Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Hold On!


Hebrews 10:23 says,

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful."


Sometimes life throws us curves that we really weren't expecting.
Sometimes life throws us a slow pitch we knew was coming ~ and we still miss.
Sometimes we hit home runs.
Sometimes we strike out.
Sometimes the storm blows so crazy around us we don't know which way we were going and we sure don't know where to turn.
It is during those difficult times that we must, simply hold on to the promises God has given us.
If you don't have a "promise" then find a Bible and seek God. He will reveal Himself to you through His Word.
God's Word is all you need to survive in this crazy and hectic world.
Seriously.
Hold on to HIS Word.
Trust in HIM alone.
He IS Faithful!
Try Him.
My world has been a little crazy lately~ not bad, just busy and hectic. I haven't been able to blog like I LOVE or even check things out on facebook, but ya know what? Life is good! God is awesome and I rest in Him!
So regardless of your situation, take a moment; get out your Bible, and read.
Find His Word for YOU today.
He has a specific Word just for you. Find what He is speaking into your heart.
Then.....
HOLD ON!
Don't let go of His Word to you!
blessings to you!
dorinda

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Truth

Truth is an over used word these days.

It has become a relative term, defined by whoever speaks most persuasively.

But......

Truth is Truth!

It is not relative.
Truth in it's basic nature cannot be diluted.

Why do we manipulate it for our benefit?
Why do we feel that if we don't speak it all we will look better?

Truth.

Basic.
Simple.
Truth.

God's Word has much to say about this word:


Ps 86:11 -Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

Ps 119:43 - Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.

Ps 145:18 -The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

Wow!
If I call to Him in TRUTH, He will be near to me!

Lord, I call out to you! I am a sinner, saved by Your grace. I am nothing without You. I need You. There are so many times I depend upon myself rather than upon You. Please forgive my stupidity and help me to want You more! Make me like You in every way!

May you seek Him in Truth today!

blessings!
dorinda

Friday, May 15, 2009

Happy 13th Birthday, Mackenzie!


Happy 13th Birthday,

Mackenzie!

I can't believe she is 13!!!

My sweet little baby girl- my first little preemie. (Most of you didn't know that.)

What can I say about my beautiful daughter?

That she makes my heart smile.

That her smile lights up a room.

That her laugh is like music to my ears.

That she is SOOOO talented!~ writing, drawing, singing, flute, AND athletic (like her mom... NOT!)

That she makes me laugh when she stumbles and falls..... :D

She is absolutely precious!!

Being a mother is such a gift from God! I don't want to take any day for granted. So, May 16th is a wonderful day. Mackenzie tried to make it for her sister's wedding on May 4th, but the doctor didn't want her to come that early. With my complete bed rest, we made her wait until the 16th. Her due date wasn't until the end of June.

Happy Birthday my Peanut! I love you more than you will ever know!

I pray you know that your true beauty is on the inside of you (although you definitely have the outer beauty also!).

I see greatness in you too! You can do all that God has planned for you! Your destiny begins with the choices you make today. Choose wisely ~ each and every step leads you either closer to Him or away from Him. My prayer is that you always follow after Jesus with everything inside of you.
I pray you continually,

Seek His Face.
Pursue an intimate relationship with the Savior.

Know His Truth.
Gain ultimate reality about His Kingdom.

Imitate His Ways.
Live Just like Jesus.

Love His Word.
Desire passionate revelation of His Nature.

Live His Will.
Submit daily to His Purpose.

I love you more than you will ever know! You make me proud.....

hApPy bIrThDaY!

mom


Thursday, May 14, 2009

Birthday Wishes!




Happy
16th
Birthday,
Jordan!
I can't believe my baby boy is 16!!! Where have the years gone?
My heart is so full and so proud.
Jordan was our second child- our first born son. He has always been a loving and caring young man.
At the risk of him not being happy with his mother, let me reminisce.
I remember:
~ when he loved his pacifiers. He didn't have just one at a time. He wanted to be prepared - always. So we had one of those attachment things with like four or five at a time on there.
~when he loved Barney! He was almost three and I was pregnant with Mackenzie. Barney came to Fayetteville on a Sunday. I had the wonderful privilege of watching my toddler jump up and down and squeal with delight as the purple dinosaur sang, "I Love You!" (It was one of the most fun mother/son dates we have ever had!)
~ when he was heartbroken finding out that he wasn't supposed to live with mom and dad all of his life.
~the time he didn't want to go back to the end of the house by himself, so he bribed 1 year old Mackenzie with a cookie to go with him.
~when we knelt with him as he asked Jesus into his heart.
~when he followed the Lord in water baptism.
~ how he has always had a very protecting nature for his sisters and nieces.
~his first big hit in t-ball and screaming from 2nd base, "Mom! Mom! Did you see dat?! It went waaaay ova' der!"
~ when I kissed him good night as a 15 year old and he woke up the next morning a 16 year old
.........................................
God is so good!
Jordan,
I love you so much and I am so proud of the man you are quickly becoming.
I see your heart and its purity and integrity. I see your leadership strengths. I see your weaknesses also, but you have learned well to maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.
You have found the key already to a great life and that is serving Jesus Christ with all your mind, soul, and strength.
I see greatness in you! You can do all that God has planned for you! Your destiny begins with the choices you make today. Choose wisely ~ each and every step leads you either closer to Him or away from Him.
My prayer is that you always follow after Jesus with everything inside of you.
I pray you continually,
Seek His Face.
Pursue an intimate relationship with the Savior.
Know His Truth.
Gain ultimate reality about His Kingdom.
Imitate His Ways.
Live Just like Jesus.
Love His Word.
Desire passionate revelation of His Nature.
Live His Will.
Submit daily to His Purpose.
I love you more than you will ever know! Every labor pain that I had for those 20 hours was worth it!
hApPy bIrThDaY!
mom

Friday, May 8, 2009

"What Ifs"

We went to see a movie last night. I used www.pluggedinonline.com to check it out and the reviews were acceptable for our family.

If you know me, you know that I LOVE to use movies to teach my kids "life lessons".

Last night was NO exception!

The message in this movie allowed us to talk about several important things in life regarding decisions we make and then the thoughts we have in the post-decision process.

The movie also got me to thinking and evaluating my life.

If I had a chance to go back to my past with an opportunity to fulfill those "dreams" of yesteryear, would I?

Walking to the car, hand in hand with my soul mate, I look into his eyes and know beyond a shadow of a doubt, I wouldn't change a thing! I wouldn't want to miss out on any of the times - good and bad - that I have had the privilege of sharing with him and my children.

We haven't always made the best decisions, but with each decision we have made, we learned something that made us stronger for the future. We have made decisions together that made our relationship stronger.

I see so many adults that "live in their 'glory' years". They think they "had it all", and foolishly want to go back so they can capture that one illusive dream. The many "what ifs" they dwell on cloud the beauty of the right now.

The result is a self-absorbed distortion of the here-and-now.

Today is a gift from God. Regardless of any movie or novel, you cannot go back and change your decisions from decades ago. Each day you are given carries with it all of your previous choices. Those choices along with the possibilities God places in front of you today,make up your here-and-now.

Take it as a gift from God and make the best of it.
Don't drown in the regrets of "if onlys".
Swim strongly in the current of "This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!"

I don't know about you, but I am SO thankful for today. I am thankful for all of my yesterdays and I eagerly anticipate my tomorrows! I have an awesome and loving God Who fashions each of my days into the destiny He has prepared for me!
Even if you did make "mistakes" in your past, allow God to redeem your day today and give you the future He has DREAMED FOR you! He can do it, but He will not go against YOUR will. You need to invite Him IN.
Chew on that for this day!
blessings!
dorinda

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

God our Provider~ God Who Sees

Genesis 22 starts out with the sentence, "Some time later God tested Abraham."



We have probably all heard the story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son.

We have probably all had questions as to why a good God would ask such a hideous thing.



My focus today is not on the request, but on the provision.



When Abraham was ready to sacrifice his only son in obedience to the Great I Am, God provided another sacrifice. Abraham named the place THE LORD WILL PROVIDE or Jehovah Jireh, the God Who Sees.



Abraham understood that God provided BECAUSE He saw the need.



I was praying with my sweet sister yesterday. Her husband, who is battling tongue cancer, just found out that his plant is closing. So, gone is the paycheck and the health insurance. While we were praying over the phone I heard the Spirit pray through me:

"Nothing catches God by surprise. He knew about this long before anyone else. In fact, He made provision for your needs a long time ago. He didn't just start today thinking of how He would provide for your family."



Wow! What a phenomenal truth about God! That is what He did with Abraham and Isaac. His test was to see if Abraham would with hold Isaac from Him. God already had the provision ready.



God sees our need. In fact, He saw our need before we even knew we had a need. He began making provision for our every need before we were created!



That is a vast Truth to wrap our finite minds around. But, just try. God is our provider - because HE SEES!



mmmmm mmmmmm mmmm! That is some very good stuff! As my husband says, "If that 'don't' light your fire, your wood's wet!"



love you guys!


dorinda

Here is my "fictional narrative" on the story of Abraham.

Here is my video devotion today:



Monday, May 4, 2009

Life Lessons from a National Park Brochure



We were young and adventurous. It was our vacation and we were going to explore and experience every thing the Smokey Mountains had to offer.

Mountain Hikes, the brochure said.

We picked the trail that we felt best suited our physical abilities, packed our snacks, and donned our walking shoes.

Adventure was looming before us.

The trail started off smooth and pleasant.

"How wonderful to be young and in shape," my mind thought.

Within a matter of minutes the path veered off the broad way and became a little more narrow. The broad path had a sign that read "If you are pregnant, have heart conditions or back pain, go this way."

Our trail went the other direction.

For some strange reason that I cannot fathom, I did not hear the blaring sirens of reason and wisdom. Age and experience have taught me different.

"Now comes the fun stuff!" he said.

I looked up to see a rather steep ascent to more mountains.

That's funny. I would have thought it was time for our little picnic in the woods.

Ha! Funny is exactly right!

What was once a leisurely pace became a grueling climb.

Not many people came this way. I noticed that before the path was trodden down and well worn. I remember looking down to wonder if we had missed the trail, but every time I wasn't sure there was sign to direct us.

What once was fun now became arduous.

Now rocks were in the way and I began stumbling and tripping. He suggested we stop for a moment to catch our breath and take a break. I suggested we just turn around now and forget the whole stupid idea!

He said that if we did that we wouldn't make it to the top to see the spectacular view the brochure assured us was "breathtaking".

Breathtaking was exactly right! But I didn't have to get to the top for my breath to be gone!

With words of encouragement that sounded a little like cattle prodding, he convinced me to continue with him. "He would help me~ walk in front of me and show me where to step."

Reluctantly I followed.

"But can't we eat our snack now?" I whined.

He "suggested" we wait.

Somehow, this was not what I had anticipated. I wasn't finding the joy or adventure or the exhilaration of it. At. All.!

My thighs and hinder parts were on fire!

That was the first time I remembered I had muscles there!

He grabbed my hand and encouraged me on. With him pulling me a little, it took some pressure off of a few muscles.

A l-o-n-g while later it seemed, the clearing was in view. But~ I had been fooled before, so I didn't get my hopes up.

He jogged a little ahead of me to see if it really was the "peak". He returned with excitement and encouragement. "Come on! It's just ahead and you are going to love the view!"

Yeah, right!

I followed the path that widened, finally, and glimpsed at the clearing before me.

A gasp escaped my wheezing.

It was breathtaking! It was worth it!

And..... I was glad I didn't turn back when the going got tough.

We found a comfortable place for our little picnic and enjoyed the view much more because it took so much effort to get to it.

Hmmmm.... life lessons in a national park brochure.......

Hosea 14:9 says,

"Who is wise? he will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous will walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them."

My question for us today is: Will I walk or will I stumble?

blessings!

dorinda

Friday, May 1, 2009

Purity Retreat 2009


Purity is Power Retreat 2009
I posted on my facebook status the other day about our Purity Retreat - "I think Purity Retreat is the most "awesomest" thing we have ever done as a church."
The Purity Retreat for 4th - 6th grade girls began six years ago out of the heart of our assistant pastor's wife, Becky Harness, aka Karate Woman.
Becky has a passion for young girls to know that they are created unique, beautiful and special by their Creator. She is an amazingly talented lady of God who knows how to communicate effectively to young people.
For the past six years little ladies have learned how to dress modestly, act appropriately, and how to KNOW that they are beautiful. Our society and culture has such a negative impact on the self esteem of our young girls. The Purity is Power Retreat helps to negate that influence the media makes on the lives of the girls who attend.
As a mother of two girls who attend the Purity is Power Retreat I can't say enough good things about it. My girls understand that looks, clothes, and boys do not bring them value. They know that God designed each of them beautiful and unique and that their lives are a treasure to Him.
So, it may be another year before our next Purity Retreat, but I encourage every mother of an adolescent girl~ "Send them to Purity is Power Retreat!" You will not regret it!
blessings!
dorinda
[These pictures are of our Purity is Power service this past Wednesday. The girls were honored for signing the Purity Covenant and Sis. Becky gave an overview of what Purity Retreat is all about. ]
The Purity Covenant is based on Philippians 4:8
Thank you Sis. Becky! You are awesome!