A breakfast date with Jesus....

Yesterday I had a "date" with Jesus. You may be asking yourself... "Heather, what are you talking about?! Did you meet a mexican guy out in Texas?"

Nope, .. Gee-sus not Hey-suece :)

I guess before I dive in, I need to fill you in with a little bit of background. Here goes,..a friend of mine the other day came over and we caught up on our week as we so often do, girl talk. We got to talking about telling people about Jesus, our Savior, and how us girls are so good at talking about guys(prospects) or if in a relationship then either our boyfriend or husband, yet we rarely brag on our Savior(1 John 4:14)/Husband (Isaiah 54:5)...

Another girl friend of mine came to hang out with me later that night and told me of her "date night with Christ" from the night before. She told me she got dressed up, packed up her Bible and journal and went out to a restaurant. She wrote to her heavenly husband telling him all of her thanks and joys and her enjoyment with his presence. I had had a date with Jesus before but it had been awhile. After she had reminded me of what I was missing out on, I decided to have a little breakfast date with Him myself, yesterday morning! It was so fun! I poured myself a bowl of cereal and then milk, nothing fancy and just starting "babbling" as I so often do to people (especially my family) and said, " God ... you're a pretty busy guy, .. and I'm a pretty busy girl but you are WAY busier than I'll ever be in a lifetime but God.. you choose to spend EVERY MOMENT with ME!!.. Really??!" I thought! and.. that's about the time my " ah hah!" moment hit me.

You see my past reminds me of a guy that in the end doubtfully was the best influence in my life but the thing was, he knew me inside and out and if I ever called him... he was right there. Selfishly enough, I haven't found anyone like that to take his place, per say except when finally realizing.. HELLOO!!! Heather?! Your Father!, your Maker!, . your King of Kings, ... spends every moment with you!

When I don't have a grocery buddy or when I don't have a church buddy or when I dont' have a " FILL IN THE BLANK"... God is my FILL IN THE BLANK!You may be thinking to yourself. duh Heather.. how long have you been a Christian now?? Seriously! You are just now putting two and two together? Sad to say but yes, I guess I am. I have heard it said SO SO SO SO SOOOOO MANY TIMES.. " Heather, find your satisfaction in Christ, if you don't you'll never be satisfied." To be honest, I prayed to see it , prayed to understand it but it wasn't until yesterday through joyful tears that I cried knowing the God of creation, knows me inside and out.

I never have to worry about aqkward dates or " interviews" to see if I fit the idea of someone else or really anything! My father knows when I am selfish, He knows when I have bad breath or what I look like right when I "rise and shine" and even knows how hideous my nails look after biting them.. He knows it all and He accepts it all!

Man! I'm so amazed knowing my Lord! But the truth is I don't know him hardly at all in comparison to his knowledge of me and now my heart aches to know Him so much more.Thank you Jesus for the "achy breaky heart".

You know when you have "ah hah!" moments in life or steps to maturity or whatever you want to call it, and looking back you can see the outline of your growth in Christ? You know what I mean? Well, this is one of those for me. Through all of my bad breakups and not so "perfect" boyfriends, I finally realized that if I don't love my Lord first wholly and completely, how can I ever find joy in a husband who will leave the toilet seat up, leave dishes in the sink with food crusted to them only for me to pour every ounce of elbow grease that I have onto one stinkin' dish or the times when he says, Honey, did you really just leave that "smell" in the "powder room", .. you know what I'm talking about! and f it doesn't smell like roses!:P And if he asks me what's for dinner while watching the t.v or worse playing a video game I'm gonna have to pray so hard!! or I will for sure scream!

Seriously!

Through this quite simple yet profound (at least to me) revelation, it's helped me to embrace my flaws a little more seeing that I fall to his feet daily not because I'm good or beautiful but because he is my father, He is my King and as a princess I should respect my heavenly father as the Prince of Peace He is. I bow because I'm too weak to stand seeing my inner rugged self and finding someway to pick my pieces up but somehow blindedly it seems so impossible. However, my father knows where my pieces of fragility lie and exactly how to piece them back together again by his heart strings for his precious child.

My prayer for you is that you Seek Him with all of your heart (Matthew 6:33) and when you truly understnad His glorious presence you will fall head over heals for your comforter and creator!

May God bless you immensely as you serve Him!

To Roll with the Punches..

Good friends are hard to find and one thing I have learned the hard way more than once is when those who call you "friend" are not truly really your friend. For me and the words I know in scripture," A friend loveth at all times." It's easy for me to be in the flesh and want to "spat off" but it's another to hold my tongue as scriptures say and to pray for my "enemies". The word enemy is a harsh word but I guess the ananym(spelling?) for friend is just that (more or less). I do my best to "Do to others as Iwould have them do to me."(Luke 6:31). I know we all fall short, meaning we all make mistakes, but I've never been able to swallow someone not liking me. Call me a people pleaser, I guess in a way I am but it still is tough for me to swallow when a person is not nice to me or chooses to be nice to me when it works for them. Patsy Clairmont says it best in her book "I Second That Emotion", one I would reccommend, by saying, "I mean, really, don't some folks just jitterbug all over your last nerve? They're so good at it that it makes one wonder if it's their gift."(chapter 1 pg. 2). I would have to agree with Patsy on that one. I know a few people I encounter at times that I can without a doubt say, it must be their "gift". In a way it saddens me to think that someone would pour so much energy into making another persons moment/day/life more difficult and at times rather miserable. Nonetheless, as a Christian, I am called to show the love of Christ to others even when it seems impossible and rather draining to even try. Although it seems ludicrous at times to be nice to someone who is so rude back to me, I pray that through my frustrations and inner flesh of defeat that I would somehow rise above the spite and instead bow the knee to someone much greater than anything I could ever say or do, so for me when times get tough and someone wants to hurt me with their actions and/or word, my prayer is that I would hide behind the cross and hold on so that bitterness, anger and vengence would not shine forth but my Heavenly Father through his son, Jesus Christ.Amen.

Becoming a Texas Resident...

Seriously??... a sweet Carolina girl like myself..becoming a Texan? Can it be?!Yes.. I'm afraid so. At least through paperwork ( aka license and registration) Okay okay.. so the state really isn't that bad. If my family was here, I'm sure I wouldn't mind it quite so much but then again there nothing like the Carolinas! One good thing to being a registered driver in the state of Texas.. I now get an ILY ( I Love You) handshape/sign on my license plate! YIPPEE!!.. I remember wanting that before I ever came out here but I wasn't able to being a "first in flight" NC gal. One last thing to do.. Driver's License. How was I suppose to know they needed every stitch of information about me including my ss card ( not just the number) and my birth certificate! Geez.. why don't they just trust the NC drivers license! I mean it only has my face right there on it! Oh well.. gotta go back another day since time ran short. I'm now at work after midnight with an hour left to go. Tomorrow or rather "today" is Saturday and I'm off:). My off days are always my catch up days however meaning, "laundry day" or something else.. but at least I have time to do it and a great job to work at. My job is great ( most of the time). Occasionally I get rude customers or hard to deal with calls but that's just life. We all can't get what we want. Going back to the Texas residency thing.. maybe after I officially see my name on something that says Texas, maybe then I won't feel so "out of place" here and accept that I am in Texas in the here and now and that God is using me here whether I realize it or not. So many times I think ahead and at times worry myself to death over the future. If I don't learn how to stop worrying over the future now.. man I never will stop. There's always going to be something to worry over.

(Matthew 6:34).

As I live my life.. I am learning..

I've been searching for a place to call "home" for quite sometime, wondering if I'll ever feel at home and what home even is to me anymore now that I'm half way across the nation away from my family "home". Life has had it's ups and downs as most people's lives do however 2008 was definitely one of the toughest years for me. Leaving all of that to be short and sweet in order to rejoice in the new year of 2009, I find myself understanding more of the importance to count my blessings. I am a busy woman who honestly feels at times, if only I could make a little more, maybe then I could have more control over my circumstances and life but the truth is whatever I think about the most will hold me captive, good or bad. The more I look to what my needs are instead of so many times to others, not saying that I don't have selfish moments, I most definitely do, but all the while realizing I desperately need time to rest and grow in Him. So if I must be held in bondage or enslaved, I choose to be a slave of Christ. To count it all joy when hard times come as James says. I want to smile in the hardest times knowing my Father has the whole world in His hands and that my small feeble self is right where it needs to be, in His hands. I am starting to learn how to commit my life to the unknown knowing my Father knows best and He knows my steps. So many times I worry and stress over things like finances, relationships, inner peace and forgetting how He is so much bigger than anything I could ever face and how he loves me so much more than I could ever understand.

I am beginning to grow into womanhood I feel like. Going from the "I'm not a teenager anymore" , to "I'm not married, or dating" stage to now, I'm a daughter of the King and whatever His plans are for me are just fine, is where I'm beginning to plant myself. I tell my Dad what I would like in my ilfe but over and over again he shows me that my plan is just not good enough and I'm learning how to submit to that idea. Being a woman of the 21st Century and out on my own (aka independent), it's hard applying submission to anything in my life. Not too long ago I heard a person say taht if they are unable to submit to their father in Heaven, how can they submit to their husband? It gave me something to think about. My heavenly father is perfect and knows me better than I know myself. Yet I over and over put my God away thinking I know what's best for me when I'm only able to see the present. No part of the future, not even a second is in my hands,it's all in His.

My prayer is to have faith the size of a mustard seed so I can move mountains!(Matthew 17:20)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

TOP TEN THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR...

1)JESUS CHRIST, MY SAVIOR.
2)MY FAMILY
-NO PLACE LIKE HOME
3)SOUTHERN FOOD!!
-CASSEROLES!, PIES!
4)DOGS
-GOOD MEDICINE
5)EDUCATION
-WELL ROUNDED PERSPECTIVE
6)GOD'S WORD
-MY SWORD
7)FORGIVENESS
-FOR ALL THE TIMES I'VE MESSED UP
8)FREEDOM
-WHERE OTHERS ONLY DREAM OF IT, I GET TO LIVE IT.
9)MUSIC
-SO I CAN HEAR PEOPLE LIKE JIMMY NEEDHAM, WARREN BARFIELD, MARC BROUSSARD..
10)FRIENDS
-WHO MAY COME AND GO BUT LEAVE THEIR MARK.


HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL AND SAFE THANKSGIVING..


"GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD, HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER." -Psalm 118:1



BE BLESSED!!

Tomorrow's Election Day...

Please pray for our country and the new President,for him to allow God to guide his steps in every decison. This world desperately needs to seek God in order to survive and with taht said, we need a Christian President to help make that happen.

May God Bless America!

Happy "Dress Up" Day!!