Rejoice ALWAYS? Well, Maybe Not Today!

Philippians 4:4-5 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

It's a quiet Tuesday morning and spent time visiting with God! Always a great way to start any day Right? But today I do not feel like rejoicing. Spent most of the morning thinking of my son Asa. Some tears too! God does not seem to be to present at this moment. And again I will say I do not feel like Rejoicing!!

My son Asa is in Marine bootcamp. It has been ten weeks now! Ten weeks with no hearing his voice. The letters have been so amazing! What a time this is for a mom! A time of change that moms have been going through since God made sons.

*On one hand I could not be happier for him and oh I am so proud. (I know pride comes before the fall but I cannot help it!)

*On the other hand I miss him and did not want him to be away and leave so soon. 18 years was not enough time to say and teach him all that I wanted too.

*On the other hand God has told me very firmly that "He is My Son" in that voice of His! And I know that this is a fact. God has managed every detail of this operation!

*On the other hand I do not feel like rejoicing today! And I don't feel like God is near!! I know that he is,... but today,..just not feeling it!!

*On the other hand I so know to my core that God is here right now loving me. He is holding me as I write this! And I have to keep saying that to myself.

*On the other hand being a mom seems like a gruel joke right now!

*On the other hand It has been so much Fun!!! aka......(absurdity, ball*, bigtime, blast*, buffoonery,celebration, cheer,clow

ning, distraction,diversion, enjoyment,entertainment,escapade, festivity,

foolery, frolic, gaiety,gambol, game*, goodtime, grins, high jinks,holiday,

horseplay,jesting, jocularity, joke,joking, jollity, joy,junketing,

laughter, living it up, merriment,merrymaking, mirth,nonsense,

pastime,picnic, playfulness,pleasure, recreation,rejoicing, relaxation,

riot,romp, romping, solace,sport, tomfoolery*, treat,whoopee

ball*, bash*, big time,blast*, blow out,celebration, cheer,clambake,

delight,dissipation, distraction,diversion,divertissement,

enjoyment, feast, frolic,fun, fun and games,gaiety, game, good

time,grins, high time, laughs,leisure activity, lots of laughs,

merriment,merrymaking, party,pastime, picnic, play,recreation,

regalement,relaxation, relief, revelry,satisfaction, shindig*,

sport, spree, surprise,treat, wingding)

Okay, I now feel like rejoicing and dancing. I guess He is with me after all and this is not a joke, it is just life! I am going to live it until God brings me home. Plus ,I am all out of hands. Rejoice in this day alone!!! I know I am.

The Grass is Always Greener!!! Or is it?

I was reminded today of a time when my life was confusing and I felt so lost. Matter of fact I think I felt lost and confused for the first 30 years of my life. The grass always looked greener on the other side. The next job, or dress, or boyfriend, or husband, or child, or friend..would make me happy, finally! But nothing ever really seemed to satisfy me. I knew deep down and longed for true happiness and peace. I knew it existed, and thought just not for me. If you are feeling that way today I want you to know there is an answer.

If by chance you are reading this today and are feeling overwhelmed or lost, please know that you are not here by an accident. There is a God and he does care for you. That is why you are reading this. And don't let the enemy tell that "here she goes again" with that Jesus stuff. That is a lie. You know that you want to be at peace and walk in the green grass just as much as you want to breath or eat. You are lost because you choose to be. You are confused because you choose to be. God wants you to know that he created you for a purpose. A clear beautiful purpose. So many young people (and old too) are so angry and frustrated. The have more material things and wealth then most humans that walk the earth today. If you are an American you are so blessed with the necessities of life that you live better then most. But still you are angry why? You choose be. If you where to truly examine your life and understand and appreciate all that you have been "blessed" with, you might just want to show some gratitude to someone or something. Not and attitude of disgust. Besides, negativity and disgust will never get you anywhere except for more anger and disgust!

The solution is simple, open up your mind and heart and just for once thank God for a change. There are many wonderful things a round you that are so beautifully designed just for you. Oxygen for example is an amazing thing, with out it you die. God has created a perfect world where oxygen is abundant. Just for you. I could go on and on of the things created just for you. If you have more questions or would ever want to talk please just send me a message or call. No judgment here. I just did things the wrong way so much there isn't anything that I haven't done that you haven't done or something like that. I learned the hard way how to appreciate all the good things in my life. I would love to talk with you about your anger or whatever is bothering you. There are answers..I promise!

A Simple Piece of Grass!!

It is just a little piece of green grass, about an 1/2 of an inch wide. If you put it between your thumbs and blow through the opening you can make a very LOUD noise. You can do this if you have/ or had a dad that can teach you how. My dad was visiting me a few months back and we took a walk. I picked up a blade of grass and performed the trick that he had taught me so many years ago. He looked at me dumbfounded. "Can you still remember how to do that?" "Sure", I said "I never forgot how." He got chocked up a little and just smiled. Somehow this meant a lot to him. It was a small little thing, but he was pleased.


My dad was very busy when I was growing up. I remember him working all the time to take care of us. I don't remember when the enemy started lying to me about how my dad did not care for me. I grew up under the shadow of an older sister and when my little brother came along I always thought he was "the one." The all awaited for male child. There I was stuck in the middle. The enemy told me I was not needed or wanted. And I started to believe it. I suppose that I held on to the "grass trick" like it was me playing a concert piano. It was something my dad taught just to me. Crazy I know but I have been (sorry for the silliness) blowing on grass all my life. My friends think it is funny and it really embarrasses my kids.

Whats the point. I just wanted to let all you girls know how wonderful you are made. Palms 139 tells us that we "where knitted together in our mothers womb". The enemy will tell you so many lies about your imperfections and that is all they are..lies. I can prove to you that God made you just they way you are. Silly "what you call imperfections" and all!

Moses said "Lord I am not any good..I can't speak well, I have imperfections that just won't work for you"..look it up he really said something like that. (Exodus 4:10) What was God's response? He basically said "who made your mouth (and every other mouth on earth my addition)? Who has made the deaf and blind? (Exodus 4:11) God has made you just the way you are. And it is perfect for him. He can use you and your life to make others see the Glory of the Lord. Through you people can be saved and can have a better life! That alone should just quite enough for anyone! (And we still get to eat ice cream!)

So back to my grass! Ok that that does not sounds so good! When I thought that I was no good God showed me that I was and he has used me in ways I could have never fathomed for myself. Blowing on grass is just a very tip of the ice burg of many things I can do well. I am not bragging, God has reveled these "talents"to me and I have obeyed, followed, and use them to suit his needs. I will toot my grass the rest of my life. Just picture it, an 80 year old women blowing grass!!! hahahahaah

Just thought that this little piece of paper has some good advice.

I just had a friend find out that he has a brain tumor and it is cancerous. Now I know most teens and young women do not what to hear or talk about such things. However, I just want you to know that life is so fragile. IT is to be sifted through and enjoyed. Fighting and judging your fellow "sister" is not a good way to savor your days. Remember that you really are amazing. Okay some days more than others, but you are.

Please use every moment to laugh and love and relax and run and dance and sing and just chill out. Oh and work hard to become a better you. You have to be a good catch to get a good catch. And you must be a good friend to have any hope of maybe having a few good friends. So snap out of teenage fog and grab life today. I promise you will not regret it. And even if you do have some small regrets, (or big one) so what...you probably learned something from those last mistakes. So that is always a good thing.

Now it is time to move on!!! And start dancing or singing or playing with your dog or cat...etc, etc....Love you all!!

What about comparing?

We just visited about comparing yourself to others. One way was to say you are better than some. The other is to say that some are better than you. Neither one is good for you. Take the "I am better then her route". You get a feeling of superiority and that makes you feel good temporarily until you really look in the mirror and decide again today that you are not that good. The feeling of superiority is short lived and we know that "pride comes before the fall". You will fall hard from up high. There are many reasons not to compare yourself as better then other girls, one very good one is that Jesus never did it. If you are a believer (and if you are not), what is the problem with treating all the people that you meet with love and dignity. (Now, don't go and say, then why to we fight wars and stuff? War should be a last resort. We can talk about this subject later. OK) I am only talking here about your behavior towards all the people in your life. If you are a believer you should know that God just wants us to do this! And if you are not a believer, what harm does it do to act kindly to your fellow man? You will never, feel bad being pleasant no matter what. People, respond so well to nice. It's crazy.

The other side of this coin is that you feel less then good about yourself compared to other girls. I think this is where most of us struggle. You are either, to fat, to thin, have zits, hair is to short, to curly..you get the picture. You are so wonderfully made. It is so clichue to say that there is only one of you. But there is only one of you. I was a heavy child, ok very chubby when I was younger. I also had a very thin, pretty, older sister. That comes with automatic comparison built in, automatically!!! You get my drift. So I know about comparing yourself to a prettier someone. Please hear me when I say you are amazing! You are! And the beauty about finding out who you are can be so fun. You do not need to compare yourself to anyone. Once I stopped worrying about what others thought, I was able to just be myself. And great things started to happen! I blossomed into me.

My favorite thing to do is encourage young girls to not fret so much. Study, work out, eat right, laugh do fun things. But don't worry about how you look so much. You can only do that for say Prom or a singing competition. Something special. So Lets talk. If you are struggling with labels you have placed on yourself let me know what it is. Maybe I will have an idea or two.