365 WORDS...ONE WORD AT A TIME...JUNE IS WINDING DOWN!

Instead of Win, Lose, or Draw we have stepped into the realm of Win...Lose...or Shootout. Of course I am talking about the World Cup which has now reached the KNOCKOUT stage. In this life we are also stepping into the realm of the KNOCKOUT stage.We have an enemy who is seeking whom he may devour. We have reached the KNOCKOUT stage. It is time to stand up to the devil. I am learning all that I can because time is winding down. The signs and wonders are there and the handwriting is on the wall. It is time to stand up and know who I am in Christ, the righteousness of God! No wimping out. My One Word Journey is a learning process that is strengthening me. It is definitely not the time to Tap Out!

365 WORDS...ONE WORD AT A TIME...JUNE IS WINDING DOWN!

A few days ago while walking down the isle in my local Walmart, I spotted a small piece of REMNANT fabric that was so beautiful. I picked it up and examined it. It was such a tiny piece but was wrapped with a sticky label with no measurements listed. I almost put it back on the pile, but then I thought even if I couldn't use it for anything, it was so pretty, I could just look at it. It was giraffe print, soft, and it looked like suede but it wasn't. Even now I could not even visualize not one other piece of fabric stacked on that REMNANT shelf. That one caught my eye and spoke to my heart even as I was passing by not even looking at anything. I remember saying thank you Lord and smiling. It felt like a gift, put there just for me. When I arrived at home and opened the REMNANT up it was a a perfect square. I laid it aside until today when I found the perfect use for it. I used it to cover my plant pedestals I had made. It covered not one, not two, but three of them! They are beautiful! I am so grateful for my 97 cent REMNANT that God blessed me with that brought me so much joy.

365 WORDS...ONE WORD AT A TIME...JUNE IS WINDING DOWN!

Sometimes I find myself looking AHEAD and visualizing the end of my 365 Word Journey. December is way AHEAD of me in the future but just a glimpse would be nice. I don't want to end up with a bunch of head knowledge or spiritual growth but not really being any different afterwards. I feel I have changed a lot in just this first six months. 2013 is way, way, way back in my rear view mirror.
Philippians 3:13 says, Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining what is AHEAD. (NIV) I too am straining AHEAD and pushing toward the end of my journey which I already know will just be a new beginning. I can't wait...smiles. Stay blessed my brothers and sisters.

365 WORDS...ONE WORD AT A TIME...JUNE IS WINDING DOWN!

SPEAKING right does lead to right believing. I am learning that. When I began exercising again I had to tell myself out loud how much I loved exercise. SPEAKING out loud changed me from doing it begrudgingly, or worse, not at all, to actually loving it. Sometimes when I wake up I can barely walk...but that's okay...smiles. I actually used this declaration of SPEAKING out loud to get me through my math class at university. It was my Mother's idea. She told me to stop saying, "I hate math!" A semester before I had to take the class, I kept SPEAKING out loud how much I enjoyed math! I ended up with a B in the class! I had purposely skipped my placement exam thinking I would just get dropped into an easy class. Of course I didn't, but I am happy for that now because I proved to myself I could get through it. Going to the market has been extremely stressful as I may have mentioned before. Today when I felt myself faltering I began SPEAKING out loud and declaring that one day again, I will be able to walk in a buy whatever food I desire in Jesus Name Amen! Begin SPEAKING out loud to yourself. SPEAKING God's word brings His promises into our lives!

365 WORDS...ONE WORD AT A TIME...JUNE IS AN AWESOME MONTH!

One day last week as I was reaching for my pain medication at the set time, when I heard a still small voice that asked me, "How do you know you need that?" Hmmm...technically I didn't know but religiously almost daily I reached for a over the counter pain pill at precisely 4.15 pm. Although, in the last month I was getting later and later on the time. That day I did not take the pill and I had no pain at all that night nor the following few after that! Before if I even forgot to take the medicine I would be in excruciating pain and would not be able to ease it enough to even sleep. I would eventually just drop off from exhaustion in the wee hours of the morning. When exactly I received my healing for my back that I was praying for, I don't know. I do know it was sometime in the past couple weeks. I praise God that my faith made me whole. I have renewed hope of the other health issues being healed as well! 

365 WORDS...ONE WORD AT A TIME...JUNE IS AN AWESOME MONTH!

Sometimes it disturbs me how MATERIALISTIC people are. I am not to be judgmental therefore I often have to pray when I am faced with situations I can't avoid and I don't want to say anything that might be confrontational. What makes some so compassionate for others and others so selfish and full of greed? Maybe in countries where we are bombarded with store ads on television and in our mailboxes, we can't help but be somewhat MATERIALISTIC. In essence, we are our stuff! Having lost everything except a few small items in a backpack and the clothes on my back, I came to learn the hard way..."stuff" can vanish in an instant. In less than a millisecond it can be gone. I don't know if I was MATERIALISTIC then or not...after all I had walked away from most of my "stuff" willingly. I took only what I treasured to my new place. When I lost it all, perhaps it was a test just to see if I was MATERIALISTIC or not. If it was a test, by God's grace, I passed. He restored everything and then some. About a year after I had lost everything, God even gave me opportunities to purchase many of the things again. I would find them in the most uncanny places, placed, so it seemed anyway, just for me to find them. Except for a book, the one I wrote about in a past blog, I did not purchase any of those things. I don't even know why I made that choice, but in doing that, God blessed me over and above what I ever had to begin with. He gave me double for my trouble! Was it easy? I can't say that the wait was easy. I had to take the less traveled road to my blessing. Was it worth it? You bet it was! When I encounter people who are MATERIALISTIC what I think about is those who don't have shoes, much less 40-50 pairs. Or have one or two changes of clothing that they have to wash them by hand outside, or sit on the ground or have one plastic chair, while others change clothing and furniture in a whole room every time they see a new style or color they like better. I feel sad for MATERIALISTIC people really. They don't know the joy of being a steward of the things God gives to us or allows us to have. In conversations with those less fortunate they don't know how to be sensitive to their lack. Everything we go through, God has a purpose and will use it for our good and to help others. I am grateful for the things I have gone through. Now I am a better person for those struggles.

365 WORDS...ONE WORD AT A TIME...JUNE IS AN AWESOME MONTH!

Football has been making me happy although sometimes having watched 31 matches...so far...is a bit tiring but at least I am getting my exercise in. I am very excited that the American team ended up in a DRAW with Portugal. Portugal has a very good team so a DRAW is wonderful. Tonight was a time of rest for me so I am keeping this short. Have a wonderful and blessed new week.