From Broken to Blessed to ...

To my sweet, patient bloggers:

I am sorry it has been so long since my last post.  Believe it or not, sometimes I struggle with what to write about. My thoughts are so jumbled I can't think straight; or there are several things I want to write about and I can't decide which one to choose, so I don't write at all.

I read a devotion last week from "Journey" magazine entitled, From Broken to Blessed.  Sometimes we will go through seasons of brokenness.  Even though we may not be able to see God's hand at work in the situation, much less see the light at the end of the tunnel, as believers in Christ, we have to dig down and hold on to our faith and trust that God knows what He is doing and He sees the light at the end of the tunnel. As my redneck, Southern uncle used to say, "I'm hanging in there like a hair in a biscuit!"   God wants to bless us.  And sometimes, believe it or not, those blessings come through brokenness. 

Isaiah 61: 1-3 says, "He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;"  He goes on to say in verse 3, "To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." 

Wow! I love this passage!  Here is what I want us to focus on:

• our hearts are broken. God is the Healer.
• we are held captive by sin, fear, guilt, anxiety, depression (you name it). God gives us liberty.
• We are bound by what holds us captive.  God can break open the prison doors.
• through are brokenness, God can turn it into ashes and make it beautiful.
• we mourn through our brokenness.  God can provide us joy.
• our spirits are heavy.  God can give us a garment of praise.
• when we arrive at the end of the tunnel, having trusted God, HE will bless us and HE will be glorified.  Their is a PURPOSE to our brokenness, our captivity, our imprisonment, our mourning, our heavy spirits.

Girlfriends, I hope my posts never give you the impression that I have it all together or I have all the answers.  I am in a season of brokenness.  I am bound and held captive by some of my emotions and circumstances.  My spirit is heavy.  I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.  But even in my most broken state, somewhere deep in my spirit is a peace.  A peace that only God can give.  Does it fix everything?  Does it stop me from having anxiety attacks?  Does it make the circumstances causing my brokenness and heaviness to go away?  NO!   But I do trust that God is somehow going to give me beauty for my ashes, joy for my mourning and praise for my heaviness.

So, from broken to blessed to ...Creative?  Tune in to my next blog to hear about the "creative" aspect.  Until next time, hang in there and hold on to Jesus.

Healer of the Broken

Good morning, girlfriends!  I had no intentions of blogging this morning, but God threw some encouragement in my lap so I have to share it.  It was a super rough morning for me.  Life, although full of its' blessings, I know, is also full of its' struggles too.  The thoughts running through my head this morning went something like this:  "I'm tired of having a kid with ADHD.  I'm tired of feeling disrespected.  I feel like I am every body's slave. My marriage is hurting.  Why can't I find words to encourage my husband? Why does it seem like it is one project after another in my family?  I have got to make some changes!!  I don't know where to begin.  My heart is so heavy.  My thoughts are so jumbled."

Any of those sound familiar?  I hope some of them ring true to someone out there, otherwise I really am going crazy!! (LOL)  I sat down at the computer to start typing some of my thoughts since they were coming too quickly to simply write on paper.  The "Internet" button was calling out my name.  I tried to resist.  I knew I needed to get my thoughts out and spend some time with God before I checked my email or got on Facebook.  But, I was too weak.  Or was I?  I know now that it was that still small voice inside my head (the Holy Spirit) wanting me to check Facebook, because that was where God gave me the following verse and song. 

• Psalm 147:3:  "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."

Listen to the following song, "Healer of the Broken" by Gwen Miller.
http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=KZDYPGNX

Father, please heal OUR broken hearts and bind up OUR wounds today!  Until next time, hang in there and hold on to Jesus!

Lugging my suitcase

There is a new song out by contemporary Christian artist, Dara Maclean, titled, "Suitcases."  The lyrics to this song have been weighing heavy on my heart and mind this past week.  When I sat down to have my devotion this morning, it was by
one of my faves, Priscilla Shirer.  This woman blesses the stuffin' out of me!  Guess what the title was?  "Ditch the Baggage."  By this point I'm getting this picture in my mind of God standing on his throne, yes, standing, not sitting, looking down on me, hands cupped around his mouth, yelling, "Jennifer, are you starting to get it? I'm talking to you!"  I've said before that if I only had the patience with my family that God has with me.

Priscilla's devotion excerpt was from her book, He Speaks to Me.  She talks about running track in high school and how when warming up, she would wear her sweats and tennis shoes to make sure her muscles were warmed up for the race.  But when it came time to run for the prize, she took off the sweats and put on her lightweight shoes called spikes.  She said, "We got rid of the excess baggage because we wanted to win the races."    She mentions that as believers, Satan knows he cannot destroy us so he seeks to distract us.  He knows we are safe for eternity, so he tries to make sure we aren't any good to the kingdom of God while we are here on earth.  We can either choose to "warm up" with our baggage weighing us down or we can get rid of the suitcases and run for the prize!  2 Corinthians 7:1 from the Message puts it this way, "Make a clean break with everything that...distracts us."  Priscilla then reminds us that "Coach Paul, however, cheers you on from the sidelines:  'Run in such a way to win the prize.'' (I Corinthians 9:24).

Listen to the story behind Dara's song, Suitcases.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bwHTtbBj14&feature=relmfu

My favorite lyrics in her song are:

• "How can you move when they're weighing you down?"
• "You can't run when you're holding suitcases."
• "Can you imagine what it's like to be free?  Well, send those bags packing, they're not what you need.  Abandon your troubles on the side of the street."

What are loaded in your suitcases?  What do your suitcases represent for you?  My suitcases are most definitely my depression and anxiety.  I've been so frustrated the past few weeks with multiple anxiety attacks.  They weigh me down, they slow me down, the DISTRACT me.  I definitely can't run the race of everyday life with them hanging around.  They are accomplishing just what Satan wants them to. I take half of my little peach pill to get the attack under control and then I get tired.  It is a vicious cycle and it it NOT from God.  Satan has control over this aspect of my life right now.  I am determined to pray each day for God to take away my suitcase of anxiety.  To help me pack that bag for the day and lay it on the side of the street.  Notice I said to pack my bag for the day.  It will be a daily battle for me as it will likely be for you too.  I'm tired of carrying this anxiety baggage around.  It utterly wears me out.

Listen to Dara's song, and join me in laying down your suitcase today, and then try again tomorrow.  Be prepared to pick it back up, (I know I will mine) but then ask God to help you put it back down.  Until next time, hang in there and hold on to Jesus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4cFZcSivZI&feature=relmfu