As I sit here tonight thinking about everything that has happened in the past 4 weeks in our lives, I can honestly say this is one road we haven't traveled before. We can seek God's will all we want and tell God we are willing for his will to be done in our lives, AND actually convince ourselves that we mean it.. but until we are stripped down to where God can receive from us COMPLETE surrender then we haven't quite reached that point that we can say we truly are yielded to h...is will for our lives.
Tonight, I finally understood that. Tonight, I finally see the place I have to come to with God. It's hard to get to that point but complete total surrender is what it takes. It's true, no matter how much it seems like the fire we are going through is going to completely destroy us......we have to embrace the fire and know that when God's work is done in us, he will fashion and form us and mold us to be what he wants us to be....then we will eventually see how God was working his plan in our lives. Tonight I had to come to that point.
I don't know what God's plan is for mine and David's life but I do know his plans for us are good and far beyond what either one of us can see. And I know that David and I love the Lord with all our hearts and we want to be used of him. Those of you that know us, know that we love God with everything in us and our desire is to be used of him. But we have learned a lot these past few weeks that only the Lord knows about. Sometimes God has to show us things in ways that we do not understand, and it seems so hard to accept....but God will never leave us, however he will allow things in our lives to mold us and shape us for he is the Potter and we are the clay...... and no matter what things look like, he sees the bigger picture and he knows the direction he is taking us.
Jer. 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you. Plans not to harm you but to prosper you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.
You have my total attention God.........

How To Be Happy!

You are not suppose to be anyone else....You are suppose to be who you are! We waste so much of our time comparing ourselves to other people.....oh I wish I looked like her/him....I wish I was as popular as her/him...... I wish my hair looked like hers...... I wish I was as small as her or I wish I wasn't so skinny.....
We are who we are....and that's who we are suppose to be and we need to love ourselves ....then we will be happy with who we are!  Love yourself....take care of yourself....be good to yourself....you are beautiful/handsome!!  Just be Happy  :)

Is It Fate....or ....Excuse?

Is It Fate.... or .....Excuse?
Have you ever been around someone that when they start talking about the way their life has turned out, you hear, "Well, I can't help it. When I was little, this happened or that happened, or my parents were not good parents, so that's why I'm like I am." I know a woman who used to say, "Well my ex husband was an alcoholic so now my son's going to be  an alcoholic."  I asked her at one time, "Why do you say that? You're son doesn't drink." But she would say, " Well I know he don't now but he will eventually because of his dad."  I never understood that. She had already determined what she just considered his fate in life.  I am a firm believer that we make our own choices as we get older...as we grow up.  God gives all of us that option. Once we learn the truth and know that we can make different choices, then if we had a bad upbringing, why would we want to continue that cycle?
On the other hand, we could turn that around. For example, I was raised in a wonderful christian home! My daddy was a minister and we pretty much lived our lives in church. However, when I got older, I decided I wanted to see what was out there. So I sang in nightclubs, drank, and acted stupid. Made a lot of stupid mistakes. But they were choices I made for myself. I got back in church eventually, then later on, after my divorce, I gave up on God again. I was angry, so I decided to do things my way. (I know God had to be laughing on that one. Your way? Yeah right..)  But my upbringing was wonderful. Two of the best parents anyone could ever have! I love my parents with all my heart! But I made a decision to go a different direction. Now they continued to pray for me, and God convicted my heart, and I rededicated my life to Him and have been serving Him every since. But it was choices I made. I know someone who didn't have the best upbringing in her childhood. She seen things and witnessed things that she should not have had to. So when she got grown, she could have continued down that road and said, "Well, that's just the way I was raised." But she didn't. In fact she said that when she got old enough to make her own decisions, she decided that she was going to do things different. She said, " I don't have to be like that just because they did." And now she is serving God and has a beautiful life!
So is it fate...or is it excuse? There are times when people have lived a life that has been horrible and the things they have been through are unheard of. And at first, they may think, "I guess this is the way it's always going to be." But then when they discover that it doesn't have to be like that....that they do have a choice....then it's up to them to change their thinking and to make better decisions. Now where the excuse comes in at....is when they realize they do have the option to be different...they do have the choice to change and make something out of their lives... and  yet they choose not to. And I want to say that  the best way they can  do that is to ask Jesus to come into their hearts and He will forgive them and help them to make those right choices. So if they  choose to lean on that crutch and say, " Well, I can't help it. I was just raised that way so it's just inevitable that my life has to be this way" ..... then to me, that is an excuse. It's easier to blame than to change.  Now some of you may disagree with me, and that's okay. But I'm saying, don't let anyone convince you that you are stuck into living a certain way, just because you had a rough childhood. Don't let anyone steal your dreams and convince you that the bad cycle can't be broken!  Remember....we all have choices to make.... What's your choice?

Attitude Is Everything

How many times could we make a difference in a person's life,just by sharing a smile with them.... We never know what a person may be going through, problems they're dealing with, maybe they have a situtation in their life that they don't know how they are going to handle, and they are burdened down by it. But if they happen to look at you....maybe glance your way....and you give them a sincere smile....you could possibly give them some hope, some encouragement, just a bit of happiness...even if it's just for that moment... it's still something they might need. And what does it cost you? ... nothing, and it should make you feel better! I LOVE  to see people smile! And I LOVE  to smile! Oh my goodness, to me it's just a good feeling  and I love  to make other people feel better! I think it's a beautiful thing! Why don't you give it a try today?

Wisdom....

Wisdom...
How much wisdom do you have? How much wisdom do you display in your every day life? The decisions you make...great or small... how you handle things? I believe it is so important to have good wisdom. So important that God wants us to ask Him for it, desire it, seek it out! God told Solomon to ask for anything he wanted and God would give it to him. (2 Chronicles 1: 7-12) What did Solomon ask for? Wisdom! This pleased God so much that He not only gave him awesome wisdom, but He also gave him great wealth, possessions, and honor! Sometimes, we get that backwards. We want wealth first because we like having money. We like to be able to buy what we want. We want possessions because we like to impress others. We want to look like we have it all. (Have you ever tried to buy a present for someone who seems to have everything? It's not fun.) We want honor because we like to recognized, acknowledged, know that we're important. But we need wisdom more than any of these! Because if we have wisdom, we will be wise in how we handle our money, how we use our money. (And there have been times David and I needed more wisdom on this..believe me.) If we have wisdom, we won't feel like we need all those possessions. We won't feel like we need to impress people. If we have wisdom, we won't feel like we need to be recognized for what we did, or for helping someone, or for being obedient to God. If God wants us to be recognized, then He will make that happen. But there are times He just wants us to be humbled and be obedient and do  whatever He lays on our heart to do. If we have wisdom, we will be satisfied with that.
I don't know about you, but I pray for more wisdom because I desire only what God wants me to have. Is that your desire today? Truly deep down in your heart, is it your desire to have wisdom above everything else? If God offered you anything you wanted....what would you ask for?

Good morning! It has been several months since I was able to post but I am back full force! So much has changed and hopefully I will be able to share some with you about that eventually. But for now, Mr. Fall has brought us some beautiful weather and such a crispness in the air.... and I am loving it! I hope 2014 has been kind to you. We are only 3 months away from Christmas!! Can you believe it? Time has flown by....for me at least. I will be writing more now and I am excited to be back doing my writing! Have a super Monday!!!
                                             Renee'

"I Don't Understand" ..........

Tonight, after CIMS class, David and I went with 2 other couples to get a bite to eat. Our waitress came over, and she wasn't her usual happy self. We asked her what was wrong and she began to share with us what she was going through at home, which was very sad. One of the ladies in our group asked her if she was a Christian? The waitress asked what that meant? My friend said, "Have you ever asked... Jesus into your life?" She said, I don't know what that means." I sat there amazed because I was raised up in a minister's home and was taught about the Lord all my life. We began to share with her about how Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and how much He loves us and wants to live in our hearts. My friend told her about the plan of salvation. When she asked her if she would like for Jesus to come into her heart and life, she said yes. Then we told her we would pray for her and she looked at us and said, " I don't know how to do that. I've never prayed before." We prayed the sinner's prayer with her and she received Jesus into her heart!
I sat there, just going over in my mind what it must be like to have never known the plan of salvation, never known how to pray, never been to church in my life.....I can't imagine..... My heart went out to her. She is a beautiful young girl, with a lot of turmoil in her life, and she didn't know how Jesus could help her. There are so many people out there that have no ideal what Jesus is all about! Sometimes as Christians, we take for granted that people know, they just don't want it. But this isn't true as I seen tonight. We need to seek God and ask Him to lead us to people that need to hear about Him so we can be a witness to them. I don't ever want to miss an opportunity to tell someone about the Lord. Even as I type this, I can still see her face as she said, " I don't know how to do that....I've never prayed" ......God help us to be a light to the world..... "The harvest is plenty but the labors are few"