Has God ever done the miraculous for you? Has He ever caused you to become breathless by His goodness? Have you stopped recently to think of the things that He has done for you that you can not explain? Has He sent healing when sickness tried to defeat you? Did He send provision when you had no idea how you would be able to manage? Has He healed relationships? Restored your joy? Dried your tears? Sent help when you were weakened by the cares of life? Did He instruct you in what to say in a tense situation? I could go on and on….I can remember as a young wife…with two small children….my husband became unemployed…I was a stay at home mom…so therefore there was no income…I cried and I worried…I could not imagine how this could end well…how would we pay the rent?…what about food?…Lord we have two small children who have so many needs…do you know what He did? He softened the heart of our apartment manager and she took partial payments for our rent…she said “I never do this and I don’t know why I’m doing it now”…well…I do…God had created a miracle for us…God laid us on the hearts of so many people…they provided everything we needed and so much more…then there were times of great sickness…me..with breast cancer…my husband with open heart surgery…He miraculously touched us with His hand of healing and we got up from our beds of affliction to lift His name even higher…He performs quiet miracles for me every day…He restores joy that begins to slip away because of painful circumstances…He quietly confirms His love for me throughout my day…He gives me peace…He prospers my soul…I am rich because of Him….sisters…these are just a few of the incredible miracles God has done for me…now…sit back…close your eyes and think of what He has done miraculously in your lives too….doesn’t it make whatever you’re in right now become less frightening? Because the past miracles remind us..If He did it before….He can certainly do it again! I feel like shouting…how about you?😊

“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27

Has God ever instructed you to slow down? Just stop! Has He ever said…you’re doing too much? I want you to stand still long enough to appreciate everything around you…to sit and watch my creation…to observe my seasons…to allow the wind to kiss your face…to feel the moist grass between your toes…to bend down and smell one of my beautiful flowers…to lay on your back and look up at the clouds…to walk slowly in the rain…to peer out of your window at the falling snow…to feel the warmth of the summer sun on your skin…to frolick in His ocean…what things of beauty has He placed all around that you miss every day? I am certain that when life is seeping out…no one longs for another contract to look at…or another time sheet to sign..but instead…the great desire is to see another sunset…to gaze up at the moon…to inhale the fragrance of a summer garden…well…sisters…all of this is available to us NOW…refuse to live in regret for what you could have appreciated today…slow down…stop…and you will find that in drinking in all of the beauty of God’s great creation…peace will wash over you…your breathing will slow…your heart rate will be lowered…your mind will be instantly connected to the God who created it all…you will have stopped long enough to recognize His Diety…and that sisters is the greatest reason to slow down…I hope you stop long enough today to appreciate His greatness…And when you appreciate it…remember to thank Him for it…because He created it all just for us!

“He says, Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations I will be exalted in the earth” Psalm 46:10

Have you ever prayed the prayer…”Lord, please”….nothing more…because you didn’t have any other words? When something hurt so much that words escaped you…perhaps you are walking with someone who has been on a long journey and it seems their pain is endless? Or maybe it’s because of our country’s current state….maybe it’s your own personal struggle…And you’ve prayed for a long time…very specific…detailed prayers…but today…right now…this very second…you struggle to attach words to what you are now feeling…so the only two words that make sense…are…Lord, please…Even though I cannot find the words…I know He traces the feelings…and though my lips are unable to mouth any more words..the two that I speak…are enough…He knows exactly what I mean…and He expounds on those two words and makes my request known…so sisters…if you have a “Lord, please prayer…rest in this…He knows…He knows…and that gives me great peace…I hope it gives you peace too❤

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is my strength forever” Psalm 73:26

Lean in…yes…lean into someone else’s life…we are a world filled with “social media”…but this is probably the most socially disconnected time ever…we are able to instantly connect via devices…but we are unable to connect to each other emotionally…I believe this is a subtle trick of our adversary…we have a pseudo form of connection…that pretends to be a connection…but we do not intentionally lean in to one another’s lives…the triumphs and struggles…God has designed us to need each other in a tangible way…there are so many people that are on the perimeter of our lives…and are simply waiting to be invited in…God is calling us to be inclusive…to move past our preferences and to launch out into the deep…so sister go ahead and invite someone into your boat…there are people who need our hope and our joy…they need to know how we survived life’s ups and downs…how we persevered in spite of great difficulties…they need our smiles…and our hand of friendship…they need our words of encouragement…I am amazed at the level of pain that is resident in so many that I speak to…but I also recognize that I have been sent to address that pain…why would we be called light if we were not assigned to darkness…My challenge to you today sisters is to lean in…instead of running away….or backing up…instead… lean in to someone’s pain…lean in to their joy…mourn with them…celebrate with them…invite them in…and as they get to know you…perhaps they will be introduced to the One who invited YOU IN too💞

“Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” Romans 15:7

Have you ever forgotten to feel? I mean because of life’s traumas…all the things that changed who you really are…those events that reframed your picture of yourself…you tucked your emotions away..and dismissed them..because life must be lived…and to feel…to really feel…would interrupt you being able to go forward…so you check out…and set your life on cruise control…you depend on your own navigational system…and then you coast through…and somehow you feel like you did the right thing…you did not get caught up in an emotional roller coaster…you survived the hard things in life… you have managed to not look like what you’ve been through…you wear the mask of confidence and success…and it seems like you are a winner…but at what cost? Yes…sisters…we do this…In denying the things that traumatized us…in sweeping them under the rug….in refusing to feel…we eliminated any possibility of receiving help…and instead of being full of life…we are full of lack…we lack the ability to feel the fullness of God’s joy….to experience pain that can be soothed only by the Comforter…we do not allow God to be God over the things that robbed us of the ability to feel…instead we learned to become numb…as He awakens us to who we really are…we slowly realize…something is missing…there is more depth needed…and then He touches the part of our soul that we had anesthetized…and like a light being turned on…we begin to feel again…tears that have been bottled…now flow freely…they flow for both unspeakable joy and unspeakable pain…there is no longer the fear that feeling will subtract from who we are…we experience the freedom of knowing that He has given us these feelings because we need them…and we can trust Him to regulate them all…and that sisters brings me great joy❤

“A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn; and a time to dance” Ecclesiastes 3:4

Did you consider heaven? These were the words uttered by a powerful woman of God…a great intercessor…she was teaching a woman’s group…and as she continued speaking…her voice faded out…and all I could hear was the voice of the Spirit of God…saying…how often do you honestly consider heaven? When you go about your day…are you making your inquiries to ME? Are you weighing your words? Are you immersed in the cares of life…or are you consulting with ME? Do you speak quickly or do you quietly reference ME first? Are your actions motivated by what you know…or by seeking MY wisdom? What about your thought life Mary?…what captures your mind throughout the day? Are your thoughts tethered to MY Spirit or do they wander mindlessly like a vagabond? Is your heart constantly being cleansed and purified as I remind you what you really should be setting your affections on? Wow…heart check…talking this life is so much easier than living it..I am grateful for that mighty woman of God…who herself had considered heaven…and had spoken what was deposited in her on her last visit there…a wonderful reminder that I must consider heaven first…it must be my Source…not my resource…not one of the many things I reach for throughout the day…but it must be the first thing…my “go to”…because heaven is my place of hope..healing…joy..wisdom…love…conviction…peace…comfort…instruction…it’s all of these things…and so much more…thank you Toya…I am indeed considering heaven…because it is the only place that truly speaks to my soul…and every question is answered…and the foolish things are banished…because heaven was considered…and sisters this makes my heart happy❤

“My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth” Psalm 121:2

Have you ever awakened on a Monday morning and dreaded the day? Have you ever grumbled about having to get up? Or perhaps you look around your house and think this is not what I want…I want something bigger….nicer…newer…Or maybe as you walk into the job…you slow your pace because there is nothing joyful about that place…If this isn’t you than maybe your discontent is with the people you call “family”…they are messy…and no one sees the dirt but you…little hands that touch everything…or teenagers who know everything…why can’t things be returned to their original place…or maybe it’s your husband…why can’t he be more thoughtful…more sensitive…or is it the friends who don’t see your needs and it seems that you alone are keeping the friendship alive…or maybe it’s that church you are a member of…when will they do things the way that you like? Isn’t it amazing that all of these things were petitions we sent up to God? We asked for full abundant lives…but yet we curse Mondays because we have to relinquish rest and actually make our bodies move…we asked God for that home and now it’s not enough…we labored in prayer for that job…and now it is a burden…the thing that causes you great stress…and how about that cry to God to bless you with a family…you know those children that you complain about…and that husband…the countless prayers that implored God to send him…that your heart was heavy without a companion…and oh yes…remember how you cried out for that perfect fellowship…that church that would meet all of your needs? And God just send a friend…someone that I can confide in and laugh with…I could go on and on…how often do we curse the thing that God has sent as a blessing? The enemy of our soul would have us so twisted that we cannot even see the blessings of God as blessings…we reverse them and make them curses…we have wounded the heart of God by our constant murmuring about the gifts He has given…did you find yourself in any of these scenarios? I sure found myself…sisters…yes…sometimes we can be ungrateful daughters…let’s first ask our Father to forgive us…and now let’s thank Him for the blessings and for the reminder that though we may have mishandled the blessing…even we cannot curse what He has blessed…and sisters…that is a beautiful thing!

“Behold I have received commandment to bless: and He hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.” Numbers 23:20

My eyes slowly drifted downward and for a few moments I was suspended in awe…simply looking at my hands…I reminisced at how many experiences we have had together…these hands…they’ve grasped tightly to my mother’s fingers as she gently cradled me in her arms…they’ve held the loving hands of my grandmother as she guided me across the busy streets…they stroked the face of my own baby girl and then my baby boy…they wiped away the tears when that grandmother who guided me across the streets was herself guided into the bosom of Jesus…they held the hand of my husband as he was wheeled into the operating room…they squeezed the hand of my daughter as she travailed in labor…they have rocked all four of my grandchildren to sleep…they have prepared countless meals…they have cleaned the houses that we’ve lived…loved and laughed in…they have been clenched in pain and in anger…they have lifted babies from the floor…they have assisted those who were infirm…but their greatest tasks has been lifting the praise of my God…who created them for that essential purpose…to raise them in victory or in total surrender…these hands that have been with me on this journey that we call life…these hands that have done so many things…I am grateful for these hands…I do not take them for granted…I appreciate all that God gives…and these hands are a precious gift…and today…I am in awe of the God of great detail…that gives us hands to not only work and do…but to extol Him in praise and worship… these hands represent just how intentional He is…and I love Him for that💞

“Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord!” Psalm 134:2

Mary….your brother is gone…those were the words that were being processed by my then fourteen year old mind…my seventeen year old brother…the one who had left just hours before to attend his high school prom…what do you mean gone? Like gone…he went somewhere else to live? You can’t mean gone…like in died…that’s not possible to my fourteen year old mind…I just straightened his boutenniere…I just complimented him on how handsome he looked in his tuxedo… I just reminded him not to forget his date’s corsage…no..no..killed in a car accident?…on prom night…my brother? …my best friend?…my protector?…my great encourager?…God…no…please let this be a nightmare…and awaken me now…but it was not a nightmare…it was my reality…it was my truth…my brother had died…it was my first real experience with loss…the first time I ever cried until I couldn’t anymore…the next few weeks and months were robotic…adjusting to my new normal….life without my brother…I searched for answers…I was so angry with God…I stopped talking to Him…and I even accused Him of not doing more to prevent this…I struggled to find peace…I spiraled downward…it was a quiet descent…I just went inside myself..I started living life with out color…it was cold to me even in the summer…I stayed in this abyss for a long time…I continued attending church because in my home I had to…but I had written God off…He hurt me too badly to ever give Him my heart again…fast forward ten years later…I was a single mom with the sweetest three year old daughter who was now gravely ill…with either a heart condition or juvenile diabetes…it was not yet known what held her in a nearly comatose state…I was in total despair…I needed someone to do something…I needed a miracle…could I trust Him? If I called on Him…would He answer me? We haven’t spoken in so long…but…I don’t know anyone else that can change my hopeless situation….so in my despair…I reached for Him…and He grabbed me and pulled me back into the safety of His arms…and He healed my daughter…I will never understand my brother’s death…and if I think hard emough…it still stings…but I learned somethings…that God is sovereign…that we live in a fallen world where bad things can happen to good people…that I am not in control…but the greatest of these lessons was knowing that though I may not understand ALL that happens in my life…God is IN ALL that happens in my life…and He cares about EVERYTHING that happens in my life…He waited for me to come to the end of myself and then He loved me back to life…and sisters through many other losses and many great triumphs…I continue to live in Him…because I have discovered it’s the safest place to be…I hope you have discovered the same thing❤

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Since I’ve started on this blogging journey…God has reminded me of so many experiences that had been forgotten…I remember many years ago…shopping in the city…it was Christmas time…and the streets were bustling with people…I was on my way into one of the department stores…it had a huge revolving door…there was a little girl and her father ahead of me…she was probably no more than five years old…she ran ahead of her dad and said…”I want to push it…I can do it”! I saw how determined she was…and eventhough I saw the look on her father’s face that said…”this is too heavy for you”…he still let her persist…so in all of her girlish enthusiasm…she gripped the door with her little chubby hands and pushed…and like magic the door flung around…she squealed with joy as the door moved…she exclaimed…”See daddy…I did it…I told you I could”…her dad winked at me…and it became our little secret…he had pushed the door with his shoulder…he bore the weight of the door…so that his daughter could get in…but in her youthful ignorance…she thought it was her strength that opened the door…wow…what a powerful picture of our Heavenly Father…how many times have we run ahead of Him…arrogantly believing that we could open doors that could only be moved by Him…and how many times like that little girl did we fool ourselves into believing that it was “our strength” that changed our situation…there He was all the time…moving obstacles out of our way…and we…all the time taking credit for it…We stop now and repent for claiming Your glory and we thank you Lord for every door you opened and for every weighty thing that you moved on our behalf…we will do what the little girl didn’t…we will stop long enough to see it was you..and we will give you thanks❤

“To old age I will carry you. I have made and I will bear; I will carry and will save” Isaiah 46:4