I’m 51 and don’t feel grown into my shoes…

 

I’m 51 and don’t feel grown into my shoes…

I know, weird statement, but hear me out, this is how my brain thinks thoughts…

I always reflect on my birthday… this year has been a unique one for sure… full of unbelievable highs and earth shaking lows…

I was thinking about how we take a lot of days, years…heck, life in general for granted…I always try to remind others we are here on purpose for a purpose… God places us in a time, for a time… and the journey begins…

So I got to thinking about walking out this path that’s been laid out before us, sure we detour, take some wrong turns, get hung up on certain hills, but the path has been laid out for us, again, on purpose for a purpose… we don’t always know or feel what that is, but walk it out in faith…

Then I got to thinking about shoes and how we need different shoes for different activities ( like beach walking versus mountain climbing)

I got to thinking about our shoes from childhood. You remember, the new shoes that your mom would buy that were just a touch too big, because she knew you’d eventually grow into them? I can remember thinking they looked cool, but felt stiff and sometimes hard to walk in until they were broken in a bit. Maybe the heel slipped up and down a little or your toes would slide to the front… we don’t walk as confidently when it seems our shoes could fall off or not support us quite enough to run like we used to in our old comfortable broken in shoes.

Maybe we are unsure of the new style… what will the other kids think or worse “say” about them? 

To make things more difficult, maybe we are wearing these shoes in new territory, like a new school, or new sport, or a scary situation that didn’t go so well…

I think in the journey of following our path in our adult life, we reach places where the path seems smooth and our shoes feel appropriate… and then it’s as if we find our feet in places we’ve never been -wearing shoes we don’t feel comfortable in or trust just yet… we make it through to the other side and find we’ve gained wisdom and strength we hadn’t had before and we start to feel comfortable in those shoes that have now been broken in… we’ve grown in to them! 

The path will eventually bring us to another place of growing and we may find ourselves once again having to learn how to navigate the new terrain in a new pair of “shoes”. Sometimes the new terrain is easy and we’re walking through things we’ve hoped for… yet other times we are navigating dark shadowy terrain, looking in disbelief where we find our feet these days… 

We must push through, we will gain new strength and wisdom by the time we get to the other side of it… we will have grown again and gained more confidence for the next parts of the path…

So if you’ve stayed with me through all of these rambling thoughts… thanks, and if you find your feet where you least expected them, wearing shoes you don’t trust yet… me too, friend… me too. But we just have to keep walking by faith, trusting in the One who has put us on this path on purpose for a purpose …He’s gotten us this far, and he’s even given us special shoes as part of our spiritual armor to wear…let’s just take one step at a time and see where the path leads us next.

Living For This

Hello! It’s been about 10 years since I’ve written anything here… I guess it’s time to return!

 Hope… what is it? We so often say some form of “I hope so” very often don’t we? Sometimes life circumstances can seem to throw a big bucket of water on the fire of hope that burns inside us… we can find ourselves just floating along in the current of our circumstances… I know I have a had some seasons where the current of life was carrying me along and I found it hard to hope for change.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a beautifully blessed life that I am grateful for, but like everyone, I’ve had times when it seems tiring or hard to hope for circumstances to change when it takes longer than I think it should. That’s when the enemy wants to whisper (or more likely shout or scream) that things are hopeLESS. And if we listen to that, it’s a dark place to exist…

Psalm 43:5 says “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

We need to be sure not to allow the enemy to be the voice we hear. This passage is an example of self-examination and healthy self-talk taking a look at our soul being downcast (depressed, defeated etc) acknowledging where our mental state is and then reminding our heart and mind where our hope comes from. The God who created us and made an eternal plan for us, is worthy of our praise even when that praise is coming from the broken places that our hope seems to seep out and escape us.  

That praise is often messy and awkward and raw… and difficult, but if we push into praise, we send the enemy a message that yes, we are in a hard and painful place, but right here we acknowledge God as our strength and source of our hope. That we are seated in the heavenly places near the throne of God, while simultaneously sitting in our circumstances… when we keep ourselves at the throne, the enemy can’t follow us there, he can’t whisper or shout there.

As I have been purposefully present in the throne room, my faith grows and therefore my hope grows, even though the earthly circumstances seem unchanged. You see when I put my faith in God’s plan, I realize that the details and strategies are being carried out and orchestrated in heavenly places, and just because I can’t see it moving in the manner or speed I want it to, doesn’t mean things aren’t moving on my behalf or that the answers aren’t coming.

So, my friend if you are feeling low on hope, get away from the enemy’s lies and take your place by the throne of God and praise him for the hope that only He can give. Remind your soul who breathed life into you, who gave you purpose and a promise and live for that. One moment, one day, one season at a time… 

And if you can’t seem to get there on your own, ask for help. Get family, friends, fellow believers to help lift you up to the Father, to sit in the mess with you and push into praise with you. God knew we would need that as it says in his Word “where 2 or 3 are gathered, I am there.”  I’m thankful that we are given people and relationships to help us in this life. One of my friends gave me this coffee mug knowing how much I love coffee, but this simple phrase proved to be a reminder that we are here on purpose for a purpose with breath in our lungs… let’s hang in there to see how what we hope for, comes to be.

Psalm 119-114 “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.”

Ephesians 2:6-7 “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

Ladybugs vs. Imposters...

   When I was younger, I used to love finding ladybugs in the garden. They were the perfect shade of red, and about the only bug that I was NOT afraid of. After all with a name like "Ladybug" what is there to fear?

   Fast forward to recent years and I have found myself saying "I HATE these ladybugs!" ...You see we live in an old restored farmhouse that sits on a sunny ridge, that thousands of these beetles have claimed as a vacation home. The warm sunny rooms in our house, like the kitchen and our bedroom become polluted on warm spring and fall days. I have been "bitten" by one crawling up my leg after it falls into our bed...I have set down a glass of sweet tea in the kitchen only to come back and find one swimming around in my glass...ugh!

So I started looking on line to find out how to get rid of ladybugs who make your house their home...

   I found out that I had been accusing the wrong beetle! What has overtaken our home is NOT the ladybugs I loved as a child, but another related beetle - the Asian Beetle!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These imposters look the same at close glance, but if you look closer, you can spot the differences...

 

For instance...

 

 

 

Their Appearance:

Asian beetles vary in color from pale orange to deeper reds and every shade in between.

Ladybugs are dark red in color (which is unattractive to predators) and have almost no color variation.

The # of spots on an Asian beetle can range from 0-19

Ladybugs have a uniform pattern of dots.

Asian Beetles have a "W" or "M" between their heads and backs.

Ladybugs do not

Their Actions:

Asian beetles were introduced to the U.S. to eat small bugs considered pests, but they themselves are now considered pests.

True ladybugs eat small bugs that harm plants and are gardeners best friends. One ladybug can consume up to 5,000 aphids in its short life span.

True ladybugs are more difficult to find now than Asian beetles and it is considered to be lucky if you find a true ladybug.

 

What about a Lady of God?

Many claim to be a lady of God, but are there ways to tell?

Would we be identified by others as a true lady of God?

Can people tell by our appearance?  By our actions?

Those can help, but God looks at our hearts. Do our hearts identify us as true ladies of God?

   Proverbs 31:26 - "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. Is our speech kind?"

   I Corinthians 6:19 - "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you? Which you have of God and you are not your own?   Do we treat our bodies well? Do we abuse them with lots of unhealthy food? Or maybe we do extreme dieting and rob our bodies of important nutrients? Do we go-go-go with no time for restorative rest?"

   A true lady of God should also nurture her soul by connecting with our Father who longs to spend one on one time, healing, providing, strengthening...

   If we do make time for that, when the storms of life come (and they always do) we will know who to turn to. We will know we can turn to our faithful Heavenly Father who will never leave us or forsake us.

 

   Do you know that your Heavenly Father is there for you? Have you had those precious moments when in the midst of hard times, you feel God's overwhelming presence and peace come over you? I have had that happen at some very pointed times in my life. I will never forget the feeling of blanketed peace...

*A particular time when I was completely overwhelmed when I had 3 little ones and was caring for my injured husband who I so badly wished to see him healed.

*Waiting to see if the "lump" was cancer, test after test

*Watching your baby go under anesthesia for heart surgery, and your not so baby have his lung collapse and need to be on a chest tube vacuum.

I know so many of you have been through similar situations, many of you much worse. In those moments it is so hard to "be still" but so worth it.

 

   When we go through those difficult times, others see how God works in our lives. It is a great chance to show the hope and strength we have from Christ living in us. I know I could never get through the little incidents in life, let alone the big tough things without Christ's strength.

 

     A true lady of God recognizes God's faithfulness and her need for Christ. When God made us, He designed a longing within us to find him, and when we do, we realize how much we need him...

 

   Maybe you are sitting here today and you have never experienced that peace I spoke of...Maybe you have felt a longing for something more, but are not sure God is for you...Maybe you have the look down, you know how to talk the talk, but it's not quite real for you...

   A true ladybug goes through a complete metamorphosis to get to be that wonderful, beneficial creature that is a treasure to find.

   ...It's the same for us, we recognize our need for God to be at the center of our hearts and lives, we then give our life over to the one who created us with a purpose. And then, we have the assurance that no matter how rough life gets, He will never leave us and not only will he never leave us, but He will bathe us in His peace and take us into Heaven to live for eternity someday.

   If you have never fully given your life to Christ, I invite you to open your heart and become a true lady of God.

God is already waiting for you to invite him to the center of your heart, so don't be afraid to ask, He already said yes with the cross.

Pictures from My Snow Day

I love snow, especially if I don't have to drive anywhere! The other day, I got to spend a rare day at home because of the snow. There were many things I really should have worked on, but I just could not resist bundling up and heading out with my camera.

 

I absolutely love how hushed things are on the farm when it is covered in a blanket of beautiful white snow....makes me think of how I have been washed "whiter than snow" by the blood and love of my savior....

 

Here are a few of my favorite shots from that day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Winter! :)

~Allison