My Steps & Stops Are Ordered!

The pastor said it yesterday. “My steps and my STOPS are ordered by the Lord!” How very timely! You see, I have just experienced a great big heartbreaking “STOP”!!! It happened last week. Something I wanted so much, something I’d planned for, practiced, worked, prayed, hoped for and dreamed of fell through…AGAIN! I did everything by “THE BOOK!” I sought God before I ever started, and then did everything I could and asked God to do the rest. I prayed God would shower me with His favor. And all of the sudden...STOP!! Things did not go my way. I was so disappointed. Oh let’s just get real, “disappointed” doesn’t begin to touch it…crestfallen, heartbroken, defeated…there, that’s more like it!

But then yesterday, my pastor said that not only are my steps ordered by the Lord, so are my STOPS! He was saying that sometimes there are God ordained delays in my life put there for my benefit! It was a reminder that salved my splintered heart.

Brought to mind one of my favorite Bible stories. Daniel desperately needed an answer to prayer. So he fasted & prayed, and prayed & fasted, and fasted & prayed. On and on and on! Daniel 10:3 says he continued for 21 days! Three whole weeks! And what did he get for all this devotion? ZERO! NADA! Complete Silence! I've got to tell you, that long with no food or drink seems impossible to me. . .but then, I sometimes have trouble focusing during my 15 – 30 minutes with God each morning, let's not even think about throwing fasting into the mix!!

But our man, Daniel persisted! A 21 day “stop” did not bother him one little bit! And here’s the amazing thing! On day 21 an angel appeared to him and said “O Daniel, you greatly beloved man…from the first day that you set your mind and heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard and I have come as a consequence and in response to your words.” (Daniel 10:12) Daniel’s prayer was heard and answered the FIRST MOMENT he uttered it! Through persistence, he received God’s answer and strength to go forward! (If you want to know what held the angel up for three weeks, you can read about it in Daniel 10—it's really cool!!).

So, I guess it comes down to this: do I trust God enough to persist? Do I really believe that He orders my steps, and my stops or don’t I?

Twila Paris wrote a song some time ago I love to sing, the lyric of which is truly apt here.

Sometimes my little heart can’t understand, what’s in Your will? What’s in Your plan? So many times I’m tempted to ask You why. But I can never forget it for long, Lord what You do could not be wrong, So I believe You even when I must cry.

Do I trust You Lord? Does the robin sing? Do I trust You Lord? Does it rain in Spring? You can see my heart, You can read my mind, and You’ve got to know I would rather die than to lose my faith in the One I love, do I trust You Lord?

I know the answers; I’ve given them all, but suddenly now I feel so small--shaken down to the cavity in my soul. I know the doctrine and theology. But right now they don’t mean much to me. This time there’s only one thing I’ve got to know…

Do I trust You Lord? Does the river flow? Do I trust You Lord, does the North wind blow? You can see my heart, You can read my mind, and You’ve got to know I would rather die than to lose my faith in the one I love, do I trust You Lord?

I WILL trust You Lord, when I don’t know why, I WILL trust You Lord ‘til the day I die, I WILL trust You Lord when I’m blind with pain, You were God before and You’ll never change, I WILL trust You, I WILL trust you Lord, I WILL trust You!

It is my choice. Through every step, and every stop, I WILL trust Him!

Iron Chariots?

Enemies with iron chariots...got some? I'm talking about those overwhelming, "keep-coming-at-'ya" kinds of everyday trials that beat you down no matter how hard you pray, or how many times you try to stand against them! But if you've got 'em, don't despair, you're not alone! We all do. Even the Israelites faced them in the Promised Land. I read in Judges 1 today that they just "could not drive out those inhabiting the [difficult] valley basin because they had chariots of iron." Now, the Israelites were not just "any old folks," they were the chosen of the Lord. We read in the Bible again and again that "the Lord was with them" and man-oh-man when the Lord was with someone, there was NO ENEMY who could withstand them!! What was SO GREAT about this particular enemy that they could not drive them out? Maybe with their strong iron chariots they simply looked tougher than the rest.

Long before the Israelites ever faced this challenge, just before his death, the leader of God's chosen people, Joshua, had a vision. Immediately after that vision, he told his people to take heart, the "country shall be yours, you shall clear and possess it to its farthest borders; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and are strong." (Joshua 17:18) I guess when the time finally came for them to go into that battle and they stood face to face with the enemy and those huge, fortified chariots, Joshua's words must have drained from their hearts and memories about as quickly as the blood drained from their faces!

Long before we ever faced even our first "iron chariot" enemy, God had a vision of US--His chosen ones! It was of us being more than conquerors, not victims. He sent His son, Jesus, to die on the cross to ensure victory for us all! And He sent His Word, packed with promise after promise to guide us successfully through every battle and situation we will ever face. It's all there in black and white...

So, what iron chariots were waiting when you opened your door this morning? Honestly, some of us had to look no further than the end of our beds for our first iron chariot today! No matter the enemy, though, don't forget the Word of the Lord when you actually stare it down. It's then, when we are about to begin battle with what appears to be our biggest, fiercest enemies, that we need to hold tight to God's Word, claim His promises for our lives, and then step out in faith! Iron chariots or not, the armor of God we wear is STRONGER!

The Pale Pink Lace: God's In the Details!

Note: It's a Two-fer Friday! Here's my second entry for today! A little look back at the past! Hope you enjoy it!!


The moment my mom and dad put down their first moving box in that tiny little house in Flomaton over 50 years ago, the next door neighbors were there with a friendly hello and a piping hot meal to greet them. Thus began a friendship that would span the next 50 years! I was born just 5 short months after my parents moved in. Our two families celebrated together often. It didn’t matter what. Everyday accomplishments, good grades, birthdays, and as we children grew there came larger celebrations: graduations, weddings and then, the births of our children! We supported one another through the bad times too. It was a friendship God made to last! This is a story that begins during one of those early birthdays, carries through the sadness of death and comes out in joy on the other side!

My mother was not well for much of my life, “Aunt Nell”, as my neighbor loved to be called, often filled in, making birthday cakes, and helping out with birthday celebrations! On my 7th birthday, Aunt Nell made a cake and in the center placed a ballerina. She was a little girl’s dream! Her porcelain skin was radiant against her golden hair. Her arms perfectly poised as she twirled on her little stand. And her lace tutu . . . oh that pale pink lace tutu! It stood out from the porcelain figurine just like a tutu should! It was the most graceful, gorgeous thing I had ever seen in my young life! As I blew out the candles and she cut the cake, Aunt Nell told me the beautiful twirling ballerina was mine to keep! I treasured her! I played with her daily and when playing with her became “childish,” I placed the lovely ballerina in a place of honor in my room. But with time, the delicate lace of her tutu tore. It came loose from the porcelain. After a while, it became so tattered that it came off entirely. So, I finally put my treasure away, but with the hope that I would someday find the perfect lace that would make her as good as new. I loved that ballerina so! From time to time, I’d come across her, packed away so carefully, and I’d search for the lace so I could restore her to her former glory, but I never found it.

That is, until one Saturday almost 40 years later!

My husband, John and I had a big Yard Sale that day. We had cleaned out the last items from my parents home who had long since passed away, and were finishing up the second yard sale with those items. Amazingly, folks had passed over the big basket of my Mom’s sewing notions all day long. I was looking though it one last time before sending it on to a local charity. There, at the bottom of the basket was a beautiful and somehow vaguely familiar looking pink lace. I didn’t know why, but something made me put the lace in my pocket for later. The next day, once again, I came across my now long “tutu-less” porcelain ballerina! And slowly the miracle began to dawn on me.

Before her last stroke, mother must have found the perfect lace for my ballerina’s tutu. She just had not been able to get it to me before she died. As we packed up the items in mom and dad’s home after their deaths, the lace simply became mixed in with all the other sewing notions mom had there. I became overwhelmed with the magnitude of finalizing mothers affairs when we found out Daddy had terminal cancer. After his death, I still had not found the lace. But God, willing to spare nothing to show His love, in means as huge as His Son dying on the cross, or as tiny as finding a way to get a yard of pale pink lace to me, found a way for that basket to sit unsold through not one but two yard sales!

Now, the pale pink lace is where it was meant to be since the day my sweet Mom bought it--safely glued onto the beautiful porcelain ballerina. I’ve put her back into a place of honor and have looked at her no less than a thousand times! I suppose I am as much a little girl today as I was the day Mom and Aunt Nell walked in with that cake on my 7th birthday, because I think that ballerina is a lovely now as she was then! Maybe I just love the happy memory! Either way, I am more in love than ever with a God who would go to such elaborate lengths to make sure I got the perfect piece of pale pink lace, even if it did take 40 years to make it into my hands! Truly, God is in the details!!

The Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking and longing] to be gracious to me. Blessed are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]! Isaiah 30:18

I am convinced there is NOTHING in our lives that does not concern Him!!

'Nuff Said!

Don't you just love it when God makes a point in His Word? I sure do! I was preparing a study this morning when I came across an old favorite verse. I was stuck once again by the tremendous love and protectiveness of our Heavenly Father for us, His children, which this passage conveys. Hebrews 13:5-6, (from the Amplified Bible) says "Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, 'I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless or forsake nor let you down or relax My hold on you! Assuredly not!' So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, 'The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm. I will not fear or dread or be terrified. What can man do to me?'" Anytime I see God repeating Himself for emphasis and then topping it off with "Assuredly not!", I've gotta' tell you, it makes me sit up and take notice!!

Are you on a mountaintop today? Everything going you way? No complaints? Well then, this reminder is cause for all the more joy, now isn't it? But, if you're down, or facing tough times, just remember that you have a Heavenly Father who promised He would not in ANY DEGREE leave you helpless nor forsake you. 'Nuff said!

The Other Side of the Porch!

I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of a package the other day. I'd followed its status via the internet for weeks! Finally, the day it was to be delivered had arrived! All day I listened for the sound of the delivery truck. Every chance I got, morning, noon and into the evening, I'd make sure my path ran by the front door to be certain I had not missed the all important arrival. But each time, I was greeted with the same empty spot where boxes are usually left on our front porch. Late that night in utter disappointment, I went back to the computer to check on the matter, and to my surprise, saw that the status on my package had been changed to "DELIVERED--left on customers' front porch"! Well, I thought, that just can't be right, there's nothing out there! Immediately I heard that unmistakable voice within quietly prompt me to "look on the other side of the porch." That's silly, no one EVER leaves boxes on the other side of the porch! Again, I was prompted from within, "Look on the other side!" Well, I did, and, you guessed it, there was the package I'd been awaiting all day!

Reminds me of another story -- Simon Peter and a few of the disciples were sitting by the Sea of Tiberias. They decided to go fishing. All night they fished and by morning had nothing to show for it. When dawn broke, Jesus was standing on the shore. He saw their dilemma and told them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. Scripture tells us that "they cast the net and now they were not able to haul it in for such a big catch of fish [was in it]." John 21:6 AMP.

Are you like me? Do you find yourself doing the same old things, looking in the same places, hoping against hope for different outcomes, yet coming up with "empty nets" and seeing "empty porches" day after day? Perhaps what Jesus told the disciples, and what the Holy Spirit whispered to me applies to your life as well. "Cast to the other side of the boat!" "Look on the other side of the porch!" God may not always be where we think He should be! When we're walking in faith, sometimes we may just need to look in unexpected places to find what we seek!

Cleaning the Windshield!

It's been a pretty rough week. But then, since 1996 when Mom died, that's just how Mother's Day weeks have been for me. It's not just that I miss her on Mother's Day, but her birthday is that week, too! DOUBLE WHAMMY! And as if that were not enough, eight years ago, my sweet Daddy, after a VERY short, but valiant battle with brain cancer, died that week, too! Wow, wish he could have selected his time to go, 'cause I know he would have picked a time that was not so jam-packed with emotion. But, we don't get to make those kinds of decisions. When it rains, it pours, I guess! Let's add just a pinch more to this "Mother's Day Week Disaster" recipe--shall we? As desperately as I wanted a family of my own with my wonderful husband, for reasons beyond my control, that just was not to be. So, each year now as I am missing my mom, and dad, I also hear the echos of all those sweet little voices I'd hoped for in my mind and try not to wonder what would have been. Yep, it's been a rough week, indeed!

I can get lost in some pretty serious discouragement during Mothers Day weeks and do it pretty dang fast! But then, I'm guessing you just may know what I mean here. I do not have the corner on the market where hard times or discouragement are concerned. I'm not the only one who's had sadness, loss, or even despair creep into her life. Life is just full of both good and bad times. Sometimes, it's hard to keep from slipping into a negative outlook when we've been a faced with an onslaught of tough circumstances. Although I realize some cases are far more serious than others, for some of us, the way out of the "negativity cave" may be as simple as where we place our focus. For example:


Old Focus Number One: I miss my mom! She died FAR too young. I have no one to share those special "mother-daughter" moments. Poor, pitiful me!

NEW Focus Number One: My incredibly fun, loving, gifted mother was part of my life for almost 37 years! She taught me so much and I am now building on what I learned from her. I am using those gifts, and talents to bring beauty and grace and love into the lives of others! What a wonderful legacy! (Happy Birthday & Happy Mother's Day, once again! Though I miss you still after all these years, I am so thankful to God that you were a part of my life! Thank you so much! I love you!)

Old Focus Number Two: I Miss My Daddy! (Again) Poor Pitiful Me!!

NEW Focus Number Two: My dad was the best!! He was brilliant and healthy right up to the moment we found out he had a fast growing brain cancer. What a blessing that if he had to have that horrible disease, at least it was a fast growing kind!! He taught me how to live, and he taught me how to die! The day he quietly slipped into a coma 5 1/2 months after he was diagnosed with cancer, as we sat with him in the hospital, people we’d never heard of called and stopped by to see him. When they could not speak with him directly, they insisted on talking to us. They told us wonderful things he’d done that had changed their lives, sometimes in dramatic ways. I was amazed. Dad had done so much for so many, yet never uttered so much as one word about it to another soul! After a long afternoon of waiting and watching together, my dad quietly went home to be with the Lord. That is exactly how I want to live my life. Go around helping people, and doing good. Then, quietly slip away. (Daddy, I miss you so much it hurts, even 8 years later! I've been a "Daddy's Girl" from the start, guess I always will be! I love you! Thank you, for being such a wonderful role model for me!)

Old Focus Number Three: I didn't have the family I hoped and dreamed I'd have. (Again--) Poor, pitiful me!

NEW Focus Number Three: Even though I'll never know the sound of "my own little ones" saying the words "Happy Mother's Day" or "I love you, Mom", and even though I believe that motherhood is among the highest of callings, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my steps are ordered by the Lord. He has a purpose, a plan and a calling on my life. How? The Bible tells me so. "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew and approved you [as my chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you..." God's word to Jeremiah (Chapter 1 verse 5) and to all those of us today who turn to Jesus as our assurance. That means, me. . and I hope, you! And, I also have the promise from God found in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Yes, my focus was a little "blurry" last week. I was looking back, which is not all bad, but I began to "wallow" in the past, bemoaning things that hadn't worked out the way I had hoped they would. The truth is, I am a promise, living a promise! And God has plans for me, GOOD plans! Even now (at my "advanced age"!) there is hope and and a future for me. . no matter what has gone before! So, today, I am readjusting my focus. I'm thankful for what has gone before. I am thankful for the time I had with both my parents, for the wonderful legacies they left me to pass on to others. And even if I do not have children of my own, there are so many in this world with whom I can share God's love--now I just have more time to do it!!

Remembering, with great love, those who have sacrificed to help make me who I am today, I'm going to move forward again now, toward...as Paul put it in Philippians 3:14 "the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward." I am a promise! Have been all my life, just like you! No matter what has gone before in our lives, the promise God placed within us at birth still holds!

If you've had a rough day, week, month, wow do I understand! Let's take a minute or two to change our focus. It's a bit like cleaning off a horribly muddy car windshield when we change our focus and begin to look at the positives in our lives! And once that's done, we can start moving forward again!

Ready? Cool! Let's GO!!!