A Dad Shaped Hole...

With Father's Day approaching I wanted to take some time and post on how my heart went from having a hole...a rather gaping hole to a heart that is filled with love. When I was a young child in about 5th or 6th grade it was made known to me that my biological father did not want me. Those words "He did not want you" lingered in my mind and heart for most of my life. My mom was married to a man who adopted me and I love him dearly. He was not my Daddy. I believe that all children are born with a natural instinct to be loved by their mother and their father. Don't get me wrong, he provided for me and loved me as if I were his own; he was not the problem, the problem was how I felt about me. It was that same year that I started to smoke and from that point my life went downhill. I started using drugs and alcohol and had several boyfriends. I was always seeking for that hole to be filled. It is interesting because I have pictures of myself when I made my First Communion and my eyes are full of life; when I was confirmed at the age of 14 my eyes are filled with sadness.
When I got sober over five years ago I was forced to look at me; take away the drugs, alcohol and the other stuff I had no other choice but to look at me and it was very difficult. I had no self respect, no self esteem and was full of hurt that I had no idea how to express. I had created a whirl wind of problems, insanity and had no idea how to live a normal life...the pain that I have had to feel in order to overcome was very difficult. Any of you who have experienced emotional pain know what I am talking about.
Slowly as I began to build a relationship with God, that hole began to fill up. As it would fill up things would happen and I would act out in old behaviors and it would open right back up again because I would see me for being that scared little girl that her Daddy never wanted. Yes, my reactions to situations would cause me to feel that way all over again...why? Because I was not seeing myself as God sees me. I was not remembering that He would never leave me, nor fail me. I was looking for acceptance and approval from everyone, man or woman to make me feel good about me. I have learned that people are not perfect, I am not perfect. Until I was able to see my own imperfections and begin to nurture that scared little girl I was full of criticism and full of self-righteousness.
Today, I have a wonderful relationship with my Dad who adopted me; I love him more today than I think I ever did. I also have a relationship with my Biological Father; I have a sister and a brother that I did not know. I have a strong relationship with them. JR lives here and Amber is stationed in Fort Hood, Texas and has already done one tour in Iraq.
That hole is no longer gaping and as long as I remember to "take up my cross daily" (Taken from www.dailyspiritwalk.com) that hole will continue to be filled with the love of my Abba Daddy.

In Him

How important are our differences?

1 John 1:8-10

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."


Not long ago God revealed to me that I have spent the majority of my Christian walk judging others who are not walking the exact path that I have been walking as not being as close to God as I believe I am. I have looked at other denominations and have had this prideful belief that because they may not worship in the same manner that I worship they are "missing" something and couldn't possibly know the Redeemer as I do. How arrogant I have been. It has humbled me and sickened me to think that for all these years I have actually believed this. In all reality all that it has done is pushed people away from wanting a relationship with Him.
Whether a person worships silently, with hymns, with contemporary music, with a traditional liturgy or dances up and down with their hands raised should not matter. Our Lord has created each one of us differently and takes the greatest pleasure in any manner in which we worship Him; as long as our hearts in the right place.
Whether you are Baptist, Assembly of God, Catholic, Christian Missionary and Alliance, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Church of God or one of the many other denominations let us focus on the fact that Jesus died for our sins and not on the differences within our denominations.

My sincerest apologies to those of you that I have judged so harshly and like the above Scripture says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

In Him.

Who Was She?

Who exactly was the Proverbs 31 Woman?

In all of the research that I did I was unable to come up with exactly who she was. What is known is that she was the mother of King Lemuel; he was not known as one of the Kings of Israel or Judah. There are some Theologians that propose that he was actually King Solomon and the words given to him were from his Mother Bathsheeba. Regardless of who she was we know that she was included in the Proverbs because it was God's will to give us wives a model of what a Godly wife looks like.

I think the very first thing that any woman in a Christian marriage needs to understand that her submission is actually to the Lord. He is the head of the man as Ephesians 5:22 says "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior." I know this goes so against what our society has taught us, we are aliens in this world and we are not to live as the world tells us to. The worldy ways are in direct opposition to God's word; I, like everyone else struggles (sometimes on daily basis) to control the events in my home. I have made impulsive decisions that have caused much strife and we as women are to be the heart of our homes. My desire is to please my God and create an atmosphere where serenity lingers!

Precious friend, God created us to help our husbands. Gen 2:18 Then the Lord said "It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him." How on earth do we do this if we first do not realize the value that God places on us?

Do you know that you are a Princess? Your father is the King of Kings!
Do you know that you are a co-heir with Christ? Romans 8:17
Did you know that His thoughts toward you are many and wonderful? Psalm 40:5
Did you know that He is thinking of you and giving to you while you sleep? Psalm 127:2
Did you know that His loving kindness towards you is as high as the heavens are above the earth? Psalm 103:11
Did you know that you are salt of the earth and light of the world? Matthew 5:13-14
Did you know that you are a holy partaker of a heavenly calling? Hebrews 3:1
Did you know that God loved you so much that He sacrificed His own son so that you could have a relationship with Him?
These are but a few! I encourage you to seek the Scriptures for yourself to see how He feels for you dear one.


Understanding that we are valued by the Lord; how do we become like her??? The first practical step I am going to give us is....

• Prayer, prayer and more prayer. I am talking about communicating with our Lord, talking with Him while we are driving, doing laundry, cleaning the house, taking a shower, spending private time with Him. How much time do we devote to sit in His presence and talk with Him? His desire is for relationship with us, relationships require communication.
• Meditation...being silent. Ladies, that is a hard one for me. Sometimes my meditation time is only for five minutes. It is so important to sit and "be" and listen to what He is telling us. Communication is talking and listening.
  

I am going to leave you for now, I pray that you will have the willingness to become like her and that you will allow Him to prune those things that prohibit your growth.