This has been a long week.

Starting with Friday, and my son in trouble in school and ending Tuesday when my mom suffered a heart attack and had to have emergency surgery- I have a blurred memory.

In between, my fridge went out and my car wouldn’t start.

My mom has been home since Wednesday, (yes,  they fix your blocked arteries and send you home the next day, for some, you go home the same day!) – and it’s now Friday.

This week I was privileged to meet many new faces as I stood side by side with my sister and other family, and guarded my momma. I was able to meet doctors, nurses, assistants, cleaning staff, and food carriers- all of whom played an important role in the care of my mom.

I also met a new face on that ever so tiny woman lying in the hospital bed-fear. I have to say, I could have done without that meeting.

I never thought I’d see that face. Not my mom. She’s the 5 foot 'ball of fire'; the 'tough as nails' granny that no one wants to mess with; the 'fighter' that I have always marveled at and cherished.

I cherish my mom on the good days, and I cherish her on those bad days we don’t see eye to eye. I talk to her darn near every single day, sometimes, multiple times. She has walked my journey with me, when the pace was easy, and also when the sprint was difficult.

I realized this week that the time is here- the time to meet the next phase. We seem to gallop through life waiting for doors to open, but what I’ve learned in the last few days is, doors that open aren’t always about self, but often are a shift through time- from one comfort zone to another. We evolve. We meet our new able bodied selves, we meet new faces- like fear- all of which are not signs of aging, but signs of growth.  And for my mom, her fear was quickly stomped down by resiliency, perseverance and determination.

This has been a long week- filled with one blessing after another. One tear shed was another smile shared.  In the walk of life, who and when we meet isn’t what matters, it’s how and why, and what we take from it.

I invite you to visit the website of Kate Motaung, who recently took over for the creator of Five Minute Friday (link below) for full details and rules (well the one rule).

 http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/

All are welcome and invited to take part in joining women around the world for Five Minute Friday! You will be given a prompt word then simply take five minutes of your day to write a heartfelt, authentic message (no need to edit) using that word!

I wrote a blog a while back titled, “Beyond the Door- A survivor’s story”. It took incredible courage for me to put down on paper, and share my horrors, about one of the many stories that describe my survival.

I’ve never called myself courageous, until now-ever. I’m proud of myself today. I have become a willing participant in my own recovery- willing to come face to face with the past, to face my own music along the way and to release it.

I was courageous enough to surrender.

For so long I waited at an invisible door for the invisible hands to open the door, grab my hand, and pull me through. I waited at a door of opportunity to begin blinking with fluorescent lights, “Jump now!” I’ve waited at a door of forgiveness for the words, “I’m sorry”- words I’ve never heard, and probably won’t.

I don’t have magic words of comfort to help you make that forward progress and take a chance to walk through the door that may be your current barrier. The entire Bible gives us the magic words of wisdom, the courage, the strength and the ability to say, “NOW!”.

If we have to deal with doors, just remember, they are not locked, they are meant for us to cross through the threshold and to experience the beauty on the other side!

God bless you on your journey and may God lead you through all the doors you encounter!

I invite you to visit the website of Kate Motaung, who recently took over for the creator of Five Minute Friday (link below) for full details and rules (well the one rule).

 http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/

All are welcome and invited to take part in joining women around the world for Five Minute Friday! You will be given a prompt word then simply take five minutes of your day to write a heartfelt, authentic message (no need to edit) using that word!

When I think of this word, I get chills. They run up and down my spine, and creep around my mind! It’s a frightening word for me, bringing up childhood memories of hiding the truth, adult memories of hiding my thoughts. The pain, the desperation to live freely, the tears, anger, depression, fear- words that I have swept far into the distant past, include hide.

Hide was an action I did for a long time, from evil on earth. I wanted to hide my shame from God Almighty- shame created by the evil. I wanted to hide my thoughts, my sins. I wanted to hide in all my unworthiness, but the jagged pieces, though swept away, still managed to blow right back in.

One word would bring me peace.

One word would remove the gravity pulling power to hide-

Surrender.

For when I finally surrendered myself to Jesus- the pieces I tried so long and hard to hide, no longer made me who I was. They no longer had an ounce of significance.

I am a new creation- new thoughts, new memories, new desperations- for the Lord! There is nothing in this vision of mine that I want to hide!

I want to scream and shout and boldly proclaim His truth,                                                  share his love and experience his presence!

I don’t want to sit in the back of a Sanctuary, and sneak out before the last piano key is hit.

I don’t want to sit in the back of a Bible study in hopes no one sees me.

I want to share this new me with the world! I want the person out there hiding, to know, that they are loved, they are forgiven and

Oh baby……

...  they are free!

Till next time....  Lisa

I invite you to visit the website of Kate Motaung, who recently took over for the creator of Five Minute Friday (link below) for full details and rules (well the one rule).

 http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/

All are welcome and invited to take part in joining women around the world for Five Minute Friday! You will be given a prompt word then simply take five minutes of your day to write a heartfelt, authentic message (no need to edit) using that word!

Matthew 6:33-34

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Oh the issue of worry! Women seem to be the bigger worriers. Yet, there is nothing we can do to change most of what we worry about. From issues surrounding parenting, to finances, and relationships out of our control- and since every relationship has two sides- that means one half is always out of your control, we have much we could worry about.

But God tells us, we cannot be anxious about tomorrow. He has provided the birds food, the beautiful flowers provide a dressing of beauty in any field. He loves you enough to provide all you need on this day, and will provide beyond your understanding that which you need tomorrow.

So many times we lose sight of God’s love and peace, which is already there inside us. Often we are overcome by circumstance, and our lack of patience brings us to a place of worry, which then carries us to a place of feeling we need to take action. We don’t like worry, I don’t know one person who does, so, why is this so hard for us.

Control.

In the grand scheme of things, we have not mastered the art of surrender. We struggle to surrender to Him ‘everything’, beginning with our thoughts. Tomorrow means nothing to a world that has no idea what the next second in today might bring. We’ve been watching the reports from across the world of the Christian persecution taking place. In one second those lives change forever, through loss, death, brutality, one second in today. One doctor visit, one drunk driver, one act of evil- Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. I’d say so.

So today, take the challenge. Challenge yourself to truly release worry, to surrender God your thoughts, your mind. Challenge yourself to be wrapped in God’s peace. Find hope where you thought there was none; find strength from places you didn’t know existed. Find God in the places you once sat in alone, filled with worry. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Do not be anxious about tomorrow, but be filled by His love, grace, mercy and comfort, today.

I invite you to visit the website of Kate Motaung, who recently took over for the creator of Five Minute Friday (link below) for full details and rules (well the one rule).

http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/

All are welcome and invited to take part in joining women around the world for Five Minute Friday! You will be given a prompt word then simply take five minutes of your day to write a heartfelt, authentic message (no need to edit) using that word!

I am laughing over here by myself!  This week’s word is a God thing! At 3:30 am tomorrow morning, a break is exactly what I’m taking. I’m boarding a plane and heading west- all the way to the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii;  a break from work, a high school teenager fighting against me with school, and the many other  realities of my life. A break is needed, and I am so grateful it is finally here.

It’s has been almost 12 years since we last took a ‘real’ vacation. I always appreciate those weekend getaways, but to know you are escaping for 10 full days is amazing!  With the hustle and bustle of life, I think it should be mandatory for everyone to get away.  This vacation hasn’t begun yet, but I am loving the thought of it already.

In the past when we set out with our four kids on a family trip, I used to hope it would bring about some small miracles in my marriage, in my parenting, in my mind, etc.. etc..etc… “Please Lord, let this break be what we need to rekindle this, to reconcile that, to help us in this area”…always, I prayed some sort of healing through our family time away. Today, as I prepare to head out in the morning, my only prayer is, “Lord, thank you for this long awaited break. Thank you for getting me through these years, for building me up, for guiding my steps, for inspiring my work, and for holding me tight. Thank you for allowing us this time together. Bless this time to your glory and bring us closer.”

I have no pleas for fixing something broken, no cries for help to communicate, no need for expectations other than an enjoyable vacation. As I pondered those years of asking God to bring some miracle to my life just because I was away from home, I realized how little I comprehended of His mighty power right there in my home. Why did I think a vacation would solve some of those issues I had in my marriage back in the day, or the trials we were going through raising four kids in our ‘brady bunch’  home? Because I set out on those breaks with an agenda in mind, I’m not sure I ever really felt like I had a break at all!

God is so loving, so kind and generous. He is there, all the time. Our prayers are answered, or held, from right where we stand, and through the years, He has displayed his awesome power right where I stood. Those answered prayers bring me to this vacation, this break I’m about to enjoy. My marriage has come far, of course I will always pray for us, but I’m not taking this break in hopes of finding something new between us or some fix to a problem, because after 18 years of prayer, it is working. After 18 years of fighting it out, of the ups and downs and ins and outs of marital life and parenting, we’re making it.

So when I fly away tomorrow, I will be taking a break to really take a break, and I can just smile and say, “Thank you, Jesus!”

I was introduced to this amazing interactive party on July 18, 2014- and I absolutely fell in love with the idea!

 I invite you to visit the website of Kate Motaung, who recently took over for the creator of Five Minute Friday (link below) for full details and rules (well the one rule). 

http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/