Be Honest

Psalm 107:14-16

He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, 

 and broke away their chains 

Lord for his unfailing love 

 and his wonderful deeds for mankind, 

 for he breaks down gates of bronze 

 and cuts through bars of iron.

Some became fools through their rebellious ways 

 and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. 

 They loathed all food 

 and drew near the gates of death (Psalm 107:15 - 107:18 NIV)

Father God I know, you know, full well the thoughts and attitudes of my heart. There is no hiding from you. Sometimes that very fact makes me mad. I wonder, where is my privacy, but who would want or need privacy from you? Your presence makes my day so much better. Why do I avoid you? Sometimes you challenge me and sometimes you offend me when I am doing wrong. You make me see myself as I really am and i am not always pleasant when I see me reflected back to me. Trust in you. Seek out your presence and the powers and principalities of darkness, you will handle. Trust you, have faith in you to handle my life. You do a much better job than I have been doing. Trust you. Don't fight it, just have faith and trust God to know what's right for me. Don't worry about the day, trust God. Demand what is right and good. Listen to God's voice. Be Blessed and be a Blessing to Someone Special today. I love you.

Faith

Ezekiel 9:9-11

He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’  Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded. So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done (Ezekiel 9:10 NIV)

Thank you Lord for another day. I am learning how to trust you and be patient. i want it done now. I want all barriers removed from us and I want to see you face to face. A new set of circumstances will always await us but I want the next step. I walk by faith that I trust in you rather than by sight. I seek your presence Lord. As you edit the plotline of my life, let me just say that the plot seems stuck. We need to move the story along. Did I miss plan A and we are now trying to divert to plan B? have I missed the twists and turns that you had in my life to ove it along so that now I, like so many others, am just wounded and wandering without a destination. I'm in a holding pattern. Same old thing everyday. I'm trying to remain positive and trust you Lord but it isnt easy. The big question Lord is, do I stay with this plotline, or look for another? Thank you for being patient with me Lord. Trust and patience are my weak areas when it coms to faith. Walk by faith, not by sight, is easier said than done. Have faith today that God is working it out. i love you.

Peace

Job 23:1-12

Then Job replied:

“Even today my complaint is bitter; 

 his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning. 

 If only I knew where to find him; 

 if only I could go to his dwelling! 

 I would state my case before him (Job 23:1 - 23:4 NIV) 

Good Morning Lord. Today is another day for me to worship you. Keep my mind focused on you and Peace will be my reward. I will not try to control everything that comes my way. I have a choice. I may have hundreds of thoughts in my mind but in order for me to make sense of anything I will need to release. Release my need to want to do things my way. Agree to disagree. Trust in The Lord. I am so happy that the little league team has brought hope to our entire city, let alone the whole country. Our boys from the south side became the US champs. Something positive out of all the negative coming from our streets. Especially from the young people who are blamed for the negative. Have a blessed day, I love you.

Do not let your heart be troubled

Thank you Lord. I am blessed. I had an allergic reaction to the environment yesterday at my school and my principal sent me home. My eyes and face blew up like a puffer fish. I didn't go to he emergency room because I felt OK, just looked horrible.  My doctor wasn't able to see me and here I am going back to work today. I do feel fine, I just look swollen. I'm going to go to the doctor today for sure. It's official, I'm allergic to my job. My school is making me sick. I have to stay today, I need to finish my room. What a mess. Already on the first day I am stressed. I need to go back to yoga. God says trust me in the mdst of a messy day. Well if this isn't a messy day then I don't know what is. My Lord you said I would have Peace in your Presence. Don't be shaken by what is going on around you. Detach myself from this temporal world of disturbances. Don't try to make order and control in every situation, relax and remember the inner Peace that God has given you. Rest on His Word. Seek God's Presence and He will open your eyes and show you the world from His perspective. Do not be afraid, the Peace I give you is sufficient. I love you, have a blessed day.

Trust

Isaiah 55:6-9

Seek the Lord while he may be found; 

 call on him while he is near. 

Let the wicked forsake their ways 

 and the unrighteous their thoughts. 

 Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, 

 and to our God, for he will freely pardon. 

 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 

 neither are your ways my ways,” 

 declares the Lord. 

 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, 

 so are my ways higher than your ways 

 and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

Father God, thank you for today. I am here one more day. I trust you Lord to know what I need. You are intimately involved in all of my moments. You make a difference in my life. You are my strength and my shield. I try to keep myself busy so that I do not think about my discouragement. I have hopes and dreams that I do not want to be just wishful thinking. Lord you know me better than I know myself. I want success with my relationship. I want to be able to build a future together. Today is a good day for us to begin building our future together. I have to trust myself to trust in you wholeheartedly. You have absolute control over everything. I rest in you. My peace is found in you. Together we can do this. Let's make it happen. I love you very much, not infatuation, true love. Be blessed today and know that I am thinking of you and trying to rest in God drawing us closer.

I'll Miss You Today

Thank You Lord for today. Trust you, and don't be afraid. I will look at trials as an exercise to develop my trust in you even more. satan's favorite weapon is fear but if I affirm my trust in you, then I can resist the devil. The devil is a liar. Refresh my spirit and my love in you. I will sing praises to you Lord. I belong to you. I trust you. I will not be afraid. I have to take my dad to his brother's wake tonight and then the funeral tomorrow. First Soccer game tomorrow morning that I will get to see. Back to school on Monday. I am so proud of you standing up for the 9 year old child. You are some thoughtful to do so much for justice in this community. We are blessed to have you here. You cherish life. People love that you are so true to heart. You have a big heart. It's so easy to love you. I love you. Have a blessed day.

I Love The Lord

I love The Lord and I love you. I know we have a future. I want to take hold of what we have and build something from it. I love you have a blessed day today. Don't let this moment slip away. God is good and wants the best for us.

My Inner Self

Ezekiel 8:17-18

Good. Morning My Lord and My Savior. Thank you for another day. I am one day closer to You. I want my heart to be pure. I don't want to disappoint you. Let me not have thoughts that are detestable to you Lord. Let me worship you only. I'm always looking to be closer to you. I want the privledge thinking that I have a right to expect the best. All things work together for the good. God's glory is what I strive for. Thank you for loving me. I love you too. Have a blessed day. 

The Next Step

Matthew 16:33-42

Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.  (Matthew 21:33 NIV)

Dear Lord, thank you for your love. I am comforted today knowing you walk with me. You are my rock and my salvation. You wake me up and you allow me to sleep in peace. I am expecting conflict today. It's back to the school. I know confrontation is inevitable with this woman. I treasure my previous principal after having to deal with this crazy woman, but never the less, life goes on. So Lord I will go in today and tomorrow, set up my room as much as I can, spend time talking and chatting as much as I can, and prepare myself for another school year. I am healthy right now, I look forward to starting the school year off with a positive note. Setting up a schedule and routine. Avoiding any unnecessary conflict with the crazy woman. I had hoped for more between us by now. I blame myself. You are encouraging and consistent. I love you so much. Your love for justice is so important. You care for the poor and the needy. It's not just rhetoric. You walk the talk. You have put your life on the line everyday. I hate that you have to encounter such adversity for your purpose. Freedom is never free.  I want us to be closer everyday. I love you very much. 

Trusting in You Lord

Matthew 5:3-7

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Father God I pour out my heart to you because I trust you. I trust you at all times. You are my refuge. My is constant. As long as I am here on earth, there will be struggles. I will try to view difficulties as blessings in disguise. Lord I will try to make a difference in someone's life. Lord I will seek you throughout the day to talk and trust you to find me seeking you. I trust you Lord. I love you.

We are destined to repeat the past

We are destined to repeat the past until we learn what we need to learn. I don't know enough about the Missouri situation to stand for or against, but I do know the boy was unarmed. The policeman was the one of authority and the one expected to be mature. I also know teens don't respect authority anymore. Abusing a policeman is not good either. I have heard so many different versions I don't know what to believe. They are disrespectful. In the classroom we see so much disrespect and we are suppose to just take it and move on. Thank God teachers don't have guns. Now everyone expects something to be done. Black teens killing each other was fine in the black community, but now we have to riot in our own neighborhood and march for nights on end for this loss. Any loss is a tragedy. We need the priorities to be understood that a life is important and teens do need to respect each other. What is expected for people watching around the country. Do we say it's open season on killing black teens. That's been going on forever, we can't let that be the norm. It's like they say, it's ok to kill each other, but let someone else kill us and we are indignant. Why riot? I don't get the continual self destruction. I don't know what the truth is and even if we will ever really know. Maybe this is a new beginning.

I Am Yours

Jeremiah 6:16-18

“Stand by the roads, and look,

and ask for the ancient paths,

where the good way is; and walk in it,

and find rest for your souls.

But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

I set watchmen over you, saying,

‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’

But they said, We will not pay attention.’

Therefore hear, O nations,

and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.

Thank you for today Lord. Let me hear you today. You are Alpha and Omega. The one who is, was and ever shall be. I want to be honest and truthful with you. You know me better than I know myself. I am yours Lord. I come to you with my arms open wide. What is my purpose for today. I will take each and every day that you set before me as a day to make a difference. Give us THIS day. We change every day and I want to change moving closer to you. This morning I woke singing Diana Ross, touch Me in the Morning. In the shower and while getting dressed I'm just singing away. I thought about how I want to be touched in the morning by you. Start my day off with love Lord.  You are with me in the morning, afternoon and evening. Touch Me Lord. Keep Me close to you. Never, ever let me go. I trust you Lord. I love you.

Multicultural

Acts 11:15-18

As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?” When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Father God I thank you for your glory and your peace. You have been good to me. I am blessed to be here today. I pray that I can enjoy life more. Relax in your peace. Don't sweat the small stuff. If I am stressed as a Christian, why would anyone want to be a Christian. My example must be one of trusting in The Lord for everything in my life. If I trust God to provide for me then why the sad face? I pray that God will help me to be more open and flexible. My thoughts and prayers are with you. God is with me and that should bring joy to my face.i am delighted in this day. I will find joy in each moment of this day. I will live in the present. I will see good in all the people around me today. The Lord is my Shepard, whom shall I fear? I'm going to see My Love later today, that alone is cause for celebration and fireworks. I love you. Now I wish I had taken the time to learn how to paste a picture. Imagine a fireworks display!

When We Are Weary

God says come to me. Come to me when you are weary. 

Daniel 10:12-16

Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”

When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was mute. And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, “O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me, and I retain no strength.

Rest in my everlasting arms. Thank you God for your encouragement this morning. I want to give up all the things that are distracting me from you. All the things that I have set up as idols in my life. My love for you is never ending. There is nothing that can take my love away from you. My struggle to understand is only complicated by your constant desire to keep me close. Trust you and my world would be different. Allow my self to take that trust fall and and just know that you Lord, have my back. I cannot depend on any of the human trappings that I have set up for myself because they are just that, human. I must trust you. You alone are there for me. My love for you is always increasing, daily. You amaze me every day. I'm still here and I can reach out to you Lord. I love you.

Truth

All things are possible. God would not bring me this far without something to show for it.mam I trusting God? Have I doubted and now I have to pay the price of delay or worse, never having it at all? Did I miss it? Did God silence me? Everyone I know has heard me say how much I love you. I used to tell them we were getting married. They thought I was crazy. Now the truth is what was said and I haven't grabbed it. I truly think God is up to something. Trust God without understanding, that was my reading one morning. Today was so busy. Dad had a doctor's appt. then buying shoes for him for his brother's funeral. Taking his suits to cleaners. Going to social services to give them my grand baby's bassinet and wash tub. Then back home in the traffic. Wash clothes, prepare for my week of PD at Peggy Notebarte. Wednesday will be a long day. I know it will be interesting. Thank God for trusting. 

There Must Be More

Shout it from the mountain top!

What will we do!

I am so sorry that God stuck you with me. 

Forgive me for my mistakes in the past. 

Pray for the future. Know that I haven't given up. I often think that you have or should. I'm not going to get mad at you for anything right now. You are diligent and I think you love me. I know I love you, so I am going to stop hurting us and do what needs to be done. A fresh start. Make this the beginning. This is so frustrating. Saying one thing, doing another. If I am frustrated, you must be too. What is the deal? Make this work!

Humane Thinking

Psalm 72:4-7

4 May he defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy;
may he crush the oppressor.
⁵ May he endure as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.
⁶ May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the earth.
⁷ In his days may the righteous flourish
and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

Dear Lord, thank you for letting my spirit touch another persons heart. I am always wondering how we can do better. Let us never forget that we can be intimidating to people who we see every day. Sometimes the testosterone thrown around that environment can be daunting. The establishment itself is ruled by the thought that they are approachable when really they are not. They are impatient with the questions and rely on past experiences to dictate the future. Even when the most pretentious of people ask the question, know that there are at least ten other people who did not ask but thought about it any way. How you respond is just as important as the question. Of course it's an annoying and distracting question, some people only want to find the negative in any situation but your response to their negativity will keep you relating to the people.the poor, the hungry, the helpless, they are the ones you are responding to. Don't be rude and angry at the person asking the question we have to be strong, yet protective. Protect our freedom to question, or we become silent and introverted. It's a small thing but very important, listen to the small voice. Don't make mountains out of molehills. Handle it and move on. You have experienced this twice now. Parish ours write to the cardinal instead of speaking to you directly. Someone who see's you often won't ask you a simple question about a small problem. You my dear are not approachable. You are wonderful and admirable. You are the apple of my eye. I would never want to hurt you, yet for some reason, I can't seem to talk to you about my feeling of love for you, in person. What's that all about? God help me with my dilemma.

Brave

Psalm 71:19-24

19 Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,
you who have done great things.
Who is like you, God?
²⁰ Though you have made me see troubles,
many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
²¹ You will increase my honor
and comfort me once more.

²² I will praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
Holy One of Israel.
²³ My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to you—
I whom you have delivered.
²⁴ My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
have been put to shame and confusion.

My Lord, My Lord, thank you for everything. Thank you for the bed that I slept in last night, thank you for the patient home health worker for my dad. Thank you for the daughter who is about to put a ring in her nose, even though I think it's stupid, it's her nose. Thank you for the constant arguments with my mother so that I never feel comfortable and want to stay any longer than I have yo stay. Thank you for encouraging me to keep my focus on moving up and out. I am not too old for change. Every encounter is an opportunity to express myself. Eye contact is important, wait time is important. Listening and knowing that someone has something to say that may be difficult to start, but it is important to not just move past them and try to check out what food is available, or who's the next one to meet. Live in the moment. Every person in frot of you is important. Pause a minute and give them a minute of your valuable time, it might be worth it. Show that you care about the one in front of you, not that you are trying to move on to the next person or the next thing to do. See me, hear me. Listen to me. Ask me a question, talk to me. I am not an ornament. Thank you Lord for today. My day will be great because you are in my life Lord. When all else fails me, I can depend on you. Thank you Lord, I love you.

The Power of the Tongue

Women can resist a man's love, a man's fame, a man's personal appearance, and a man's money, but they cannot resist a man's tongue when he knows how to talk to them. ~ The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.  (John 7:46 NIV)

Surely you have granted him unending blessings 

 and made him glad with the joy of your presence (Psalm 21:6 NIV)

When the right words are said, the answers are always yes. When you can reason and explain so well that the truth is obvious, then you are a true man. 

You are that man. You are awesome. I am blessed to know you. I love you. 

Unconditional

No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you (Joshua 1:5 NIV) 

BBe strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them (Joshua 1:6 NIV)

My thoughts are always to remain faithful. Faithful to God, faithful to you. What does that really mean? What does it look like? Clearly there is something missing. There is always the thought that something more can be done. In th midst of adverse circumstances, I find myself evaluating life again. Good or bad, life goes on. It's not infinite. This too shall pass. OK, so I am back from picking up my grandson. Now being sad is not my goal. I will look over this job quandary and know that what ever happens, I am not alone and this may open the door to something new and fulfilling. I'm looking for a new opportunity.