😎🐫🎤 Back in 2016 I was overjoyed with three great pieces of life changing news. Crystal and John were expecting their second child and Chessa was born in April 2017. Lori and Cody were engaged and married in Oct 2017. And Diana and Sam were engaged and married this past weekend.  All three were great moments, but I knew I would be seriously challenged because at both weddings I would have to face their dad, who I divorced almost 18 years ago. I knew I had a lot of praying to do about this. I even took a class about forgiveness at a local church back in Sept 2016 to help prepare myself.  After the forgiveness class and a year of praying, I felt pretty good about how things went and how I felt at Lori’s wedding. He and I even sat at the same table. Okay, not so bad, I thought. I survived and put that behind me…well, so I thought. It really knocked me down a notch when I found myself struggling when I was around him this past Friday and Saturday.  I didn’t want to see him, hear his voice, and it especially annoyed me when he said my name. I found myself just wanting to go off on him. He didn’t do anything wrong in those moments, so why was I feeling this way. It made me really mad at myself. Why was it so different this time?  Trying to figure out the source of my frustration, I realized that I’d stopped praying and forgiving.  Which made me frustrated for a different reason. I started relying on myself and stopped giving it to God. And then God told me…Forgive 70 x 7 times. I was so incredibly humbled and finally, truly understood what Matthew was saying in that passage.  I don’t like feeling angry like I did this weekend and I know I have a lot more praying and forgiveness that I need to be working on. 

There is a line in today’s song that goes “When You pull me closer, I come to life.”  But I really think it should say “When I pull You closer, I come to life.”  God is always there reaching out for us. We need to quite trying to do life on our own and pull Him into the center of our world. He taught me a very valuable lesson this weekend. Bless others and be blessed. 

#TobyMac – I Just Need U

😎🐫🎤 Lent is a season of preparation. It seems like this time in Jesus’ life, Christ was teaching His disciples a lot of tough lessons.  And they found themselves failing rather easily. When the going gets tough and the pressure is on, will you run and hide or maybe just stand firm and flat out deny Him?  God has so many lessons for us to learn. Or another way to put it is that God has so many graces to offer us. The choice is yours. Is what you’re dealing with a stumbling block or a gift?  Will you walk in defeat or rise victorious?  Will you sing the blues or sing so the back row hears you?  Choose to be the one that when others see you, they say I don’t know what’s gotten into them, but whatever it is I want it too!  Bless others and be blessed. 

#MercyMe – Grace Got You

😎🐫🎤 Monday morning I woke Brian up and said “Welcome to Monday.”  His response…”Grrrrr…I wish it was Saturday.”  I thought, wow, what would it be like if I missed a week?  What opportunities with God would I miss?  What opportunities would I miss sharing God and how could that possibly effect someone’s life and my life?  Then my mind shifted to, how precious would an extra week be at the end of my life.  What would I do with that precious time?  All the people I would want to see and call. What would I want my final earthly time and words to be with them?  Every day, every moment of your life is too precious to let it be squandered. Don’t hold back your love for God and others. Fearlessly and confidently tell them. Some will think you’re weird and won’t know how to handle it, but that’s okay. I would rather go down having people think I’m weird, than not knowing how much I care for and about them. 

I’ve not done this before, but I actually have two songs for you today. They each fit a different part of today’s thought. Bless others and be blessed. 

#ChrisRice – Life Means So Much

#DiamondRio – One More Day

😎🐫🎤 I was absolutely blessed this week by God’s presence and something a friend told me on Sunday night. Before I tell you what she said, I have to back this story up a year to February 2017 when God told me that I needed to invite this friend and her husband to an Emmaus Walk weekend. I had no idea how the offer would be received, but asked just as God instructed.  They accepted and he took his Walk in Aug 2017. She was scheduled to go in Sept 2017, but the weekend was moved to this past weekend.  What she told me Sunday was this…”If someone would have told me a year ago that you would give us a gift that would save our marriage, I would have told them they’re crazy.”  The thing is, the gift wasn’t from me. It was from God. He told me to ask. Which also made me think, what if I wouldn’t have listened and acted upon His request?  Where would they be today?  It’s so important to actively listen for God and do as He asks.  I had no idea what would come of the invitation, but that’s okay because we don’t need to know the outcome, we just need to act when instructed. Trust me, if God asks you to do something, you know His plan is for good.  Experiencing this life changing event was a great reminder that God still does miracles. Pray to hear His words and fearlessly act upon them. Bless others and be blessed. 

#HawkNelson – He Still Does (Miracles)

😎🐫🎤 Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday, the feast before the fast of Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.  At our Shrove Tuesday service, we celebrate and sing the Alleluia one more time before it’s buried for the 40 days of Lent. Alleluia is my favorite word to say and sing, so it makes me very sad when we take the Alleluia banner down, put it in a wooden box, and slammed the lid shut. Hearing the lid slam shut instantly brings tears to my eyes.  These 40 days are a time of preparation and we all approach that very differently. Take some time to really focus on your faith journey and what that can look like as you travel through these next 40 days, towards the celebration of Easter.  I really like the video that goes with this song. Bless others and be blessed. 

#Newsboys – The Cross Has the Final Word

😎🐫🎤 The title of a class that Brian and I are working through at church is called Oremus, which is Latin for Let Us Pray. This week we are working through prayer, focusing on our spiritual senses and this was one of our discussion questions. “If you could be a part of a scene in Jesus’ life, which scene would you like to enter?  I thought that was an interesting question. Think about that for a moment and if you’re willing to share, I would like to hear which part of Jesus’ life you would have liked to experience in the flesh and why. 

Today’s song is one that I like to crank up in the car and sing as loud as I can. I’m just in awe when I think about my favorite line of this song, “To You my future is a memory.”  It’s incredible to think that God is with me and you every single breath of our lives. And He has walked every step of our journey before we even took one step. The joy, the pain, the sorry, the peace, He knows it all. Even the times we will reject and deny Him. But yet, He still reaches out to us, stretching as far as He can, hoping we will reach back for Him.  Bless others and be blessed. 

#CastingCrowns – Already There

😎🐫🎤 I enjoy ironing, but it absolutely amazes, okay frustrates me when it only takes a split second to make a wrong crease and then it takes 5 minutes to try to undue that mistake. I had a day this week that I just felt like I was putting creases all over my day. I headed for home that night feeling defeated and really doubting myself. Just like ironing a wrong crease, it’s amazing/frustrating how quickly we will allow ourselves to spiral downward and that climb back up seems to take forever. After dinner that night, I sat down to do my daily reading, and of course, God knows exactly what we need. That night my reading was Luke 12: 22-32. Very loud and clear God told me “Don’t worry about your life!”  I told God “I want people to know that they can trust my work and abilities to get things done right.”  I barely finished speaking those words and God excitedly responded “Exactly Shell!  I want you to trust in MY work and ability to get things done right.”  I know I’m not perfect and I can’t expect to be any more perfect, than perfectly flawed. It’s when I accept and embrace these flaws that I allow Him to complete me.  Bless others and be blessed. 

#Orianthi – According to You

😎🐫🎤 A good friend shared a very sobering experience with me Saturday. Four years ago that day, she nearly died from an illness. But she was celebrating that God gave her more time on earth with family and friends. This made me think of another good friend that was knocking on death’s door, but by God’s grace was offered another chance to serve Him here, a little while longer.  As I was thinking and praying for these friends, I realized that both of these situations happened just months before I met each of them.  That is what was so sobering, realizing that I may have never experienced or shared their lives, if it were not for His grace. God may call us at any given moment, which is why we need to celebrate and take full advantage of the time and relationships we’re given.  Love always, forgive often, and offer grace…God’s grace whenever the opportunity is given.  Bless others and be blessed. 

#MattRedman – Gracefully Broken

😎🐫🎤 I’m not one that asks for prayer for myself much, so I was very humbled this past week when two friends on separate occasions said they were praying for me and one even offered to go out of her way to shuttle me to a couple of events I have scheduled for this weekend. I don’t know if I really did this or not, but I felt like my chin dropped open and I really didn’t know what to say. I was sitting in awe at those moments and felt completely wrapped in the presence of God. I’ve experienced moments like this before and that’s a feeling I will never get tired of and am excited for the next time it happens. There is no feeling as good as being held by God. These two experiences got me to thinking…How many people have prayed for me over these past 50 years?  Obviously, some I know about and other I haven’t got a clue. Some are people I don’t even know personally, but they have prayed for me. These prayers have helped to shape me and my life, but I hadn’t even given them any real thought until now. Have you ever taken account of the prayers from others that have helped to shape your journey?  The gift of these uncountable prayers, well, there’s no word to describe them but awesome. I would like to ask your prayers for the surgeon and all those who will be taking care of me tomorrow and again on Feb. 1st, when I have my eye surgeries. Thank you in advance and know I will be praying for you also. Bless others and be blessed. 

#JamieGrace – Show Jesus

😎🐫🎤 Last Wednesday evening I had, well we’ll call it an experience with a representative from a faith community that I’m heavily involved with and it left me strongly questioning if it was time to walk away. For the next 24 hours, that’s really where my heart was headed. Then God reminded me: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.”  It wasn’t this individual that was attacking me, but Satan aka the master of disguise doing his darnedest to pull me from God and where He wants me to be. When praying on the Armor of God, God makes it very clear when He tells us three times that we need to stand firm. You might as well make those words bold, all caps, and underline them three times. My instinct in this situation was to leave, turn tail and run.  But I thank God that He was willing to talk with me and I calmed down enough to hear His heart. Satan, you lost this flight and I’m coming back stronger than before.  Bless others and be blessed. 

#Rachel Platten – Fight Song