The longest year in history

 2020 has felt like we are on a broken rollercoaster. We have seen things I never imagined I'd see in my lifetime.

There has been heartache.

There has been hurt.

There has been sadness.

There has been suffering.

There has been loss, oh has there been so much loss.

BUT...

Here we are now. It's almost the end of the longest year in history since I've been alive. We are about to go into 2021 we can say we survived it. 

It may be harder to see this year but there have been many blessings in the middle of the chaos. The fact that we survived this year is a blessing all in itself.

So, I want to remind you as we go into 2021 to count your blessings because even in our moments of weakness God has been present. I can tell you I have your back I do and I mean that with all of my heart but no one has our back more than God.

Let's keep our eyes on Him in the new year and watch as His blessings flow through the world. We will see change and things will slowly start to get better.

We are survivors because as long as we stick together we can do hard things through Christ who strengthens us.

October is here!

 October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month!

When first diagnosed with Spina Bifida doctors will tell you the can't do's, the won't do's, the struggles, the surgeries, the hospital stays, the constant ongoing care that will be required. You'll hear the dreaded word "Termination" probably more than once your entire pregnancy.

They don't tell you that your child will laugh, they will cry, they need your love and support to do all things just as much as a typical child without Spina Bifida they just may have to add there own style to accomplish things. 

They will tell you everything they know from a scientific stand point what your child may or may not ever do but what they didn't know is that most thrive with love. I know this to be true because I am one of 166,000 who has thrived with love and support from family and friends.

Long before I was born God whispered hold on tight my child it might be a bumpy road from time to time but I've got you. I am never letting go and hold on He did...

Spina Bifida is NOT something that I "suffer" from but something that I live with every day of my life and you know what? I have no complaints what so ever. Do I struggle sometimes? Yes I do but don't we all? My life is a gift I have been blessed with for 31 years.

Today I am grateful to have such wonderful parents who gave me a chance to be more than just a statistic. Thank you mom for choosing life for me and for always being a rock for me to lean on when things get heavy. I am so grateful for life today!

God Loves You!

 It seems to me that the people who appear to be the most unlovable are usually the ones who need our love the most, even if they try to push you away which most often they do because they feel unworthy of our love show them love anyway. Love them just as God has always loved us. The world around us needs the love we have to share and more importantly to see the love of Christ through us every day.

The Light House

You are the light to guide each step we take to direct us on the path we need to follow in life. You are our strength, you are our comfort, you are our hope, you are our everything. I thank you Lord for always being there with us in every second of life.

I feel like we have times when we are confused or may not understand why we go through things or why certain things happen but we know you will not allow anything in front of us that is far beyond what you know we can handle. You are not far from our grasp, all we have to do is reach for you.

You seem to always make a way for us. I lay my entire life at the foot of the cross because I know you are there. I believe everything you do in our life is out of your great and perfect love for us. I pray we are able to depend on and to lean totally on you. May we put on the full armor of God in every move we make today.

Thank you God for another day of life. You continue to remind us that with every breath we take each day, we can make our future brighter if only we just seek to do the Will of God. Have a blessed day everyone! God bless you.

Find Peace in the presence of God

 We can't always be sure of how God will continue to move mountains on a daily basis for us, what He is going to do from one minute to the next or when God is going to reveal all to us because it is impossible to predict everything that can happen in a person's lifetime but from my own personal experience I can tell you the presence of God is going to be felt right on time just when we know we need it most. 

God has a plan for everything under the sun that is much better than anything we could have ever imagined but sometimes we fail to see it because it is not done the way we thought it should be or the way prayed it would get done. We tend to forget things hardly ever happen on our time or when we want them to happen. We have to trust in God's timing for all things.

I think if we can be still, be patient and we listen quietly we will see God in many unimaginable ways to remind us each and every day of how much we are loved and kept safe at all times in the hands of God.We may struggle to believe this but our faith is the key to unlock each and every promise God has for us today. Be ready to see the beautiful plan God has for us in our life. 

The power of the Holy Spirit

The Worship team sang Nothing Else by Cody Carnes in church yesterday. I was sitting there listening when this verse caught my attention.

"I'm sorry when I've just gone through the motions.

I'm sorry when I just sang another song.

Take me back to where we started 

I open up my heart to You.

I'm sorry when I've come with my agenda.

I'm sorry when I forgot that you are enough.

Take me back to where we started

I open up my heart to You.

Immediately out of nowhere and unexpected I felt tears fill my eyes. The presence of the Holy Spirit is a powerful thing. I thought to myself how many times do we as humans just go through the motions of it instead of really listening to God?

If only we will not let our mind get so caught up in things that we don't pay attention to what God has to say through us. We are a tool out of God's tool box to spread the message of hope we have through Him.

I encourage you to stop listen and pay attention today because that's when you begin to see the blessing in store for your life. Take us back to where we started so that we will open up our heart to receive the gift of God's love for us.

Turn your eyes to God in prayer.

The unnecessary negativity is too much to read sometimes but instead of getting upset with the way the world works i'll give it to God in prayer because what do we have to lose right? I believe we lose nothing for praying but we gain a lot of things.

I ask God in my prayer to help us to bring peace into the world we live in today. The kind of peace that can only come from God.

Where there is hatred, may we show God's love to others. Where there is sadness, may we show the joy we find in Christ alone. Where there is darkness, I pray we are able to shine the light of God for others. Where there is doubt, may God help us to share the faith and hope of our Savior Jesus Christ.

I pray we not only seek to find compassion and acceptance from one another, as much as to be understood by others. To be loved as we love one another in return unconditionally as God has taught us to do.

It is in giving we can see the blessings of God first hand in our lives on a day to day basis. It is in forgiving others God has forgiven us. It is all in God and only God who has given all of us the blessing of love and life.