Risks are Released...//

What I feel...is sometimes super hard to put into words and even more complex to explain to another. Recently, I have been learning about what I feel...and really the true core of how to express what I feel to another. It would be easy to sit down and express these thoughts if they would be accepted out of love and genuine interest...but the risk that they may not is hard to bare...and often stops me from saying what I need to say. This week I had a challenging conversation with a good friend...regarding the fear of knowing what to say...and her not wanting to be rejected. I am reminded that we all face this fear at one time or another...but I honestly told her...SAY WHAT YOU FEEL! Along with speaking what you feel...Speak what you know to be true! Often times we forget that when embracing what we feel, it is foreshadowed by what we know to be true. Before we have a feeling...we have to know truth. We have to speak truth...and truth leads to feelings. Honestly, when we speak what we feel...it should be based upon the truth of what we know. It's not so much fear and rejection that we are afraid of....it's that we are afraid of speaking truth...// When we speak truth...risks are released...and well, the risk could be rejected. In my experience...saying what you feel and embracing truth...has never let me down. Sure, the answer may not have been what I had anticipated nor expected...but truth was spoken...and the feelings were released. There's a sense of peace that comes when we speak truth to another. When you struggle with knowing how to express your feelings and saying them... simply state the truth...for it's perfectly stating what you feel. Not only are feelings released...but they are released thru the truth of what you have spoken...// The best words any ear could hear are when risks are released and spoken by the truth of a feeling.

The Catalyst....//

Swarming thoughts cloud my mind, as I swift thru the past two months of all that I have encountered. Many times this past month, God has reminded me that if I have faith, the size of a mustard seed, He will move mountains. He will fight my battles and bring me forth as gold, for I am humbled to be child of the King. He has opened my heart and given me the desire to surrender and yeild to His amazing plan. When we embrace a spiritual journey with God, He moves, He speaks, He answers, He guides, and He shines His glory into our lives. I am slowly learning that to surrender and yeild, we have to lay down ourselves before Him. Dropping our pride at His feet, and leaving our tattered shapeless hearts for him to mold. It's not about our visions matching His, but His vision becoming ours. It's so much easier said than done. I often times wonder why it can't be simple...for if it was simple: it wouldn't be GOD. He uses HIS plan to shape us to be more like Him, so that we can then be a light to those who are dim. I would love for a simple plan to exist, but when we are children of God, He want's to strengthen and mold us all for His glory. Though the spiritual journey is hard, there are moments of His grace, His mercy, His love, and His joy. That's the beauty of HIM grasping our attention that our lives are HIS and not our own. So as I write: my heart sings Joy...knowing that surrendering is a place of healing...it's the catalyst...that brings us to His Glory. ***This post is still a work in progress***

Chisel away this New Year

*** See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland *** Isaiah 43:19 It's a new year and with a new year comes new things! Not new things in a material sense, but new things, as in lessons learned, growth patterns discovered, and a new found trust. I have struggled with in recent months with trusting the Lord with my future- I have often asked God about his timing and how my life has ended up on a very different path, than I ever antcipated and in many ways ever wanted for myself. The Lord has quickly reminded me recently that I must trust in His timing. That the life He desires for me takes time to create, and that the journey is all about trusting in Him and His time. The Lord reminded me yesterday, that He chisels away at our hearts much like a carpenter chisels away the rough spots in the wood.(Isaiah 44:13) God is the same way with us...He chisels our hearts to mold us to be more like Him and to be His image on this earth. We often times have to step back and allow Him to chisel areas of our hearts that are hardened and even broken. In order to grow and trust Him fully is painful, and He has stated that the Journey would not be easy. I am reminded of how the Lord moved mountains, parted the red sea for Moses, allowed David to take out Golliath, allowed Jonah to be swallowed by a whale, allowed Job to lose everything, and prepared Ruth for Boaz. He did not just allow these occurrances to happen to these people, they were purposed...divinely planned-- He chose these individuals, taught them how to live faithfully and chiseled away at their hearts to have HIS destiny fulfilled on this earth. It has been my desire to live with this same kind of faith...that these indivduals did. It wasn't easy for them, and they each struggled in their own way to live out the faith that God had called them to display. For each of these stories it was their faith and trust that pulled them through and allowed them to overcome and their journeys to be testaments of the Lord's great love. Their personal stories are outlined to encourage us and allow us to live they did...by faith. With out faith we can not trust and with out trust we can not truly love. So here's to a new year- one that I can already sense, is gonna be filled with growth in his timing...where the streams in the wasteland become beautiful reminders of His grace-- His mercy-- His peace-- and His love--

31 + 1

Life lessons at 31, seem so different from the life lessons that you learn at 5. I think everyday I learn something new and a lesson that is for my good. Some lessons are easy to learn, however the older I get, the more I realize that lessons learned at 31 are hard. At 31, you are set in your own ways...your own time...and in your own ideals. Life at 31 taught me to trust...even when you don't want to trust. It's taught me that trusting people will often times dissapoint...and that all I need to do is trust in His voice of reason and His ways. Life at 31 taught me that time is precious...from sharing happy moments with friends, to listening to the stories of the lonely strangers on the street. That time is theirs and in those moments of grace...I have learned to be present...and to cherish their time. Life at 31 taught me that my own ideals aren't always the best. They are just simple collaborations of the chords of my heart that sound a tune I like to hear. When my ideals should sometimes be entertaining the the sound of a different tune. Life at 31 taught me that love is not a fairytale...and that often times it will come when it is least expected...and when time stands still. To throw away the ideals of perfection and to accept the heart that shines hope. Above all be willing to trust, enjoy time, and accept different ideals. I hope that in this year of 31+1; I would be granted the opportunity to shine with grace, the lessons that I have learned at 31- and remember that even when I am set in my own way...my own time...and in my own ideals...that these lessons are used to capture the sound of His ways, His time, and His ideals.

- In the world of Cinderella's -

Fairytales are the magical stories when two people fall in love and live happily ever after. Usually the prince has mastered his way into the girls heart and been captured by her beauty. I have been thinking about fairytales alot lately, and do they really exist in today's world. The hopeless romantic within me believes with all my heart...that indeed fairytales are real and yes even still come true. - - In the world of Cinderella's there's always that moment where they fall magically in love with their prince. What is it about their prince that crept into their hearts and allowed them to fall? - - I always loved the story of Cinderella when I was little. She was naturally a beautiful girl and yet day in day out she dealt with the sufferings of her awful stepsisters. She had grace towards them that always seemed so genuine though they were so unkind to her. Nevertheless, Cinderella pressed on and continued her daily tasks, always hoping that someday she would meet her prince charming. The time came and she met him and all because the glass slipper was found and placed on her foot, she was the right princess. - - Only if in this life...if love were so simple...as to finding the right slipper to fit the foot of the right person. Seems cliche to say: but that's all it takes. The right slipper may not come for the prince or the princess that one expects. - - The slipper that you hold may indeed be pretty, and the person that is to wear that slipper to the ball, may not be an exact representation of what one expects. Just like Cinderella, she would have been the last chosen one to wear that slipper. However, her prince saw the beauty of her soul. And let's not forget that Cinderella had some magical help from the fairy god mother, when she showed up to wave her wand and make Cinderella the star of the fairytale. - - At the strike of the midnight clock that would all vanish, and every peice of her beauty would fade away...leaving behind the hope for her prince to find the girl of who the slipper would fit. - - The prince was captured by her initial beauty...and wanted to find his princess, and well we all know the ending that indeed he finds his princess and the glass slipper fits. - - The truth is fairytales look much different today: and often come with alot more complications than finding the princess to fit the right slipper. Perhaps though in the day to day tasks this Cinderella will find her prince--

beautiful grace - -

Beautiful grace encompasses the heart and allows the spirit to sing. It's refreshing to see a pure soul flourish and a wondering heart find peace. The beauty of each new day abounds with a new hope. The new hope leads to the refinement of a spark. There's a flame waiting to burst and with new found glory it will ignite a fire. Such a time as this - - for the pure soul will find peace - - and peace will be the spark for the the bursting flame to ingnite - - His beautiful grace will encompass the heart -

Only by His Spirit....//

" Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord." ~ Zechariah 4:6 In recent weeks: this verse has shown up in my everyday life- and I have taken some time to reflect on this verse and how the Lord transforms our lives according to HIS will and according to what HIS Spirit desires. When life seems to be swerving and moving in a different direction that what was anticipated---we have to realize that it's not about our might or power. It truely about the Lord's will and following His spirit for our lives. The Spirit of the Lord is present in each Christian's heart, and we must use our senses to determine the Spirit of Light over Darkness. The Lord desires that each of His of children know not only Him, but His Spirit that is ever so present in all that we do and every decision we make. Thoughts: It's not by our might or power that ANYTHING is accomplished in our lives. In life we can make decisions that, yes, would lead us into success and give us a sense of power. The true way we reach any sort of success in our lives is allowing the Holy Spirit of the Lord guide our every way and determine our every decision. He is moving HIS spirit to give us the strength to feel and discern His wisdom----so that at the end--- the decisions that we make---not by might, nor power, but by HIS Spirit within us. * His Spirit is moving---we must be viligent to discern the message of HIS Spirit*