I pick Joy for the WIN

Happy vs. Joy  (Get Joy...Get Joy...Get Joy)  subtitled There is a song about it...Joy Joy Joy down in my soul!

 

 Ecclesiastes 9:7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.

 

I wish I did better at documenting what I read.  So I could be like the fancy intelligent folks who can say, "Here is a quote from blah blah blah, I came across when I was reading blah blah blah"

But I'm not that lady, I do read though and one day I was reading a book (hmm or maybe I was listening to a TV show, ANYWAY) and it was discussing how happiness is external but joy is so much deeper (internal).    

You can't be happy and sad at the same time...Simply put they cancel each other out.  I can look back over my life though and pick out a few sad moments and I can truly say even in the midst of it all I still had joy.

Several people were amazed at the reaction I had when my car was stolen.  Oh they said I would have been angry and cussing and fussing.  I'm no saint so I'm in no way shape or form above cussing and fussing (heck if you catch me watching a football game - you will clearly see that I am quite talented at cussing and fussing)  When my car got stolen I was hurt and I was sad, but in me bubbled up a joy.  I knew it would all be alright.  Not just a general knowing.  I could feel in my spirit that a way would be made, so my soul danced with Joy.

I'm not a theologian, a scientist, or a psychic I only can speak from my experiencing.  Praising God in the middle of the storm, enhances the joy in your soul.  Giving your storm over to God enhances your joy.  Loving when you should hate enhances your joy. 

Don't worry about what the world thinks or says, because they will always ask why are you so happy as they look from the outside in to your circumstances.

What they can't see is the joyous light of God working it out on the inside of you.

Choose JOY

Here is a great article about Joy vs. Happiness as well

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/pathological-relationships/201212/joy-vs-happiness

  Joy

Joy is a state of mind and an orientation of the heart. It is a settled state of contentment, confidence and hope. It is something or someone that provides a source of happiness. It appears 88 times in the Old Testament in 22 books; 57 times in the New Testament in 18 books.^

http://www.theopedia.com/Joy

** Recognize the word SOURCE (Get your Source)

 

A quiet place!!!

My quiet place...

 

Mark 1:35-37 - And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. 

I have always had a desire in me to shut down.  A need to turn off all surrounding distraction and just get lost in my thoughts until they become organized.  However in this world - Ain't nobody got time for that!

In a world where we are slowly being trained into being busy bees and to teach our kids to be even more busy its hard.  I often laugh at my daughter when we are traveling as she complains about being bored.  In the back seat of the car she has a mini house, filled with food blankets, books, tablets, a DS, headphones, and a DVD player.  She has her own distraction system created by me, to be fully entertained for a life time if need be.  But she's bored. 

I remember my road trips back in the day.  The only thing you had in the backseat was maybe a book or some paper and a pencil.  You made the best of it.  If you couldn't figure out what to do with those items you created your own games.  Which could include coaxing the 18 wheelers that drove by to blow their horns and scare the other drivers.

Now I just want to stop the world at times.  I miss the opportunities to be bored.  Go to a quiet place,  where I connect with God.  A place that fills me up with joy and laughter just by using the gifts of my mind. 

I keep promising to commit to meditation, but simply put it's not my thing, but I do have one special place in my house that I can go to.  And when I am there I know God speaks to me.  He holds me like the little child that he created and tells me about my path.  The more I go to this place the more he speaks.

Find your quiet place.  Your sweet spot.  The place where all the distractions of the world are made small and the voice and love of God is made big.  Refuel in this place and then go out to face the world but bring the peace and love that has been given to you, so you won't get bored being a blessing.

I got a Testimony...Echo I got a Testimony

You better run until somebody

 Matthew 10:29-31

Living Bible (TLB)

²⁹ Not one sparrow (What do they cost? Two for a penny?) can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. ³⁰ And the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ So don’t worry! You are more valuable to him than many sparrows.

 

If you didn't know my car was stolen on September 1, 2013.  As my Pastor would say "Pit happens!" and for all intents and purposes this should have been a pent moment.

September 1, 2013 was a Sunday and this incident should have meant no church for me...because although I play a billionaire in my head this is a one car household, but a friend jumped in and took me to church.  The following day was Labor day.  No cookouts to walk to so this should have meant me and my mini me were trapped in the house bored with nothing to do.  However another friend jumped in and picked my daughter up and took her on a cookout.  I didn't get to go, but the peace in my house without hearing :"Momma" a million times was priceless.  The next day was work, I should have been using a vacation day since I had no way to get to work.  Without batting an eyelash my friend, neighbor, and Mommy away from home handed over the keys o her very nice ride and she got a ride home from work, so that I could get to work and pick my daughter up.  Day three another friend came through without me even asking let me use her daughter's car who was away at school and she said just give it back when you don't need it.

Well the time of not needing it came about 14 days later, because Miracle of Miracles, the Echo was found.  Not just found, but quite honestly better than I had had her.  She )the echo_ appeared to have been washed well, the mirror that use to fall off when I hit a speed bump was taped up, the belt wasn't squeaking and I'm still not sure if it is my imagination but the tires appear new on the back!  The same week my car was found was the same week the young lady whose car I was using came home.  She dropped me off to get my car and I thanked and gave her, her car back. 

Can you say right on time!

Some people have commented that as nice as I treat folks, that nice things should come back to me.  I don't accept that though.  There are a lot of nice folks out there and I can't say for sure but I don't know if nice things always happen back to them, but I've had some not nice things happen to me. 

I declare that God rocked this situation like only He can and I know he didn't do it just for me, but for me to tell others just how great He is.  In the big scheme of things I am just a little bird, but he protects guides  provides for me, beyond my actions good and bad.

So I write all this to share a miracle in my life.  A miracle because my car came back good as new, we never missed a beat, and I still don't have a car note.

 

All glory to God!  I'm here to tell you that He is quite real, quite amazing, and very right on time.

 

May God bless you with miracles to share with the world.  One by one we let somebody know about his love kindness mercy and favor beyond whether we are good bad funny or sad He will provide!

Ephesians 4 MSG! Meditate on these things

In its entirety and that's all I have to say about that!

Little bit different from my normal style, but He that is in me is greater than my style.  He said it best, I'm just passing it along...Allowing an opportunity to mediate on his word.  Read it loud read it soft...Write it on your soul!  Instructions on how to do this thing!  Don't stop at 16!

 

 Ephesians 4:1-16  (The Message Translation)

To Be Mature

4 1-3 In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

 4-6 You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. 

7-13 But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is, He climbed the high mountain, He captured the enemy and seized the booty, He handed it all out in gifts to the people.  Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

 14-16 No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love. 

 

****

Amen! Y'all

Amen Amen Amen

For every Mountain...

For Every Mountain

(From Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world - to Mount Wycheproof, the smallest.)

 

Jeremiah 29:11

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

This week has been a beautiful, amazingly wild week… 

You all know that the Echo was stolen (by the way she hasn't been recovered). However, two beautiful women that I love, brought three babies into the world - Twin boys and a princess...Known in my world respectively as Beta, Alpha and Red Velvet. - My church was under attack (Character attack) and - I got engaged to be married.   

Yes, all these events occurred over a seven-day period.

Well, I was sitting on the couch.  I would love to say I was in deep meditation, but the truth is, Sanford and Son was on and it had just struck me that it was Tuesday and something was incomplete.  I had fed the girl and my guys and already checked homework.  Ahhh yes my blog, (God's blog, my commitment) I had not started or thought about my blog! 

As always the Father was right on time, because in the background I was hearing Fred Sanford calling his son a “Big Dummy”, I heard ‘For Every Mountain’ coming from the radio.  This is a beautiful song and my Spirit directed me to look at the lyrics.  (No worries I will attach the link and a video below). 

The lyrics don't say, “For all the good times…. the new car….” But instead it says, “For every mountain you've brought me over, for every trial you've brought me through, I give you praise!”

Praising God through the ‘storm’, the ‘mountain moments’, the ‘I cannot get out of bed moments’, the moments when you ‘feel all alone’.  Praising God in the middle can bring about a peace so sweet and a joy so powerful that your heart will begin to sing, mine has and does. 

You may have heard it before, but let me say it one more time.  Praise him through it all, ‘cause his heart's desire is to bless you with a Hope and a Future.

 Here are the lyrics - Try saying them without singing them, which makes it real personal:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/kurtcarr/foreverymountain.html

Now get your sing on and let the words sink into your soul:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usFt04naqxM

This one is for you (subtitled) I Get It Now

 

 Isaiah 38:2

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,

 I get it now how God's time is different from ours.  HE has given me a glimpse into his style and how he does things.  He has allowed me to see that time is pointless and that love is everything.

I met you in a place that I have stood so many Sundays greeting smiling.  Then there was you and you came back.  Who knew that an earthly split second would be a life time of forever.  One hello would lead to a infinite number of I love yous.

I get how you just know.  I understand that in the blink of an eye time can grow sails and travel pass the past into the future and rest in now.

All that was before you is blank.  There are no names but yours.  There is no prayer as sweet as your eyes.  There are no eyes that reflect God like yours.

I struggle when you question my past because my past is irrelevant when I face my wall, I only see now and then.

All old things are made new.  I have never loved like this and every day that follows, I continue to be blessed in saying I have never loved like this because every moment of loving you is like know one before.

My errors are here for you to see.  My slate clean there is only you.  You are My Wall.  I turn to you for prayer, for love, for direction and you turn to our God.  Obediently I will follow. I love you My Wall. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thefts, Blessings, Echo and Friends - It's so hard to say Good Bye to Yesterday

It's so hard to say good bye to yesterday (And I will take with me the memories to be my sunshine ...)

 

James 1:2

My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials

 

We met in 2001 and although I had my eye on something else, something a little fancier, faster, and stylish, I walked passed you, but you called out to me.  Your zippy spy car looks tickled me, your efficiency delighted me and so the investment in to our friendship began.  2001 Toyota Echo it was me and you.

 

You were small but powerful, I packed you up and we left our homeland and moved to Charlotte.  When I was homesick you were right there for me to get me safely thru the 400 miles, back home to my Mom.  Even though in the earlier years I got homesick every weekend, you never flinched, on one tank of gas and a prayer we made the back ‘n forth - those were the thousand-mile-weekend days.

 

Not only did you bond with me, you blessed others by giving them jumps, trekking out to the airport at all hours of the night, so I could get a friend home.  The air was always cool from the ac and the heat was always warm in the winter.

We had our moments, when you had a rattle and a shimmy - and don't even get me started on how you handle the miles of Kentucky mountains - brining both my daughter (your new charge) and I back from a nerve breaking drive that included motion sickness medicine.

 

And when I forgot to check the oil? You loved me anyway!

And on your last day, you showed me something greater than I could have ever expected.  When the strangers took you away, stolen from right under my nose, your spirit remained and I was blessed by those who loved you and truly love me.

Through the theft of my car my daughter and I were blessed by those loved ones and were taken care of quite well.  Happy Hazel my neighbor handed over the non-keys to me to make sure my daughter and I were off to work without missing a beat.(LOL I haven't had a new car in a minute yall imagine my shock when I learned some of the new cars have pushed button ignitions!  some cars don't even have keys what the what)   From offers of car sharing, to people who were even willing to sacrifice their own comfort, (I love you Kay and Tee) willing to drive the hundreds of miles here to bring me a car and then turn around and drive back to their home so that they can share a car.   Right now as I write this, another angel is on her way to loan me her vehicle. 

God I count it all joy! I miss my Echo, but I have an even greater love for those who stretched out there arms, their words, their gifts and blessed me. My prayer for you is – “May God surround you with the right people at the right time and in the right place,” - you also need to love on them like crazy.  You are a blessing so be a blessing.

 

A moment of reflection for the Echo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUDVj7qPqRE 

A moment of PRAISE Cause my God has blessed me with Angels  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vflf3wLZP4I