It's in his hands...

When we know that God's hand is in everything,
We can leave everything in His hands.

this is why God gives us each other...

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. II Cor. 9:8

HEY! Remember...

GOD'S GOT YA!

Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most...We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. - Marianne Williamson, American author and lecturer

me too

Some of the most comforting words in the universe are “me too.” That moment when you find out that your struggle is also someone else’s struggle, that you’re not alone, and that others have been down the same road. --- Rob Bell

"We in our faith work, stumble along toward where we think we're supposed to go, bumbling along, and here is what's so amazing---we end up getting exactly where we're supposed to be." ---Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies

Joy!

"Joyful believers have no trouble convincing people around them that Christianity is real and that Christ can transform a life. JOY is the flag that flies above the castle of their hearts, announcing that the KING is in residence." (Author unknown)

Colossians 3 (The Message)

"Look up, and be alert to whatever is going on around Christ--- that'swhere the action is. See things from His perspective. ...Chosen by Godfor this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you:compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be eventempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgiveas quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. ...Let the peaceof Christ keep you in tune with each other ... cultivate thankfulness.Let the Word of Christ --the Message -- have the run of the house. ..Instruct and direct one another using common sense. SING your heart outto God... Thanking God the Father every step of the way."

He is with us!

"Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matt. 28:20 NKJV"Our Lord is with us no matter what each day brings. It may be a day ofjoy or of sadness, of sickness or of health, of success or failure. Nomatter what happens to us today, our Lord is walking beside us,strengthening us, loving us, filling us with faith, hope and love. As Heenvelopes us with quiet serenity and security, our foes, afflictions anddoubts begin to recede. We can bear up in any circumstance because weknow the Lord is at hand. Practice God's presence stopping in the midstof your busy day to say to yourself,'The Lord is here' and pray that youwill see Him who is invisible and see Him everywhere." -----DavidRoper

There really is something up there! ;)

“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”
Benjamin Spock

"Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that the right thoughts and right efforts inevitably bring about right results." --James Allen

Never compromise yourself....you are all you've got. --Janis Joplin

Yep...

The is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. -Epictetus

Remember...

You're Special

You're special. In all the world there is nobody like you.

Since the beginning of time, there there has never been another person like you. Nobody has your smile. Nobody has your eyes, your nose, your hair, your hands, your voice. You're special.

No one can be found who has your handwriting.

Nobody anywhere has your tastes - for food or music or art. No one sees things as you do.

In all of time there has been no one who laughs like you, no one who cries like you. And what you laugh and cry will never provoke identical laughter and tears from anybody else, ever.

No one reacts to any situation just as you would react. You're special.

You're the only one in all of creation who has your set of abilities. Oh, there will always be somebody who is better at one of things you're good at, but no one in the universe can reach the quality of your combination of talents, ideas, abilities and feelings. Like a room full of musical instruments, some may excel alone, but none can match the symphony sound when all are played together. You're a symphony.

Through all of eternity no one will ever look, talk, walk, think, or do like you. You're special. You're rare.

And, as in all rarity, there is great value.

Because of your great rare value, you need not attempt to imitate others. You will accept - yes, celebrate - your differences.

You're special. And you're beginning to realize it's no accident that you're special. You're beginning to see that God made you special for a very special purpose. He must have a job for you that no one else can do as well as you. Out of all the billions of applicants, only one is qualified, only one has the right combination of what it takes.

That one is you. Because...You're special.

--unknown

It's all good!

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives" (Genesis 50:20, NIV).

Rejoice...

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, Rejoice, for your soul is alive. -- Eleonora Duse

Colossians 3:16-17 (NIV)

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

anytime I don't know what to do.....

Cast all my Cares Upon You - Kids Praise and Worship

I cast all my cares upon you
I lay all of my burdens down at your feet
and anytime I don't know what to do
I will cast all my cares upon you

Nothing is impossible...

I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there" and it will move. Nothing will be impossible to you. - Matthew 17:20

which is it?

Life is either a great adventure or nothing. --Helen Keller

Lead the way

"The cliff edge of our anxiety about the future may indicate that God is calling us to a new and different level of faith. When we walk, praying for guidance, to the edge of all the light we have and breathlessly take that first step into the foggy mystery of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen: either God will provide us with something rock-solid to stand on, or He will teach us how to fly." Lucy Shaw from The Crime of Living Cautiously. Shared by Adalee Lewis

Time to Jump

Grandma was living in the single wide mobile home that mom and dad had at Crystal River since we were children when a freak storm came through. The area ended up being flooded. They came to rescue Grandma in a dump truck that she could walk right out of the mobile home and into. The problem wasn't getting into the vehicle that would rescue her it was how in the world was she going to get out? One of her biggest fears had always been that if she fell no one would be able to pick her up because she is so large. With all of the fear of the moment and all of the fear of her being too heavy for anyone to help, she discovered that the only way she was going to get out of that dump truck was to jump into the arms of a guy waiting below her. He promised he would not drop her. She really couldn't believe that he actually could catch her. She had to jump and trust him at his word. Of course, neither God, nor the man who bravely reached out his arms for her, let her down. I think it is time to jump. He won't let us fall.

"If You Want Me To" --Ginny Owens

From the Message selected from Romans 8:

"God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are .... If we go through the hard times with Him, then we are certainly going to go through the good times with Him! That's why I don't think there is any comparison between the hard times and the coming good times. ...The Spirit of God is arousing us within. ...We are enlarged in the waiting. ...The longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. ..God knew what He was doing from the beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity He restored."

plans...ha!

"God was most show-offy when things didn't go according to my plans, which was approximately ninety percent of the time."--Anne Lamott, Grace:Eventually: Thoughts on Faith


"In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9 NIV

letting go...

"To let go isn’t to forget, not to think about, or ignore. It doesn’t leave feelings of anger, jealousy, or regret. Letting go isn’t about winning or losing. It’s not about pride and it’s not about how you appear, and it’s not obsessing or dwelling on the past. Letting go isn’t blocking memories or thinking sad thoughts, and doesn’t leave emptiness, hurt, or sadness. It’s not about giving in or giving up. Letting go isn’t about loss and it’s not about defeat. To let go is to cherish the memories, but to overcome and move on. It is having an open mind confidence in the future. Letting go is learning and experiencing and growing. To let go is to be thankful for the experiences that made you laugh, made you cry, and made you grow. It’s about all that you have, all that you had, and all that you will soon gain. Letting go is having the courage to accept change, and the strength to keep moving. Letting go is growing up. It is realizing that the heart can sometimes be the most potent remedy. To let go is to open a door, and to clear a path and set yourself free."
-unknown
(found this on Kara's blog today)

Psalm 46

A Song of the Sons of Korah 1-3

God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.
We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,
courageous in seastorm and earthquake,
Before the rush and roar of oceans,
the tremors that shift mountains.
Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

4-6 River fountains splash joy, cooling God's city,
this sacred haunt of the Most High.
God lives here, the streets are safe,
God at your service from crack of dawn.
Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten,
but Earth does anything he says.

7 Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

moving on....

there's always hope.

Dream On

“Yes, I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can find his way by moonlight, and see the dawn before the rest of the world.” - Oscar Wilde

whatever....

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:8 (New International Version)

I choose God...

"When you choose Faith rather than doubt, Peace over pain, Joy instead of suffering, you are living with the Holy Spirit." Voice of Love

I thank my God everytime I remember you....

Philippians 1:6 The Message
There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

Psalm 97:10-12 (The Message)

When the righteous see God in action
they'll laugh, they'll sing,
they'll laugh and sing for joy.
Sing hymns to God;
all heaven, sing out;
clear the way for the coming of Cloud-Rider.
Enjoy GOD,
cheer when you see him!

Abundance of God

God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame. - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

don't worry about tomorrow, He's got it under control....

"So never worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Matthew 6:34

Isaiah 54:10 (The Message)

9-10"This exile is just like the days of Noah for me: I promised then that the waters of Noah would never again flood the earth.I'm promising now no more anger, no more dressing you down. For even if the mountains walk away and the hills fall to pieces, My love won't walk away from you, my covenant commitment of peace won't fall apart." The God who has compassion on you says so.

that's all...

"Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10)

Teach Me To Dance

Teach me to dance to the beat of your heart,
Teach me to move to the pow'r of your Spirit,
Teach me to walk in the light of your presence,
Teach me to dance to the beat of your heart.

Teach me to love with your heart of compassion,
Teach me to trust in the word of your promise
Teach me to hope in the day of your coming
Teach me to dance to the beat of your heart.

You wrote the rhythm of life,
created heaven and earth,
in you is joy without measure.
So, like a child in your sight,
I dance to see your delight,
For I was made for your pleasure,
pleasure.

Teach me to dance to the beat of your heart...
Teach me to love with your heart of compassion...

Let all my movements express
A heart that loves to say 'yes',
A will that leaps to obey you.
Let all my energy blaze
To see the joy in your face;
Let me whole being praise you.
Praise you.

Teach me to dance to the beat of your heart...
Teach me to love with your heart of compassion...

Graham Kendrick and Steve Thompson

I will dance for you my Lord,
I will dance. I will dance each dance like it's
the last dance I will ever dance.

Peninah Kizza African Children's Choir

Proverbs 3:5-6

just a couple reminders...

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable."
~Helen Keller


"Don't refuse to go on an occasional wild goose chase--that's what wild geese are for."
~unknown

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting ---
over and over announcing
your place in the family of things.
from Dream Work by Mary Oliver published by Atlantic Monthly Press

God, my God....

Romans 8 The Message

22-25All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.
26-28Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
29-30God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.
31-39So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

From Our Daily Bread

"While we often think in terms of occupation and location, perhaps a more important issue is one of character--the being that undergirds the doing. Lord, who do You want me to be? Be humble, be gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Oswald Chambers said, 'Consecration is not giving over of the calling in life to God but the separation from all other calling and giving over ourselves to God, letting His providence place us where He will.'

...When we are right people before God, we can do whatever He asks us and wherever He puts us." David Mc Casland

You are called with a holy calling

The light of the world to be;

To lift up the lamp of the gospel

That others the light might see.

--Anon

It's not what you do but who you are that is important

hang in there...

When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. ~Harriet Beecher Stowe

My faith is like shifting sand, so I stand on grace....

"Shifting Sand" by Caedmon's Call
Sometimes I believe all the lies
So I can do the things I should despise
And every day I am swayed
By whatever is on my mind

I hear it all depends on my faith
So I'm feeling precarious
The only problem I have with these mysteries
Is they're so mysterious

And like a consumer I've been thinking
If I could just get a bit more
More than my 15 minutes of faith,
Then I'd be secure

(Chorus)
My faith is like shifting sand
Changed by every wave
My faith is like shifting sand
So I stand on grace

I've begged you for some proof
For my Thomas eyes to see
A slithering staff, a leprous hand
And lions resting lazily

A glimpse of your back-side glory
And this soaked altar going ablaze
But you know I've seen so much
I explained it away

Chorus

Waters rose as my doubts reigned
My sand-castle faith, it slipped away
Found myself standing on your grace
It'd been there all the time

How Much Can You Love?

How Much Can You Love?by Diannia Baty
Can you love enough to honor the differences and not compare?Can you love enough to forgive another?Can you love enough to find some way to be of service to others?Can you love enough to be grateful for everything?Can you love enough not to hate?Can you love enough to feed a hungry creature?Can you love enough to give away what you do not need?Can you love enough to give comfort to someone?Can you love enough not to sow negativity?Can you love the earth enough to take care of it?Can you love enough to tell another about God?Can you love enough to see God in everyone?
Can you love enough to be generous with your time?Can you love enough to be joyful for being alive?Can you love enough that you are grateful you have sight and can read this?Can you love enough to hug and praise someone today?Can you love yourself enough to try and be healthy and give up unhealthy habits?
Can you love enough to gently teach another?Can you love enough not to communicate with anger in your heart?Can you love enough that you can’t contain it and let it spill over to all.Can you love enough to be a good steward of all your gifts and talents?Can you love yourself and God enough to pray or meditate today?Can you love God enough to say “I love you?”Can you love yourself enough to be kind to you today?Can you love enough to remember that love is everything and is of God?
Can you remember Love?Will you remember to Love?