God Still Speaks

You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. Psalm 77:14

I need a miracle in my life. A full out, no doubt about it, God given, miracle. I’ve been praying about it for a while  now and just keep holding on to hope that it’s going to happen. Above all, I want God’s will to be accomplished and sometimes it’s hard to swallow when His will is not OUR will. But this… THIS… has to be something God would want as well.

At times I lose faith. The pain that I incur from the situation that needs God’s hand is almost unbearable at times and I just wonder if it will always be. But this morning in church service, He spoke to me. It was as clear to me as anything I’ve ever heard.

The words of the song we were singing was  “The ground began to shake, The stone was rolled away, His perfect love could not be overcome, Now death where is your sting, Our resurrected King has rendered you defeated”. I love worship and with my heart completed immersed in worshiping God, I sang these words. I wasn’t even consciously listening for His word in my life at that moment. I was just loving Him with my words, my heart, and my actions. But at that moment, He decided to encourage me and into my heart He spoke,

“Look at what I did, for YOU, for all of mankind. If I can do this, surely I can provide you this miracle you need in your life. And I will”

Normally, this word would have caused me to shake with emotion and break down in a fit of tears, but today, I was totally at peace. Oh, there were tears, but He held me together. At this moment, I believe He wanted to show His emotional strength in me. He showed up in my life and gave me  the encouragement I needed to keep going, keep praying, keep trusting Him.

Through it all, God will prevail and His plan will be carried out. He has the power to do ALL that He has said He’s going to do and will overcome the world. He will overcome evil.

He is going to provide this miracle in my life and I am going to keep trusting Him for that. When? I don’t know. How? I don’t know. It may be in a completely different way than I can even imagine, but He will.  My life is in His hands and He will provide.

Is there something in your life in which you need a miracle? Though sometimes His plan is not our plan or desire and things don’t always happen as we would like, there are times when a miracle is needed and granted. Trust in Him, no matter the outcome, for He has all of his children in His hands. He’s working this out for us and for His glory.

And when a miracle is granted, give Him the glory. Let’s show the world the power our Father has and the love He gives us that is like no other.

Sports, Coaches, and Life: It’s More Than A Game

Sports has been a big part of my life. I played competitive softball and basketball when I was younger. When the two sports became more than I could possibly do, I quit softball to focus on basketball, my preferred sport. I played all summer on traveling teams as well as for my school. I was playing basketball year round and my efforts payed off. My dream of playing college basketball was realized, though short lived because of numerous knee injuries.

Now as a mom, my children are involved in sports. They love it like I did and I love watching them play. I’m trying to teach them balance in their lives but right now, sports is certainly at the top of their list of things to do. And that’s okay, as long as they understand at some point that it’s not all about the win. That through the game, more about life can be learned besides the actual game itself.

Throughout our sports endeavors, we have coaches. Coaches teach us the game, help us fine tune the skills we have, and help us develop new skills that will take our game to the next level. Many parents even hire personal “tutors” for individual instruction for their children. If we want to be good at something, we know that we need help and practice to get there.

In anything we do, even things outside of sports such as band, art, music, etc., we have teachers who coach us to be better in the field. It is understood that if we want to succeed, we do everything we can to achieve that success. Having a teacher/coach is one of the necessary steps to being good at something.

Why is it that when it comes to sports or music or a hobby of some sort, we go to extra efforts to find a good coach to teach us, and when it comes to the game of life, we just try to go it alone? Can you imagine playing a sport and having this attitude that we will just try things until we learn from our mistakes how to be good? Isn’t that what many of us do in life?

Life is the most difficult thing we will ever go through and a coach can be such a valuable tool in helping us achieve success in all areas of our life. There are people out there that are trained to help us be proactive in creating a healthy life and making good choices. They are called Life Coaches.

It’s great to have friends to help us through life, but sometimes an outside and unbiased perspective can be just what we need to see things more clearly.

It’s great to have counselors. I have one and I would recommend her to anyone! Counselors help us deal with our past, search our souls for the meaning of our decisions, and heal from wounds caused by our actions as well as other people’s actions.

A life coach can help us from getting in these situations to begin with and also help us to make better decisions in the future. 

If you are interested in hiring a life coach for yourself or you have a teenage daughter that could benefit from having someone to talk to and listen to about decisions they are facing, please consider Tammie White. Tammie has had years of experience working with girls and women in both the game of basketball as well as the game of life. She now solely devotes her time to life coaching and would love the chance to offer her services to you. She has a heart for people and a heart for God and loves to be able to use her God given talents to help others reach their full potential.

Tammie was the assistant coach at the college where I played basketball. She not only coached me in basketball,  she also became a personal mentor to me. Her ability to lead both on and off the court was unrivaled and she made a big difference in my life. Just a few of the things I learned from her, even if it some of it didn’t sink in during that time frame, was that life situations aren’t always as they seem and trials aren’t always a bad thing, that Satan can be deceitful and enticing (and we should be on guard), and that true beauty comes from within and from being ourselves.

If you would like to consider her for yourself, or maybe you have a teenage daughter that could benefit from having someone to talk to and listen to about decisions they are facing, please visit her website at Morethanagamelifecoaching.com for more information. She also has a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MoreThanAGameLifeCoaching and you can email her at  tammie@mtaglifecoaching.com

It takes effort to be good at something and often other people helping us along the way. Having a life coach may be just the boost you need to start a better life for yourself or simply to enhance the one you have. If you decide to try it, let me know how it goes for you! I’m certain that it will be a positive experience and one that you will be glad you tried.

Keeping it Real,

Angie

 

A Spiritual Battle and a Forgiven Past

Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.

In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction;

you have put all my sins behind your back. Isaiah 38:17

I have failed as a Christian. Big time. I have been deceived by the master of deceit and have been through the pit of a sinful past.

This is not who I am today, thanks to the grace,  forgiveness and restoration of my Savior. Jesus has transformed me from the person I used to be the beautiful creation He intended me to be from the beginning.

I can’t get enough of Jesus and His Word and I pray this desire to know His heart more fully never goes away.

I began writing. Sharing my heart with you. Not because I’m a writer and love to write, but because I want to share hope with you. I want my past experiences and my story of God’s restoration and love for me to give you the hope that He can do the same for you.

With this change in my life comes persecution. Satan loves to remind me of my past. To whisper how worthless I am and that I will never amount to anything good. He tries to lie to me about many things.

The past two days have been a struggle for me. I have been in a spiritual battle in my mind. My past came up once again, quite unexpectedly. I was accused of being the person today that I have been in the past.

It just isn’t true. However, this accusation led me into a whirlwind of thoughts about who I am as a person. Satan used these words to start in on me, lying to me about who I am. I’ve been experiencing an overwhelming sense of sorrow about my actions, even though they are now years old. There are days that I just cannot seem to escape my poor decisions.

This morning in my room, I could almost hear the evil laughter saying “ha, I got ya this time!” It spurred me to fight by letting Jesus take control of the fight and trusting Him to win it for me.

I strongly believe that this attack stems from my deep desire to serve God in every aspect of my life. Satan HATES losing and will fight to get us off course again, to make us think we aren’t worth saving, to make us think we are horrible people and might as well give up trying.

After several hours of intentional study and prayer this evening and talks with my husband, with God’s help I am on the other side of this particular battle.

He has once again wrapped His arms around me and shown me a love that cannot ever be duplicated. 

He has reminded me of His forgiveness and power to make all things clean again, including my life.

This afternoon, I was trying to decide who of my good friends to contact for reassurance and encouragement. I very clearly heard Him tell me… “Let me do this. Let me be the One to tell you that you are not who you used to be. I am proud of you, my beautiful child. I only see beauty when I look at you. Come here and let me hold you.”

I broke down in tears. I have been in tears for several days now but these were different. Instead of sorrowful tears over a past I wish I could change, they were tears of joy and gratitude.

Two years ago, Jesus wiped away my past. WIPED AWAY FOREVER!  I gave my life back to Him and He gave me a clean heart and purified me. Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe, but He is powerful enough to do that!

Have I always been perfect since then? Absolutely not. I still fail Him on a daily basis. But the difference now is that my heart is where it should be. I am no longer being deceived and ignoring the Holy Spirit. I do not take any credit at all for this transition for it comes completely from Jesus. I had only to be willing to let Him transform me.

It was for my benefit that I suffered much anguish. In His love, He kept me from the pit of destruction and has put all my sins behind His back.

He has done the same for you if you’ve truly repented. He forgets it. You never will and that’s okay. It will be a reminder of where you’ve been so that you never return there. But leave it at that.

Daily give your mind to Christ and let Him fight your battles for you. He’s really good at it! In fact, He wins EVERY SINGLE TIME. 

Keeping it real,

Angie

This Isn’t The Life I Dreamed About

I was driving the other day and a song came on the radio that I had never heard before. I’m not sure the title or the exact words but the general theme was that of a happy family, a man who has loved his wife all these years and the two of them watching their children grow up together. It was a beautiful song but as the chorus began, I broke down. In tears, I continued to listen to it and think about how I had wanted this life. I wanted a family that stayed together and I wanted my children to live in a household with their two biological parents. But not just that…

I wanted a happy and healthy family atmosphere for my two precious boys to grow up in. I wanted the very best for them and to provide them with as much stability as possible.

And it hurts me that they do not have that.

I’m tearing up again now as I write these words and open myself up to you, my readers. I imagine this is not an uncommon feeling among divorced women. Is it?

My heart hurts sometimes because of it. The heartache I see in Lance’s and my children is almost too much to bear. We both believe our divorces were necessary and are extremely grateful to have each other, but we both do grieve the circumstances that caused our divorces. We both grieve the loss of a two parent home for our children. We both grieve the loss of our marriages and our ideas of staying married to the parent of our children for a lifetime.

The sadness hits me without notice at times. I was having a great day the other day when the song came on. There was nothing happening that had me stressed or anxious and life was good. When I started crying, my exact thought was “wow, that hit me unexpectedly.”

It happens occasionally and Lance and I discuss it together sometimes. We didn’t want this for our children but it is the life we have. He is so understanding when I have my moments like this and I love him for it.

Lance and I have such a loving and caring marriage. We are extremely grateful for the opportunity we have to be in a happy, healthy relationship that will last the rest of our lives.  I certainly am not complaining about my past because it has led me to where I am today.

God has turned something bad into something very good. He has brought us through the fire and refined us. We are stronger and closer to Him than ever before and understand that all things happen for a reason. I would not be where I am today without the life experiences I have gone through.

God can use our pasts and our present willingness to reach others for Him. He can turn our brokenness into beauty so that all the world can see His power, love, and mercy. 

I know this more every day. But I am sure that there will still be days I grieve my dreams not coming true in the way that I dreamed them.  It is life and it’s okay.

I’m putting my faith in Christ that He will see me through. Every day. Every tear. Every grief.

And I know He will work all things for my good and the good of my children as long as we love Him and according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

This isn’t the life I dreamed about, but it’s the life I’ve been blessed with and the life I love, despite the grief that I may temporarily feel.

Keeping it Real,

Angie

***For more on grieving, see Kevin Thompson’s post An Ever Changing Grief  at http://www.kevinathompson.com/ever-changing-grief/

Overwhelmed with God’s Grace

There have been some terrible things happen to me in my life; however, I also have made many many mistakes of which the responsibility rests completely on me. I have a past of which I am not proud. Poor choices have caused me much heartache and the consequences of those decisions will follow me around. However, I am forgiven of my past! The grace that God has shown me overwhelms me and I cannot find the words to explain how I feel. In church one Sunday, the following scripture was read. I felt like I was hearing my story. I was once again reminded of God’s forgiveness and could not stop the tears that flowed. As a woman with much to forgive, I believe I realize more fully the magnitude of the grace of God and what it means for me.

If you have a past that you aren’t proud of and struggle with forgiving yourself, read each of these words carefully, as if it was about you. Let Jesus’ words sink in and wash over you like a fresh breath of air. 

A Sinful Woman Forgiven: Luke 7: 36-48

36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Thank you Jesus for your deliverance! I give you the glory for the place I am today in my life. I give you the glory for the deliverance of my oppression as well as my own sins. I pray that I will never again return to the depths of sin that I resided in for so long. Because of Your love for me, I will serve You all the rest of my days. Please protect me and keep me from being deceived.

I know that where I have been allows me to be in a place now that I can help others and I pray that you use my painful past to guide others to You. I am chosen by You to be Your daughter. Thank you for making something beautiful out of something so very ugly.

You are the One true God who has the power to save us from a life of repetitive mistakes and sinful nature. When I fall, help me up. When I succeed, help me to give You the glory. In everything I do, may I always seek You and point others to You. Despite my pain, THANK YOU. I do not know how I would handle life without You. You give me reason to live and purpose and I love You from the depths of my heart.

Cleanse me and make me whole. Help me see others through Your eyes and be patient and graceful. I praise You for being the God of second and third and fourth chances. I praise You for never leaving me nor forsaking me.

Remind me of my worth in You. Remind me of my beautiful soul and help me to in turn encourage others in their walk with You. You are my reason to live and I pray Your love radiates through me like a beacon of light in a dark world. I pray Your grace flows through me like a free flowing river of hope. I want to serve you in all I do and I need You to show me the way. Your child forever,

Angie