I, like most of you, sat and watched the Golden Globes last night. I cannot give you a reason why I did. I will be totally transparent and tell you that I watched some of the red carpet pre-show. I love to see them all dressed up. All the women look so beautiful and glamorous. True Hollywood scene going on!

I think it is so interesting watching them pose on the red carpet. It is like a compete vogue moment. Cameras are everywhere. Literally the world is watching.

Today in my quiet time I came across a sub heading in my bible "Shining as Stars" so I read on...

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out (or on to) the word of life... (Philippians 2:14-16a)

In this reading we are the stars. Lights, Camera, Action...someone is watching you. Paul is giving us advice to on how to be blameless and pure in this crazy world. Why? Because we shine like Stars. When we are standing on the red carpet what will people notice about you? Will you be found holding onto the word of life? Are we to going to get distracted by the world and what it has to offer?

I am not going to lie. I would want to be standing there with a radiant beauty. More than anything I pray that it would be with the beauty of God that shines through me. Are you with me? Let's strive on together.

Dear Father, How my heart longs to know you more. I love this time with you. Help me as I search to know your ways. That I would live my life without complaining or arguing so that I may become blameless and pure. I want to be a star that is Shining your radiance. True radiance. Mold me and make me into what you desire. I am here...lead me.

What do you do to study your bible?

Just kind of wondering what techniques we all use out there. Let me know what you do. What helps you the most?

I usually start out with a daily devotional (currently reading Streams in the Desert) then I go to God's word. I research whatever verses spoke to me during my devotional reading. I have a stack of blank note cards on my desk that I use to write verses on. I am in "love" with note cards. I really believe that they are a tremendous help in my life. They are God's word that I carry around and then they (the verses) become known to me. I spend some time talking and listening to God.

That is sort of how my morning begins...

I can't wait to hear what you do.


Love you all.

Today has been a great day for reading. It is cold and rainy outside. In our home we are all fighting illness. Both the children have the flu because of that it is eerily quite in this place. So time to sit and read.

Some thoughts I would like to share from Exodus (14)

Let me set the stage a little...

The plagues have happened. The Israelites are on their journey, they come to a point where disaster seems to hit. They see the Egyptians coming after them. The people cry out to the Lord and say to Moses wouldn't it just have been better to serve the the Egyptians than to die out here in the desert. Moses tells them basically you need to trust God, just watch him work, just be still and see what he does. After Moses says this the Lord speaks to him and says, Moses, why are you telling them to stand still? I am telling you to move on.

Don't we do that sometimes in our life. We are believing God to take care of us. We want to be still and watch. But I believe there are times we are staying still and all the while he has been telling us to get up and move. He wanted the Israelites to have enough faith that He would take care of them that they didn't even question it. It may have also appeared to them like there was nowhere to go but to stay in that place. Yet God had a plan. He tells Moses to raise his staff over the sea and it divides and provides for them a way of movement. God's words to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on."

What is God saying to you?

Is there something in your life that requires you following God's lead of movement?

He is more than capable of taking care of the issues. When he leads we must follow.

So when do we make the decision? Will it be today? Will it be when we are drowning in sorrow? Will it be when life is great?

The decision would be to stop living "who we are" but instead "who we belong to."

I sit with many people at the point of decision. Some of you reading this have been in that place with me. It is a great experience. God is there. You want him and you know that he wants you. You desire to move from this place in life to a place that is unknown. Living it daily with him. It is all good for a while but before we know it, our joy is gone. What we thought we could do or what we thought would happen, has not. It may even seem like things have gotten worse. It seems like an endless cycle that always leaves us in the same unwanted place.

Well today can be the day for decision. You don't have to wait for some "grand moment". All moments are grand with our God. If you feel like you have fallen of the wagon (so to speak) then get up and get back on. Do not wallow there.

In Deuteronomy we were told to be careful to do what the Lord has commanded us to do. Here's my question? What is one thing that the Lord has commanded you to do? You personally. When you were at a point of decision, what did he ask of you? Second Question: Are you being careful to do it? Are you sticking with it?

If yes, Glory be to our God. If no, then today, get back up and get going on doing his will.

I love you girls. I enjoy you more than you could even know. Hang tight to the words you spoke to Him. He is in love with you.

Deuteronomy 5:32-33

Do you ever read something that you know by heart yet it hits you in a whole different way? Today I read over some amazing verses in the Bible. I know them. I have read them many times. I have them written on notes cards. Still it just was poured over me in a whole different way. I love how that can happen. One thing I have learned is that we all have "stuff" in our lives. It comes in many different forms. What great joy it is to know that "since we have been called according to God's purpose" all things will work together to for his good. We will be refined. The words are so true if God is for us who can be against us. It may seem like the world is against us but lets not forget who stands up for us. I copied the verses below in hopes that you will hear something new and fresh for your day. Love him today. He is amazing.



Romans 8:28-39

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is what he did for me, He can do it for you as well.

You reached down from on high and took hold of me; you drew me out of deep waters. You rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They came to me in the day of my disaster, Oh but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. (Taken from Psalm 18:16-19)

I was just sitting here looking through my bible, when I turned to a page with much highlighting and notations. It took my thoughts back to the day that I noted this scripture. In green pen next to the verses, you can read the words, "Lord, this helped me so!" Green pen? I was working in a school where I had to use green pens to sign papers. During our breaks I would read my bible and that is when I made these notes.

On that simple day, I realized that I was being rescued. It made the mundane thoughts amazing. The truth was that my Savior was there to rescue me all along. I just didn't know it. Isn't that sad. Here I am in this amazing place with my Savior and I didn't even realize?

God spoke to me through his word. I had to take some time out and search for him. Here is some practical advice. When you are hurting go to God and ask him to speak to you. Don't you want to know him more? Open your bible, turn to your favorite passages, sometimes they will speak to you in a whole new way. Grab a devotional book or bible study to aid you in your search.

Don't stop there! When he speaks to you, Believe Him! Live like what he is saying is true. Let him rescue you, don't stay in the place where he found you. Don't weigh out the options. He is better. More than that he is amazing.

I am in love with him.

He did that for me.

There is nothing too hard for you Jeremiah 32:17

I was a teenage girl. That was me somewhere in the middle between girl and woman. It was then when my life began to fall apart. It was also then when my knight in shining armor rescued me. Here is my story.

That girl was searching for love. There was a daily desire to be 'someone'. I wanted to be one who was special and even different from the rest. My search took me many places and to many people. One stop brought me to a young 8th grade boy. At the time in my life I thought he was what I needed. I must have struck gold because special he made me feel. It was the first feelings that I can remember having. It was all about me and how I felt so warm and happy. It was the words that he said and the poems that he wrote. In my fairy tale middle school world I was being swept off my feet. There was someone to stand next to in the morning before school. Being his girlfriend made me someone. That is what I thought. At such a tender age I fell into some of the most heartbreaking moments of my life. These are precious moments that I can never take back. Not understanding what I was doing I gave it all in the name of love. Did I understand what love was? I thought so. But I was wrong. My heart broke and my young relationship soon ended. I was left feeling empty and anything but special. I was no longer a someone to anyone.

After tucking all that somewhere deep into my heart, I decided to continue my search. By this time I was in high school. I was on the dance team. I was feeling pretty good if you get my drift. I was a someone who even had a name to go with it. I was a bluebonnet. I had a big sister who would encourage me and even give me presents. It was hard work but I was a part of something. It made me feel special. I even knew where I was going to sit at lunch with all my dancer friends. Life seemed good.

Even church was beginning to be more fun. I was finally in the high school department. All the older kids would even talk to me every once in a while. One of the guys even started to like me. It was like I was being accepted by the group. By my tenth grade year he even asked me to be his girlfriend. I said yes. I thought this was a safe relationship because we were both Christians. Our families both went to church regularly and loved God. Man we fell in 'love' fast. I remember thinking that I really had found the guy for me this time. There were so many thoughts of how he loved me and how I loved him. Parents beginning to talk about what our children would look like. It seemed like a sure deal of forever. Before long our relationship became too physical for either of us to handle. I was constantly thinking of how I could stop this and still be together. After all, I loved him but I could not handle the guilt. The only answer was to break up. So that is what we did. My heart was broken. All the emotions were back. He was gone and all my worth went with him. I wasnt doing a great job on my search for love. So far I was just left with hurt.

I was tired of searching in the wrong places. I remember going to a bible store and picking out a new bible and devotion book. I can still picture the day. I decided to search out my savior who everyone said loved me. I knew that he died for me. I was just unsure about how real my relationship with him could be. I was so proud of the new teal bible. It was my hope. I changed so many things about myself at that time. I even started to listen to Christian music. For all appearances I was becoming a great Christian. My walk with God grew and he began to teach my young and bruised heart.

It was my senior year now. I was an officer in the dance team. I was asked to be the choreographer for our girls choir, Class Act. I went to contest with our performing choir. I had lettered 3 times by now. This is when I met up with Ernest Parker. He was a total class clown. He could make me laugh so easily. My heart was so hurt and wounded. It seemed that he made life a brighter place. I did not want to date anyone my senior year. I knew that. I had plans to go to Bible College without leaving anyone behind. Somehow I knew that this boy would change my mind. He brought me cards and wrote sweet notes. I was beginning to forget all the hurts. He was making me feel so special. I found myself in 'love' with this boy before long. My thoughts were consumed with him. I began living a double life. It was getting hard trying to follow my Savior and trying to please my new boyfriend. God was speaking to me but I began not to listen. I decided to follow my desires instead of his for this time. I thought I knew more. This high school relationship was not short of hurts. Because of promises that he made, I held to him like glue. God was calling me away at least for that time. I wanted no part of that. I had invested too much in this boy. He had my heart and soul.

I continued to live like this for a while. I was just riding the line between playing Christian and living the life out truly. God was always there. He was always calling me to come away with him. I was so scared that I would loose what was in front of me that I did not move. I did not trust him to make my fairy tale come true.

I married my high school sweetheart, Ernest. I loved this man with all my heart. I pledged before God that I would love him until the day of my death. We began our life together at the tender age of 19. We were babies. Of course we did not think so! Life has evolved so much since those beginning days.

We were faithful to church. We did all the right things like paying our tithe, going to visitation, attending every midweek service. I must say that it became boring. It was what we knew. God began romancing us and changing the direction of our heart. The dream changed from architectural engineer & nurse to ministry. It went from serving ourselves to serving a people that God loved and that he was showing us how to love. We soon quit our jobs and school, we packed up a home and our precious daughter, and left for Bible College. The actual moment of leaving seemed like torture. Leaving family and friends behind was very hard. Yet it was the greatest adventure. God called us there to grow us on his very own. It was there that he took us out of a boring mode and revived our hearts to beat for him. Change we did!

My life was so different. I was dependent on my God for all things. At times it felt like he was my only friend in this world of strangers. I learned how to talk to him in the quietness of the play yard that sat in front of married housing. Some days I just sat on the swing and would pour out my heart to this new radiating friend. He healed my hurts and restored my heart. He romanced me like no other. He knew all the mistakes I made. He knew how I tried to run from him. He knew I did not put my trust in his dreams. He took the marriage of a broken boy and a broken girl and blessed it in spite of who they were. It was then when I followed him that I learned how to love him. I sat at his feet and listened to his sweet voice. All trust was put in him. He was my knight in shining armor. He was there to sweep me off my feet for good. He was the real deal!

I would love to say that life was perfect after that but I cannot. Actually what came was some of the hardest times of my life and marriage. We fell hard and hurt a lot of people. One thing I knew for sure was that my God was there waiting for me. The growth process had begun. Growing hurts! It is hard. But God is so good through it. The romance only grew between my Savior and me. When I speak about these times in life, I refer to them as the time when he carried me. He continued to teach me how to love him and how to love my man. Romance with God always enhances the romance in a marriage. Love is a God thing.

Today the reflection in the mirror is that of a woman. I am no longer in the somewhere state of girl and adult. Many things I learned the hard way. Many times, I am sure people wanted to give up on me. My sweet Jesus never did. He stayed close to me. He tended to my broken heart. He romanced me and still does.

My heart is full of love for a God who sought me out. I still desire to live a great adventure with him. I am a woman who is in love with her husband of 10 years. That man makes me smile so much. I have been blessed with 2 beautiful children whom God is teaching me how to raise. They are crazy about God and I love that. Lets just say they can show some reckless abandon.

I once heard Beth Moore say that God using her in ministry is just scandalous and that is how I feel. After all I have been through and all the mistakes that I have made God still chooses to use me. When talking about our sweet girl, Carly, we usually will say that she just lives life out loud. How I would love hear God say that about me. Oh that I may live my life out loud for him.

This has been my story poured out for you. With great weight! There is nothing more that I want to do than to magnify the name of my Savior Jesus. He has so been there for me. Like I said before he can romance like no other, sit before him and find the real deal. All the fake loves just lead to hurts. God does not intend for us to hurt. The hurt we experience is there to draw us away to him. He and only he can heal a broken heart.

With much love.

Mark 11:24b
Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to believe God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.


Here is some great news in God's word that I found. It seemed like yesterday we were all dealing with the same thing. I spoke with a lot of you girls about faith and God's timing. We have to believe him to be so true and so capable. If this is not where you are then ask for more belief. It works.

I promise he has not left you. He is there with you. He still desires relationship with you. He just wants you to trust him with everything and this is one way he is teaching you to do that. Lean on him. Talk to him. Love him. Trust him.

Choose to believe.

Believe him to be huge.

He is more than capable.

He loves you.

I praise you Father for these girls searching you out. I know you love them and because of that you are drawing them near. How romantic you are. You search us out one by one and bring us into your warm embrace. Lead us in that direction. Show us how to believe, trust, and love you more. We know that your ways are huge and that you are so much more than capable. Change the way we think. Tender our heart to your ways.

More and more each day.

In love with you.