What Have You Laid to Rest For Too Long?

Happy Fall Y'all 

(welcome to our front porch- I love that truck! )

I am not sure
 if many read blogs much any longer,

now with Instagram being the  

"go to" most often.  

(And I do love Instagram)

But I  truly have missed writing and promised myself 

this past weekend that I would write a blog post.  It's a way of jump starting myself

even if no one reads it! 

Keeping promises to yourself is kind of

 important!

 Since moving three years ago, I kind of dropped out of the writing world

because I needed the time to get our new home in order.  

Isn't it something how 

when we forget to be "intentional" 

about picking something back up, how it can easily become lost?

(whatever that something might be in your life) 

Life happens to all of us, 

and includes needed times of stepping back,

 resting, rearranging schedules, grief & losses, 

illness, celebrations, new homes, new babies etc.... etc....

I am so thankful, that God already knows what

 we will go through before it happens.

  He has had our path planned for us, from the beginning.

And it is always paved and ready waiting for us to travel upon again.

That is...once we remember it is

HE who is truly the one in control 

and not us ourselves!

We can sure get in the way sometimes!!  

♥ - ♥ - ♥ - ♥ - ♥

"He begins to unfold His dreams for us 

 and moves those dreams forward 

 as we settle into a rhythm of PRAYER." 

~Mary Beth Marr

 

How often do we go through a journey alone?  

When all along, GOD is wanting to help us through, if only

we will ask HIM.

 "The Lord your God is with you;

 his power gives you victory.

 The Lord will take delight in you, 

and in his love he will give you new life.

 He will sing and be joyful over you."

`Zephaniah 3:17



( one of my journal creations)

I remember when going through Beth Moore's Bible Study, The Quest, a few years ago
 and her saying something like this that I have paraphrased in my own words:

You know, I bet God loves it when we inquire and ask questions of Him 

and search HIS Word for HIS answers.  

I imagine HIM

C H E E R I N G for us 

as He jumps up from HIS royalty seat clapping HIS hands 

and giving high fives to all the angels when we search and find the answers in HIS WORD!  😃

 ♥ I  LOVE  THAT  THOUGHT ♥

So my friend, if you
have laid something away to rest
much longer than you planned, I hope
you will ask God to help you to find COURAGE to pick it up again
and let HIM cheer and sing over you with JOY. ♪ღ♪

It's all about the FOCUS

Here it is July of 2015 and I haven’t blogged since last October!   I started to do so in the beginning of 2015 and never posted it.  But this post is still true today for me.  I am learning a lot about how quickly I lose focus….but also about how wonderful focusing is when you make it intentional in your life.  So therefore, I will put away my pride and share this post which I meant to share with you at the beginning of the year. Hope it encourages you as well to begin today what you may have put off in your life.
****************

"Focus"

Yes, this is my 2015 word to live out
for this year.  At first thought about the word focus, it felt a bit tight and constrained to me.  But the other day, as I was sitting and talking to God  and looking up at the treetops outside, I felt Him whisper into my soul this word.

I had been on my walk and like always when out in nature,  I forgot about the hustle and bustle of other things and my heart was bouncing with gratitude for the beauty of the creation around me.  I stopped to smell the sweet pine aroma from a small pine branch and then sat down to thank God for the refreshing moments he had just given me. It never fails.. In these moments of thanksgiving, my mind becomes flooded with so many new creative ideas. They were all swirling around in my head. "How will I accomplish these ideas Lord? How can I get them all done? Where and how do I begin? But what if ...and ...and....I don't want to be a dreamer, and a researcher and learner only with no complete action taken like I have done so many times in the past."
Then I looked up again and quieted my rambling mind and decided to just stop, wait and listen......... 
wait Lee Ann..listen...listen..

And He quietly did answer me with a whisper to my soul: 
(I recorded his whispers into my journal)

"Focus on Me my child.Give each day to me and listen for me to tell you what to do. Do not be concerned about doing it all. When you make it a priority to focus on me, I will take all of those creative thoughts and systematically show and tell you what to do that day. You can count on ME to be there and to guide your heart, mind, feet and hands each and every day.  All you need do is make me your daily FOCUS first. FOCUS on me and my whispers... 

 
I KNOW you Lee Ann.
 I am your Heavenly Father
 and I LOVE you."

A man’s heart plans his way,

but the Lord directs his steps.

  Proverbs 16:9

Peace and amazing focus

 to all of YOU, my lovely blog friends!

 

Letting Go by Changing Perspective

Hello my friends!
It's been awhile, I know.
Been busy with lots of changes this summer
and needed to take a little break from blogging.
I'm hoping I haven't lost all of 
my blogging buddies.

I'm hoping you are finding
 time to do all of the things that are
 important to you
 and have taken time to enjoy, 
 the in between parts, 
from the busyness of life.
If you are like me, you have to 
be intentional in planning
 to make sure 
you are balancing the busyness.


"RELEASE"
So getting back to what
 I've been learning about the
 "letting go" 
of what holds us
back from all God has planned for us.

I tell you what!  I had no idea how
 relevant choosing the
 word RELEASE
 as my 2014 word would be.
It seems there are lessons everyday for me 
as I watch for ways 
to throw off the extra baggage of 
letting go of things
  I don't need, but thought
I NEEDED!!
Do you find this to be true for you when 
 trying to be intentional
about watching
 for baggage you are carrying that
you really don't need?

This is where the kid in me always wants to

Stop.. Stand up and with arms spread wide, begin to sing 

at the top of my lungs..

.. ♫.. LET IT GO… ♫…LET IT GO….

(from the Disney movie, FROZEN)

and sing it until I believe it!! ☺

*¨*❤*¨*

I'd like to share with you about

something that happened in my life 

at the beginning of summer, without giving 

the details. 

(those are better left unsaid and as my own learning experience)

This way you can relate by making the details

fit whatever you are going through. 

This thing that happened just kind of

rocked my world in the grieving way. I had to 

make a tough choice that I wasn't expecting.

At first I thought the choice was about 

something I could control, so I began

figuring it out through my own

mindful process....you know the old

if I do this, but if I do that, or how can I 

do this so that the this I want will happen....

etc.. etc... etc... ha!

But I learned quickly that it 

wasn't something I could control...so

 it hurt a lot!

I will be honest,  for a day or so,  I let the victim 

mentality be my best friend- feeling sorry for 

myself..  grieving a loss that felt undeserved.

God then sent me a wise friend,  who after 

I told her I was feeling like Daniel in the Bible,

having to go into the Lion's Den,  she

responded.." Now Daniel, walk humbly and with God's peace.  Let Him do the heavy lifting. God will sort this all out."

I so needed reminded of that!

 His peace is such sweet peace, no matter

 what you are going through.

 All of a sudden,

I changed my perspective 

on everything that was happening. 

Instead of the victim mentality, I realized 

that God was orchestrating new plans for me...

...I just didn't know what they were yet.

I was excited about my future!!

I was no longer stressed over it all.  

I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God

was up to something good in my life

 and I could trust HIM 

and give up that control that

 was making me miserable.  

And you know what?

Within hours  (and I'm not exaggerating), 

those new and exciting things

 began happening in my life. 

And they are happenings 

that could only have come, because God put them in action.

"The freedom to actually be on an 

adventure with God becomes strangely

possible when you aren't pushing 

so hard for the package."

Paula Rinehart

If I had not Released

 that victim mentality by

changing my perspective instead to that of

"God was Orchestrating" something new

 and wonderful in my life,

 then I could have 

missed the great plans he was waiting 

to set in place for ME!!!

I know this was a long post and also overdue!

Thank you for bearing with me.

I hope it has been an encouragement

to you, especially if you need to 

Release something you really don't need.

Maybe, like me, all you need to do

is to change your Perspective!

Hugs,

“I waited patiently for the Lord;He turned to me and heard my cry.He lifted me out of the slimy pit,out of the mud and mire;he set my feet upon a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”Psalm 40:1-2

The Bittersweetness of this Day

It's bad when you've been so behind

 in putting up new posts on 

your blog that you re-post one

 you've already posted and written before.

I hope you will forgive me,

 but this post 

is in honor of my mother on Mother's Day.

And to all of you women who find Mother's Day  to 

be sad or bittersweet because you have lost your mother,

or maybe wished you had known them better or in a different way, etc...

I want you to know you are not alone. 

I understand and here is a heart hug from me. 

You may also find comfort in this special post that 

Lisa Jo Baker has penned on Lysa Terkeurst blog.
(just click on the title link in pink below)

Mother's Day for the Motherless Mother

It certainly touched me!

¨`*•¸.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`­­­*•.¸¸.••.¸¸.•¸.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`­­­*•.¸¸.••.¸¸.•¸.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•

here is my original post from May 2013
A Beautiful HEART
(in honor of my mother)

I hope all of you mother's out there have a

very special Mother's Day tomorrow.

Mother's Day has always been a

bittersweet day for me in some 

ways.

I love being a mother

 to our beautiful inside and out

daughters, Jessica and Jaymie, who are 

now adult mothers themselves.

What a blessing God bestowed upon me to be given the 

blessing of being their momma.♥

They live states away from us now, 

so although I won't 

get to hug them in person and spend time 

with them tomorrow, they are forever

 a part of my HEART

 and I'm sending them my  hugs and kisses.

My own mother passed away 19 years ago,

 the day after my 39th birthday.

-my mother and father holding little ole' me-

My mother had the most beautiful smile

 and a kind heart.

When I was a little bitty girl, she would sing 

and do little dance moves as 

she cleaned the house. 

 I do remember how this would

 make me giggle

 and would put a smile in my heart.

I knew she loved me.

But in her mid-twenties, she developed a

mental illness disorder that changed 

her life in many ways.

I tear up now just thinking about the pain she endured

 and how the illness 

took her farther away from us.

 Doctors know so much more about this illness now

 and how to treat it, 

much more than they knew back then.

Families had very little knowledge

 and support on how

 to live with and  help their loved one through

 this illness at that time. 

mom and me (1957)

On Mother's Day especially, 

I always think

about the special things I remember about my mom, but

also wish I could have known her more 

on a deeper mother/daughter level

that the illness masked from

being 

all it could have been.

I'm so thankful for the time I did have

and for the times over the years

where the illness mask would

come down for a time

and her beautiful HEART 

would always shine through.

One day I will see her again in heaven

as the momma I remember, 
singing and dancing as she made me giggle.

Me, my 2 sisters and brother.

I'm the oldest in the back

with the too tight of a curly home permanent

my grandma gave me!

I don't know your mother story,

but I do know this....

whatever it is, be it wonderful, strained

or fair...that God can take

it, yes...all of it, and teach you good things

that will make you a better mother yourself. 

 He will use your life experiences,

 ( the good and  painful)

 to make you the person you are, the one

you want to be, when

you choose to allow him to help you.

I couldn't do it without him.

Love and Hugs,

Far Better Things Ahead Than What I Leave Behind

Well, this 2014 word I've chosen to work on this
year, as I told you in my last post, 
 is the word Release.
                                                                           
I'm hoping as you read my post and
future posts that
you too will find a cord of hope 
that will help you release things that
might be also holding you back 
from receiving the best 
that God has planned for you ahead.

Today I want to start with a biggie
myth that has tripped me up with it's lie
way too many times.

The Myth of the guaranteed right choice!

I like guarantees that I can count on.

I probably drive some sales people crazy

with all of the  questions I ask when

I'm trying to make sure I don't end up with

a mistake choice in purchasing something.

I'm sure you are like that also when it 

comes to big purchases

and it's 

the responsible way to be.

But in this path we take called

daily life,

we cannot tie it all up in a pretty bow

like we would a purchase.

Sometimes things happen that we 

didn't count on and that disappoint us

and they totally change our dreams and plans.

Then fear can set in

and cripple us from making 

new plans and having new dreams.

:｡✿*ﾟ‘ﾟ･✿.｡.:* *.:｡✿*ﾟ’ﾟ･✿.｡.:* *.:｡✿*ﾟ¨ﾟ✎･ ✿.｡.:* *.:｡✿*ﾟ¨ﾟ✎･✿.｡

I've been reading a great book by

author Paula Rinehart

called "Better Than Your Dreams".

Here is a passage from her book that really

spoke to me:

"Hidden behind most of our regrets is the myth of the guaranteed right choice - as though if we'd only done it right, the path would have been smooth.  There is a yellow-brick road, we think, and our job from birth is to find it."

"The search for guarantees can leave you cautious and tentative about nearly everything - always fearful that your next choice will prove (yet again) to be some kind of mistake you regret."

"I want to suggest that it's just these places in your experience where dreams and expectations don't work out - that you are being issued the invitation of your life.  Disappointment is, strangely enough, a doorway to the real adventure. It's the point where you start to leave behind most of your notions of how your story should read - and enter your relationship with God as a journey. A true journey, one that's wild and adventurous and not anywhere close to predictable."

Paul Rinehart..
.book Better Than Your Dreams

:｡✿*ﾟ‘ﾟ･✿.｡.:* *.:｡✿*ﾟ’ﾟ･✿.｡.:* *.:｡✿*ﾟ¨ﾟ✎･ ✿.｡.:* *.:｡✿*ﾟ¨ﾟ✎･✿.｡

 

 So this myth,

The Myth of the guaranteed right choice

is one of those things you and I 

need to release

 so we can move forward to

 better things ahead.

It will probably be a work in progress

in letting it go completely,

but God promises

 freedom, peace and adventure

along the way as we do.

I LOVE this song by J.J. Heller...

Listen and be hopeful..
oh and sing it at the top of your lungs
with me..  (it's one of those kind of songs!!)

Hugs,

"Release" and Move On in 2014

Finally figured out my

WORD to live by for 2014.

I didn't really want to use this word.

I continued to ignore the thoughts of it.

Just didn't feel like a pretty word..ya know?

But this theme kept showing up

and I realized it really is

something I need to pay attention to

and take care of. 

       "Release"

to set free

All so I can move on and

receive the BEST that God has

planned for me.

Are you anything like me and

in your mind sometimes

find that you

 re-hash and scold yourself  

over some past failures or mistakes?

(even if they happened years ago)

(even if to others, they aren't even considered mistakes)

Do you sometimes play 

the "woulda, coudla, shoulda" game

over and again in your head?

If so, I hope you will join me 

this year on my blog as I 

share how God is helping me

to Release

 this kind of thinking, 

and hopefully it will help you 

also to do the same.

It will be a work in progress,

but I already feel lighter.

As if  a burden

has been lifted off of me,

since releasing some of this

junky-stinkin' thinkin!

  

Friends,

I am excited to share this journey

with Y♥U....

and hope it will be an

encouragement in your life also.

♥

"When God created you, he knew exactly

what He was looking for..

YOU are what He came up with."

Brian Houston

Hugs to you all,