Fall home decor!

October 1????  How did that happen!  I usually have my home decorated for fall by now!!!!! 
Would anyone like to see before and after photos?  If so, let me know!  I want to do something fun on here!! 👀

Submission to God and Faith

Today is Monday.  So many people dread Mondays.  I have  looked at them as a new day to begin again, and a new day for blessings.  Today, I find myself seeking guidance, once again, from our Heavenly Father. 

Have you ever "fought" God, when you feel that He is leading you in a different direction?  Do you constantly wonder if its God or satan?  That may seem like a strange question. 
"Of course I know its God, why would satan put this thought in my head?"  Well, I have been "fighting" Gods will for over two years.  But how do I know it was Gods will? 

Gods will is not always easy.  He never said it would be, but He is there to take us to it, thru it, around it, whatever it is that He leads us to.  He doesn't always lead us away from trials, but He is always with us thru them.  A good example is Daniel 3. 

I have been seeking Gods will for my life for many years now.  I have been allowed to go thru things that has grown my Faith, tremendously.   Each step has brought me closer to His perfect will for me.....Can I tell you what it is?  Nope, not even close...but I can tell you things He has revealed to me....and I can tell you that I seek it each and everyday!!

Proverbs 4:23 KJV  Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 
It was during a program at our church, Heavens Gates and Hells Flames, that I heard this verse for the first time, (not literally, I had heard it all my life, but for the first time in my life, it stood out like a sore thumb.)  Thru that three day program, my life was changed forever.  It was a very dramatic program, and it was an instrument too, that God used to wake me up, but, the most life changing part of the entire program was the hour of prayer before each performance.  I had never experienced anything like that in my entire life.  I had never felt the Holy Spirit so real.  It was one of the most important, and memorable times in my life.

Guard your heart..That was constantly on my mind.  We were asked, if possible, to take those three days, put all the world aside, and spend quiet time with the Lord....keeping our hearts in tune with the Holy Spirit.  I did just that.  I took time off work, I did not have the tv, radio, Facebook, etc on for any of those three days.  God truly started to speak to me!  On the third night of the program, during our prayer hour, we were asked if there was anything we wanted others to pray about.  I spoke up and said, "I am thinking of a career change and I need Gods guidance"  I was shocked at what came out of my mouth!  I even turned around to see who said that, it couldn't have been me!  I haven't had one thought of closing my hair and nail salon!  That was my "ministry" so to speak.  But....it WAS me that said it, so, I started praying about it.  That was Tuesday night, the very last night of the program.  I hated to see it end, but was so thankful that God had allowed me to be a part of it.

Wednesday morning ride to work with my husband,  (after a very long night of laying awake, wondering if it was God telling me to close the salon......)  I said to my husband..."Honey, what would you say if I told you I was going to close the salon?"  He came back with, "Well, I think its about time"!  I was surprised to say the least!  So on the rest of the ride to work, I prayed for God to give me confirmation from Him that this is what He wanted me to do.   Did I get confirmation????  NO, I got hundreds!!  Lets just say the minute I walked in that door the confirmations started falling at my feet!  By the middle of that day, I had announced that the salon would be closing asap.  I did not give a time limit, because I had stylist that had to work things out, they had to find a place to go, get their clients situated, etc.    God had it so planned out, that I sold all my equipment, paid every outstanding bill, and walked away with money in my pocket....IN JUST TWO WEEKS!!  Did I mention the peace that I had about this decision?  I don't know if I have ever felt that much peace!  Thank you God for that blessing!!  FAITH!  I exercised my faith when I closed that salon!  God honored it!!

Back to the hour of prayer each night......On that last night, (there were about 40 people in the program, and in that room each night...and we were all so close and in one accord) We were told to take what we had experienced inside that room each night out of those walls into the church, to share it and spread it, and then to take it outside the church to the community....Wow!  How much change could we be a part of if we actually did that!
Again,  three days!!!  three days changed my life....Does the phrase 3 DAYS remind you of anything????   Praise God!!

I know God wanted me to tell you about that....He guided my hands as I type..

I have struggled for a few years about a decision I felt God was laying on my heart...I fought it tooth and nail...it wasn't what Judy wanted..... :(  But, Judy realized that if God wants you to do something, you WILL do it, one way or the other.)

I have grown under the leadership of my pastor more than I've ever grown anywhere.  I love him and I thank him for all his wisdom, and for his steadfast speaking only the word of God!

I am continually having to learn how to resist the devil thru prayer.   Peter and James point to two key things....submission to God and Faith. 
Submission to God is saying, "I can't, but YOU can"!  In our battlefield prayers we might say, "Lord I can't defeat the devil on my own, But with YOU, I can."   As the apostle Paul said, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me"!! Phil. 4:13

I listen, I stay silent many times, to hear what God is telling me.  I hear Him thru His Holy word, I hear Him in a song, or a story, or another persons voice....Listen, listen closely and keep your heart in tune with the Holy Spirit.  Pray, pray pray!  Keep your eyes on Jesus AND GUARD YOUR HEART!!

I am looking ahead at what God has for me to do for Him.  I know that whatever it is, it will honor and glorify Him!  And that is all I want to do.  Even if my decisions are not popular with others, the fact that it is with God, makes everything right.

I hope that something I have said has helped someone else.  If we don't use the things we have gone thru to help others, they were in vain...and I want to make my trials count for good!!

Until we meet again, Guard your heart, listen closely for Gods voice.  He speaks, you just have to hear with your heart!

When God lays something on your heart...you do something about it.....

Brrrrrr!!!  Its 28 here in Lilburn...love it!
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Its been awhile since I posted on this blog....God has been laying something heavy and strong on my heart for the last few weeks...I want to share it with you.....

Faith....what is it?????  
God has shown me what true faith is.  We can say all day long that we have faith that our car will start, that our water will come on when we turn on the faucet, that we will surely have bills come in the mail....but...is that faith?  Or is it just life, because we know those things happen every day.

I might have eluded to this in a previous post...but, its part of what is on my heart..so bare with me...  God has had to break me, to show me what I really need.  Its not a new car, its not a brand new fancy house, its not the newest and most expensive clothes...its HIM.

I know this is for someone out there, I feel it in my heart...so please, if this is something God is dealing with you about, this could be for you.

We go thru life, saying, we "need" this job...we "need" this much money to live, we "need" this person or that person in our lives...but, do we really?  WE think we do, but sometimes God shows us just what we really need.  I was one of those people...He showed me a few years ago, and He has shown me most recently!

I "needed" the money that was being brought into the salon, in order for it to stay open.  There was NO way I could run it if any of the girls left me.  I endured lots of heartache and frustration, because this is what I believed!  God showed me that HE was ALL I needed...I didn't need money from anyone else, I just needed to rely on Him...from that point on, I had faith that HE was going to take care of things...actually, He already had, I just had to believe it....for 3 years, He did just that, I relied totally on Him....every bill was paid, every need was taken care of, and in the mean time, I was able to share Jesus with many other ladies that came thru the salon.  That was my mission field....I can see now why I was there, and why He didn't want me to close the salon at that time..

I have grown in faith over those years since then....recently, I slacked off just a bit....I had been doing some work, (almost exclusively) for someone else, it was good, but then became sparadic, and there was some frustration involved, and not alot of money, but what I did have helped alot.  I kept saying, once again, I need that money, I have to endure everything to keep it going...then, right after I verbalized that, HE was right there again, showing me that I need NO ONE or NOTHING but Him...just rely on Him...for ALL things..... I released that feeling of need of others, and He has supplied all of them since then.  He wants to do it, but until we let Him, He is just waiting on us!

We NEED to be serving the Lord, we NEED to be telling others of Him and giving them the opportunity to know Him too.  Its our responsibility...its what He expects of us.

If you are in a situation similar...let go.  Just let go of what or who you THINK you need....let God be ALL that you need!

If we say we have faith, but we continue to "need" other people or things to make it, then we have no faith.  We do not need that person in our life just because they have what we think we need to  survive...its not true.  Can you imagine just what God will do if we let go of that, and truly trust Him for everything, just let  let that go!!!!!  We are missing so many blessings because we fail to believe totally.  

God laid this on my heart....please be in prayer and realize that faith means believing...even tho we haven't seen.....God bless us all......

 
 

Counting my blessings..

Hello again, on this cool, rainy Friday...70 beautiful degrees in Lilburn!

We had an exciting day in our family yesterday!  We gained another member!!  Evie Michelle Massey, 6 lbs 5 oz of pure joy!  We are thankful to God for His protection over the mother and the baby.   How many times do we really think about their safety????

As we left out of Stephanie's room, so she could rest some before the big event, we heard a code blue for labor and delivery.   We felt so afraid for someone, someone we didn't even know.  We prayed right then and there....a few moments later, we hear terrible sobbing, and someone coming out of the ward, having to be helped to walk by a nurse.  The nurse went back into the ward,  my friend and I( the other Nana to Evie), walked over to the sobbing lady.  It is her daughter.  She is in labor with her third child.  She began to have a seizure, then stopped breathing.  They rushed her to the OR, where they did an emergency c section on the baby. 

I went over and just held this lady, as she cried for her only child, not knowing if she was dead or alive.  I prayed with her, we stayed with her until the Dr came out and called the family back.  Not good news.  

Sadly, this young mother did not live to see her new son.   This is almost non existent in todays world.  The baby sometimes doesn't make it, but the mothers almost never die during childbirth anymore.  Sad...

Sadly, the little baby boy was transported to another hospital, because he began to have seizures.  I have no idea what was or is going on today, but I know that I had the opportunity to share Gods love with two hurting, grieving people.   

We never know when it is our appointed time to leave this world.  My prayer is, that this young mother knew the Lord, that she is now in Heaven awaiting the rest of her family.  This makes me realize more than ever, that we have to share Jesus with everyone we meet.  We NEVER know when our last breath is coming.  WE have to be ready, to know that we know that we know that we will be with Jesus when our last breath comes.

I pray today, for each one of you.  That if you do not know without a doubt that when you die, you will be with Jesus in Heaven, that you will do so today, right now.  We are not promised out next breath, and once its gone, there are no more chances.  We are shown over and over that age is not a factor in when we will die.  Please please make that decision today.  If I can help you, I want to.  I am here for all of you.    

Until the next time, God Bless us all! :)

OK! Lets try this again....

Was I gone long?  Seems like forever!  Lets see, where were we??

Obedience....what does it mean?  As I mentioned in a previous post, one of our salon clients mentioned obedience, Gods will.....That spoke volumes to me....I knew I wasn't being obedient...I was getting better, but I wasn't where I needed to be with my relationship with God.

One day, out of the blue, I found myself in an almost empty salon.  Some of the girls had retired, some had moved on, and one, well, she just left without notice, without saying a word.  The last thing she said was on Friday afternoon as I was leaving work, "Have a good weekend".  I had no idea she would be packing up and moving out as soon as my tail lights were out of sight.  

There had been many years with this person...who I always thought was my friend.  I guess you find out who your true friends are at some point.  We worked together for along time, but for the previous few months before she left, there was tension.  It made it hard to come to work each day, and hard to be in the mood to make women feel good about themselves, but I did it, with the help of God of course!  I kept thinking to myself, "I can't say anything to her, she will leave, and I need her money to keep the salon open, I have to just deal with it"..........................................

So, that next morning, I walk into an empty station where she once was.  My first thought was, How am I going to do this??????  Within seconds, my next thought was, Whew!  The tension is no longer in this building, it felt so different!  Then it was just like I heard God say, "Now, WHO do you NEED??"  I immediately realized that God was using this to show me that I need HIM...not her money, not anyone elses money....just HIM.  This is the day that my eyes saw things so much more clearly.  From that point on, I began to trust God for everything.  

Then next Tuesday, the first day open since she left, I was at the salon before anyone else came in, I had the radio on, and I had my paper, pen and calculator, trying to figure how this was going to work.   Then.....on the radio, the song "while I'm waiting" came on.....I had never heard it before....and in that song, it says, I will move ahead bold and confident, taking every step in OBEDIENCE!!  God also used that to speak to me...I had a long talk with my Heavenly Father after that song, and I knew that everything was going to be ok.  I didn't know if the salon would stay open or close, but I knew that it was going to be ok.....

Sometimes He has to knock us down to make us look up.  For this, I am thankful.  For this "storm" in my life, I thank Him.  There is so much more He did from this point on, and tomorrow, I will fill you in on more.  :)

I am still praying for everyone that reads these words...If there is ever anyway I can help you, please don't hesitate to contact me.  I am here for you!  Until tomorrow, God Bless us all!  :)



 

 

Is it still Tuesday??

Whoa!  Its 5:25 already???  Its been a busy day!  But here I am!  :)

Ok, I just erased twice, so I think I need to go ask God just what it is He has for me to post today....Don't go away, I will be back, as soon as HE gives me the words......:)

God is good, ALL the time!

Tuesday!  This is the day that The Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!!

I missed you yesterday!  But I didn't forget to pray for all of you! 

Today is a busy day, but I wanted to leave you with a thought....
Do you trust God for everything?  Do you think He can do everything?   Right now, I am talking about our needs.  The things we need to go about our lives, each day.  That could be a job, our health, food on our table, money for gas, clothes, etc.  

We sometimes, more than not if we really were to be honest, we don't thank God for these "little" things, that are truly BIG things...God has put me in a place, that I HAVE to rely on Him for everything...and I am grateful for it all!  

I have to rely on Him just to walk everyday!  My knees are not as young as my age, ;), so to be able to move around, I have to rely on God to help me.  And I give HIM all the praise and Glory for that.  I have to rely on HIM for ALL my needs.  I am grateful that He has put  me in the place that HE has, because it makes me HAVE to rely on Him for everything.  Yes!  That means I am grateful for the knee problems, I am grateful for the financial part of my life, I am most grateful for His love, the love that only a Heavenly Father can give to His children, eternal life, blessings abundant, and joy unspeakable!

God continues to prove Himself to me.  He is faithful, I need to be faithful to Him.  I am giving Him all the GLORY today for what He is doing in my life!  He is showing me just what I "need" in life, not what I think I need....and probably shaking His head saying, "ok my child, I am going to show you yet again!!"

Have a wonderfully blessed day, and please please, remember to thank God for all the things in our lives that we take for granted each and every day!

I will be praying for you!  Until the next time, God Bless us ALL!