Inspiring Friday: Feb. 22, 2013

"Religion is not the way to God. Christianity in and of
itself is not the way to God. Jesus Christ is the only
way to God." -- Dick Innes

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to
the Father [God] except through Me." -- Jesus Christ

"Who dares nothing, need hope for nothing." -- J. C. F.
Schiller

"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that
which should not be done at all." -- Peter Drucker

"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is
out of focus." -- Mark Twain

"It is difficult to see the picture when you are inside
the frame." -- R.S. Trapp

Inspiring Friday: Feb. 15th, 2013

"Our greatest enemies, the ones we must fight most
often, are within." -- Thomas Paine

"The difference in winning and losing is most often ...
not quitting." -- Walt Disney

"As long as you can see each day as a chance for
something new to happen ... you will stay young." --
Sarah Louise Delany

"We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong
process of keeping abreast of change. And the most
pressing task is to teach people how to learn." --
Peter Drucker

"People will forget what you said, people will forget
what you did, but people will never forget how you made
them feel." -- Maya Angelou

"Don't ask the Lord to guide your footsteps if you are
not willing to move your feet." -- Unknown

Are you wrestling with God?

We know we wrestle with Satan all the time. He is always trying to get us off track and crush us. But, what about God? how often do we wrestle with what he wants for our lives. Jacob was the only one who ever wrestled with God and won. "Your name will no longer be Jacob," the man told him. "From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won." Genesis 32:28. The name Jacob means deceiver. Jacob lived most of his life as a manipulator, liar and deceiver. He also had many fears and anxieties despite that God told him he would become a great nation. He had family troubles and struggles. His brother Esau wanted his blood. He left Laban to escape his father in law, only to go directly into Esau's path. He distracted him by sending gifts along with his family to him.

Jacob was now too tired to struggle and had nothing left to his name. He was visited by an angelic being who wrestled with him all night. He received a blow to his hip which crippled him permanently. "And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." Genesis 32:30 despite this struggle, God blessed him for it. Jacob finally realized how much he needed God. He finally confronted all of his weaknesses, sins and fears and laid them at God's feet.

We can learn so much from this story. When it seems like nothing is going right and we have so many outside irritations and struggles; God is waiting for us to give it all to him. Stop wrestling with God's will. Life is never going to be perfect and we need God to help us through everything! "I can do all things through Christ who Strengthens me" Philippians 4:13. We may want to run away from trouble but more trouble is always around the bend. Even if you try to avoid conflict and strife because we live in a fallen world it will always be there. Trust God and know that "All things work for the good of those who love God and are called to his purpose." Romans 8:28. When things get really frustrating, uncomfortable and aggravating; hang on and know that God is about to change it for the better and that includes changing us.

I know I wrestle with God at times. For example, I feel we should find a different church to attend because things are not going well at ours or so it seems. Really, it is my husband's decision on where to go. We had our wedding at this church and have been going for about 8 years. I tell him this and when he decides to stay. I remind him of a  long list of reasons of why we shouldn't stay. In my head, I say "stop it Amber, let him decide". Trust your husband and God. God may want us there, because things may be about to change. God is teaching us and molding us along the way. Maybe we are supposed to make a change to help start a change. So, as Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, follow him all the days of your life and he will make your paths straight."

Thank you Lord for the sacrifice of your only son so that we could be forgiven. Thank you for your grace, mercy,goodness and love. I trust you to work out everything that is not going right in your time. We can put our hope in you and cast all our anxieties and fears onto you. In Jesus name, Amen!

Royal tailor Make a Move

A song to get you up and dance for the Lord! :) This is by Royal Tailor "Make A Move"

Inspiring Friday: Feb. 8th, 2013

"Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement."
-- C.S. Lewis

"What the mind dwells on the body acts on." --
Anonymous

"In the direction you keep looking is where you will
end up." -- Dick Innes

"The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make
anything." -- William Connor Magee

"Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was
put up." -- Anonymous

"No one can go back and start a new beginning, but
anyone can start today and make a new ending." --
Unknown

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

Some of the book was very hard to read because of the content. I am glad I finished this book to the end. In Jaycee's own words she is not a victim but a survivor. She did what she could to survive 18 years in captivity of confusion, abuse, fear, neglect and loneliness. In the summer of 1991 when Jaycee was eleven she was kidnapped on her way to school by very mentally unstable people (not sure how else to describe their mental state). 

A married couple (Phillip and Nancy) in their thirties decided to take Jaycee and hide her away in their backyard. In this time she was used, neglected and abused. She became a mother at 14 and had another child a few years later both by her captor, Phillip. The whole time she was hoping that someone she trusted would find her or that they would let her go. Jaycee loved her daughters, but Phillip and Nancy confused her by the new dynamics of her "family" by trying to make something abnormal look normal to outsiders. She was confused on how she should feel about them.

Finally in August of 2009, Jaycee and her daughters were finally set free. She finally was reunited with her mom and sister whom she has thought about for the past 18 years. Jaycee talks about some of the struggles of the aftermath of her captivity and the triumphs of starting a new beginning with her daughters and other family members. She is touched by how people that she doesn't know show her they care. Phillip had brainwashed her for 18 years on how must of the world was evil and corrupt (basically like him) Jaycee has started a JAYC (Just ask yourself to Care) foundation Inc. to help other families and animals in need. 

I learned from this book to always let God open my eyes to the needs of those around me. You never know what they may be going through or facing. There are crimes against the most innocent everyday. We can help if we just open our hearts, eyes and minds. Jaycee is an inspiration to how to turn around anything you are going through or have gone through. There is always hope and we can light a candle in the darkness. Sometimes we have to be aware of those most uncomfortable things but if it means saving lives it is a small price to pay for us.

Inspiring Friday: February 1, 2013

"Only those who constantly retool themselves stand a
chance of staying employed in the years ahead." -- Tom
Peters

"Tears will get you sympathy. Sweat will get you
results." -- Anonymous

"A people that values its privileges above its
principles soon loses both. " -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes." -- Henry
Kaiser

"It is literally true that you can succeed best and
quickest by helping others to succeed." -- Napoleon
Hill

"The Instructions for Life are Simple: Look ... Listen
... Choose ... Then Act." -- Anonymous