WOW! Take a deep breath!

Well, it is has been some time since I've written on my blog. It is hard for me to sit still sometimes, quiet my mind, and put what I am feeling down on paper. But here I am this morning, sitting in San Luis Obispo, at my daughter and son-in-laws house, in the quiet, trying to put my thoughts together. Yesterday was an emotional day. We went to the memorial service for a man that I didn't know particularly well, but who really touched my life. Kim and I had the pleasure of meeting him about 6 months ago. He had Lou Gerhigs disease. When we met him he was already confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak anymore. We were honored to pray for him at the hospital where he was struggling with pnemonia. After that time, we got to meet with him several other times and pray with him and his beautiful wife Maggie. I can honestly say that his eyes would bore into me, full of love, full of life, and I am sure full of questions. I can still see him looking at me as if pleading for an answer. Yet, from what I have found out, he wasn't angry or bitter at God, but he embraced Him in the last months of his life. I am still emotional about this, I am not sure what it was that has touched me so deeply about this man and his wife. Maybe it was the way she was so devoted to him, or the love in his eyes. I won't forget Don. I will look forward to seeing him again in heaven, where I will truly get to know him, free from sickness and disease, free from the confines of this earthly body.........
Every day is definately a gift from God. We all have a purpose on this earth. For some, it is easier to identify than for others. I just want to love everyone! I just want everyone to be free from the bondages of their lives. I just want them to be touched by God, like I have. I am sure, those that don't know me that well might think my life journey has been easy, and I am sure that by some standards it has. But I have battled many demons in my life. I have been bound by many things that I endured in my life.... It has only been by the grace of God that I have been set free, truly delivered from the bondages of fear, anxiety, unforgiveness, hurts, anger, disappointment and many more. For God so gently brings us through situations in our lives that cause us to deal with our pain... If we don't then we never get free, when we do..... it is the most amazing feeling ever. Most of us resist pain, I have learned to understand it. I don't want it, of course, but I understand the process. It is in the process that we truly learn about ourselves and when we are willing to surrender ourselves to the Lord of our souls, then He will truly set us free...
I have story after story of how God does this. I know it is confusing to most, but if you ever want to know, I would love to share some of that journey with you.
My heart's desire is to disciple those who want to embrace the journey with the Lord and learn how to let Him love you into freedom from the bondages of your past............. It is my passion!!!!

There is always hope!

I have been going through boxes of photographs and old cards that were given to me by my girls and my husband Kim. It makes me a little meloncholy to see our family when we were all younger. Where did the time go? I have to say that I do miss those days. They were definately a wonderful time of my life. I was overly busy alot though. I din't know how to slow down, so I often ran myself ragged. I had a hard time saying no to things. I don't know if it was because I tried to please everyone or that I just didn't want to be left out of anything. Whatever the reason, I am happy to say that I no longer have that problem. I have learned to say no and I have learned to slow down. There is always hope.

I am so overwhelmed with joy!

This statement is made with boldness because for so much of my life I was afraid to be happy because I was afraid something terrible was going to happen if I was. It was the devil ( the accuser of our soul) trying to keep me from enjoying life and embracing the goodness of God. I lived that way for far too long. One thing that I love about being a follower of Jesus, is that once we recieve Him and the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us, we are given the authority to use the Name of Jesus to come against the devil. The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. The Lord came to give us life and life abundantly. So you see, the truth was kept from me all these years. ONce you know the truth, the truth sets you free!! You are no longer bound. I could go on and on but the truth is...... I know experience great joy, peace and happiness because I of the One who sets us free!! JESUS!! Thank you so much Lord. I couldn't be happier...........
Also, He answers our prayers. Sometimes we need to be persistant with our prayers, but when we excercise our faith and we don't doubt (this takes lots of practice, by the way)we see how faithful our Lord is. It's not in our timing but in His.
When you read my daughter Mandy's blog....Mandymchristiansen.blogspot.com.... you will see why I am so happy today. She has posted about her love and acceptance that she and her sisters have come to. This took years for them to be able to come to this place, but they did!! It truly makes my heart soar with love and fulfillment.
God is sossososososo Good and Faithful. Thanks Mandy for sharing your heart!

Oops I did it again

Well, I wrote a new post today, but somehow it didn't post. I guess I don't quite know what I am doing yet. So now, I have to try to remember what I said. I am too tired tonight so it will have to be tomorrow.

Here I begin......

Since this is the first time I have ever done this, I am a little nervous. I feel like I am exposing my inner self to the world. It's not that I have anything to hide, it just feels kind of private. I am challanging myself to step out of my comfort zone and become a little more creative. This is creative for me. I don't paint, draw or play an instrument. I love to sing though. I don't think that I have a very good voice. It is ok, I guess, but not great. I love to sing worship songs to the Lord. Worshipping takes me into another realm. I can feel the presence of God there and I feel totally complete.

There is so much inside of me that I want to get out. I believe that I have a lot to offer women about raising a family, having daughters, marriage, friendship, faith, overcoming obstacles, overcoming anxiety, learning to look at life half full instead of half empty. I could go on and on, so there are a lot of things that I will blog on over the next year. I hope that you can glean something from them. I am not going to be too entertaining, probably not too funny, although at times I can be a little funny. At least I think so....LOL .. I am sure my family will disagree. My girls are probably groaning about now.

I have been married for 30 years come this May 17th. It just hit me the other day! 30 years!! WOW! I have been married for over half of my life. I came across some pictures today when I was in high school. OMG it seemed like just the other day ago, and then, it seemed like a lifetime ago. How strange. I think we really need to celebrate our accomplishment. We had a big party for our 25th that was a blast and I am so glad we did it. I am thinking that this time we need to go away by ourselves. I am going to plan a trip for us. I don't know where yet, but I will figure it out. I have a little time.

Thanks for listening. I will be back again soon.!