Okay, so maybe this is my new favorite song. Love the words and the meaning behind them. Just knowing that His hands are always holding me. Love the line "When my world is shaking, Heaven stands." So often, I think that my world is shaken and He is unaware of the damage that is taking place from the "Yvette-quake" that has just occurred in my life, unexpectedly. Those moments when my very soul is shaken to its core and I feel I cannot stand one more "aftershock". How very wrong I am at times when I think He doesn't understand. He "gets" me better than anyone....better than I "get" myself, yet at my lowest times, I doubt that He understand the depths of my sorrows, hurts or pains.

Recently, He has made me so very aware that His hands are ever under me, over me and around me....holding, covering and comforting. The words to this song speak to my very soul and encourage me beyond words.

YOUR HANDS by: JJ Heller

I have unanswered prayers
I have trouble I wish wasn’t there
And I have asked a thousand ways
That you would take my pain away
You would take my pain away

I am trying to understand
How to walk this weary land
Make straight the paths that crooked lie

Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands

When You walked upon the earth
You healed the broken, lost and hurt
I know You hate to see me cry
One day You will set all things right
Yeah, one day You will set all things right

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands

Your hands that shaped the world
Are holding me
They hold me still

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-F6DGGF4Qs&feature=player_embedded

In Him, You Are More!

After hearing this song on K-Love radio, I had to copy the words and ponder them. As the words penetrated my own heart, I began to think of times that I have felt unworthy of the love of the Father. My heart immediately went to thoughts of my daughter and the incredible strides she has made in her life to get back on track and living for something greater...yes, something more. There are many young women that I know personally that struggle with dealing with past mistakes, choices made etc. But really, what they don't realize, is that all of us "girls" struggle from time to time. Certainly, not the same things, but as moms we 'older girls" struggle within about choices we have made in regard to our children....did we make right choices in raising them?, choices we have made in regard to our marriage.....do my children see that I love and cherish my husband?....love and cherish my family? As you read these words, I pray that you too will have others brought to you heart that may not know the great, great, great love of the Father.

Sweet Sisters, may we know that we are loved and that when He looks at us He sees what He has created...not what we have done with what he created. I have posted the words as well as a link to the awesome video that is a must see. Enjoy and know that you are more!

http://www.tenthavenuenorth.com/videos/All%20Videos/273

You Are More

By: Tenth Avenue North

There's a girl in the corner
With tear stains on her eyes
From the places she's wandered
And the shame she can't hide

She says, "How did I get here?
I'm not who I once was
And I'm crippled by the fear
That I've fallen too far to love"

But don't you know who you are?
What's been done for you?
Yeah don't you know who you are

You are more than the choices that you've made
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes
You are more than the problems you create
You've been remade

Well she tries to believe it
That she's been given new life
But she can't shake the feeling
That it's not true tonight

She knows all the answers
And she's rehearsed all the lines
And so she'll try to do better
But then she's too weak to try

But don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes
You are more than the problems you create
You've been remade

You are more than the choices that you've made
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes
You are more than the problems you create
You've been remade

'Cause this is not about what you've done
But what's been done for you
This is not about where you've been
But where your brokenness brings you to

This is not about what you feel
But what He felt to forgive you
And what He felt to make you loved

You are more than the choices that you've made
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes
You are more than the problems you create
You've been remade

You've been remade

Discouraged or Just Not Thinking Straight?

Lately I have been so busy with work and with the family events that have taken place that I really have felt a bit of depression trying to sneak it's way into my heart. Not wanting to get discouraged in the midst of all that is going on, I look to Jesus as the Author and Perfecter of my faith. Sounds like the right thing to say....doesn't it? Well, not being a "sounds like the right thing to say" kinda gal, I must confess, I have been asking the Lord exactly what He is up to in my life. As I think back over the past few years and all of the places that He has asked me to trust Him and to trust what He is doing, I am reminded once again that He is not in need of anything from me. He does, however, want a few things from me. Trusting Him with EVERYTHING is one of the things He is asking of me at this time in my life. And He does ask that I come to Him for every need that I have. When I do come to Him, He is ever faithful to accept me right where I am and never rejects me. This is a very comforting thought. To know that the Lord of all creation cares for me and for my hurts and wants to comfort me in my time of heartache...that is still so very amazing to me.

As I was whining to Him one evening...."Lord, you have taken away every ministry I was involved in except for the church cleaning committee," or "Lord, why if I have raised my children to follow you, then why are you allowing them to go down the paths they have chosen?" or "Why, Lord, does there seem to be a disconnect among so many women that I know love and follow You?" or "I feel You calling me to serve, but why is the door not being opened for that to happen right now?"........He gently reminded me that His ways are better than my ways and His thoughts are higher than my thought. So much for that pity party!

With all of the pressure of discouragement that is currently surrounding me, even now as I write this, I am sure of one thing.....that he who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it! Not in my time or according to my terms or in the way that I see it going....not my life according to me rather my life according to Him! This is true freedom in Jesus! To be His and to reflect His glory in a hurting and sinful world. Praying that He would bring me anything that brings Him glory.....yes, wholeheartedly, I say "Anything, Lord." Bring it on! For in these times, that is when I am forced to fully rely on You!

I have grown more in the past two years of struggle than I have grown during my entire Christian walk. All the praise be to the One Who is more than able to accomplish in me more than I could ever hope, dream or imagine!

Blessed, Indeed!

So today, there I was at work doing the "Paintgirl" thing when the phone rings. At the time, I was in the middle of five orders totally over 300 gallons of paint that I had pulled from the piles in the warehouse and was in the process of tinting into the colors needed for each order. Busy, crazy to say the least! Anyway, I answer the phone, and it is my hubby calling to tell me that he is praying for me today and that he loves me and wanted me to know that he appreciates all that I do for our family and for him. He even added, "You are doing a great job and I wanted you to know that what you do each day is important." I soooooo needed to hear this as that very moment. To know that what I do makes a difference...not only in my life, and in the life of my family members, but in the lives of those I come in contact with each day. After finishing our conversation, I began to once again tint the orders before me. This is when the doubts hit me:

~He's your husband, of course he is going to say that!

~He wants something, otherwise, why the sudden show of emotion?

~You aren't really making a difference anywhere, let alone here.

This is when I stated boldly outloud (not something I do often)........"What I do does make a difference! I am appreciated and I know that God has a plan for me for today.......yes, even for this very second!" Amazing what a difference this made! The Lord took those words, spoken out in defense of what I know He says about me, and He blessed me for changing the things that I was about to believe.

While it is true that all Christians know and believe the truth of God's Word. The truth that He will win the war, but I gotta say, it feels pretty good when I allow Him to win my mini- battles as well! Thank You Father for Your Word. Thank You, Jesus for Your sacrifice. And than You Holy Spirit, for Your encouragement!

Simple Prayer.....Simple Changes

In July, I attended a Jewelry Lady Rally in Texas. Since the company I represent is a Biblically Based company, it is sort of like a business meeting meets Women of Faith event. While there, a lovely Jewelry Lady named Beverly Terrell, shared a prayer that she says each morning as she starts her day with the Lord. She challenged us to start out day out this way and "see what God can do with you".

Here is the prayer:

"Father, today, help me to change my mind about the things that You and I don't agree upon."

Wow! I can hardly believe the way that this simple prayer has helped me to re-align my heart and mind to be more like His. Many mornings, this is the only part of my prayers that I get out and He is faithful to show me something that I need to surrender to Him and align with His plan and His way. He has helped me to be more patient with those who challenge me in negative ways. He has helped me to remember that I once was lost and in need of a Saviour and so rather than judge another, He has taught me to pray for them. These little changes in my heart and mind have helped me to see the things around me in the way that He wants me to see them.

How about you? Are you ready to take on the challenge and pray in this way? If so, please let me know how it changes YOU as I know you will be encouraged in your walk when you realign your ways to His ways, your plans to His plans, your thoughts to His thoughts, your perspective to His perspective.

Father today, help me to change my mind about the things that You and I don't agree upon. In Jesus name, AMEN

After All of These Years

So Sunday afternoon after church, I needed to go to Newport to get a prescription that wasn't ready when I got off work on Saturday. Anyway, Dale had decided to go with me and so on the way there we had decided to eat at the Pig-N-Pancake. I know, I know....funny name but an OK breakfast for the price. When we arrived at the restaurant, they were really busy, as usual on Sunday afternoons. We were seated at a table that was one of many in a string of tables. On one side of the tables was a long bench that went the length of the wall, and the other side of the tables were chairs. Dale sat on the bench side and I was seated on the chair across from him. We were seated between two families: one with two children and one with one young boy. It was a bit tight and we felt a bit confined, but we were there to eat so no big deal.

After being served our coffee, we soon found ourselves alone after the families seated at the tables close to us finished their meals and left. As people began to clear out, we were served our breakfast and began the process of buttering the pancakes, etc. The radio was playing in the background and as is not unusual, Dale began to sing along with the radio. I was pouring syrup on my pancakes and the waitress was clearing a table next to us. I realized that Dale wasn't just singing, but that he was singing to me! Then I realized what song he was singing. It was a song by Eric Clapton and it dawned on me that he was singing the song TO me when it came to the line in the song that goes, "And then she asked me,' Do I look alright.' and I said, 'Yes, you look wonderful tonight." At this point he continued singing and was at the point when the song goes, "And the wonder of it all, is you just don't realize how much I love you." At the moment I look up from my pancakes the waitress lets out a "Ohhhhhhhhhhh, how sweet!" and as I look at my hubby of more than 24 years, I am taken back to our wedding day. I have a picture that was taken of Dale just as I began to walk down the aisle and he sees me for the first time on our wedding day. It is a sweet picture of him and his eyes are so expressive. I LOVE this picture and it makes me cry each time I look at it. Always has.

Anyway, so there I am in the Pig-N-Pancake, Dale continuing to sing to me, and what do I do? I kick him under the table, my face turns red and a say to him, "What are you doing?!" He says, "I'm letting you know how much I love you. I don't think you realize how much I love you." Now, he has I tear in his eye and here we are in the Pig-N-Pancake weepy-eyed and falling in love a bit more than we were a moment ago. He smiled with a tear still stick in his eye and says, "I really do love you ya' know. I mean I LOVE you! More today than yesterday and more tomorrow than today."

It was a "moment" for sure. As we left the restaurant to go about the rest of our day, we walked hand and hand to our care and I realized just how much I love him. Sometimes it seems that my life gets so busy and so crazy that I forget how truly blessed I am. How truly blessed my marriage is and how very under-grateful I am at times for the man that God has placed in my life. By all human standards, I should have married someone very different than the God-fearing man that the Lord gave me. But He had a different plan for my life, and for that I am ever so grateful!

That afternoon at the Pig-N-Pancake, the Lord helped me to realize just how very blessed my life has been since following Him. There have of course been moments of struggle, of up-hill climbing and of hanging on for dear life to the hem of His robe, but all-in-all, He has proven to me time and time again that like my hubby (but much more than that even) He is saying to me, "You just don't realize how much I love you." Thank you Lord for loving me eternally and for providing for me a husband that loves me while I'm here on the earth.

My Father's Arms

Luke 15:20 "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."

Most of us know or have heard about this scripture found in the book of Luke, and if we are born- again believers in Christ, we too have experienced the undeserved, overwhelming feeling of acceptance found in the Father's arms. Many of us have a personal story of trying things our own way, trying to "go it alone" and "do what we want to do, where we want to and when we want to....even with who we want to". Even though my personal life story doesn't have an addiction or a habitual sin that kept me from feeling like my Father's daughter, I still had a very pivotal moment in which I had to put aside my pride, put aside my selfishness and my determinations and hand it over to the Lord. What I have found is that this is not a one time thing that I must do.

Initially, it was comforting to know that because I have placed my trust in Him that I would go to heaven when I die. Assurance of my eternal destination was a real comfort for my soul in those early years as a believer. Now that I have walked with the Lord for a bit over 25 years, I look back on my life and am sooooo amazed at the times in my life when I have had to go to my Father and ask for forgiveness and in all manner of being humble say once again, "Father, I have sinned against You and against heaven and I am not worthy to be called your daughter." He is ever faithful to pick me up in His arms and hold me close to Himself and assure me once again that He loves me...100% and 100% of the time. It boggles my mind to think that the hands that hold the world, the hands that created the universe and placed each star in the sky....are the same hands that pick me up, draw me in and love me beyond words once again.

The past two years have brought me some of the most difficult and stretching moments in my life. I have grown in my faith, been challenged in my devotion, had to look up and trust Him more each day, seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness in ways I have never imagined, endure more than I thought I was capable of all the while relying on Him completely. He has provided, encouraged, inspired, loved, and cared more than I thought possible. I have trusted, believed, and grown more than I thought personally possible. Every step of the way, I can say with confidence that He is my Rock, my Salvation and my Saviour....yes, He is my Father. He waits patiently for me, is jealous for me and loves me beyond compare. My circumstances all fade when I look to Him and the cross in which He took the punishment for my sin.

Through the valley of the shadows of death that have surrounded me, He has comforted me. My heart is full of hope and I know that I know that I know that I KNOW.....His ways are better than my ways and His love for those I love is far greater than the love I have for them. My heart is light in the Lord as I seek each moment of each day to focus on Him and the bigger picture that only He can see.

At times, I had felt as though everything I held dear had been taken from me...one by one. First, my son comes to me and tells me news that most Christian parents are overtaken by. But the Lord prepared me in advance (a story in and of itself) and I have been able to love as unconditionally as a mother humanly can.

Next, the Lord asked me to stop leading the high school youth group. My heart was a mess, because this is a ministry that I held very dear to my heart.....but I obeyed and He reassured my heart that this was not a resignation....but rather a reassignment. His ways are higher than my ways, after all.

Then my daughter began her 15Th year, and she faced unimaginable changes and challenges. We are still in the process of dealing with choices made, and without the Lord guiding me, I know I would not have been able to endure this either.

Next, last March, my dad passed away. As my earthly father, my dad and I had faced many challenges of our own throughout our lives as father and daughter. I am so very thankful that the Lord gave me an obedient heart (for the most part) and asked me to deal with the hard issues between my dad and I. When my dad passed away, it was such a relief to be able to let him go without any hard feelings or unsolved issues between us. What a blessing that was from the Lord....for both of us.

Drawing closer to Him has helped me to deal with these issues and many, many more throughout these past few years. The testimony I have been able to gain from this is: He is faithful when I fully place my heart and life completely into His hands and allow Him to cradle me in His loving arms. Truly, I am a wayward daughter come home to the Father waiting with open arms! Grateful that He loves me as only He can. Thankful that He is faithful in all ways, always.