Hope and Believe Like a Child

 Good morning my sisters-

I am awake at the wonderful hour of 3AM. It is my once-a-week curse and when I travel my several days a week ritual.  Saturdays seem to be a time when I wake this early. I'm a dreamer and often I have very vivid dreams, some I remember and others there are just whispers that remind me what I dreamed about that night but always, during this hour, I know I'm awakened to pray.

You might be wondering, who or what I am praying for at 3AM. Truly, anything that comes on my heart and into my mind. It's usually for world leaders, starving children, widows and orphans but this week it is the floods in Texas and my heart is crying out for those emergency responders and volunteers trying to find those that have already departed to give their families closure.

I believe we are called to pray for the mourning as well as the workers. The workers are always fewer than the task at hand and I wonder if Texas is having the same issue. I can't imagine what it feels like to crawl through the rubble that is left. The stories are heart wrenching, and I guess I just have a very big heart because the burden has been heavy as I've prayed for people I don't know and will never know. But like all things dark, there is always a glimmer of hope. A resounding feeling that our God is near in the darkest of places and I typically find it in watching animals play and hearing the innocent words of children.

Children here on earth or those that have gone to heaven somehow have a way of leading us to God. Their innocence flows from a heart less tainted by a world that hasn't fallen into the trap of skepticism but rather hope, faith and truth.

I've been caught up scrolling on the Texas floods which has been dark for me because I know how painful it is to lose people suddenly and want them back to hold, to touch, to talk to. And yet, I keep seeing these reels on young children asking Jesus to give them a rainbow or telling their mother Jesus is near and then a rainbow shows up, and even in the weirdest one I saw someone caught lightening in the middle of a rainbow, which was God's promise never to flood the whole earth again.

Hearing little children speak the name of Jesus really makes an impact on me. Their amazing way of believing through eyes that have yet to see the world for what it is always reminds me that in the dark there is LIGHT. God illustrates that to us every day. As I write, it is pitch black outside and in 3 hours it will be light. Dark and light exist but often if we stay quiet, we will begin to see that light shines brighter.

That's what children do. They hope, they believe, they see things we can't see. I believe that child saw Jesus on the reel. I believe children have seen Jesus that are sick. I believe that children have the ability to feel Jesus more than adults and I believe Jesus cares for the little ones just like He said in the Bible.

They remind me that hope doesn't have to be all theirs. God reminds us often that He has a hope and a future for us. What does that mean? It means as long as we are here on earth he has a plan for our lives. Some are here for just a whisper and others may have a hundred years, but we ALL have the hope and the promise that God has a plan in all this chaos. How do we know? Look toward the innocent child that believes. 

In a few weeks, the Texas floods will be fleeting from people’s minds. Those that are living the nightmare will always remember the day their lives changed. But there will be more floods, more disasters, more wars, and we have to cling to the HOPE Jesus left behind. Jesus did not get to fulfill His will when He went to the cross. He, instead, filled God's will which now gives all of us the HOPE of eternal life. My ask of God is for me not to forget Texas or the hundreds of families impacted by any life taking ferocious event. How do I know that I could forget? Because people have already forgotten North Carolina and the fires that burned LA. I don't want to forget any of them because these events remind me to look up, to believe and to know that although it seems cruel and unfair, God has a plan. 

I would like to encourage you to spend time with a little one. They are inspiring and so full of what we once had like wonder, hope, and awe. It is in this moment we get to glimpse into how God wants us to act, to think and to feel. He says, come to me like little ones. Why? Because they don't question!  I have to remind myself often to think like a child. It's easy to fall into the darkness of this world rather than to meditate on His words which is living and true. That's what I'm doing now. I'm reflecting on His words, His character and what He did for all of us. I believe that many in the flood are with Him right now and yet, I know from experience that may not comfort many of the families impacted until they go through the full force of their grief. My prayer is they feel Him in the dark and somehow, someway, they see the light. 

Lord Jesus, I pray you will send the Holy Spirit to every single person needing you today. I pray that we won't forget the tragedy of this year with fires, floods, and war. I pray that we will be called to pray for those that have lost so much and that one day they will see light again. I pray for the emergency responders and for the volunteers who are working so hard to retrieve loved ones for those left behind and I pray you will put anyone that needs prayer on my heart as you did this morning. I know that hope and faith are hard to come by in the dark but even a glimmer brings us to your feet and that's my prayer for everyone that is going through a dark time. I am praying that they won't lose hope in YOU. 

Thank you for every good thing and please bring about YOUR glory from the events that washed away their light. I'm tremendously grateful that you put people on my heart and I pray that my sins are forgiven so my prayers can resound in Heaven. Blessings to all. In Jesus Name I pray. AMEN

 Matthew 18:3 NIV

And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 19:14 NIV

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Seek to Find-The Tragedy in Kerrville, Texas

 Good morning my sisters-

Weeks have passed since the tragedy in Texas where young children, families and possessions floated down a powerful river. Water that was so terrifying that it swept campers and cabins down a ferocious roaring river that ended in lives lost and possessions wiped away.

The July 4th holiday comes and goes for me and it is always sad. In 2006, my brother took off for Colorado with his friends never to return. He fell off a mountain after a climb. It was horrific waiting to hear if he was dead or alive. Hours seemed like years and yet, when we got the news the shock of it reverberated throughout the house as if something was gone forever and it would never come back.

As I watched the news casts, this year, I relived those hours. I understand the wait but what happened two weeks ago is my heart broke for every person that lost that day and there are many that lost. The country was grieving for families they didn't know and the poster on Facebook and the news of children's faces and parents contact information was numbing. 

In the midst of the storm, teams were called to try to find those loved ones and some were saved and others were gone. The mighty Lord has many of them with him, especially the girls of Camp Mystic . Innocent children were lost and now as we watch the reporters filming there is a calmness, a silence that this is where many met their maker.

Time is not forever even though the world makes you believe so. Time is for God to use to refine us, to build us up and to grow us into a vine that can bear fruit. Some die young because their journey is done. They were good and faithful servants and others of us have to wait until our purpose has been completed to go home.

I think the thing that was most poignant to me was the fact that we only have today. The world deceives us into believing we have so much more time but truly, we just have today. I am more aware of that today than I was two weeks ago. I have lost many of my loved ones suddenly so you think I would be aware. However, the events of July 4th in Kerrville, Texas will remain in me a forever memory that I must maximize my time on earth and spread the true hope which is Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, the Life. Many who died in the floods knew Him and now reside on the streets of gold. 

What comes next after the funerals is a sadness that no one can comfort but Jesus. It is an emptiness no one can explain. Grief is raw, unrelenting and drowning at least for a little while. It will take faith just to get out of bed. It will take determination to enter the church. It will take stamina to call out to Christ in tears. It will take good friends to just let you cry. It will take you, on your knees asking God to help you to breathe. And in those moments, He will be with you. He will comfort you. He will hear you and He will be near but you will want your parents, your children, your brothers and your sisters and He knows that and is listening.

To all the people hurting, I am praying for you. I am asking the Mighty Comforter to hold you. I am interceding and asking God to protect you from evil and for Him to have victory over your loss. I know you hurt and I also know you can get through this if you seek you will find. It won't be easy but you can do it. How?  With Jesus, you will see a brighter day. When?  I can't answer that but I can state that little by little, as you hear the doves cry and watch for a butterfly, light will begin to take away the darkness, that is my prayer for you. 

Don't give up! Keep praying! Keep asking! Keep seeking! You will find Him in the midst of your darkest days. And for those that don't know Jesus, find someone that does because as you witnessed on the television, you only have today. 

Dear Lord Jesus- My prayer today is for all those that have lost so much all over the world. I pray that they will seek you and find you in their trials. I pray that you will comfort those that are seeking to bring back loved ones to their families in Kerrville and for all that have worked tirelessly in devastated areas. I, pray too for those that don't know you. May the events of July 4th, 2025, be a wakeup call to all of us that your coming will be the same. We will not have any warning just the sound of a trumpet to tell us you are here. I pray for all that don't know you that they will see that you are love and so worth following. Even Christians have trials, we all have trials and in them you are near when we call upon you and ask you to be in our lives. Thank you for that and the peace that we will one day see those we have lost on earth. Your promises never fail. I pray this in your Holy name Jesus, Amen.

 

Matthew 7:7 NIV

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

How can we judge if Jelly Roll is a Christian?

 Good morning my warrior sisters-

I was watching a reel with Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll a few days ago and I have to say it broke my heart. They are releasing Brandon's song as a duet together and it's mighty.  I was listening and all of the sudden Jelly Roll said, "This is hard." And I thought, what is bringing him to tears? It's us! Those of us that call ourselves Christians and then he said, people have stated he isn't a Christian because he cusses and doesn't look like someone who would be, that is so WRONG!

I feel as though we as Christians need to get in the Bible more if we are persecuting God's anointed. Who then is fit to be a Christian if not Jelly Roll and many more like who he was, like who I was. If you can say Jelly isn't a Christian, then you have to say David, Moses, Peter, and Paul were all not Christians. Would you say that? Of course you wouldn't, but who of them was perfect? NONE!

I ask you my sisters to consider praying for each other and to pray against the spirit of judgement on others. I pray that we send millions of prayers to the Heavens proclaiming that God's redemption of the sinner is mighty, all sinners. If you condemn or judge Jelly, then you must look at yourselves. This is not to say women have condemned him, but someone has.

Most of the time I'm proud to be a Christian but as I heard him say, "God has my heart." I thought what are we doing people! God has called us to spread the good news and by the way, he definitely is. We are not to judge or be judged by man, but rather God.

If we really believe in the Bible, then we must step out of our holier than thou attitude and receive those Jesus is receiving. I can guarantee as I sit here writing Jelly's platform is reaching more than the perfect person sitting in church. And God will continue to use him mightily, that's a fact. But if those of us that say we are Christians don't welcome them to the Bride, how many will fall away disillusioned and angry.

Jelly looks different than most. He did say he was a bad human and his testimony is full of hard stuff like prison and using women. He's real and his story is exactly what our time needs because he was a person needing a savior and God did just that. He did it for the prostitute, for the demon possessed, for the blind and lastly, his last act on earth was to take his brother on the cross, the murderer. We do not and never will understand God if we are judging others. We must look at the beauty of taking a prisoner and setting him free. We must embrace the differences and say, welcome. Why? Because if we don't then we don't deserve to say we are followers of Christ. We become Pharisees and I don't want to join that crowd, do you?

I hope today this blog makes you think about how you were redeemed. To ask yourself, where was I in life when God said come? You may not have gone to prison, but you were in some very dark place I am sure of that. And then hope beyond your wildest imagination came to save you. Your level of bad human might differ from Jelly’s, but we were all bad humans and are being perfected through the Holy Spirit. I welcome Jelly and men and women like him because like Paul he knows what it means to be saved by Jesus, maybe more than those of us that have walked the path.

Jelly or Bunnie if you see this, I'm so glad you are part of the Bride! Thank you for embodying Christ and showing all of us that it's a journey with Christ. I pray that both of you are blessed beyond belief and that God uses Jelly's platform to bring the prisoner to Jesus. Thank you for being real, vulnerable, and representing Jesus in that you know God has your heart. True redemption begins with knowing you are a sinner and receiving the hope of Jesus Christ!

Here's a Scripture we should all consider today:

John 8:7 NIV

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."

Let's not throw stones but instead shine light into the dark. And please remember that if you were perfect, you wouldn't need a Savior. 

Be well my sisters and may many more come to know the name of Jesus!

ABIDE IN ME

ABIDE IN ME

Good morning my warrior sisters! It's been years since I have written on this blog but it is time to start again. The LORD has been good to me and therefore, I want to begin to share his grace in my journey and the power of the truth.

There is no time like now to really come back to the Shepherd or if you don't know Him, you must seek Him. The events in this world demand a greater focus on our Savior. Like Daniel, we must be on our knees looking for Him, reading about Him, and proclaiming that He did die for us.

I will begin to write again and I hope that many will see the meaning of why we are here, through His words. He is real, He is with us, and He wants you!

So stay tuned as I begin again to ABIDE in the LORD I love. Writing is not just a passion but a gift, one that I cherish, and one that I hope brings hope to the downtrodden and light in the dark. 

This is indeed our time to shine. So with that, I say Glory to God. I pray that my time on this blog blesses many and that through your words dear LORD, people unite with the one true God. I have been blessed to know my Savior for over 40 years and not all of those have been in harmony with Him or myself.  However, I do know this, He is faithful in all things and has walked with me through my darkest days and brought light into areas where there was no hope. 

Today, I leave you with this my sisters in Christ as it came to me last night. There is no fruit if we don't abide in our Savior.

John 15:4 NKJV

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

I don't know about you but in this version, the words really penetrated my heart. I cannot bear fruit unless I abide in Him and neither can you.

My prayer today: May the Lord reach you wherever you are and may you find him in His words. May He cast a wide net with His mercy and may we all seek Him and find Him.  I pray this in Jesus Name, Amen.