😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  Negativity…It does not serve me or anyone else well.  But once you fall into it, have you noticed that the deeper you get into it, the easier it becomes.  Negativity is a cancer that can spread in the blink of an eye and before you know it, it’s out of control.  Sometimes the corrective action is just a nip and tuck here or there.  If left to its own device, negativity may cause you to need some major surgery in order to cut it out of your life.  If left too long, it certainly can cause relationships to die.  I’m guilty of being the negative person from time to time, although I sincerely try to always view a positive side in all situations.  There are some people in our lives, that we just have no choice and have to interact with them.  This past week, knowing that I had a meeting with a person that causes negativity in my life caused me to think too much, lay awake in bed…you know, how you have those conversations with yourself trying to prepare for what you think that interaction with a negative person will be.  It’s just ridiculous!  Such a waste of time.  I really need to keep working toward stopping myself from going down that road sooner, giving it to God and tell Him the battle belongs to you.  In reality, it’s a spiritual battle.  Those demons try to work their destruction through me and you.  We cannot win those battles.  We must give them to God.  He has the might!  He has the power!  He has the wisdom!  He has the army to defeat all that Satan does and will try to do, to beat us down and crush our will.  Be strong in the Lord and His mighty power.

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#PhilWickham – Battle Belongs

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  With all the choices you have in front of you, thank you for sharing this moment with me.  Four years ago, I created a calendar that I titled Moments Matter.  Like this moment, you have many options staring you in the face, so how do you decide which moment to give your attention to?  What are those driving factors in the background that draw you to choose one moment over another?

Sometimes those moments will go exactly as you expected or planned, but I would guess the majority of moments we experience don’t go as planned. When we make our choices, we tend to base those decisions on either the visible or that which we hope for. I know I’ve spoken with you before about the Walk to Emmaus, but that life changing moment is something I will never grow tired of sharing. July 20-23 was the Greater Dayton Emmaus Women’s Walk #110. This Walk was even more special for me, because I had the privilege of sponsoring two pilgrims. I’d talked with my friend many times about taking her Walk, and this spring she reached out to me saying that she was ready. It was her time! Thank You Lord! About a week or so later, she told me that she invited her mother-in-law along. Sweet!

With spending almost every nonworking moment, working on the new house, I could have told her that the timing just wasn’t right for me to sponsor them, but their moment was much greater and more important than any moment I would have had working on the house during that time. They went into their Walk weekend with some general expectations and desires for what they wanted to walk away from the weekend with. They may have also had some desires that they secretly hoped for, but maybe figured might be too good to be true. The night before the Walk began, my friend texted me…”I am almost actually hoping to look like Moses when he came off of the mountain when I get back.” My response to her was…”I’m guessing you will have that Moses glow about you, but I imagine you don’t necessarily want all the gray hair.” Did they see a burning bush on a mountain? …No. Did they experience the real and true presence of God and His undeniable love and grace? …Beyond a shadow of a doubt they did! Like Moses, after experiencing living that moment in the presence of the Lord, their lives will never the same. There is no possibility of them going back to the individuals they were, before experiencing God during their Walk weekend. And that’s a good thing!

All moments matter, not just those mountain top experiences.  Make wise choices and have a blessed day.

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#WhitneyHouston – One Moment in Time

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  Seasons…we all go through them.  Yes, weather seasons, of course.  My favorite is fall.  But I’m also talking about seasons of growth and rest, learning and teaching, relationships and solitude, and spiritual seasons.  When we moved to Michigan for two years, that time was a season of learning, growth, and drawing closer to God.  It wasn’t always fun, but pruning never is.  Even when we know that something isn’t benefiting us or those around us, we still have a hard time letting go of that which has died in us.  New life cannot spring forth from that which is dead and as long as that dead is still with you, your body will spend its energy trying to bring new life to those dead areas.  We must be pruned back to the point of life.  We have too much life to bring forth, that we cannot afford to let the dead drain us and stunt our growth. 

Brian and I are in another two year season with our house build.  There is some definite learning, growth, pruning, and life springing forth, but it’s certainly draining us.  We’re so consumed with the new house, that our chores are being left undone, I haven’t been a good friend lately, and I certainly haven’t been spending the right amount of time being with God.  My body, soul and spirit are really feeling it.  You and I only have 24 hours in a day.  The choice is ours as to how we pursue the time that has been given us.  And yes, time is a gift given to us.  I would guess that time is the gift we disregard the most.  It’s so easy to waste it.  Be honest, how much time have you already wasted today, scrolling through social media on useless stuff.    

God desires greatness for you and me, which is why it’s my responsibility to pursue the time I’ve been given and not just let time happen to me.  I need to be intentional about my choices.  I need every choice I make, be in preparation for what is currently just beyond my comprehension.  It seems daily now, that I keep telling myself…”It’s just a season.  You can do anything for a season.” 

Lord, may we thrive in this season, so that your glory will shine.  Amen

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#NicoleNordeman – Every Season

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  I know I’m a day late, but Happy Independence Day America!  I spent my July 4^th working on our new house.  Saturday July 1^st was originally scheduled to be our Thank You God house party, but the house isn’t finished yet, so the celebration has been put on hold for now.

When Brian and I left our current home on July 1^st to go work on our new home, this is what I saw when I stepped onto the porch.

We may not have been having our Thank You God party, but He sent us His rainbow to remind us that He is with us and His promise never ends.  Usually rainbows don’t last very long, but this rainbow was in the sky 20-25 minutes.  It was incredible!

Some of you have been asking for a house update, so I thought I would share a bit with you today.  This past month, Brian, my dad, and I have been working on all the painting and most recently installing tongue and groove boards on walls and ceilings. 

I am so thankful that we are able to do this work on our home and that my dad is willing and able to help us.  Something else I am thankful for this week is that a concrete issue we have had with our new home for six months, was finally taken care of on July 1^st.  We now have stamped and colored entries into each of our four doors.  It still needs to be sealed, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.

Thank you all for your prayers, as Brian and I continue to work on our new home.  They are definitely appreciated.

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#IrvingBerlin – God Bless America

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  I started reading a book this week titled Beautiful Eucharist.  Within the first five pages, it already has me contemplating and pondering this incredible sacrifice the we can choose to experience and live every day.  I have been Catholic all my life, but I do enjoy occasionally visiting my friend’s churches and places of worship.  I hadn’t really even thought about it until reading this book, but the word Eucharist is unique to the Catholic faith.  It’s set apart, because it’s not just bread and wine, it truly is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.  In speaking with nonpracticing Catholics, the Eucharist seems to be the one part of the Catholic faith that they miss the most.

In the book, Matthew Kelly mentions that he was once asked: “What would have to happen for you to leave the Catholic Church?  That’s an interesting question and I would have to agree with Matthew’s answer.  I couldn’t see myself ever leaving the Catholic Church.  Every church has its issues, because every church is filled with us people.  But there is just something incredibly awesome about receiving Christ in the Eucharist.  It’s indescribable, but you know it when you feel it.  During the time between my divorce and annulment, through the Catholic Church, I did not receive the Eucharist and I really missed not receiving Christ in that way.  It really was personal for me, once my annulment was final and I started receiving the Eucharist again.  It was like getting to hug a dear Friend, that you’d been separated from and could only talk with on the phone.

Beautiful Eucharist is a collaboration of 12 authors and I’m excited to keep working my way through this book.  Even if you are just a little curious, I would recommend getting yourself a copy of Beautiful Eucharist.  This is also a fantastic book to share with family, friends, and whomever the Holy Spirit prompts you to.  See the link below, read Beautiful Eucharist, and let your life encounter Jesus through the Holy Eucharist. 

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#BeautifulEucharist

https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/beautiful-eucharist.html

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you. Last Sunday was Father’s Day. For all you dads, I hope you were able to share some good times and memorable moments with your children. For Father’s Day, my dad chose to volunteer to help us paint our, as Brian called it, “halfway house”. He called it that, because it’s halfway done. Actually, Dad spent time with us Saturday – Monday working on painting. He took Tuesday off to golf, but is coming back on Wednesday to help us get started on the tongue and groove walls and ceilings. This past year, both Mom and Dad have been very supportive with our house project. Dad has spent many hours helping with different aspects of the build process. Mom always makes sure we have our afternoon apple snack or something sweet like coffee cake or brownies. But most importantly are the constant prayers they offer up for us, those working on our project, and that God’s will be done. From the beginning of this process, they said we will have the house that God wants us to have. The house plans have evolved quite a bit since those first prayers were prayed and it’s been interesting to see God move during this project.

Listening to the radio Monday, I heard the DJ say that the most forgotten holiday is Father’s Day. I didn’t check the statistics on that claim, but what did happen is it caused this thought to come to my mind…”I didn’t tell God Happy Father’s Day yesterday.” I don’t recall ever wishing God Happy Father’s Day, so it seemed a little strange that that thought would even come to my mind. I’m curious, have you ever wished God Happy Father’s Day?

I would also like to recognize and thank all those good guys, like my husband Brian, that choose to step up and be good dads and father figures for their non-biological children.  You are making a difference.  Children need both, a solid mother and father figure in their lives.

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#ChrisTomlin – Good Good Father

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  I have come to enjoy having a telework job, but one of the down sides to teleworking is the lack of socialization with teammates.  It was a lot easier to walk by someone’s office in person and say “Hi”.  Granted, it is an interruption to someone’s day either way, but it feels like even more an interruption when you think about calling them just to chat, instead of discussing work.  With the extent of my workload and the feeling of guilt for interrupting someone’s work day, I just don’t call teammates to chat.

With that being said, last Friday I was having a work discussion with a teammate, that diverted into a personal discussion.  Recently we had some personnel shifts, facility shifts, and teammate changes.  Learning your teammates workstyle, taking on a backlog of work, and having to learn new facilities, systems, and processes all at once can be extremely overwhelming and leave you questioning if this is what you really want to do and where you should be.  As my teammate and I discussed work items and some items not related to work she had the realization and now understood why she had to experience this change within our team.  As she said…”God is in it.”  That was really cool, being able to share that God moment with my teammate.   

Being able to see and know that God is in those moments and struggles with you, is huge.  Actually, it makes those moments and challenges seem to be not so much of a struggle and brings a certain degree of peace, which allows you to more clearly and confidently make decisions about your future. 

Later that day, I found out that some friends of mine were in a pretty serious car accident on their 50^th wedding anniversary.  Wow!  What a crazy, unexpected, and I imagine, unwanted way to share an anniversary.  Although their car is totaled and they are both pretty banged up, they were able to see the blessings and experience their Guardian Angels riding with them.  Again, what a blessing, that in midst of their struggles and challenges, they were able to feel and know God’s presence in that moment.   

God is in every moment of your life.  It’s up to you to choose to see, experience, and acknowledge His presence.  The next time you speak with God, consider saying a prayer for my teammate and friends.  As you read this, although I may not know your name or situation, please know that I just said a prayer for you, that you will experience a God moment that will bring you clarity and peace.

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#CastingCrowns – God of All My Days

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  Last Thursday as we were driving home, Brian and I had a discussion about God resting on the 7^th day and what that might look like for the Holy Trinity.  So, what would that really look like?  Does God resting mean He did absolutely nothing for a day?  Well, let’s back this up a bit more.  We know God’s timing and our timing aren’t always the same, but do you think God’s definition of time and our definition of time are the same?  60 seconds in a minute.  60 minutes in an hour.  24 hours in a day.  365 days in a year.

Okay, back to the idea of God resting on the 7^th day.  What would happen if God did absolutely nothing for 24 hours?  Would the sun still shine and the moon light the night?  Would plants grow and the tides move?  Would your heart continue to pump and your lungs draw breaths?  Did Satan have free reign to invoke destruction of souls, while God rested?  Maybe that explains Eve and Adam’s original sin.  In all of eternity did God (Father, Son, and Spirit) only rest on that one day?  Maybe after the whole original sin incident, God decided He couldn’t afford to take another day of rest.  Maybe Father, Son, and Spirit set up shifts to ensure every second of time is covered by at least one or more of them, which could then allow for each of them to have a full day of rest each week, knowing that the other two have everything in control.

So, what about you?  What does your sabbath look like?  When you rest, do you spend some of your time resting in the Lord.  How do you feel when you rest in Him?  How about when you don’t allow yourself time to spend with Him, how do you feel then? 

We are all different.  We have different work and family habits and responsibilities.  We all waste time in one way or another.  But no matter what day or time we decide to reach out to Him, God always makes Himself available to us.  There is no one else in this world that will do that for you.  I encourage you to make a commitment to yourself to consistently seek God.  Don’t keep putting Him off.  Again, we are all different, so you need to come up with what will work best for you.  Don’t judge yourself compared to what others are doing.  Your relationship with God is about you and Him. 

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#JellyRoll – Need a Favor

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  Last Wednesday at Bible study, we got on the subject of Mary, the  mother of Jesus.  Within the Catholic faith, the adoration (deep love and respect) of Mary as the mother of Jesus, and honoring her as such, is common place.  Well, maybe not for all Catholics.  As a cradle Catholic, as far as I can remember, I knew of Jesus and Mary.  She was always a part of my faith.  But, for a person that converts to Catholicism and didn’t grow up with that relationship with Mary, trying to understand and grasp a relationship with Mary could be very challenging. 

Mary is the ultimate example of a human’s trust in the Lord and willingness to put self interest aside for the greater good of the world.  Mary is a great example to live by.

So, for anyone, Catholic or not, that is interested in having a dynamic relationship with Mary, I would suggest thinking about how you meet someone for the first time.  Will it be a chance meeting or will you set a time and location.  Will you wait for her to approach you or will you acknowledge her first?  Once you meet for the first time, will you plan up a follow-up get together?  It can be challenging to have a conversation with someone you just met, so maybe your first encounter is just a minute of two.  Then you second encounter is a little longer.  And your third encounter longer still.  It takes time, a common interest (Jesus), and effort to build a relationship with Mary. 

Like all good, long-lasting friendships, your relationship with Mary will grow based on how much effort you put into the relationship.  Will you pursue and woo her?  I hope you do.  My relationship with Mary has certainly been a blessing in my life.  She has comforted me and brought me guidance during some of the lowest points in my life.  She has also been with me to celebrate victories and blessings in my life.

Mary is Jesus’ greatest advocate.  She knows and understands the importance of having a relationship with Christ, which is exactly why she will always point you toward Him.  Seek a relationship with Mary and watch how your relationship with the Lord grows.

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#AmyGrant – Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song)

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  I’m excited, this weekend we get to celebrate Pentecost Sunday!  The Holy Spirit.  The Big HS.  He’s my go to God.  He’s the One I’m most comfortable with.  He’s the One I feel present with me.  I would say that’s a good thing, being that Jesus told us that He had to leave so that He could send His Advocate to be with us, teach us, and remind us of everything Jesus did for us. 

But The Spirit, as well as Jesus and The Father have all been together and present to us from the very beginning.  With as much crap as we put Them through, They have a tag team Trio to make sure we are always covered in Their love and mercy, grace and forgiveness.  We don’t just hear about The Holy Spirit in the New Testament.  He was introduced to us in the Old Testament.  Ezekiel 37: 1-14 tells us.

“The hand of the Lord came upon me,

And He led me out in the Spirit of the Lord

And set me in the center of the plain,

which was now filled with bones.

He made me walk among the bones in every direction

so that I saw how many they were on the surface of the plain.

How dry they were!

He asked me:

Son of man, can these bones come to life?

I answered, “Lord God, you alone know that.”

Then He said to me:

Prophesy over these bones, and say to them:

Dry Bones, hear the word of the Lord!

Thus says the Lord God to these bones:

See! I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life.

I will put sinews upon you, make flesh grow over you,

so that you may come to life and know that I am the Lord.

I, Ezekiel, prophesied as I had been told,

and even as I was prophesying I heard a noise;

it was a rattling as the bones came together,

bone joining bone.

I saw the sinews and the flesh come upon them,

and the skin cover them, but there was no spirit in them.

Then the Lord said to me:

Prophesy to the Spirit, Prophesy, son of man,

and say to the Spirit: Thus says the Lord God:

from the four winds come, O Spirit,

and breathe into these slain that they may come to life.

I prophesied as He told me, and the Spirit came into them;

they came alive and stood upright, a vast army.

Then He said to me:

Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.

They have been saying,

“Our bones are dried up,

our hope is lost, and we are cut off.”

Therefore, prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God:

O My people, I will open your graves

and have you rise from them,

and bring you back to the land of Israel.

The you shall know that I am the Lord,

when I open your graves and have you rise from them,

O my people!

I will put My Spirit in you that you may live,

and I will settle you upon your land,

thus you shall know that I am the Lord.

I have promised, and I will do it, says the Lord.”

I don’t know about you, but that scripture gets me fired up!  We are the dry bones needing the Spirit to breath into us.  We are Ezekiel prophesying and bringing the Spirit to dry bones. 

The Spirit has been gifted to you.  Accept your gift and use it to its fullest extent possible.  GET FIRED UP WITH THE SPIRIT!  Oh, the places you will go and the bones you will bring back to life.

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#ElevationWorship – RATTLE!