Whew! It's been a While and a Whirlwind!

Hi Everyone!! I just noticed that it's been 30 days since I wrote a blog posting!! December came and went and my head is still spinning!

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and are anticipating God's plans for 2012.  This past month for me was spent singing and sharing my testimony and shopping, cooking and wrapping presents!

I find myself reflecting a little bit over the past month and year and find I'm a little blown away at God's goodness, grace and love.  God blessed me with the opportunity this year to see women of all ages come to know Jesus as their personal Savior, He allowed me to lead women in Bible studies and He gave me a renewed vision for His call on my life and vision for ministry and He allowed me the privilege of guiding and counseling women facing overwhelming circumstances to seek His wisdom and guidance in their decisions.  He blessed us with provision during James' job loss, He covered us with protection over our health, and surprised us with unexpected gifts from His children who just knew there was a need.  He showed me a glimpse of my future which gave me comfort that He has my "now."  He kept a roof over our heads and showed His love in ways that just don't speak adequately with words.  There is peace in the midst of storms, joy in the midst of heartache, patience in the midst of difficult relationships, forgiveness in the midst of hurtful words, grace in the midst of selfish desires, hope in the midst of broken dreams, mercy beyond being deserved and love beyond measure. 

We've seen friends step forward to offer help in raising money for this amazing Mission trip to Israel.  We've seen family and friends step forward to offer counsel when roadblocks seemed to shut doors.  We've been prayed for, prayed over, and prayed with so many people with regard to hard, hard things.

I think what I remember most about 2011 is that it's been a hard year for so many people that I love.  I've seen such loss, such heartache, such sickness, such hurt this year...these are people who love Jesus and are deeply committed to Him.  I believe that this may be God's boot camp for His army of believers.  If you talk with any soldier and ask them about boot camp, it's not an easy training at all.  There are long and hard workouts, there are obstacle courses, there is intense warfare training, there is intelligence training, there is desensitization, there is physical, mental and emotional strengthening to be able to defend against any type of enemy.   Stands to reason, then, that if God knows we need to be strengthened to be able to defend against our enemy, Satan, we might need to endure some hardship to strengthen our walk -- our spiritual legs, our mental strength and sharpness and our emotional stability -- after all -- the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy -- and lurks around like a prowling lion...or slithering snake.  He is smart, cunning, and evil and hates not only us as humans, but he hates the Spirit that dwells within us.

So, if you've endured a season of trials, pain, hardship that seems worse than ever - thank God for it.  Why? Because HE loves you enough to want to put you through His personalized Boot Camp in order to strengthen you and make you more like His Son, Jesus. 

I'd like to offer a challenge to you for 2012.  I'd like to encourage you to keep a prayer journal - when anyone asks you personally to pray for them, write down their name, request and the date requested and pray for them.  If possible, ask them to keep you posted with regard to their request and record how God answers - He always answers - it may not be yes, no or maybe - but He will answer - even if there is silence -- sometimes that just means to wait on Him.  Record your own requests too and date them.  As God answers your prayers, go back and record those answers.  At the end of 2012 on New Year's Eve,  go back and take a look over the journal and reflect on God's faithfulness and how He answered your fervent prayers of intercession and the prayers of your heart. 

I believe that if we'll do this and commit to it, we'll see some amazing things begin to happen and I KNOW we will see more of God and His Mighty Power.  Will you join me??

I'd like to leave you with one of my favorite blessings.  May 2012 be the year that takes your breath away as you see God's goodness, grace and mercy!! May laughter cover you and follow you each and every day...

"May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you and give you peace."

Have a blessed New Year's Eve....Happy New Year!!!
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Sowing in Tears and Reaping with Joy

Hello my dear friends!

I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you ate enough Turkey and Dressing and fixin's to hold you over till Christmas!! Don't you just LOVE it!!! :)

I know it's been forever since I posted a recipe so I thought I'd put a quick one up for y'all before I write today's devotion.  It's so easy it's almost shameful....and it's so healthy and perfect for this time of year.

Quick & Easy Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

3 Small or 2 Medium boneless chicken breasts, cooked and diced (I used Tyson Grilled & Ready)
2 T. Butter (unsalted)
2 stalks celery, cut in large sections
1 medium onion halved
1 medium lemon, halved
1 garlic clove, smashed and peeled
1/2 bag frozen mixed veggies (I used corn, sweet peas, carrots)
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock (I make homemade but if you don't have it, use Organic or a Homestyle chicken stock) - you want it to be thick and hearty.
1 quart water
1 cup dry pasta (any type is fine -- macaroni, ziti, bowtie, something kind of large)
salt, pepper to taste
Greek seasoning to taste

Melt butter in Dutch oven and saute chicken breasts just to heated through.  Throw in celery, onion, lemon, garlic and stir well.  Saute until softened just a bit (you will remove the these things, except chicken when the soup is done so it's not necessary to chop them up.  In fact the soup won't be as good if you do, so plan to remove them before serving.)  Throw in frozen veggies and stir well.  Season with salt, pepper and Greek Seasoning to taste.  I used a couple of Tablespoons of Greek seasoning and about a teaspoon of salt and pepper....I'd rather need to add more than add too much.  Pour in stock and water and bring soup to a boil.  At this point if you want to make this a crock pot dish you'd want to transfer all this to a warmed crock pot.  Add noodles and cook on low until ready to serve (4 to 6 hours on low, 2 to 3 on high)-- your noodles will be more like dumplings, which is the plan - not a mistake.  If you want your soup ready sooner, leave it in the dutch oven and add the noodles about 20 minutes before you plan to serve the soup.  Soup is ready when noodles look like dumplings. 

To serve -- remove large veggie pieces of celery, onion, and lemon.  Garlic should melt into the soup but if it doesn't, remove it too.    Great with cornbread, toasted French bread or any type of wheat cracker.  Wonderful on a cold, rainy day.  YUM!! 


Now to our devotional....My Monday Bible study group is such an inspiration.  They are so patient to let my passion for teaching take over sometimes when they could all easily teach themselves but they are just the most lovely group of ladies with such diverse backgrounds but they leave me awe-stricken at time at their depth and passion for knowing God intimately.  I love them so much.  This week, we studied the last part of Psalm 126 and focused our attention to verses 5 and 6 --

5 Those who sow with tears
  will reap with songs of joy.
⁶ Those who go out weeping,
   carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
   carrying sheaves with them.

We spent a lot of time talking about what it means to sow in tears.  Or "sow with tears".  There was some commentary regarding how so many Christians "eat the seeds" rather than sow them.  What does this mean?  If you are a believer, you will experience hard times or hard things in your walk with Christ.  Jesus tells us we will and that suffering is part of sanctification in Him.  We are encouraged to "count it all joy when we encounter various trials so that the testing of our faith will make us stronger and more like Christ."  But how in the world can we be joyful, when we are sowing in tears.  How can the hard things in life bring a harvest of joy?  This just doesn't make sense.  Isn't it human nature to want to "draw in" or "hide away" or "keep to ourselves" when we are hurting?  Yes it is. 

But if we'll fight that urging and rather share our hurts with others, whether in asking them to pray for us or encouraging them in their own walk by telling our story and sharing how God brought  us through, we begin to sow our seeds of faith rather than eating the seeds and letting them go nowhere.

Satan loves to isolate God's people.  If he can use shame, fear, pride, secrets, false humility to cause us to hide in our pain, then we waste an opportunity to share in our sufferings with others.  We become prey to the enemy because it's there that he begins to paralyze us and cause us to think about our own problems and elevate them to a higher place in our thought processes than they really need to be.  We become more self-involved and wallow in self-pity, despair, depression, etc and can be held prisoner to our own thoughts and sense of hopelessness.  But if we will allow others to share in our hurts, embrace our tears, and be open and forthright in our failings, we then allow them to minister to our wounds, and in turn we share an opportunity to not only let others use their gifts to sow into our lives but we sow our tears into their lives  but when God moves, we also have a chance to share in the "joy that comes in the morning" and thus reap a harvest not alone - but along with others who have shared in our lives...and our sufferings.

There's another principle here too.  Think about the parable of the seed that Jesus told in Luke 8.  In this parable Jesus tells of seeds and how they fall in different types of ground -- dry, fallow ground, good ground that grows thorns or fertile ground that bears good fruit.   Sometimes in our own lives we hear God's Word and it falls away and we miss the message.  Other times we hear it, apply it for a while and then let it go when things get tough or life gets busy and hard.  And then we might hear that same word again and this time, our hearts are right and the Word gets in and grows and bears fruit - and thus a harvest of joy comes.  That's a personal application of sowing seed of God's Word into the life of a Christian.  

Think about those folks who come to church every Sunday.  They bring their Bibles, sing the hymns, listen to the sermons, maybe even take notes.  But when church is over, they leave, Bible closed, no more singing, forget the sermon and throw the notes away, never applying or using what they heard.  They are merely "pew sitters" who attend out of habit with no conviction...Pastors sow these seeds in tears...

Then there's the person who comes to church every Sunday.  They may even be involved in a ministry like the choir or Sunday School or other ministry.  They are faithful in attendance, appear to worship and gain a deeper understanding of God's Word in their attendance.  But during the week, there is no application or conviction of the teaching in their lives.  When the bad days come, they become angry, bitter and critical or maybe they change their church membership because someone hurt their feelings or they didn't like the preacher's sermon....they become like the seeds that grow in the thorns but the weeds and thorns of life end up choking out the good things they've learned and they never become healthy or fruitful...such a wasted life...again, pastors sow their seeds into these lives with tears...

But then -- someone comes along and they soak up the teaching of God's Word like a sponge.  They get involved and share their gifts and talents and resources generously.  They share their lives with others, they give of their time to further the Gospel and they passionately grow deeper and deeper and closer to the Lord and they are thriving and healthy Christians -- their lives aren't perfect, they may not have a big bank account, but they understand giving and sharing and loving...these are the harvest of joy ...these are the people whose lives bear fruit.  These people are just like the others, but what is the difference?  They not only swallowed the seeds that were sown into their lives but in swallowing the seeds, they also began to bloom, grow and sow seeds themselves.  The others simply swallowed, digested and discarded the seeds, never re-planting for a new harvest...and basically the seeds died on the vine.

Now let's get really practical with this.  I'm going to use the example of getting in shape but you can apply it to any area of your own life that might fit.  Let's say that I decided to get in shape by eating right and exercising.  I bought a whole bunch of books and magazines and read them from cover to cover.  I believed what they said.  But that's all I ever did.  I just read the books.  I never changed my eating habits or exercise habits but I gained a whole bunch of knowledge.  It's likely that I gained more than that but the outcome I wanted, getting in shape, didn't happen.  Why? That seed fell on dead, fallow ground and dried up as useless knowledge.  (Know anyone who has read every self-help book there is but they are still paralyzed with the same "issues"? -- same principle applies here too.)

Ok -- let's say I read the books and magazines, believed what they said and applied their suggestions to my life but when I got sore, or the weather got bad or someone invited me for a great lunch at my favorite restaurant and offered to buy dessert -- I didn't have the self-control to resist the temptation.  I quit exercising and found myself once again with tight jeans and low self-esteem because of my weight issues....Well, that seed started out growing well, but when things got tough or temptation crept in - or boredom -- what happened?  The old habits came back and the seed's growth was stunted.

BUT -- let's say, I read the books and magazines, believed what they said, applied their suggestions to my life and persevered -- believing the end result would be a harvest of joy -- through thick and thin -- sore body and blisters -- sooner or later, this lifestyle change would pay off and what would happen?? A more fit, healthier body would bring a big smile to my face and a smaller size to my jeans...thus a harvest of joy.

So if you'll allow me to challenge us all today, I'd say let's make a better effort at keeping the ground of our lives fertile.  Let's be sure that we have a teachable spirit, a heart to receive and give and minds that allow us to see the bigger picture.  To do this we must fight the instinct to be embarrassed about the hard things of our lives.  We must fight the urge to hide our insecurities or imperfections from others.  We must be willing to take a risk that someone else might benefit from our stories and struggles and might have a word of encouragement to give to us if we'll allow them in.  Let's also be willing to let other share their sufferings with us without passing a hammer of judgement on them.  

I'm very certain that in my own life there was a time when I was quick to judge and not so quick to forgive.  I'm also quite certain that my wounds made me defensive, scared and selfish too.  But maturity and deep struggle in my own life have brought me to a place where I now see that God's way is to sow and to share.  If I can sow my life into someone else's and share my story, I know now that there is someone else who might just need to know that their "troubles" are safe to share and carry to God as well.  Does this mean letting go of discretion?  NO.  Does it mean that we tell all the gory details or embarrass others and ourselves by telling everything we know?  NO -- but what it does mean is that we become transparent -- and leave behind that false image of trying to be what we're not and appear as if all is just fine when it's really not.  It also means shouting for JOY and telling others when God allows a harvest in our lives and in those we've shared with.

Be willing, able and ready, dear friend -- if you sow in tears now and your life is really hard -- hold fast to the promise that if you keep sowing, searching, learning, sharing and giving -- you WILL reap a harvest of joy in due time and you (and I) will have a much deeper understanding of God's goodness apart from the circumstances of our own lives -- and we'll give Him credit for the harvest when it comes in and live joyful, fruitful lives that glorify Him.

I pray you have a blessed week!!! Until next time, Amy