Your life is a beautifully written story , live it well

You’ve been on my heart and mind…I’ve been praying for you.

That you would not lose hope but walk with your head high knowing with full confidence that your life story is meant to be full and rich! Overflowing in abundance with joy and excitement; you and your life is to be uniquely awesome!

God has written your story. The plot takes place in the most imperfect, broken, dark world, but your story tells of beautiful outcomes, victorious comebacks, and amazing hope! Your story is unpredictable and thrilling; adventurous, tragic, heroic, humorous and at times disappointing.

Do not get discouraged on the days you found yourself on pages or chapters of sorrow and heartache, failure or pain. Keep reading on….miracles, love, overcoming, growth and victory await you!

God has written a great story for you.  Go find it in Him.

SOAR!

This spring my friends and I took a trip to Hershey Park; we decided to take a detour from the rides about half way through the day to visit the zoo. While walking around oohing and aahing over the animals we arrived at the eagles nest. We watched as the giant bird sat on a tree branch. My friend leaned over and whispered, “I want to see him fly.” I told him to pray and make his request known to God.

So he stood quiet, peering at the bald eagle. We both watched eagerly expecting our Daddy to grant his request. But the bird just sat there. Suddenly before we finally decided to leave, the bird stretched out his 6-8 foot wing span and we discovered that the bird had an injured wing… He couldn’t fly!

Although we were disappointed at realizing we were not going to see the breathtaking bird soar in the sky, I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me the well-known verse Isaiah 40:31:

“But those who wait on the LORD

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.”

The challenge in connecting that verse to the sight before me was not seeing the eagle mount up and soar. But the Lord whispered to me that it wasn’t necessarily about soaring, but about the waiting.

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. …

God spoke to me, “My child, it’s in the waiting that I am able to heal you and prepare you for the soar.”
I want to encourage you today, that although you may feel as though you are just sitting patiently on the branch with little or no action in your life, God is preparing you. Your season of waiting is really a season of healing and preparation! So as you allow God to heal your wings (your heart, soul, mind, body, emotions and your situation) He is preparing you to take flight. And oh what a sight you’ll be when you are soaring!!!

Treasures and Inspiration

Lately I have been finding inspiration in many different places. I'd love to share with you a piece of my current journey... As we read the Word of God we understand that in the midst of trials, painful situations, or uncomfortable circumstances, we can rejoice in our Creator, the One who holds our lives in His hands! But let's be honest, although we know this truth, it does not always  ensure a proper response from us. Waiting on the Lord and maintaining a pure heart/joyous attitude can be a difficult task...

Can I be brutally honest with you? I have a deep longing to please my heavenly Father, to radically trust Him, to live bold and fearless, to live by faith and not by sight. But the truth is, from time to time, I struggle with frustration, confusion, impatience, defeat, and discouragement. However, God is so good, He finds creative ways to help redirect our thoughts, encourage our hearts and bring new life to our dreams!

Let me share with you a few of my own inspirations from God...

So I purchased this book a few months ago, and ignored it as it sat patiently on my bookshelf among many other unread books. But, recently through efforts of trying to help a friend in need, I picked up this book sensing from God that it may have a treasure waiting to be discovered. I picked up the book and began to skim..but then I paused and began to read, really read. And then I read, and I read and I read, until I finished the entire book in a single weekend! (That's a record for me)

So what did I discover you may ask? I discovered that God was trying to breathe upon my soul and once again ignite my passions, dreams and sense of adventure! You see, when you are blessed like me to work an 8-4pm job, Monday thru Friday, sometimes it's easy to lose sight of what is truly important -- ETERNITY. I was becoming so consumed with my life here on earth that I was forgetting about building and preparing for eternity. I was forgetting about living a life on purpose to display God's glory.

In the book, Anything by Jennie Allen, she ambitiously reminds her readers of the importance of living life with the end in mind. She challenged me to pray a bold, radical, life changing prayer..."God I will do ANYTHING!"  It tells a story of true surrender and courageous faith in God, through which the glory of God is released and displayed.  (Do yourself a favor and buy this book!!)

**I feel quite certain that in the next year(s) of my life, I will share with you the consequences of praying that prayer (and meaning it with my heart) to God.......What lies ahead can only be an adventure from here!   

 I know that for many of you Katie Davis is already known and loved , but for me she is a new discovery and inspiration. Jennie Allen's book was actually also inspired by Katie Davis (which is where I first learned of her and her beautiful, compelling story) 

So the treasure I walked away with -- A girl (or boy) completely surrendered to the hands of the Great I am, One True God, can do ANYTHING!

So God, I am the clay and You are the Potter; I and I hope my readers, surrender to YOUR plan for our lives, the good, the bad, the ugly, and in doing so we boldly say, "I'm ready for an adventure, whatever the cost, display Your glory through our lives!"

It's all for You.

Staying Busy!

The weeks fly by as life and ministry keep me busy! Over the weekend I agreed to baby sit my nephews, ages 9 and 7 and my niece 1 yr and 4 months. (eeks!) They spent the night at my apartment, I dropped them off around noon, then drove back to my apt to prepare for a workshop we held at our church for single young adult females, called "In a Relationship With..."

Awesome time imparting into our single young females to wait on the Lord and daring them to believe that THEY are worth waiting for!! 

Won't go back!

I have been listening to this song on repeat!

Thinking about the beautiful process God has walked me through these past few years!  Like Joyce Meyer says, "I may not be where I need to be, but thank God I am not where I use to be!"
God desires to use each and every one of us for good works! (2 Timothy 2:21)  But we must allow Him to take us through productive processes (James 1:2)  

There was a time in my life I lived in a pit of despair, pain and confusion. But God, my hero, rescued me from that place, and today I have peace, joy and purpose!

You, too, can be rescued from your pain and heartache. Choose today to surrender to God and allow Him to do the great exchange! (the process)

Exchange your pain for peace, sorrow for joy, confusion for clarity, depression for purpose!

Let us make up our minds today, "I'm not going back to the way it use to be!!!" 

Let us continue to move forward in the abundant life Jesus died to give us :)

Recap..

Last weekend a small group of House of Restoration ventured out to the streets of York City with the agenda of sharing God's love! We had a wonderful experience as well as response from the people. Walking through the city late in the evening opens your eyes to the desperate need for God, and the heart cries for truth from people all around us. I believe street evangelism may quickly become our new hobby!!
(More information and pictures to come)

Wednesday our family gathered to celebrate Independence Day!

My beautiful niece, Isabella 

My nephews

My dad and two brothers

Fireworks at the park

Fireworks at the park

Giving Up

"It wasn't until I gave up the control, that I finally began to feel in control."

 

Thinking back just two years ago, I reflect on the emotions of fear, doubt, and questions of "what if" that consumed my life at that time.  

I realize now, that by trying so hard to control situations and outcomes in my life, the door was opened to have fear control me.

After growing weary of fighting a losing battle, I finally began a journey of surrender to God's help of conquering fears in my life. Now I feel as though I am walking a road of victory one step at a time, hand in hand with Holy Spirit!

 

Striving to surrender control, and learning to fully trust in God, has empowered me to feel more "in control." By that I simply mean, placing my faith in God has helped me to have self control, peace, joy and stability, regardless of my situations and circumstances!

Wow! What a difference life has become! Giving Christ all control, allows us to have control over the very things that do not come from Him. "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7

 

I gotta tell the world....with God, you can trade fear for confidence, depression for joy, confusion and doubt for peace...and the list goes on and on! So if there are any negative emotions controlling you today, give up the control to Christ and you'll find freedom to live a more controlled and secure life!