To be thankful...

Good morning, noon, evening!  I hope you've all been blessed in some way this week.  I love this time of year.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  Easter is my favorite but Thanksgiving runs a close second.  I love everything about it -- it's not as commercial, it's not over done with decorations but the food is fabulous and realigning the perspective of thankfulness is a great exercise.

I'm a Facebooker.  I'm hooked, I admit it and I probably need a 12 step program to get away from it.  But lately, a lot of my friends have been posting their "thankfulness" in their statuses each day.  I've seen everything from deeply introspective thank-you's to some that are just fun and funny and honestly, I've loved them all!  I decided to get in on it and it's been a wonderful way to keep my attitude in check as the stress of the holiday season closes in.

This past week, I had the opportunity to share my testimony and music with a group of ladies in Pensacola and in Foley, Alabama.  God blessed me beyond measure by allowing me to see His Harvest of three lives asking Jesus to be their Savior.  Praise You Lord.  I'm so thankful to have had this opportunity. Not only that, it was just beautiful down there and we got to visit with some dear friends, Lisa and Al, and spend the evening laughing and catching up with them.  What a joy!

I've never considered myself much of a harvester.  I've always been comfortable in sowing seeds in God's great fields.  But I must admit, to see and know that someone has just given their life to Christ brings a joy that goes deep into my soul.  It's something that I can't fully explain and I don't want my readers to think for a minute that I'm boasting about my part in it at all -- I think what I find so humbling about it is the fact that there were so many who came before me who sowed seeds of the Gospel, watered with truth, fertilized with love and encouragement and at just the right time, God saw the fruit in the heart of these ladies, and I had the opportunity to be there for the harvest!! I just had to be available and ready and He showed me His Handiwork!! That's pretty awesome isn't it!

You know, I really believe that's the key to living fruitful lives.  Being available.  If we'll just make ourselves available to God's plan - and be willing let Him guide us, use us and speak through us, then we are rewarded with peace, contentment, hope and joy apart from our circumstances.  It's almost as if we get to see the big picture or at least a little glimpse of it.  Does that make sense? 

I think sometimes we try to hard to figure God's will out.  I think maybe because we can talk and have opposable thumbs (however your spell it), we carry around a "god complex" and try to force God's hand when there is really no need to do so.  Why?  Well, I don't think it's always with selfish motives or irreverence.  I think it's because we hunger so badly to know God that we toil and spin to try to figure Him out rather than just resting and trusting that He is God.

I know that has been true at least in my own life.  It started when I was in high school.  When the talk of what was God's will for my life (Christian-ese for what I was gonna be when I grew up) began.  Oh that I had known at 17 years old that His will for me was not just a profession - His will for me (and you) was to live justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with my God....Malachi 6:8.  Sure - I should have sought Him for career choice, choice for mate, church membership, etc. - but His will is so much larger than those things and much simpler at the same time. I did seek God for those decisions, but honestly, I did so with pleasing man in mind.  If I'd only known that sitting at His feet, getting to know Him first and intimately was more important to Him - if I'd only known how that could have made so much of my life fall into place according to His Word (Matthew 6:33), I wonder if I could have saved myself so many tears, frustration and prodigal choices along the way...then again, maybe this path is the one God chose for me...overthinking even that would be wrong at this point in my life because His Word tells us that He leads us into the wilderness...Deuteronomy 8:2.  We believe a lie if we think our lives as Christians should be immune from dry seasons or hard things...This Scripture attests to that fact...

So, as we approach this week of Thanksgiving, I'd like to challenge us all to be thankful beyond the material blessings of our lives.  I'd like to challenge us to find ways that God has blessed us that go beyond the obvious.  I'd like to challenge us to be thankful even for the hard things, the wildernesses, the trying times of our lives and at the same time, I'd like to offer an encouragement to live out Matthew 6:33 -- "Seek first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness..."  Let that be top priority -- be willing to be used of Him and to know Him intimately and in doing so "all these things (provision, direction, fruitful lives) will be added to us."  This is a promise...a covenant - between 2 - ourselves and our God.  In the busy-ness of the holiday season, let's try to be more like Mary and less like Martha -- doing so allows us the opportunity to see God at work in the Harvest as well as gives us a chance to be available to be used as vessels for His Spirit to flow from and through as He sees fit.  If we are so busy "Martha-ing" around, we'll miss it -- we won't see Him at work and we'll lose out on getting to see a harvest of some sort - be it a new believer or a brother or sister get back on track or a miracle of healing, etc.

I pray you'll have a safe and happy Thanksgiving and that you'll enjoy those God places in your path both now and throughout this wonderful holiday season!!  I'm going to post some more recipes soon as well as some tips and tricks too -- I know it's been a while...


Blessings!! Amy

The Power of Prayer and Laughter

This has been one of those weeks that I marvel at God's goodness.  I know I should marvel at His goodness all the time, but this week has been particularly abundant in my own life.  I'm not deserving and don't understand His choosing of the timing but all I can say is, "Wow!"

We've experienced the joy of good friends who are willing to give of their time and talents and resources to assist with raising money for this mission trip to Israel.  We've experienced His provision in truly miraculous ways.  We've seen a rainbow covering our city.  We've been blessed by a generous church supporting us in ways that I cannot begin to fathom.  I received an unexpected offer of employment that caters to my travel schedule.  I received encouragement from people who have been praying and have seen evidence of God's hand over our lives.  Unexpected phone calls to share good news have come, cards in the mail, conversations with strangers who want to know how things are going with regard to the mission trip ... so much more it would take volumes to write it all!

One of the most amazing things I've experienced is a simple answer to a prayer for restoration of laughter.  Psalm 126 speaks of restoration and joy and laughter is the theme of this passage.  I mentioned briefly last week that I was so ready to laugh again and God heard my prayer.  I have laughed until tears have rolled down my cheeks at simple things - good things, good friends, funny comments, precious pets and simple things literally all week long.  God's Word speaks of the health benefits of laughter and I can attest to it.  Proverbs 17:22 says “A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.”  I'm learning daily that my circumstances don't dictate God's goodness.  That joy resides in the bones when I give my life fully to Christ and trust Him no matter what my earthly situation may be.  I'm learning that even my smallest of prayers are heard by God and they mean something to Him.  He heard my seemingly insignificant request that I was ready to laugh again and saw that my heart needed to be merry and He made it happen. 

A young friend wrote today that she could "only pray" on her profile.  She has had a whole host of health problems and deals with pain on a constant level.  Her life is desperate at times because of the pain and seeing her post made my heart hurt because she is so dear and so is her family.  But I also found myself thinking, "You know, she's really at the best place she can be if she's out of any other resources but prayer."  That means that God has literally stripped away everything but Himself in her life and she now has the perfect set up to tap into her Great Physician, her Provider, her Savior, and her King.  She now has access to a heart that can be painfully honest with her Heavenly Father and she has access to the most powerful weapon in her Spiritual armor -- prayer. 

So many times, we say things like, "I can't do much, but I can pray for you." or we'll say, "All I can do is pray."  I wonder if we really realize what we are saying with comments like that.  Are we diminishing the value and power of prayer or are we saying that we are not humanly able to do anymore and as a last resort we're going to pray?  If so, we need a radical change of thought!  Friends, prayer is a mighty tool and is powerful against the enemy's schemes.  Not only that, it's our blessed opportunity to have a conversation with the ONE WHO CREATED THIS UNIVERSE AND US!!!  We have a blessed opportunity to pour out our hearts and talk with the Lover of our Souls.  We have the power to crush the enemy, Satan when we draw our weapon of Prayer.  We have a hot-line with no need for a phone or priest to cry out to one who gave His Life for us.  Oh the goodness of God that He would give us this privilege!

If you've found yourself in a mindset of thinking that prayer is your last resort, maybe today is the day that God says - make it your first resort forevermore.  If you've felt like your prayers are hitting the ceiling, maybe it's because God is waiting for you to believe that He will do as He promises and that He loves you.

We can speak prayers over and over and over and over and not believe that God will move - or we can pray with a believing heart that He hears even our smallest of prayers and that He will act according to His will and that He promises that He wants the best for His children - not the worst. 

Remember, there's prayer, there's faith, there's trust, there's hope and there are covenants all through the Bible -- God keeps His covenants always - He cannot lie and He cannot fail.  If we can grasp that He lives in us -- LIVES in us - then we must believe it and believe that his residence in us means that we cannot fail either.  Don't walk around with a failure mentality.  Yes, life will be disappointing at times.  Yes, hard times will come.  Yes, we will hurt, be sick and die.  But we were made for more.  We were made to reflect God's glory in all circumstances not just the mountaintops.  We are made to praise Him.  We are made to laugh because of His goodness.  We are made to love others because of the deep deep love He has to pour out through us and to us.

May I encourage you to hit the restart button on your perspective today?  May I urge you to access the power of prayer as your first option because it's your best option?  May I challenge you to ask God to show you His goodness.  He will, you know...He promises.

Here's Psalm 126 (NLT) -- Read and enjoy -- and know that you are dearly loved!! Have a great weekend!!


When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem,
      it was like a dream!
 ² We were filled with laughter,
      and we sang for joy.
   And the other nations said,
      “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.”
 ³ Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!
      What joy!
 ⁴ Restore our fortunes, Lord,
      as streams renew the desert.
 ⁵ Those who plant in tears
      will harvest with shouts of joy.
 ⁶ They weep as they go to plant their seed,
      but they sing as they return with the harvest.

Molly's Adventure...all we like sheep.

Good Morning, Afternoon or Evening Everyone,

I pray you have had a peaceful night of rest and that this day is blessed with grace, goodness and peace.  I haven't slept much this week.  I'm not sure if it is the excess caffeine or if I've allowed the enemy of stress into my mind or if my sore muscles from climbing a ladder for many days in a row have been the culprit (likely all three) but I definitely haven't gotten my 6 to 8 hours per night this week as recommended by "they" - whoever "they" are.

Earlier this week I wrote about thorns and the hedge of thorns that God places around our lives.  I wrote about the correlation of those thorns to the painful things of our lives and related them to Jesus' crown of thorns.  Something that hit me this morning was that sheep are prone to stray.  God references His children to sheep quite often in His Word and knowing that sheep aren't the brightest creatures of God's creation should keep us ever mindful that being affectionately called sheep by our Creator isn't a compliment.  They have brains the size of walnuts, they can't figure out how to get up if they fall on their backs, they have no sense of direction and...they are prone to stray.

Could it be that because of our sheepish nature, we NEED a hedge of thorns?  Could it be that the "ouches" of our lives come because we run into that hedge and get stuck and hurt because of our need to stray?

I've been helping a dear friend get her house ready to go on the real estate market and she has the sweetest little dog.  My friend works as a teacher and has left her sweet dog, Molly, with me during the day as I've been working at her house.  For the last couple of weeks, Molly has been so polite and has waited at the door to get her little leash on to go out to get her business done.  But this past Tuesday, Molly had a need to stray.  She bolted out the door and acted as if she was going to be well-behaved and walked with me into the garage all the while having a plan of her own as soon as she could break away.  She decided that when we left the garage she would walk over to the grassy part and sniff around a little bit.  Then she walked slowly but just ahead of me where I couldn't catch her and then all of a sudden she took off to the woods.  She was on a grand adventure!  I called her and she wouldn't come.  I offered treats and rewards of good behavior if she would heed my voice.  But she acted as though she was completely deaf.  All of a sudden I heard her cries.  She was crying as if in great pain - it got louder and louder and all I could imagine was that she had walked up on a copper head snake and he had sunk his fangs into her and filled her with deadly venom.  I called her name over and over running to the woods.  Suddenly I heard another dog bark and then a human voice saying, "I've got her!  She's ok! She's just a little bit scared!"  My heart started beating again.  I walked to where I could see and there was my friend's neighbor holding Molly in his arms.  His big chocolate lab was standing there with him and across the fence was his guard dog, a German shepherd.  He saw all that had happened and said that Molly had crossed the fence line and the shepherd stopped her and rolled her a little but didn't hurt her.  Molly was trembling and looked to me with great relief.  I put her leash on and we peacefully walked back to the house after an exchange of thank you's and my heart started beating at a normal rate again.  Molly, a drama queen, was still whimpering from the event and found herself drained of all energy by the time we got back to the house.  She dropped in weakness and just had to have a nap from all the trauma.  She needed to be assured that she was ok -- and after a good rubdown with a towel and a lot of petting, treats and making sure that I wasn't mad at her, she drifted peacefully off to sleep safely behind the clear doors of her home and on her soft little bed, surrounded by all her toys.

I didn't think about the significance of Molly's adventure until I began writing today.  Aren't we just like her?  We walk along with God, cooperating with Him and all is going fine, even if our circumstances aren't perfect - we at least feel safe knowing He's there beside us.  We pray regularly, read and study His Word, hear His voice and then we begin to walk on our own - we can still see Him and are sure He is right there with us and then we stretch our legs just a little and walk a little further up the path and then we see an opportunity and believing we'll be just fine we run like the wind on an adventure of a lifetime -- and then, we cross the line.  The big dogs see us and come after us -- oh they may not make a deadly blow but it scares the living daylights out of us or they bruise us just enough that it hurts a little (or a lot) - and then the shepherd lovingly picks us up, holds us in His arms and brings us back inside the hedge of thorns where we can rest again.  He puts another thorn in the hedge just to remind us of that journey and how painful it was to us...and to Him.

Molly may decide to get out again and run on her own - but aren't we as willful as she?  She may not run over to where that big dog scared her but she will look for other opportunities.  She didn't plan to stray - she planned to play.  She loves to please and is a good dog...most Christians want to be good sheep too.  But when we worry, fret, lose sleep, wander in our own thoughts, spend without consulting God about it, speak without praying over it, and all those other temptations to sin - we stray.  Sometimes it takes a good scare to bring us back into the fold.  Sometimes it takes a little hurt to remind us that we need our Shepherd.  Sometimes we need Him to carry us back to our own hedge of thorns to remind us just how safe we are within His hedge of protection.

Friend, cry out to the Father, just like little Molly cried for me (really I think she wanted her Mama).  Cry loud when the big dogs come after you.  Cry and tell Him your hurts, your fears, your pain and your sorrow.  Cry and tell Him you have strayed and you need His rescue.  Cry and tell Him you need His protection.  He will hear you and come to you and will rescue you from harm.  He is your shepherd and will not rest until you are back in the fold.

Maybe the lost sleep I've experienced this week is because I've allowed my own mind to wander into the wilderness of my circumstances.  Maybe in doing so I've experienced the fear of the big dogs in my own life coming after me, too.  Maybe losing sleep has offered me the chance to cry out to God and have Him rescue me from my own wandering thoughts...if you are where I am, then I encourage you to be still and let Him teach you through His Word and likely a circumstance you've experienced this week as well....

May His Words encourage you in your journey today: 

"But he was pierced for our transgressions,he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all"  Isaiah 53:5-6NIV