God's Plan

Isaiah 14:24 "The Lord almighty has sworn, 'Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen.'"

I was sitting with my dear friend Linda in her new house tonight, talking about her upcoming wedding, and couldn't help but think how different things were for both of us not too long ago.

Just a few short years ago we were both single moms (along with our friend Christy) who spent many nights throwing together dinner with what we each had in our cabinets, carting each others kids around from place to place, and saying to one another, " God has a plan, we just have to be patient. It has to be in His time."

These are not words that you want to hear when you are so lonely that you think you can't take another night with the empty space beside you or you long to have someone that wants to hear about your day, whatever it had been. And, let's face it, your kids really aren't too concerned with the lecture you got from your boss or the thousand things that could and did go wrong that day.

But, I wouldn't trade those days for anything because in them we learned lessons that prepared us for the things that God has given to us now. The blessings and purposes that He had planned. We learned to be better mothers, we learned about what we could have done differently in relationships, we talked each other "off the ledge", we prayed and cried and prayed some more, and sometimes we just sat together not doing a thing. We learned the value of ourselves and the strength that we had. We learned how important it is to have other women in your life that are in the same situations and how we could help each other.

Now, we see God's plan revealed, His purpose that is coming to pass. We are both about to get married,  and Linda and her Scott just bought a beautiful home. Despite some of our choices that got us into bad situations, God did not forget His plan and purpose for us. His desire to give us good things did not go away, but he used the difficulties to grow us and change us...to prepare us for the futures He planned.

And this is just beginning...I can't wait to see the rest of His plan!

Reality Check

I walked up to the front desk a minute ago, just in time to witness an elderly woman standing at the front desk talking with Regina.

This woman was obviously homeless, or at the very least living in poverty that neither me nor my family has experienced. With her body shivering and her nose running she stuttered out the question, "may I please have a cup of coffee?"

There are multiple reasons as to why we should say "no" in situations like these, but how do you do that? I do not know. As I stood and looked at this woman I couldn't imagine what life must be like for her. What circumstances brought her to this place, where will she sleep tonight, has she eaten today?

What a dose of reality to make you realize what you have and should be thankful for. We wander around all the time wishing for more, planning for this or that, and taking for granted all that we have. What if "life" had not been so generous to us?

Father, help us to show compassion to those around us in need. Do not let us be so comfortable that we loose our gratitude or become encompassed with an attitude of entitlement. Let our words become actions rather than random mutterings with no intent. God remind us that we are blessed, and it is our responsibility to reach out "to the least of these".

Matthew 25: 34-46 
"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’"
 

My Ring

Now that we have surprised everyone (well, maybe not EVERYONE, but most people), I want to tell you the story behind my ring.

Scott and I knew almost from the beginning that we are supposed to be together. Both of us had been praying and asking God for specific things. I truly feel like God took the list of things that I had been asking for and just went down the list checking them off and saying, "yes, Christie, you can have this now". Scott feels the same way.

When we first started talking about marriage we didn't say too much to other people because we knew that it sounded crazy! Then one day my mom called me up and started talking about "IF Scott and me decided to get married and if we didn't want to do this then ok but we could if we wanted to and just let her know and that if I wanted it I could have the engagement ring that Jimmy had given to her". I was floored. I had not said anything to her about us talking about marriage. I was also surprised that she wanted to give it up. But I told her I would love to have it if and when that time came. Jimmy meant a lot to me. He and I were very close, and I have missed him terribly this last year. Especially, now.

When I told Scott about mom's call he said that he loved that idea because it would be very special to me and therefore very special to him. However, if (and these are his exact words) I wanted a ring big enough to make me puke, I could have that. I opted for mom's diamond, and to make it "ours" we picked out a setting together.

We have had the ring back from the jewelry store for a couple of weeks, but he was intent on "asking me the right way". With a little help from our mutual friends (thanks Debbie and Tonya :)) he finally made it official!

I am so very happy and thankful that the Lord saw fit to bring us together. He really is a great guy! This is the most perfect engagement ring I could have ever imagined....

PS - I love you, Pop, in case you can hear me in heaven...I know you would love Scott, too!

Catching up on Being Thankful

I'm a little behind on telling what I am thankful for this month, so, I am going to catch up on my blog.

Day 1:
I am thankful for a God who loves me. He not only gave His son to save me, He demonstrates His love for me daily and makes provision for every area of my life. Psalm 86:15 "But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness."

Day 2:
I am thankful for my history. I couldn't always say that, but as I look back over where the Lord has brought me from and forward to where He is taking me to, I know that His ultimate plan is being fulfilled. Even when things have been hard He has worked it all out for my good. Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Day 3: 
I am thankful for my children. They make my life so much brighter. Sometimes I feel like I am going to pull my hair out with them, but I couldn't imagine my life without them. I love them so much, and know that my Father loves them even more. What a privilege it is to be their mom. Psalm 127: 3-5 "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate."

Day 4: 
I am thankful for my family and friends. I don't know what I would do without them, and I see how the Lord uses them to make me a better person. I have been so blessed by the people who love me, and care about me. People who have been there in my darkest times, but are also there to celebrate victories. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"

Day 5:
I am thankful for Scott. I know that we haven't been dating long, but he is an absolute blessing to me. He prays for me, and he prays for our children. He is committed to doing this relationship thing the right way and according to God's word. He is everything that I ever asked God for. I am amazed that the Lord would send me a man that I can trust, who will take care of me, and who I am honored to partner with. (Did I mention that he loves Jesus :o)?) We don't complete each other because our completion comes through the redemptive power of Christ, but we do bring out the best in each other, which makes us better together than we could ever be apart. Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."

I may or may not stay up on listing the things that I am thankful for, but that doesn't make me any less grateful for the many blessings given to me. There will never be enough time to thank God for all He has done for me.
 

More Than I Hoped For

Ephesians 3:20-21
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

I know that there have been times when I have driven everyone crazy with my whining about not having a date or about being single. But my primary prayer (other than "please make this happen NOW, Lord") was that I not have to go through the whole dating scene. I didn't want to have to worry about meeting new people and all the awkward moments. I didn't want to worry about when or if they should meet my kids, or the impact that dating might have on them. I didn't want to get myself into another bad situation (which I really tried hard to do at one point...thank You God for not allowing that to happen). I just didn't want to deal with it. I asked the Lord to bring someone in my life that when I met him I would know that he is the one, and that he would know that I was the one.

I had just about given up on that prayer, but then I met Scott. About six months ago mutual friends of ours started trying to set us up, but it wasn't until three weeks ago that we finally met. To say that we hit it off would be a major understatement. Scott is by far the nicest man that I have ever met. I feel like I have known him forever. We jokingly say that we feel like a couple of teenagers!

I have never had anyone that treated me the way he has in the last three weeks. I know people will lecture us about taking things slow (we joke about that, too) but I have never felt so comfortable with someone. He is everything that I asked God for and more. He feels the same way about me.

Before anyone starts making arrangements to attend our wedding, we aren't engaged (yet..LOL), and we know that there are a lot of other things we need to know about each other. But we feel at home. We feel comfortable. We feel like God has definitely answered our prayers. My God has done more than I could have ever asked for, He has gone above anything that I could have thought of. I stand back in amazement of how He orchestrated our meeting, and cannot wait to see what He has next.  My heart is overflowing....I truly know what it means for God to answer exceedingly and abundantly above all that I asked for.

I can't wait to tell you more about him....

The Peace Lily

I brought a peace lily home to keep from my Step-dad's funeral last December with the hope that it might not suffer the fate of other plants that came before it. My mom assured me that they are easy care, hard to kill plants even after I reminded her that I have killed a cactus! Well, at first my plant seemed to be doing very well, however, when you don't remove the plastic out of the bottom of the pot, they can get a disease called "root rot" (I learned this the hard way). After my sister diagnosed my plant, I went in search of the solution on the internet...hoping that I can somehow save my plant.

What I read was that in order to save the plant you have to take it out of the pot, remove all the dead, rotten roots, and then put it into a new pot with new soil which will hopefully promote new growth.

Like when Jesus saves us. Be it the initial acceptance of Jesus as our Savior, or the way He "prunes" us so that we can grow and become all that He wants us to be. Pride, envy, anger, sin, insecurity...those are things, like the dead roots on my plant, that choke the life out of us and keep us from growing. Sometimes we can appear to be growing and branching out, but if we are harboring things in our lives that do not line up with the Word of God, it won't be long before our leaves turn brown and our branches fall over. We cannot be effective witnesses for Christ or lead our families the way we are supposed to if our "roots" are rotten. John 15: 2 tells us that the things in our lives that do not bear fruit must be cut back so that new things can grow.

I have done like the internet article said and removed all the dead roots from my plant (thankfully, not all of the roots were damaged and there is one leaf hanging on for now). And I pray that not only will this removal give my plant new life, I pray that this experience will always remind me to let God remove the "rotten roots" from around my own heart.

John 5: 21 "For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will"

Running Over...

Luke 6:38

^"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

Giving is a part of who I am. I don't mean that in an arrogant way, or as a pat on my back. I believe that as Christians we are supposed to give as we are able to give, and sometimes we should give even when we don't feel like it or think that we can.  I also believe that Luke 6:38 is true. I experienced that this weekend...

Friday night I went on an overnight trip with several ladies from church. When I first started planning this trip I secured hotel rooms in Knoxville with certificates that we sometimes trade with other hotels. As our group of attenders grew it ended up that one room was going to have to be paid for, but only at the employee rate which is really cheap. I decided that rather than going back and telling the ladies that the rooms were going to cost, I would just pay for the one room no big deal. Then it ended up that I drove some of our group to the event. Really, these two things were no big deal to me. As the leader of our GNO life group, I wanted to do it. I wanted to ensure that everyone had a great time without worry about details. 

But true to His word, the Lord blessed me with more than just the message that Beth offered. At dinner Friday night one of the ladies paid for my dinner. Later that night while trying to check in one of the ladies heard me trying to explain to the desk clerk about paying for one of the rooms and later she put money in my pocket for the room saying, "this is non-negotiable". When the conference was over the next day another member of our group presented me with a beautiful devotional journal by Beth Moore as a token of appreciation for planning our trip. Then when we stopped for lunch another lady paid for my lunch. 

I did this, I give, without the expectation of anything in return. I do it because I believe I am supposed to and because I often  feel it is the Lord leading me to do so. I pray for opportunities for the Lord to use me to be a blessing to other people. These ladies were a tremendous blessing to me and really proved that God will bless us in our obedience to Him. They proved that you cannot out give God. 

I hope they know that the gestures that were done for me over the weekend were not in anyway expected, but are greatly appreciated. I even argued with a couple of them, and then got the lecture about just saying "thank you". I want each one of them to know that  they are a far bigger blessing in my life than I may ever be to them, I cherish their friendship, and look forward to all that God has in store for us.