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Ir a lateral
I was so surprised yesterday to discover that my blog had been chosen at CWO's Internet Cafe Devotions as one of the Top 100 Blogs for 2008. My blog was picked as one of the top 10 in the category "Cup Overfloweth Blog".
I am so honored to receive this.... it never even crossed my mind that my blog would even be considered. Thank each of you that submitted the name of my blog! You all are special to me and I enjoy the time that I spend posting to my blog, reading your words of encouragement and sharing in the comments, and visiting each of you at your blogs.
Thank You!
"Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses." Psalm 107:6
As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week I am especially thankful that God delivers us from our troubles. You see, several years ago around this time, I wasn't the happiest person you might meet on the street. Sure, I was friendly and I smiled (usually), but inside I didn't feel friendly and smile-y. Somehow, I had allowed myself to let the busy-ness of life, the daily trials, and quite frankly, Satan get ahold of my life and gain more control than I care to admit.
Even little things that happened during the day felt like it was someone or something's plight to hurt me. I felt resentful that my husband was gone constantly working (bad job situation) and resentful towards the company that he worked for even if they did pay his salary that allowed us a roof over our heads and food on our table. I let my relationships with friends become dry. You can certainly imagine all these feelings affected my relationship with my husband. And, even greater, if affected my relationship with the Lord.
I still attended church and I could "talk a good game" about my faith. And, truth is, I did still have my faith, I just didn't act upon it. By that I mean, did I spend time in God's word? NO. Did I pray? YES... but usually only when I needed something. Did I seek God in my life? NO.
Almost two years ago I realized how very tired I was of feeling so resentful, so wronged, so tired and so out of control. I was cranky ALL THE TIME. My husband was tired of listening to me (or not, as many times I would just clam up and not share... just be grumpy all the time!). While they never said so, I'm sure my children were tired of "cranky Mom". I was tired of feeling so down-trodden and alone. I HAD TO DO SOMETHING.
The something that I did? I turned to God. I told Him how felt. How tired I was of it all. I cannot even begin to tell you how much better I began to feel as I got up off my knees! Certainly it wasn't all solved in that one moment, but I felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest. I had taken all the "stuff" and laid it at the feet of Jesus. I was letting Him carry it and not me.
Since that time, with MUCH help and strength from the Lord, I have worked hard to turn things around. I have learned that so much of what happens on a day to day basis, well, just happens. No one is out to get to me. It's not personal. It is just life. And, while I do need to realize that some things I control and can make different... many things are out of my control and just not worth wasting my energy. So, I let those things go. I don't obsess over them like I would in the past. I've also spent alot of time talking to husband about things. When I'm upset about something I go to him and we talk about it. He may not always understand why I'm upset or why I need to talk so about it, but he listens and he supports. An added bonus? It's helped our marriage. It's good to share and to understand each other better!
I've worked on my relationships with others, too... co-workers, friends from church, family, etc. Those relationships are so important, too. Life is so much harder when you don't have those special people in your life.
While the above are so very important, I've also done some things that are even more important. I've worked on that relationship with the Lord that was missing. I spend more time in prayer, I spend more time in His Word, I spend more time turning it over to Him instead of trying to go it alone.
And, you know what, I truly believe that this last part is what has turned it all around for me. God is faithful. When you turn it all over to Him and allow Him to work in your life... HE DOES. Without him I would be back where I was several years ago. He has given me the strength to step past the walls I had built around myself. He has given me strength to go to my family and ask for their forgiveness and to be able to build back up the communication between myself and my husband. He has given me the courage to step out and do new things and make new friends. He has given me the desire to grow in my relationship with Him.
Do I still mess up and make mistakes and sometimes fall back into my old ways? Sure. I am human. But, God promises He is always there ready to pull us back up a 2nd time, a 5th time or any time. He loves us regardless and He will ALWAYS be there for us to help us "keep on keepin' on" as we seek Him. I may still be a work in progress, but God promises me that He is always there. He is by my side, holding my hand, and guiding me in the right direction.
This week, many of us bloggers have devoted a special post in which we are sharing our personal testimonies of the Lord's work in our lives and/or that of our families. Our collective prayer is that this sharing of our testimonies will not only encourage each other and give Glory to our Lord, but also show the love of Christ to those who happen upon our blogs. To enjoy many more testimonies like the one you've just read please visit us at "Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving".
I cannot tell you how excited I was last week when I learned that I had won Tonya's giveaway that she was doing in honor of her son Brent's 13th birthday.
You see, this wasn't just any giveaway (although I do think they all are great). This one was to honor the birthday of a very special young man. When Brent was 9 years old he was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system. Almost two years ago now, Brent went home to be with Jesus. Tonya chose this giveaway as a way to honor Brent and his love of giving to others.
I must say, Brent isn't the only one in his family with a heart for giving. When I received my package from Tonya I was so surprised. I just kept pulling items out of that box... again and again. As you can see from the picture above there were some great items in there. First of all, there was a loaf of Sweet Potato Bread. It was yummy!! I had to fight the rest of my family for it.. we all enjoyed it!
My husband was thrilled to find the recipe was included in another item Tonya sent me -- the "Lunch for Life" cookbook. This is a cookbook that is put together by the "Lunch for Life" organization which is a foundation that is all about raising money to help children that have been diagnosed with Neuroblastoma.
Tonya also included some wonderful goodies from Bath & Body Works. You just gotta love anything from Bath & Body Works! There was also an air freshener is the wonderful scent of Creamy Nutmeg.... guess what my home smells like today? :) Also included were two books that I have just been dying to read -- "The Love Dare" and "Created to Be His Help Meet". The last (but certainly not least) item was a Caramello bar.... Tonya says this was Brent's favorite candy bar.
Tonya, I just can't thank you enough for all the wonderful goodies. You are such a blessing to so many of us out here in blogland. I love you, girl!
I gotta tell ya… you guys out there are great! Last week for Thankful Thursday I posted this. First of all, the words of encouragement and interest in where the Lord is leading us was just amazing. The comments you all leave and the prayers you offer and the true interest you show is just awesome and so uplifting. The Lord has blessed me so much in the friends (you) he has provided to me through blogging.
And, while I didn’t intentionally mean to leave a bit of a “teaser”… it seems I did just that. :) The main reason I haven’t given any info as to the type of business we are working on is that I want to be able to show it to you. Also, I hesitate a bit because I don’t want anyone to incorrectly perceive that I am trying to advertise or get business via this blog. I pray when I do reveal what we are doing that no one will see it as advertisement. On the other hand, I am excited about it and want to share. Plus, how can I withhold when you have all been so faithful to pray for me and encourage me as I look to where the Lord is leading?
So, with that said, we are currently working on getting a web site up and running for this new business endeavor. Once we’ve got it “viewer worthy”, I will post a link and you can see for yourself what we’ve got going here.
I will give you a hint or two. This is a completely new sort of thing for me. I’m a computer person in my current job… work in IT and sit at a desk at my computer most of the day. And, I do love computer “stuff”. However, this new business puts the creative part of my brain to work and gives me a chance to be directly involved in the production and design of our product. I’ll offer these two words as a hint…. original and handmade.
I’m also thinking that maybe in celebration of this new venture that, when the time is right, I might do a giveaway on my blog for someone to win some of our “product”. We’ll see… there again, I hesitate a bit because I don’t want anyone to misconstrue my intentions in regards to advertising or drumming up business. I need to think some more on this one. I’ll let you know what I decide and maybe you could offer your thoughts on the matter?
Thanks again to each one of you for your prayers and your interest and your encouragement. You are truly the BEST!
