Monthly Archives: October 2015

God is with us…

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How do we know God is with us if we can’t see Him? Let me ask you this – can you see the wind? We can’t actually see the wind, however we can see and feel its effects. We feel it’s presence as the air brushes across our skin, and we see the rustling of the leaves on the trees, it’s with us and very real indeed. Just the same is God. Although we can’t see Him, the effects of Him  are all around us! We can see His creation in the mountains, the rays of sun streaming through the clouds and in the formation of a rainbow.  We can see the changes He makes in the people we know and feel it in our own hearts. He IS with us! Just think of the wind…

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. 

Freedom…

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The Lord spoke to me on my way home from church today and said the word FREEDOM. I knew what it meant…it was the answer to why I have been feeling such complete peace and joy since moving down to Arizona. Why freedom? Since putting my trust in Christ three years ago, I have been changed. I’m not the same person I once used to be, I truly am a new creation. I don’t act the way I used to act, I don’t think the way I used to think, and I don’t talk the way I used to talk. There are a few close friends that I was able to discuss the changes going on within me but to everyone else, they just saw the change of my outward appearance as I lost weight. They were completely oblivious to the changes going on inside…the changes that were transforming me as a result of following Christ. We lived in a small town back in North Dakota, the kind where everyone knows everyone. Although I was slowly coming out of my shell and getting to the point to where I was confident in my new identity that I was being able to let it shine through in some respects, there was still a lot of me that felt I needed to hold back from showing the real “new” me. I didn’t feel comfortable to completely reveal what I had become. I felt like I was somehow trapped within two different dimensions, and wanted badly to be able to break through and just fully live out the new me.

Since moving to Arizona, I have been able to just be me…the new me! No one here knows the old me or has any pre-conceived notions about my past. I get a completely fresh start. When I meet someone here, I don’t worry about offending someone by talking about my faith or saying something that might sound strange. I can raise my hands during worship in church and I don’t care who looks at me strange. I don’t feel like I’m being judged and quite frankly don’t care if I am. I have a confidence now that I’ve never had before and it’s growing stronger every day. I am finding who I am in Christ, and letting my true light shine.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Praise God!!! He is so amazing, words just can’t describe…

God is so good!!

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Excuse me while I wipe away the tears that are rolling down my cheeks right now…God is so good!!

The Lord has put on my heart to share the blessing of my weight loss with others so that others may be blessed through my testimony. As part of this, I’ve felt for a long time like I’m supposed to mentor someone that also struggles with their weight as I once did. I started praying about a year ago for the Lord to match me up with someone who could not only use but also desire this kind of mentoring relationship. I remember telling my mom, “how am I supposed to find this person, it’s not like I can just hand out business cards for something like this!” but trusted that when the time was right He would align all the pieces. 

Late last week, I was sitting in the parking garage getting ready to get out of the car to head into work when I looked up and saw the words “It’s time” displayed on a billboard in front of me. I looked away not really realizing what I had just read and then I looked back at it and thought did I read that right? Sure enough, that’s all the billboard said was “It’s time”. I had a flood of thoughts instantly go through my mind as I wondered if this was the Lord speaking to me. As I sat and stared at that billboard, there was no doubt in my mind that the Holy Spirit was using that billboard to speak to me and I knew what it meant…it’s time to share my weight loss story and pass on the blessings that I’ve been given. I knew that there would be a revelation coming soon. This morning I saw that same billboard and smiled as I got out of the car recalling my experience from last week. 

I came back this evening from taking my youngest daughter to the park to find a message from a new friend that had reached out to me and has asked me to be a mentor to her as she has been struggling with her weight. She had shared with me a few weeks ago about her weight struggle and I had a feeling at that time that there was something significant about this new relationship/person. Praise God!! He is faithful, He is trustworthy, and He does answer prayers. I’m so excited for both of us…I can’t wait to walk with her down the lighted path! 

Please pray for both of us as we set out on this journey together, that He would guide each step. 

Don’t underestimate the power of your testimony…your story can help others too. 

God is so good!!

Our High Priest…

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The Bible says that Jesus is our Great High Priest. So what does that mean to us? What is a priest? A priest is recognized as a mediator between us and God. Yes! Jesus is the bridge that allows us to cross from death in our sin to life with our Heavenly Father. Jesus is our mediator…Jesus is our Priest! He is the one and only mediator, the one and only priest, the one and only that we need!! 

When you are struggling with something – tell Jesus about it. When you have heartache – tell Jesus about it. When you are in pain – tell Jesus about it. When you are thankful – tell Jesus about it. When you have sinned – tell JESUS about it. He is all that you need too. 

Thank You Jesus that we can have a personal relationship with You, our Savior. Thank You that we can cast all our cares upon You and You are faithful and trustworthy to walk us through each and every struggle, heartache and pain. Thank You that we can bring our wrong doings to You for forgiveness. Thank You for taking the cross and bridging the gap between us and our Heavenly Father so that we can also have a relationship with Him. 

Hebrews 2:17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers, in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest, in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your cares upon him; for he cares for you

Count it all joy…

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My husband has been struggling with what he is supposed to do for a living since we moved to Arizona. We’ve had some “interesting” times and tough discussions about this since our move here and although I have been able to trust the Lord to provide work for him when the time is right, my husband does not have the same level of trust. He has been dealing with depression over his lack of direction in his life right now. We were talking about things again last night and the Holy Spirit reminded me of one important thing: count it ALL joy! This too has a purpose and is part of His plan!! How quickly thoughts can turn from “when are things ever going to fall into place” to “thank you Father, I’ll just be patient and continue to trust You because I know this is necessary and someday I’ll know why”. I know from past experiences that trials we face in life are never easy but they always have a purpose and if you are leaning on and trusting God through them that they always bring you into a deeper relationship with Him…so, count it all joy!! I keep telling my husband that someday these struggles are going to be part of his testimony of how the Lord worked in his life…I have faith in that because I have faith in Him!

James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.