Music Monday – How Great Thou Art

February 25, 2018February 25, 2018Leave a comment

Don’t you sometimes wish God would just talk out loud?

A few nights ago, my husband and I were supposed to volunteer for the Compassion table at The Roadshow concert. But I was thinking about not going.

I am 3 weeks post surgery and I’m not supposed to be standing for long periods of time plus I feel pretty wiped out every night by evening. Add to that it had been a dreary cloudy day and they were calling for a lot of rain that would make driving an hour and a half to and from the concert miserable.

I decided to tell my husband about my thoughts on not going but before I could speak he said, “I sure am looking forward to going to the concert tonight!”

So you guessed it, I kept my thoughts to myself and we went to the concert.

Upon arriving we were met by a lot of our friends we’ve made over the years who also work these events and suddenly I was happy to be there.

We then had training and prayer and we were soon off to our assigned table… A table on the floor inside the concert. Most people only visit the table during intermission so that means we pretty much got to watch the whole concert in what I would consider some of the best seats in the house!

Now I want to get off subject for just a minute…. Hopefully, this will all come together and make sense soon.

For quite some time now I have this odd feeling that God is stripping me down bringing me back to the basics. I’ve been a little mixed up about why when I follow His lead things don’t go like I thought they would go.

Now add this – Volunteering with Compassion has always been something I feel very passionate about but for about a year God had been leading me in a different direction which felt strange to me. And then this past December I started feeling Him pulling me back toward Compassion.

Add to that the story about my blog I told you a few days ago and it’s a recipe for confusion

Now back to the concert…

I am sitting there watching the concert (they gave me a chair! Yay!), Natalie Grant comes on stage with a powerful message about wanting Jesus more than anything and then she sings the song ‘More than Anything.’ The words go – Help me want the Healer More than the healing, Help me want the Savior, More than the saving, Help me want the Giver, More than the giving, Oh help me want You Jesus.

I had never heard that song until that moment… Add this to the stuff I wrote earlier- A lot has been going on in my life for what seems like a really long time from all sides of life. I keep living my life for Jesus yet bad stuff just keeps happening and there is really nothing I can do about any of it except keep praying and stay close to Jesus.

Which I do do.

Natalie sang more songs all of which had God speaking to me through them and then she started singing ‘How Great Thou Art’ and I started to sing along. I could totally feel God speaking to me about what I am supposed to do…the writing, Compassion… the junk in my life.

At that moment I was laying it all down and then I said to him, “God, it would be so much easier if you would just speak out loud to me,” and I heard Him in my mind say, “It’s time to get to work and get some kids sponsored” and then at the same exact time I felt a tap on my shoulder and heard the words “it’s time to get back work and get some kids sponsored” coming out of my husbands mouth.

!!!!!!!!

I was suddenly jarred back into the room… strangely I never really realized that I had totally forgotten the rest of the people there. For in the previous moments it had only been me and God. The lights were coming on now and people were coming up to the table to sponsor kids. I looked across the table and saw a woman who I had been talking to at the beginning of the concert who had been unsure about sponsoring as a child, she was now turning in a packet because she was sponsoring!!

I knew without a doubt this was where I was supposed to be. I can’t even begin to explain the peace that washed over me.

The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

How Great God is!

Since my surgery, I haven’t been to a church service in 3 weeks. I was sick for 2 Sundays and then church was canceled another Sunday because of snow.

Today it felt so good to get to church and imagine my surprise (not) when we sang “How Great Thou Art

Happy Music Monday to you!

What song has moved you recently? Share it in the comments or on your blog and then link in the comments.

Eyes on Jesus and Another Music Monday

October 2, 2017Leave a comment

Hey there! It’s been a really long time since I’ve been here on the blog. In May my husband and I went on a cruise and we came home tossing around the idea of selling our home and moving into a home that we have been renting out since 2011. We prayed about it and the next thing I knew we were caught iin a whirlwind of excitement. Our summer was spent cleaning up and restoring the home we were moving into and then moving. We have been in our new home for about 5 weeks now and we are just now about finished unpacking. YAY!

Anyway…I didn’t come here today to talk about the move, what I really came here for is to share a song with you. -> Turn My Eyes by Bonray.

Yesterday in my pastor’s sermon he spoke about how different symbols or things bring back memories of things our lives. That got me thinking about a tiny blind spot that I have in my eye. Its been there for about 5 years now and I never really notice it too much, but during the times that I do notice I’m always reminded of the time that I lost my vision in that eye. It was a very frightening time for me and the only way I could have peace was to keep my eyes firmly on Jesus. I didn’t realize it at the time but now looking back I know that it was during that time I learned just how much Jesus loves me. He was with me every step of the way and I know now that he is here to stay. All I have to do is keep my eyes on him.

There is a whole lot more to the story and if you have been a reader of this blog for a while then you have heard the story before, so no need to repeat. If you haven’t heard it then you can head to the archives and find it all there.

I hope you enjoyed the song and that you have a wonderful week.

Oh and one more thing before I go… Did you know that Jesus loves you and that if you are looking for peace all you have to do is call on him and he will give it to you?

It’s true.

Have a great week!

My Hope is You ~ Music Monday

March 27, 20175 Comments

“How are you today?”

How many times have you answered that question with “good” when you really wanted to reply with this – “I’m just terrible! I haven’t been feeling well lately and I have a whole lot of stuff going on in life that’s really hard to deal with!”

Sometimes as Christians I think we have this idea in our heads that just because we have Jesus we should be feeling happy all the time. I also think that when a prayer goes seemingly unanswered that makes things even harder.

Our God is supposed to answer every prayer…right?? But what happens when he doesn’t?

Unfortunately, we don’t get everything we ask for.

I do know that God hears every single one of my prayers, but the truth is he hasn’t answered every single one of my prayers in the way that I asked him to, and some I have been praying and waiting for a really long time, still with no answer.

I have quite a few prayers that I’m glad he didn’t answer my way because His way came out way better than mine. But then there are those other prayers like when my brother died or when my friend’s cancer got worse and she died too that I was not happy with his way. Those kinds of prayers do seem to happen a lot.

I know there are reasons as to why they died and others live or why one person suffers more than another. I’m not sure if I will ever get to know any of those reasons but I can tell you one thing I do know… I saw my friend cling to Jesus as she went through her last days and she seemed at peace and also through it all she was encouraging others and bringing them to Him!

Sometimes I’ve found that some of the biggest encouragers I know have some pretty bad ‘stuff’ going on in their lives but not all of them share that they are struggling with others.

Why are we like this when the truth is bad stuff just happens and we can’t be feeling good all the time!

I heard the following song on the radio recently and I loved it because the singer is talking about his job of standing on the stage night after night reminding broken people that it will be alright… when he himself isn’t doing very well.

This song encourages me because I have felt this way.

‘I know your able and I know you can, save through the fire with your mighty hand. But even if you don’t, My hopes is you alone’ (lyrics by Mercyme)

Haven’t we all felt this way at one time or another?

One thing to remember is this – no matter what you are going through Jesus is faithful and he will walk through it with you. He will even carry you if needed. ALWAYS.

My hope is Jesus alone.

Music Monday – Chain Breaker

July 25, 2016Leave a comment

It seems like we are living in a hurting world lately. The things I am seeing in the news and on social media are things that I have never ever seen in my lifetime. It just seems like there is so much more hate and anger with people hurting one another and turning to violence. People want a solution to whatever they feel angry about, but I just don’t see how turning against one another is going to solve anything.

The only real solution to anything that I can see is Jesus. If we don’t turn to him I think things are going to continue to get worse.

Maybe your not a Christian and when you saw what I just wrote you thought to yourself “Ya right! that woman is loony toons!” Believe it or not, I actually understand that because I used to feel the same way when people told me that Jesus could help the world or help me.

I used to think he wasn’t real.

Now I think maybe I knew deep down that he was real but It was easier for me to tell myself he wasn’t real then to risk the rejection that I thought he might give me because I thought I wasn’t good enough for him.

What nobody ever told me or maybe I just somehow missed it, was that Jesus didn’t come just for the good people or the ones who had it all together.

The truth is this….He came for the liars, the cheaters, the thieves, the murderers, the drug addicts, the abusers and the abused.

He came for the broken, the hurting.

Yes it’s true – He came for the good and the bad.

He came for Me and He came for you.

He came for us ALL.

Today’s music Monday song is Chain Breaker by Zach Williams.

This song brings me to tears every time I hear it because the words are so true!

If you’ve got pain, He’s a pain taker
If you feel lost, He’s a way maker
If you need freedom or saving, He’s a prison-shaking Savior
If you got chains, He’s a chain breaker (Chain Breaker lyrics by Zach Williams)

Can I get an AMEN?!

He came, He died, He took the blame, He took the pain. He took it all so we could be free!

I know this is true because my own life has changed because of Jesus.

Yes, I still get angry, I still get sad, and I still feel pain. But now I don’t face any of life’s struggles alone anymore.

I take comfort in knowing that when things feel out of control that God is still in control.

I take comfort in his love and I am free from the things that used to weigh me down.

My chains are broken.

Freedom in Christ is a way better life.

We all can have that freedom.

All you have to do is ask and he will remove your chains.

If you’re in need of someone to tell you more about the freedom you can have in Jesus let me know in the comments below or contact me via the contact tab on the top of the blog.

Have a great week!

Breakfast with a Stranger

May 23, 201614 Comments

“Are you Christians?”

I stopped talking to my friend and looked over to see a young man looking at us as if waiting for an answer.

“Are you talking to us?” I said.

“Yes… are you Christians?” he asked again.

“Yes we are,” I replied.

“I knew it,” he said and then he began telling us that he had lived his whole life for God and that even though he had done that, a whole lot of bad stuff had still happened to him.

It was very obvious that he was very upset with God, the church, and Christians.

Before speaking to us he had already spoken to other people in the room and they had all told him to go away. Now even though he didn’t know us he kept rambling on and on, telling us what seemed to be his whole life story. Most of what he was saying was really uncomfortable to take and no matter what we said to try to make him feel better he still kept rambling.

The man was also very strange and he was loud. To be honest he made me feel extremely uncomfortable and also embarrassed because he was drawing the attention of others in the room. Also, I really didn’t have a clue as to what I could have to say that would have been of any help to him. After about 10 minutes of his rambling, like the others who had sent him away, I too was wishing this guy would go away.

His stuff was hard, WAY too hard…. and the truth is this wasn’t the conversation I had envisioned myself having this morning over breakfast.

Today I was having breakfast with my best friend who had moved away last year. She had been back in town for a couple of days for family business and we had planned to get together this morning for breakfast before she went back home. I had been really looking forward to this visit with my best friend.

The plan had been girl talk over breakfast but now instead of my friend and I chit chatting about our lives there was a complete stranger telling us about his life!

A lot of what he said was uncomfortable and also very disturbing to me. He told us that he had been to several churches in our area seeking help and answers about God. From what he told us, it looked as if instead of them sharing God’s love with him he was looked down on and given a bunch of rules of which he had been unable to follow. And now it was pretty obvious that he was coming down pretty hard on himself for his inability to be the ‘perfect’ person that he believed God expected him to be.

This all made me feel sad.

This man was hurting and when he had turned to the church for help he had been pushed away and made to believe that he was not good enough for God.

Our whole breakfast was spent talking to him, and though we tried our best to help him. unfortunately a lot of what he said we really had no answers for.

Eventually, it was time for us to leave. so we told him goodbye and went on our way, but when I got in my car to go to work suddenly this feeling came over me that I should have prayed with the man. A few seconds later my friend called me and we began talking about our experience with the man and we both admitted that we had wanted to hang out with each other instead of talking to him I then mentioned to my friend how the feeling that I should have prayed with him had come over me. She said if I felt that way maybe I should go back.

When she said that suddenly I knew I had to go back.

But I didn’t want to go back! Uggh it would be so uncomfortable and what would I say??

“Just go back” kept running through my head.

Reluctantly, I made a quick turnaround and as I did the giant tea that I had just bought tipped over and dumped all over the floor of my car. I pulled into a parking spot wanting to clean up the mess but I knew the mess had to wait because I had a strong urgency going through me that I needed to get back inside the restaurant right then.

I know this sounds crazy but its true.

As I started walking back into the restaurant I could see him sitting by himself in the back with his head down. I felt nervous, with a feeling of how embarrassing this could be… what if he said no?… I don’t pray out loud well…what will I pray about?? Tons of things were going through my head but then suddenly a feeling of boldness came over me so kept going. As I walked through the restaurant I could hear a hush come over the room as every person around him quit talking. These were the same people who had told him to go away and now I could feel every eye on me as I walked back toward him. He still wasn’t looking up and as I began to speak it was so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop. “Hi … um Z__,” he looked up at me as I said, “would you mind if I prayed with you?”

He seemed a little stunned but said, “Well… I guess you could do that.” So I reached out and took his hands and prayed.

When we were finished I opened my eyes and saw that his eyes were filled with tears and then he said this to me… “God told me to come here today and he told me you were going to be here. Thank you for coming.”

God told him I was going to be here today???!

I really didn’t know what to say but I heard the words “your welcome” come out of my mouth.

Even though I left the man in the restaurant this morning, I somehow feel as if he has stayed with me all day.

God told the man I was going to be there today and I had almost missed it!

After I got back to my car I remembered the dumped tea. I had thought the carpet would be ruined for sure by that time but for some strange reason, all I had to do was shake off the floor mat. The tea didn’t sink into the carpet at all but hopefully, the lesson I learned today will sink deeply into my brain.

Since today is Music Monday I want to share a song with you that I feel goes really well with this story and is also one of my favorites right now.

I hope you enjoy — Christ in Me by Jeremy Camp.

Have a great week!

In My Hour of Desperation I Will No Longer Be a Slave to Fear – Music Monday

March 7, 20165 Comments

Good Morning! The days seem to be flying by anymore and it seems to me as if it was just yesterday that I posted last week’s Music Monday song. With that being said the next thing I am going to say probably won’t make a bit of sense…. Even though the week seems to have flown by it also seems to me as if so much has happened this past week that it could have actually really been a month that went by! Can anyone relate?!?

Last week I asked you for prayers for our family for something that was going to take place later that afternoon.

On Monday afternoon, prayers were answered and things looked as if they had gone the way we were hoping they would go. But then a few days later we found out that even though things had gone our way on Monday, we now have a whole new obstacle to tackle.

I am not usually one to get caught up in political issues and really have a hard time with people saying bad things about the officials in charge of things. To me, it seems as if we seem to have lost respect in our country for those who are in places of authority and I don’t really think that its right that we should trash talk them even if we don’t agree with them…. but I will say that here lately, it seems that I find myself wondering why grownups act more like children than children do anymore.

I know today sounds like I am ranting, and I’d like to say I’m not, but I will admit yes I am. Last week a child in my family had their right to safety ripped out from under them. I am tired of seeing this child hurt… actually, I am tired of seeing any child hurt… make that….actually, I am tired of seeing grown ups hurt too. People hurting is a hard one for me but it’s even harder when the people I love are treated unfairly and are hurt because of it. Something needs to be done about the nonsense we have going on in our country anymore. Sometimes people push to get what they want just because they think they have the right to have it and I don’t even think they really want what it is they are trying to get other than just to make a point it’s their right to have it, so they will take that right no matter what the cost.

And in this case, the grownups got what they wanted but, the cost is a child being hurt because some of the people who are in charge of making the decisions for the child’s life think more of themselves than what their actions will do to the child in the long run.

That is not the only thing I have going on in my life at the moment but I am going to stop with that and spare you the details of the rest of the junk going on and move on with this story… this story does get better, I promise.

Today I woke up at the crack of dawn feeling really down and just sick about the struggles going on lately in life.

I wanted to stay in bed but I had to get up. I had too much to do today and laying in bed wasn’t going to get them done, so I got up out of bed and headed for the shower.

Normally the first thing I do when I get up in the morning is to turn the radio on. Today I was in such a grumpy mood I didn’t want to listen to the radio station I usually listen to. Most days I listen to a Christian radio station that plays a whole lot of joyful songs and I really wasn’t feeling the joy this morning. For my friends who usually see the happy side of me here is a sneak peak at the side of me I don’t let people see very often… The side of me I don’t like much but it is me sometimes and it is who I was this morning.Yep, today I was in a horrible mood and I was just gonna just lay down and wallow in it. Like I said I wasn’t feeling the joy so instead of my favorite radio station I turned my Pandora app that I have on my phone with plans to listen to some good old fashioned classic rock. I connected my phone to the blue tooth speaker in my shower and got in.

At first, the music didn’t come on.

Awesome, now my music wasn’t working either. I was already soaking wet by then and didn’t want to take a chance on getting my phone wet. So I made the decision to shower without music today.

Once I had a pile of shampoo suds on my head the music suddenly came on with these words blaring out of my speaker…

I see the work of Your Hands
Galaxies spin in a Heavenly dance oh God
All that You are is so overwhelming

“Where is my classic rock???”

I hear the sound of Your Voice
All at once it’s a gentle and thundering noise oh God
All that You are is so overwhelming

I delight myself in You
Captivated by Your beauty
I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

God, I run into Your arms
Unashamed because of mercy
I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

I know the power of Your Cross
Forgiven and free forever You’ll be my God

All that You’ve done is so overwhelming

“Okay God, I get it…

The words kept coming and the next thing I knew I am feeling this overwhelming presence of love in the room and I find myself lost in the words to the song forgetting that I was in the shower or for that matter I think I may have forgotten that I was even in the room.

I am not sure how long it was before I came back to my senses and realized the water was cold and my skin was shriveling up so I had better move out of the shower. After getting out of the shower I left the music on and one song after another played, taking me through my morning routine which wasn’t so routine for me anymore today. Every song that played seemed to be organized in some sort of story order, all with words that fit me where I was today. Songs with words that took me on a trip back in time and then brought me right back to the present filling me full to the top with hope and most of all with peace.

The past 5 years a whole lot has happened in my life and over the past 5 years, Jesus has walked with me in many places. Many of those places were good but also many were hard places. After walking through each one of those places, I came out at the end standing firmly with the knowledge I will never ever walk alone again. Sometimes I tend to get off track and let fear get in the way of my memory of all he has done but somehow he always seems to come looking for me and reels me back in. He refuses to allow me to give up and I know he has put me here where I am for a reason and I have to keep going. He never gives up so neither can I.

Maybe things aren’t going how I have them planned out in my head they should go. Maybe I don’t understand it all but what I do know is … this time just like all the other times God has a better plan than I do. So it’s time to stop worrying about how things look to me in this moment and instead look forward to the outcome God has planned which I am sure will be better than anything I can imagine right now.

God totally hijacked my radio station today and I am so very thankful for that.

Anyway… instead of one song today, I am posting as many of the songs that I can remember that played this morning. I know the list is quite lengthy but maybe there is something in there for you.

Have a wonderful day and a wonderful week and don’t forget to check out the songs below!

Overwhelmed by Big Daddy Weave

How Great is our God by Chris Tomlin

Everything Comes Alive by We Are Messengers

I Refuse by Josh Wilson

Everlasting God by Lincoln Brewster

I Will Follow by Chris Tomlin

It’s Not Over Yet by For King and Country

Trust in You by Lauren Daigle

You are Everything by Matthew West

And for the big finish…. No Longer Slaves by Jonathan David and Melissa Helser

Music Monday – I Touch the Sky ~ When my Knees Hit the Ground

November 2, 20154 Comments

Happy Music Monday! I hope you had a great weekend and are well on your way to having a great week.

At the time you are reading this I should be on a plane on my way to Haiti…that is if I have this scheduled to post correctly.

It seems like I am finding myself traveling a whole lot lately to a lot of places I never would have believed I would ever be going to just a few short years ago.

On July 21, 2011 I wrote the words ‘I’m all in’ inside the front cover of my Bible.

Every since that day God has been taking me places I never dreamed I would go. Today its Haiti He’s taking me to but when I say God takes me places I don’t just mean places that I can travel to by car or plane.

I’m talking about places we can travel to by just living in His love.

Those places that He takes you to that are anywhere you happen to be and sometimes you are there without ever even leaving home.

Do you know what I mean?

The places that you feel as if you are soaring and make you feel as if you could touch the sky because your so high.

Places like when you sit out on your porch and notice that there are hundreds of different sounds, plants and animals, and you notice things like how the sky is always changing and how it never ever looks the same way twice.

Sunrises and sunsets that make you want to cry because they are so beautiful.

Places like a broken heart mended and now so full of love it feels as if it could break again but this time it would break in a good way because it is so full of love it feels as if it just may burst any second, so full it could spill over and over and never run out.

Places like when you realize that you have a job you never expected yourself to be doing but you love it so much you actually look forward to going to work.

And the reading…. you always loved to read but you now read a book that you used to think was boring and you now realize it was never a boring book in the first place: And the words … words so precious you hold on to them tightly knowing that the one who wrote them loves you more than you ever dreamed you could ever be loved.

I could go on and on and on and on forever and ever and ever and ever but I will just stop here for now and just say. ‘Living In God’s love is really really a wonderful place to live.” ❤

This week’s Music Monday song is ‘Touch the Sky‘ by Hillsong United. I don’t have a whole lot to say about this song because it pretty much speaks for itself and also for me the words in it are so true of what happened in my life, “I touched the sky when my knees hit the ground”

I hope you love this song as much as I do.

My heart beating, my soul breathing
I found my life when I laid it down
Upward falling, spirit soaring
I touch the sky when my knees hit the ground

Find me here at Your feet again
Everything I am, reaching out, I surrender
Come sweep me up in Your love again
And my soul will dance
On the wings of forever

Do you have a song that touches you? If so write a blog post about it then join the link up blog hop below. You can also add the blog hop to your own post by getting the code below and then encourage your readers to join the blog hop too!

Have a wonderful week and I am looking forward to seeing all of your songs when I get home!

get the InLinkz code

Music Monday ~ Cast My Cares and Believe!

October 19, 201516 Comments

Happy Music Monday! I hope you had a great weekend and are well on your way to having a great week.

I had a pretty good weekend. I didn’t do a whole lot other than I spent my weekend relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having here in Missouri.

On Saturday my husband and I went for a drive to see the beautiful fall colored leaves. For lunch we stopped at a small pizza restaurant in Ste Genevieve call ‘Sirros‘ and then after lunch we went ‘Sweet Things‘ candy store for chocolate covered pretzels, some amazing caramel, and salt water taffy. Ya I know it was a dieters nightmare, but well worth the extra calories!

After our day of driving and eating we came home and I turned on my TV. Me being not being much of a TV watcher I find it interesting that several hours later I realized that I had been sucked into the Hallmark channel and had watched one make that two ….well… um…. the truth is I watched THREE movies back to back! And while I am at it I will go ahead and admit more truth… I really enjoyed just vegging’ out and watching movies all evening!

When it was bedtime, totally exhausted (sarcasm) from my busy day of relaxing I soon found that ~~I went fast asleep~~… make that I found myself WIDE AWAKE.

All night long I lay in bed tossing and turning… wondering if I was ever going to go to sleep. I think the last time I remember seeing the time before finally falling asleep was about 4:30 am.

In the morning when it was time to get up I was so tired I wanted to just stay home and sleep instead of going to church which I will admit I almost did but at the last minute I decided to drag myself out of bed and soon found myself in church about 10 minutes late..

I soon realized it was a good thing I decided to go to church, because the sermon was one of those sermons that I could tell God had hand picked out for me to hear.

Lately I have had a whole lot of big things going on in my life but I realized that this time last year I had a really big thing happen in my life. Last year I had a macular hole in my eye and it was about this time last year that it went away… Healed with no medicine or surgery used, for the hole to go away all it took was the power of my amazing God.

When the hole first came in my eye it was sudden. I was sitting on a beach and suddenly noticed I was missing the center of the vision in my left eye. No matter how horrible or scary It seemed like I should have felt, I wasn’t scared. Instead I was at peace about it, because after the initial realization that I had part of my eyesight missing God spoke peace to me telling me that He had everything under control. And I BELIEVED with all of my heart that what He said was true and that everything really was going to be okay. In only a short amount of time I had a miracle when the hole went away. To the surprise of my doctor, God’s healing power is all it took to make my eyesight return.

The scripture for the sermon in our church this Sunday was

Matthew 9:27-31 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

It was about believing in God’s power and suddenly in the middle of the sermon God reminded me of how much I had trusted and believed Him last year about my own blindness and suddenly it occurred to me that this year I should BELIEVE and trust Him even more because I had seen His power first hand! Somehow I had allowed worry about things in my life I have no control over to fill me full of anxiety instead.

Suddenly I realized I have no reason at all to have allowed those feelings to enter my thoughts and it was time to depend on what I know is true!

I BELIEVE and I am so glad I got out of bed and went to church!

After church I visited my parents and then I came back home and soon found myself sucked into another round of Hallmark movies. 😀

I have had a whole lot going on in my life lately and it just felt good to do nothing but spend a few days doing nothing. The troubles of this world can feel really big at times but my God is much bigger.

This week’s Music Monday song is ‘Cast My Cares’ by Finding Favour

I hope you enjoy the song, its a good one.

When fear feels bigger than my faith
And struggles steals my breath away
When my back pressed up against the wall
With the weight of my worries stacked up tall
You’re strong enough to hold it all

I will cast my cares on you
You’re the anchor of my hope
The only one who’s in control
I will cast my cares on you
I’ll trade the troubles of this world
For your peace inside my soul

Do you have a song that moves you today? If so write a blog post about it and come back and add your link to the link- up below. (make sure your link is to your song post or a song. I am sorry but all others will be removed)

And now Cast your cares on God today because He IS the one who is in control!

Have a wonderful week!

Don’t forget to add your link below!

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Music Monday – Holy Spirit ~ Don’t Hold Back, Be Strong and Courageous, and Bold!

October 12, 20154 Comments

I awakened to the sound of my Lord calling to me, the words, “don’t hold back, be strong and courageous, and bold!” were flowing through my head. A rooster crowed as I pulled the blankets tighter around me, the window had been left open from the night before, allowing not only the sounds of the outdoors to come in, but also the coolness of the morning air.

During my sleep I had forgotten where I was, but it was only an instant before the sleep was lifted to the sound of the rooster crowing once again and once again the words going though my head, ‘don’t hold back, be strong and courageous and bold!‘ and also the realization that I was not in Missouri today.

Today I had awakened in El Salvador.

‘Don’t hold back, be strong and courageous, and bold!’

I had done it and now I was really here right in the middle of where God had called me to be and as I lay there listening to the sounds of nature, the memories of the past two days flooded my mind. Plane rides, a spectacular sunrise, bus rides, new friends, a spirit filled church and new Compassion center ‘Casa de Pan‘ and their leaders Carlos and Candy, a powerful prayer, an afternoon in the home of Elba and Nelson and so much more.

Feelings of joy so filled my heart and a little while later as I went for a walk it struck me that though I was far away from my home in Missouri for some reason I still felt as if I were somehow at home in this place too. Maybe it was because as I walked this morning I knew that I wasn’t ever walking alone because I had Jesus walking along beside me. He had brought me here and now He was showing me the sights, sounds and people of this beautiful place. He was also showing me that no matter where He leads, He will go with me giving me the amazing peace of being at home as I rest in Him.

After my walk as I returned to my room I saw some of the ladies outside on the porch, each of them sitting in their own private presence with the Lord. Suddenly the thought occurred to me that though each lady sat alone, they were not alone at all. It struck me that He was with each individual lady and yet He was still also here with me. Somehow I felt united with them and somehow also a part to their own special time with the Lord, even though it was still private to each one of us in our own individual way.

It also stuck me that we had all came to this place strangers but yet now we were like a family, how is it that I felt comfortable with a bunch of strangers as if I had known them forever? It could only be because we were all sisters in Christ.

When I reached my room, I sat down on the porch and I opened my Bible, it just so happened to open to the page that held this scripture – Romans 1:11-12 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong – that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.

When I saw those words suddenly I was reassured of what I had know all along…I knew God had this whole trip planned out and I knew that we were all here because we were each brought here by Him. I also knew that I was prepared because He had prepared me and I knew without a doubt that I was ready to totally dive into whatever God had planned for this day.

‘Don’t hold back, be strong and courageous, and bold!’

This is the day that the Lord has made…I am so glad as I rejoice in it!.

Journal entry 9/14/15

My journal entry made me think of the song by Francesca Battistelli called ‘Holy Spirit’ So today I am sharing it for Music Monday.

There’s nothing worth more that would ever come close,
No thing can compare, You’re our living Hope,
Your presence, Lord.

I’ve tasted and seen of the sweetest of loves,
When my heart becomes free and my shame is undone,
Your presence, Lord.

Holy Spirit You are welcome here,
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere.
Your glory God is what our hearts long for,
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord.
Your presence Lord

What song moved you this week? Write a blog post about it and then come back here and put your link in below. Have wonderful week!

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Music Monday ~ Same Power

August 31, 20152 Comments

Hey Everyone! I hope you had a great weekend and are off to the start of a really great week. This week’s Music Monday song is ‘Same Power’ – By Jeremy Camp.

The same power that commands the dead to wake

Lives in us, lives in us

The same power that moves mountains when He speaks

The same power that can calm a raging sea

Lives in us, lives in us

He lives in us, lives in us

We have hope

That His promises are true

In His strength

There is nothing we can’t do – (Jeremy Camp)

Those words are true ya know….

Whatever you face this week remember those words and know that In His strength there is nothing we can’t do.

Greater is he that is living in me…

Have a great week!