It's Scrap Weekend !!!!

Being that it is Scrap Weekend I will not be blogging and will be taking off all weekend and returning to blog world Lord willing Wednesday May 28th so please enjoy posts to this date and check out friends sites I have posted in side bar. I am blessed that this site has blessed so many and will continue to seek Lord's will for the sharing I do and the time periods I do them in, my family will always come first as I pray you will put yours first too. Have awesome holiday weekend!!!
May the Lord bless you and keep you!!
In His Grip,
Cindy

FEELING TIRED, TROUBLED,AND DISCOURAGED???

I first want to say thank you for visiting the blog and too keep praying the Lord continue to use me as His vessel to minister to others........so as we continue to seek GOD'S purpose for our lives, we will undoubtedly experience our share of disappointments, detours, false starts, and failures(I dont know about you but I have even this very week) so when we do, we cant become discouraged (which I have to admit I was tempted to do): God's not finished yet (praise the Lord). There is an old saying that says:"life is a marathon,not a sprint." I know if your like me to think of a marathon already you are tired and want to give up Praise God this is why we need our Heavenly Father to keep up with our Sprints you see He never tires and never falters and we need Him with which to draw our strength. THE NEXT TIME WE FIND OUR COURAGE TESTED TO THE LIMIT REMEMBER THAT GOD IS AS NEAR TO US AS THE VERY HAIR ATTACHED TO OUR HEADS SO REMEMBER HE IS RIGHT THERE TO OFFER STRENGTH AND COMFORT TO ALL HIS CHILDREN. HE is our shield,and strength, HE is our protector and deliverer so may we call upon HIM in our hour of need and be comforted. Whatever challenges we may be facing today God can help us to persevere and He will if we just ask Him. Maybe we find ourselves in a hurry for God to help us or resolve all our difficulties or we feel anxious or we are impatiently waiting for God to act if we find ourselves in these situations we must remember God operates on His own timetable not ours and He may be keeping silenced so we will learn to patiently persevere easier said then done I know yet when we obey the outcome is always better. So in our times of difficulties which I know a few of us our encountering right now my prayer for us all is to remain steadfast and trust in the merciful goodness of our Heavenly Father. Whatever our struggles He is able to carry us through our job is to persevere as He does move in our lives. "INDEED WE COUNT THEM BLESSED WHO ENDURE" JAMES 5:11
Beth Moore says: "Failure is one of life's most powerful teachers. how we handle our failures determines whether we're going to simply get by in life or press onward."
I dont know about you but I want to press onward toward the goal of being made more and more into the image of my Maker. Father I just pray for everyone who is in a trial or struggle this week Lord I lift them up to you and thank you they have come to my blog we know there are no accidents so I pray they have been encouraged and can find that comfort and hope that only you offer us. Lord we thank you and Praise you for that hope give us all the strength we need Lord GOD in this dark and dying world to persevere and to look to the things eternal and not the circumstances we find ourselves in we know those will pass but Lord the things eternal will not. Bless each one of us and help us not to grow weary or ever lose heart Lord in what we do. I lift this to you now in your Holy Name Amen
Love you all,
YOUR SIS IN CHRIST,
Cindy

Friend's

I was feeling led to share some thoughts on friendship it is a little long I apologize and pray it blesses you!!!!!! May God Bless Each One of You!

Growing Friendships!!!!!!

I have been led to share with you all a little something on friendship and the things I have learned(and trust me am still learning) through much time and many mistakes. In our fast paced lives, connecting with others can be a huge challenge, however I believe God has offered friendships as a lifeline for women, of course He being in the center and being our first lifeline. I think friends are important I know in my life they very much are important and for me they are not just friends or sisters in Christ but family and spending time with them helps me to be the wife I am called to be and the mom
I am called to be . I think for me friends are like flowers they are beautiful and lovely however like flowers friendships need to be handled with gentle care with God in the center of them all. God's word says two are better than one and "It's not good that man should be alone" Gen. 2:18
"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:12 so we can show that love for each other through friendship. I have recently read a fabulous book on friendship it is the title of today's reading and it describes your friends as Daisy's that make up a chain (link together) the first step we must do in finding the daisy's is to go out where the flowers are which means we may have to get out of our comfort zones and pray the Lord reveal to us who they are and He will.When we find these daisy's
(friends) we then must be willing to invest time into the relationship as all relationships need to grow. Next I think we need to not have expectations of what or how friendships should be I know we should go to God's word to see HOW WE SHOULD BE AS A FRIEND IN CHRIST
it's all in His word:
...show mercy and compassion to one another (Zech. 7:9)
...Love one another(John 13:34)
...Be devoted to one another. (Romans 12:10)
...Live in harmony with each other.(Romans 12:16)
....Accept one Another (Romans 15:7)
.... Serve one another (Gal. 5:13)
.... Be kind and compassionate to each other (Eph. 4:32)
....Admonish one another. (Col. 3:16)
....Love each other deeply. (1Peter 1:22)
I believe it is only when we relate to people in this way that we are able to experience and accomplish what God calls us to do and in return enjoy the blessings of true Godly friendships.
God loves His children ,and making the choice to invest our time and energy into His children is indeed a spiritual model, it is through friendships I have learned about God's unconditional love and acceptance , joy, forgivness and the list goes on and on. If you have friends I just want to encourage you too love on them this week to tell them how much they mean to you and if you find yourself asking the Lord who those friends may be Pray the Lord reveal to you and place those Godly women in your life you can pursue those friendships with and while doing that I encourage you not to judge or to be picky and here is a thought on that written by: Sheri Torelli
"My only advice for friendship is NEVER overlook someone because they are different ,especially the chance to have an older friend, they offer much wisdom and experience."
And my thought is they could be right in front of you so allow the Lord to work and keep Praying and praying and He will reveal. I wish I had time to share more but that is it for this time I love all of you my treasured friends!!!!!! God Bless you ALL!!!!!

"AS IRON SHARPENS IRON, SO A FRIEND SHARPENS A FRIEND." PROV. 27:17

Growing Friendships!!!!!!

I welcome you to this site. I have shared a few pictures and thoughts with you for today and hope to share much more with you all. I pray this sight will always be uplifting and encouraging! May God Bless you

A Journey Like No Other!!

Hello to you all, as we continue this journey we call Motherhood I believe one of the most important things we need to be doing for our children is to be praying for them, & for their futures. There is power in prayer the Lord does mighty things through prayer. The Lord tells us in His very word to "Pray Without Ceasing" so it is important to be praying. I think alot of times we find ourselves only praying when a NEED arises which is ok but it is not the only time we should be praying. The Lord has really been convicting my heart to pray everyday for specific things for each of my children. The first thing above all else is their SALVATION this is the most important, then for the ones who are saved that their hearts may truely be penetrated by what they learn through His word and they would desire a close relationship with Jesus. Next we then pray for protection from the enemy who seeks to destroy our children, then for our children's relationships with others, one of the greatest influences in our children's lives will be their friends and role models so how can we not pray about this. What does God's word have to say about this ......." the rightous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray." Proverbs 12:26 yikes . We also pray for each of their future spouses if that be the Lord's will for our children to marry. another thing we pray for is that the Lord would show each of our kiddo's what his or her God given talents and or gifts are and that they will use them for His kingdom and glory. these are just to name a few there our countless prayers there is never a lack of things to pray for however prayer is much more than giving a list of desires and requests to God..... Prayer is acknowledging and experiencing the very presence of God and inviting His presence into our lives and circumstances, its seeking the will of God and releasing the power of God which gives us the means to overcome any problem. When we pray, we bring that power to bear upon everything we are praying about and we allow the power of God to work through our weaknesses. when we do this we are humbling ourselves before God and saying I need your Power Lord. Praying not only affects us but it also reaches out and touches the lives of all those we pray for and that is awesome. James 5:16 says " The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous
man avails much" so I encourage you all today to start with a simple list and add to it as needed
but PRAY, PRAY, PRAY DAILY FOR THE FUTURE OF YOUR PRECIOUS GIFTS AND MAY IT DRAW YOU NEARER TO OUR LORD IN THE PROCESS!!!! GOD BLESS YOU MY FRIENDS !!!!!
IN HIS GRIP,
Cindy

Oil for Our Lamps

Hello Mom's,
Today I feel led to share a few things with you all. The title to today's note is oil for our lamps. I was in Proverbs 31 over the weekend and the Lord was really speaking to me with verse 18.....
"and her lamp does not go out by night" I know what your thinking cause I did too does she ever sleep??? I believe she did the Lord knows we need sleep and created the body for just that however I believe it means she never let her cup run dry. A mom's light is Jesus Christ and we cant shine our lamp(or light) if we run out, the Lord's word in Eph. 5:18 says :" Be filled with the Holy Spirit" it means to be filled daily and continually..........so how does a Mother run out of oil??
well in a devotion today I read from Max Lucado explains like this....... "A lighthouse keeper who worked on a rocky stretch of coastline received oil once a month to keep his light burning bright.
Not being far from the village, he had frequent guests. One night a woman needed oil to keep her family warm. Another night a father needed oil for his lamp. Then another needed oil to lubricate a wheel. All the requests seemed legitimate, so the lighthouse keeper tried to meet them all.
Toward the end of the month,however, he ran out of oil and his light house went dark, causing several ships to crash on the coastline. The man was removed by his superiors, you were given the oil for one reason "to keep the light burning". We as Mother's in this day in age are so tempted to meet EVERYONE'S NEEDS around us and the needs are there every minute of everyday however our PRIMARY JOB is to love our Lord and seek Him daily next our time with Hubbies and kiddo's all the other needs that pull at our attention though noble I am sure we MUST wait until we take care of our families first
Father I now lift us all up to you and thank you for each of our wonderful families , I pray that we will be careful to take care of their needs above all others help us all be women with well balanced lives placing you first husbands next and then our kiddos I pray this in your Holy Precious name Amen and Amen
So I leave you with these questions:
1) are we burning our lights like a candle that consumes itself????
2) or our we burning like an oil lamp fueled by an endless supply of the Holy Spirit's Power??
God Bless
In His Grip,
Cindy "and her lamp does not go out by night".....Proverbs 31:18b