards and thunderstorms, that caramel mocha frappe that slipped right out of your hands, a burnt meal, a crying baby, a stubbed toe, a power outage, a toilet that over flows, overwhelming ‘to-do’s’ and lack of sleep. The flu=sick days, sick babies, sick spouses. Sore joints, acne flare ups, period cramps, menopause and bad hair days, weight gain, insecurity issues, fighting children and inconsiderate spouses….. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but you get my meaning. If we allow it, all of these things can irritate us. All of these things can steal our laughter, and make us impatient with life. What if we changed our focus? What if we looked at each thing as a divine interruption. What if we stopped and asked God what He was trying to teach us through each situation. What if we learned to let things go? (See lasts week’s post) What if we truly believed that God knows exactly what is going on every minute of every day of our lives and He has complete control over it? What if we chose faith over complaining and what if we asked God to make His power real in our lives through every crazy thing that happens to us? Because if we ask, He will. We just don’t ask. We don’t think about God in the small petty things. We think we can control the situations ourselves. Why do we do that to ourselves when He is literally right there next to us saying~ “I can take care of that for you, you don’t have to do it alone.” But when we choose the irritation and complaining, we’re pretty much telling God~ “I’ve got this. I don’t need you.” Today I would like to encourage you to make two lists. One list will be all the areas you consider BIG in your life and one will be areas of interruption or annoyance. Small petty problems you’ve never really thought about giving God control over. Keep adding to that list and then make it a habit to pray over it and hand it over to God. I mean really hand it over. No take backs. It’s never silly to go to God over things we might feel are insignificant in the grand scheme of life. God wants us to know His power on a personal level in every single area of our lives. I’ve said it before and I will continue to preach it to myself~when we truly hand everything over to Him, even the small silly stuff~ when the seriously hard stuff hits we will have that automatic peace that passes understanding because we will be so familiar with trusting God in every detail and knowing He always pulls us through. God will take care of it. You and I will always have the hard days. Today I can look back at so many of them and smile in the realization that they weren’t as hard as I thought at the time, and I can praise God for the countless times He pulled me through. The times We find ourselves in the middle of our own pity party let our cry be this~ “Lord I believe. Help my unbelief”. Then grab a hold of His hand, stand up, dust yourself off, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with faith and walk away. Smile in the complete surrender and knowledge that God will take care of it all. Things to remind yourself today: *I believe, help my unbelief. *God will never leave you. *Faith the size of a tiny mustard seed can move mountains. *Without faith it’s impossible to please God *But, all things are possible with God. Keep asking Him to strengthen your faith (Mark 9:23, 10:27, Matthew 17:20, 19:26, Luke 1:37, 18:27, Jeremiah 32:17&27, Philippians 4:13) *Don’t worry about tomorrow or tonight or the next five minutes. *God is all powerful. *Only God can give us the peace that passes understanding. *Today is a new day. A gift from God. Rejoice in it. When you’re tempted to focus on the bad, praise God for ALL the good. Over and over and over. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Mark 9:24 “Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.” I Peter 5:7 “And Jesus said unto them…If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:20 “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalms 34:4 “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:34 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.” Joshua 1:9 “They reel to and fro…and are at their wits' end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, And he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, So that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; So he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, And for his wonderful works to the children of men!” Psalm 107:27-31 “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” John 14:18 “…be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear What man shall do unto me.” Hebrews 13:5-6 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 “…that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,” Ephesians 1:12, 18-20 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, Neither have entered into the heart of man, The things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 Remember those mole hills we thought were mountains? Have faith my friend. Trust God. He can move mountains and make all those little mole hills rejoice. 😊 “…And the little hills rejoice on every side.” Psalm 65:12
3/11/2022
What Hinders PrayerWhat Hinders Prayer
Fair warning~this will be a long post, but it is one that I feel is so important and needs to be addressed. Please bare with me… *My mind has been ruminating on the words I wrote last week. The little things that God kept nudging me about. Why did my prayer life feel so hindered again today? My mind seemed to be everywhere, except on the words I longed to speak to my Savior. Everything kept it wandering, from what I needed to do that day to my grumbling stomach~ and even my grocery list. And I pondered. Why was I so easily distracted? Along with that, my ladies Bible study was on the topic of pride for two weeks in a row. Then the preacher (aka my husband) touched on it in his message. The verse of the day warned against it and I knew God was obviously trying to show me something. I searched deep within my heart. I truly did not feel I had a pride issue, (even though I now realize how prideful that sounds) and yet God continued to bring it up. I almost argued with Him. I know everything I have comes from Him. I am nothing. The words I pen are not my own, they are His. In my humanness I was searching for pride issues in the wrong areas. But still He nudged, so I continued to ask Him to please show me. Today He did. My eyes were opened to something I never even realized. Despite my arguments, I knew I had pride issues. And I repented. I cannot tell you the amount of times in my 56 years that I have “felt” as if God was silent. Times where prayer seemed like a struggle or like my words were just bouncing off the ceiling. The closeness with Jesus was not there. Yet, every single time God was there. He was not far away, despite my feelings. He always made this known to me~sometimes He showed me the reasons in big ways, and sometimes He showed me in the tiniest ways. Today I give you some of those reasons to ponder. Things God has revealed to my own heart in times like these. The first and most important reason we may feel as if God is far away~ We aren’t truly His child. This isn’t a “religion” thing. This isn’t a “come to my church” thing or become my “denomination” thing. This is God and His words. We are NOT all God’s children. (John 1:12) The world might like to repeat that feel good phrase, but it is not true. God in His word tells us that the ONLY way we become God’s children is through His Son Jesus Christ who died for our sins on the cross. (John 14:6) No religion and no amount of confessionals can get you to heaven. No good works can help you gain favor in God’s eyes and no amount of repetitive prayers can magically turn you into His child. (Ephesians 2:8,9) Only Jesus. Jesus and His forgiveness of our sins through grace. The end. This is the absolute most important thing you can ever do. If you cannot recall a time in your life when your heart truly believed this and you asked Jesus to forgive you of all your sins and to save your soul (Romans 10:10-13), please friend~ get that settled today. Become God’s child. The second thing that hinders prayer is unconfessed sin. (Psalm 66:18) When we become God’s child we don’t automatically stop sinning. We are human. Whether it is intentional or something we don’t even realize, we will fall short because we aren’t perfect. (Romans 3:23) Only God is perfect. Because of this, it is important to always check our hearts and make sure we aren’t holding on to something that needs our repentance. Just like my pride. Ask God to show you. Believe me, He will. And once He does, tell Him you’re sorry. (1 John 1:5-10) I cannot emphasize this next one enough. DON’T. GIVE. UP. Too often when it comes to our prayer life, we give up too quickly. If we don’t feel close to God or our prayers aren’t answered in a timely fashion, we just stop praying. (James 4:8) Don’t allow this to be the case. Keep on praying and don’t stop. Even if you feel like you are talking to a wall. You aren’t my friend. God is right there. There are a myriad of reasons you might feel this way, so don’t give up until you get a hold of God and He breaks through the walls that are hindering your prayer life. And speaking of reasons why we “feel” this way is exactly that. Our feelings. Too often we base our prayers on the way we feel. Sometimes we need to look at it like marriage. I mean, let’s be honest~ I don’t always “feel” like being married. I don’t always “feel” like talking to Mike and let me share a little secret with you~ I don’t always “feel” like listening to him talk to me. Does that mean we are no longer married or that I no longer love him? No. It’s the same with our prayer life. We can’t base it on our feelings because we are sinful, wretched humans with crazy, sometimes erratic feelings. But, praise God we are loved and forgiven humans. Humans that God has unlimited grace, understanding and mercy on. (Hebrews 4:15) From the time we become His child, we forever remain His child (John 10:28, Jeremiah 31:3, 1 John 3:1) and He forever remains our daddy who never, ever leaves us no matter how we might “feel”. (Hebrews 13:5) So what do we do when our feelings do get in the way? When we don’t feel that closeness despite our persistence in prayer? We dig deep into God’s word. The Bible is literally God’s love letter to us. (Psalm 1:2, 104:34, 119: 48, 97, 99, Joshua 1:8) I can guarantee you that if you take the time to sit and read His words of promise, comfort, peace and love~your heart will change. (Matthew 6:21)Your prayers will have the solid rock to be built upon.(Matthew 7:24-27, 16:18, Psalm 18:2, 61:2, 2 Samuel 22:2-3) A strong foundation instead of weak feelings. Don’t trust your feelings. They lie. Trust God’s word. (Proverbs 3:5-6) God will always show you something new in His word to help you, if you stay consistent in the asking and don’t give up. I can’t even count the number of times His word spoke directly to my heart. It felt like my eyes were opened. Almost as if I was seeing something for the first time and a heavy weight was lifted. Giving everything to God is so freeing. The more you read, the more you get to know Him and the closer to Him you become. And you love Him. You suddenly realize He isn’t a far away God up in heaven somewhere but is as near to you as your very heart. Always with you. Lean in to Him. He never left. Our feelings just got in our way. And last, why does my mind wander so much? I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s one of two things. I’m either anxious and worried, so my thoughts continually stray to the things I’m worried about. If that’s the case then I’m probably not trusting Christ with the situation and having faith that He will come through for me. Instead, I’m trying to figure out how I can fix it somehow on my own. And the second reason is simply because I’m a spoiled, unthankful child living in a generation full of other spoiled, unthankful children. I don’t have to beg God for my safety from another country bombing my town. I don’t have to beg for food or shelter. I don’t have to hide in order to read my Bible. Instead of being heavenly minded, I sit in my warm bed with a hot cup of coffee in my hand, an iPhone on my night stand and a bible on my lap. And my mind wanders to earthly things. (Matthew 6:21, James 4:2-3) Funny how our prayer life can change drastically when heart ache hits close to home. Our minds don’t tend to wander when we’re on our knees before God begging for His help. If we would just remain faithful in every season and learn to be thankful in remembering the thousands upon thousands of ways God has blessed us, our minds would be on Christ and not everything else. Too often we simply take Christ for granted. If you search your heart and none of these areas seem to be an issue for you then I encourage you to hearken back to my words from last week’s post. Perhaps through it all your Savior just wants you to stop and to be still in His presence, until His presence is fully known and you realize all you ever needed was Him. I realize this post may have stepped on a few toes. Truthfully, my toes needed stepping on. Prayer should never be ritualistic. It shouldn’t be about what we get or don’t get. It should be about spending time with our closest friend. Laughing with Him, crying with Him and being still with Him. Just like every other area of our life~ It should be all about Him because He is everything to us.
8/6/2021
When I Am WeakAfter I gave birth to my second child, I began hemorrhaging. Those moments in time are so vivid to me and yet, they almost feel like a dream~The team of nurses rushing me down to surgery, a cold surgical room composed of nothing but steel, the anesthesiologist telling me to count backwards, and then waking up next to my husband.
Of all the things I remember, there is one memory that stands out the most to me. The absence of fear and the incredible, overwhelming peace that washed over me as my last thoughts were~ I am going to die and I am going to wake up with Jesus. Words cannot express the comfort I felt. It will last with me my lifetime. In that moment there wasn’t a single thing I could do to control that situation. My life was in the hands of God and in my weakness, He was my strength. It’s easy to talk about fear and having faith when you’re on the other side of it looking back. As the saying goes “Easier said than done”. We might think our faith is strong, but in a split second life can change. In times like those, we don’t have the chance to say- “hold on Crisis, let me get out my bible and notes and uplifting music so I can be in the right frame of mind”. Our dependence is totally and completely in the power of God. This is why meditating on His word every single day is so important. He promises that His promises will stay with us in those split second times of crisis. But what about the moments in our lives where time is not our friend? Where split seconds turn into weeks or even months? The moments that time allows us to get inside our head and become overwrought with worry and fear? The times we know we should be meditating on His words but we find ourselves constantly meditating on the problem instead? This is where I have been the last few days. The same child whose birth caused my faith to go into high gear in a matter of seconds is going through a trying time with her own unborn child. As a mother, it’s times like these that I have no idea how people can lean on their own strength instead of the power and strength of God. Because I would crumble. I readily admit that I am weak. Not only is it in a mother’s heart to worry and sometimes fear for our children, it’s in the heart of everyone who loves deeply. When we love deeply we will do anything to help the one we love. To take their pain away. To make everything okay again. To give them comfort and peace and joy. Even though time has been tempting me to worry and to fear, even though the nights have been long and my heart hurts for my child~ I know that there is not a single thing I can physically do to change the situation, just like the day that she was born. The only thing I can do is to cling to my faith in God’s promises and place all those worries and fears (over her worries and fears) into His hands. Because when we are weak, He is strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-11 Because He loves us infinitely more than we could ever imagine. In fact, He loves my children infinitely more than I ever could. Isaiah 49:15, 66:13 So I will praise Him through all of this. I will praise Him because no matter what happens, I know of His steadfast love for me. I know of His steadfast love for my daughter and for my grandchild who has yet to be born. I know that His Mercy is new every morning and that He is forever faithful. Lamentations 3:22-23 And I know that He is in complete control. I am not~ But praise God because He is the I AM! Exodus 3:14, John 14:6, 15:5 Today I want to encourage you. What is your heart and mind meditating on? The problem or the promises? Are you worrying or worshipping? We need to come to grips with the fact that we are not in control and stop allowing fear and worry to control us by giving it our hearts and minds. Give it all to God. Believe me, I know it’s hard, but every time my mind starts meditating on anything besides His promises to me I know that I need to give it back to Him~ even if I have to repeat the process over and over again. Because I know in my heart that He is the only One Who controls the outcome and that outcome will be what’s best because it’s given from the One Who gave everything for me. John 3:16
7/10/2021
Holding Hands And Heroes“I’m such a type A personality.”
Have you ever heard a comment like this? What about the new wave of personality tests or Enneagram numbers? It seems like they’re popping up everywhere. What really amazes me is how completely different we all are. Not just a little different, but majorly different. I so often see it in my grandchildren. Each of my grandsons have different personalities, and my granddaughters seem to be completely opposite. One is wild, crazy and outgoing and the other is shy, quiet and sweet. My wild and crazy girl likes to put up a strong front. She’s been that way since she was a baby. She doesn’t like to show her vulnerability at all. She will just start to let her guard down and the minute I grab her to hug her, she will push away and act silly. So, you can imagine how I eat it up when on rare occasions she wants to snuggle and cuddles up next to me. I just sit quietly stroking her hair and drinking it all in. Sometimes she will slip her tiny hand into mine and sit with me that way without saying a word. It got me thinking about a comment my friend said to me about my blog. She mentioned how very different our personalities were, but that she enjoyed reading my blog and seeing things from a different perspective. I’m not like my granddaughter. I’m a~ “grab hold of that hand and don’t let go, passionate snuggler, cuddler, crier, emotional, deep loving and deep thinking, shy introvert, ‘please let me help you, encourage you and lift you up’, I need to fix everything and make everyone happy” personality. Not sure what letter of the alphabet that type is or what Enneagram number I am, but that’s me. Because of the deep desire I have to want to help EVERYONE, writing for my blog can sometimes be tough. I have this need to somehow make myself relatable to other women, no matter how our personalities might differ. As I thought about this, it reminded me of an incident that happened the other night. A problem arose between two of my children and I honestly did not have a clue how to help or what to say. My immediate thought was to ask my logical husband for help, except this time I couldn’t. He had just boarded a plane and would be in the air for at least two hours. A bit of panic mode set in. I wanted to fix the situation. I wanted my husband to come to my rescue. To help me. To make everything better and I wanted to go to bed that night knowing it was all wrapped up in a perfect little “everything’s alright.” package. I wanted a hero. I think that no matter what type personality or Enneagram number you are, each of us as women have that need deep down. (Whether we want to admit it or not). The need to be taken care of. The need for a rescuer. A hero. The desire for everything to be ok. And I truly believe God put that need in each of us for a reason. I think about the moments my tough little Clara becomes vulnerable and the little bit of peace that comes over her when her hand slips into mine, and I think about the emotional basket case I can be at times and the small measure of comfort I get when my hand rests in my husband’s strong one. But it’s not a lasting peace. It’s not a comfort that reaches down deep to your very core. Something is always missing. And then I think about Jesus. Jesus needed time with His Father and I realized that’s exactly why God places that need in each of us. (Matthew 14:23, Luke 5:16, Mark 1:35) He wants all of us to be like Jesus. (Isaiah 30:15, Philippians 2:5) It’s not a need that any human can meet. It’s a need deep down that only God can fulfill. It’s a comfort and a peace that can never be attained from another human being. (John 14:27, 16:33, Philippians 4:6-7) It’s a peace that you alone cannot attain, no matter how strong your personality is. He alone is our rescuer. He alone can make everything ok. All we need do is trust. Trust Him, go to Him, slip our tiny hand inside the very hands that created our entire world and rest there. (Isaiah 26:3, 48:13) Allow Him to take care of us. (I Peter 5:7) To be our hero. So what happened in my situation? I prayed. I sought God. I asked for wisdom. And even though my husband wasn’t sitting next to me on the couch, I wasn’t alone. A peace and comfort washed over me in a situation I thought had no possible, promising outcome. And I realized my hand was being held by my hero. Deuteronomy 20:4, Isaiah 41:10, 13-14
5/22/2021
Your Miracle ZoneI had a heart to heart with Jesus last night.
Around midnight my husband’s pager went off. I always feel uneasy when his pager goes off, especially in the middle of the night. Not only is my husband a firefighter, two of my son in laws are as well. It was only minutes after he rushed out that I heard a loud explosive sound in my backyard. I quickly jumped out of bed and grabbed my phone to call him. And then it happened again, even louder than the first time. My whole backyard looked like it was on fire. We lost electricity and the sky grew dark again. My heart felt like it was beating outside of my chest. Within seconds the fire truck showed up. I sat at the top of my stairwell in the dark, looking out at my backyard, watching and listening as the firefighters got out, and with flashlights began to assess the area. They had complete faith in their training and fire gear and I was in awe. I watched those brave men outside and wondered if they might step on something electrical or worse, have the whole incident happen again. To be honest, I was scared. As I sat there watching, I started thinking about all the stupid things I’ve allowed myself to be scared of my entire adult married life. Compared to this moment, they seemed so insignificant. So many things flooded my mind, but one stood out above the others~ I’ve been holding out on God because of pride. All these years I’ve been blaming so many things on the fact that I’m “shy” and I’m an “introvert”. For the longest time, I wouldn’t willingly walk up and converse with people at church or around town and I always blamed it on my shyness. God brought something to the forefront of my mind as I sat in that stairwell last night. Lately Facebook has been prompting me to do a video for my Holding Hope page so that followers could “get to know me”. I felt this nudge from God every time I got that notification. I know that this generation is drawn more to visual than written word. It’s easier to watch or even listen than to read. I also know that it is a marketing ploy on Facebook’s behalf and due to my shyness, my response has always been “no way”. I have an extremely hard time doing video chats with my own children let alone recording myself for a bunch of strangers. I tend to be overly critical and find every flaw, not to mention the fact that when you’re recording, you’re pretty much talking to yourself on camera. I don’t know how this generation can do it so easily. I chalked it up to their self love and prided myself on my humbleness. And that’s exactly what Jesus pointed out to me last night~ I was proud of my humbleness, when in reality I wasn’t being humble at all. I was just proud. It’s a lot easier to speak up for God behind a pen and paper or a social media post, but the minute you put your face out there you become vulnerable. I was scared of that vulnerability. My fear was this~ I was afraid of what people would think of me. Bottom line. Pride. Not because I’m shy. Not because I’m an introvert. Because I’m scared of the opinions of others and what they will think of how I look, talk and act. Sadly it wasn’t a fear of how I would represent the Lord, it was a fear of how people perceived Charisse. I forgot the very important fact that God is within me and by my side and by hiding behind my pride and the false identity of shyness, I was hiding His glory and all the joy He brings to my life. The next morning as I read His word, three verses popped out. (1 John 1:4, 2 John 1:12, 3 John 1:4) I thought about how much joy writing for this blog brings me. I thought about how much joy each one of you brings to my life. As I go through notifications, I pray for names of women I will most likely never meet, but it gives me joy to do so. It gives me so much incredible joy to share the hope of God. It brings joy to tell you how He can change your life forever. I don’t want to quench that joy. I don’t want to suppress it. I want it to multiply to all of you. If that means following the nudge of God, stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new, then I know I can do it because God will be with me. I don’t ever want people to see Charisse in my posts or conversations. I always want them to see Christ. So what is the point in my rambling and confessions? I guess to just encourage all of you to examine your own hearts. What are you allowing to hold you back? God’s word promises us that He will always be with us. It’s His training through His word that will sustain and carry us through. If He asks it of us, He will provide every measure of strength we need. Look for God’s leading in your life. Don’t be scared. If He is leading, He’s right there with you and He will continue to be with you every step of the way. Yes, I am an introvert. I am shy. I’m not a people person and it’s very hard to put myself out there~but I can’t lean on that crutch for every situation in my life that feels uncomfortable. I have to step out on faith. Just like my brave firefighter husband, son in laws and friends did last night. And in the process, you might just see some videos in the near future 😉 Philippians 1:6 |
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