Broken Girl by Matthew West

Blessings

Here are the lyrics to a song that I heard on the radio.  It really spoke to me and made me think about how God can bless us in the midst of what we think is a tragedy or not the right time.  Read the lyrics in this post and then scroll down to the post below this and you can listen and watch the video of the song.  (I couldn't fit it all in one post)  Please read the lyrics carefully and hope it speaks to your heart as much as it did mine.

Blessings by Laura Story
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things



'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise



We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/l/laura-story-lyrics/blessings-lyrics.html]
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe



When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home



What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

Laura Story - Blessings

God Is...

I am reading a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan and a couple of paragraphs that I read last night really struck my heart, so I thought I would share the paragraphs on the blog.

GOD IS ALL-KNOWING.  Isn't this an intimidating thought? 
Each of us, to some degree, fools our friends and family about who we really are. But it's impossible to do that with God.  He knows each of us, deeply and specifically.  He knows our thoughts before we think them, our actions before we commit them, whether we are lying down or sitting or walking around.  He knows who we are and what we are about.  We can not escape Him, not even if we want to.  When I grow weary of trying to be faithful to Him and want a break, it doesn't come as a surprise to God.
For David , God's knowledge led him to worship.  He viewed it as wonderful and meaningful.  He wrote in Psalm 139 that even in the darkness he couldn't hide from God; that while he was in his mother's womb, God was there.
Hebrews 4:13 says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."  It is sobering to realize that this is the same God who is holy and eternal, the Maker of the billions of galaxies and thousands of tree species in the rain forest.  This is the God who takes the time to know all the little details about each of us.  He does not have to know us so well, but He chooses to.

GOD IS ALL-POWERFUL.  Colossians 1:16 tells us that everything was created for God: "For by him all things were created:  things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him."
Don't we live instead as though God is created for us, to do our bidding, to bless us, and to take care of our loved ones?
Psalm 115:3 reveals, "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him."  Yet we keep on questioning Him:  "Why did You make me this body, instead of that one?" "Why are so many people dying of starvation?"  "Why are there so many planets with nothing living on them?" "Why is my family so messed up?"  "Why don't You make Yourself more obvious to the people who need You?"
The answer to each of these questions is simply this:  because He's God.  He has more of a right to ask us why so many people are starving.  As much as we want God to explain himself to us, His creation, we are in no place to demand that He give an account to us.

All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.  He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth.  No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?"  Daniel 4:35

This section of paragraphs comes from the book "Crazy Love" written by Francis Chan

What I just wrote above is pretty powerful, don't you think?  As I was reading these paragraphs I was convicted and it touched my heart.  God truly is EVERYWHERE and knows EVERYTHING.  He created us after all and sometimes, I think we forget why he created us.  We get caught up in the worldly things and that blocks are "vision".  God will never leave us or forsake us.  We choose to walk away from Him, not the other way around.  He was there before you were born and He will be here until the end!

HE ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE!  Hopefully these few paragraphs tug at your heart strings like they did mine.  How AWESOME is He!!!

Keeping It Real!

We are going to try something different for the month of May and maybe even June.  We are going to keep it real and blog about personal experiences and thoughts that we have.  It could turn out to be a long blog post or just a short bit of information, either way we hope that you can still find some sort of connection or comfort through our personal posts!  I, Alicia, am going to start today with THE POWER OF PRAYER!

PRAYING is basically talking to God!  Yes, it is that simple.  You don't have to use fancy words or even have something memorized.  It is just a conversation between you and God.  I love to hear my 3 year old pray, because it is so sweet and meaningful.  A child's prayer is very sincere no matter if they are asking for a new bike or thanking God for their friends and family.  My 3 yr old once asked God for some potato chips( I am not kidding).  Now my child did not receive those chips right then and there, but I am sure he eventually ate some sort of chip.  God does not always answer prayers right away.  He definitely hears your prayers, but he will answer them in His time when he knows it is best and it's His will.  I have had God answer prayers before right away and then there were times that I had to wait, but I earnestly kept seeking God and praying and when it was His time, I received my answer. 

My brother was having some problems with one of his ex-employees and ended up with threats being made by the employee and the police getting involved. So, my brother asked us if we could pray for his(my brother) protection.  Of course!  This was on a Tuesday.  On Monday, Jana had my brother heavy on her heart, and she knew it was God telling her to pray for him.  She didn't know what it was about or why, but she started praying.  On Tuesday when I was telling her about what was going on, she said that he had been placed on her heart and she had been praying for him.  During that whole week there were alot of prayers being said to ask for protection for my brother. Everytime, the guy showed up to work, my brother was not in his office(coincidence, I don't think so).  My brother was supposed to hand deliver the ex-employee's check to him but when the day came the employee agreed to direct deposit, so my brother did not have to meet him. Little things like this continued to occur through out the week.  My brother had so many people lifting him up in prayer that week that God built a wall of protection around him.  God was able to give him a peace of mind and everyone else a peace of mind as well.  Now, that is the Power of Prayer!!  I have been totally blessed by this recent prayer request for protection.  God will always protect His children!

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.” – Matthew 7:7-8

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” – 1 John 5:14-15

You Are More

I heard this song this morning and thought I would look up the lyrics and post them on our blog!  This is such a great song and the words are such a wonderful message to ladies of all ages.  No matter what you have done or do, GOD LOVES YOU   and YOU ARE MORE than your faults and YOU HAVE BEEN REMADE!!! 

 

 

You Are More lyrics
There's a girl in the corner
With tear stains on her eyes
From the places she's wandered
And the shame she can't hide

She says, "How did I get here?
I'm not who I once was.
And I'm crippled by the fear
That I've fallen too far to love"

But don't you know who you are,
What's been done for you?
Yeah don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

Well she tries to believe it
That she's been given new life
But she can't shake the feeling
That it's not true tonight

She knows all the answers
And she's rehearsed all the lines
And so she'll try to do better
But then she's too weak to try

But don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/t/tenth-avenue-north-lyrics/you-are-more-lyrics.html]
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

'Cause this is not about what you've done,
But what's been done for you.
This is not about where you've been,
But where your brokenness brings you to

This is not about what you feel,
But what He felt to forgive you,
And what He felt to make you loved.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

You've been remade
You've been remade.
You've been remade.
You've been remade.

Inspiration Through Jumping!

 This month we are blogging about relationships and family.  I, Alicia, thought I would share a little experience that I had this past Saturday with my family.  The two people in the picture below are my grandparents, I call them Grammy and Poppy!  These two people are a great role model as a couple and how ones marriage should be like: GOD CENTERED!  They have been married for over 50 years and love each other unconditionally.  They put God first in everything that they do as a couple and as individuals!  They inspire me to have a marriage like they have and to be as God-fearing as they are.  These two are the nicest, most caring and giving people that you will ever meet or at least I think so.  There are alot of people that inspire me for different reasons, but these two I hold great respect for and I am proud to call them my family and my grandparents!

My grandmother turned 80 on April 2, which was a Saturday and to honor that great milestone, she decided to SKYDIVE!  Yes, my friends, my Grammy went skydiving the day she turned 8-0!  She told us that she always wanted to skydive and that on her 80th birthday she would and she did!! My 80 yr old grandmother jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at 13,500ft and plunged toward the earth going 120mph and then floated safely to the ground. 

Once she was on the ground the reaction on her face was one that I will always remember and fortunately we were able to catch on camera.  The picture below is her genuinely jumping for joy and giggling like a little girl.  She was so extremely happy at what she had accomplished.  Most of her family was there to support her, including 8 great-grand children.  She jumped because she wanted to and she had made up her mind that she was going to do it, but what she didn't know is how much of a ripple effect it would have on so many that watched her that day.  Family, strangers and children were all inspired by her jump that day.  It showed them that you really can do anything that you put your mind too no matter what age or who you are.  She told my uncle later on that there were actually a couple of things that she had to do before she could jump. 1. Make sure that it was ok with her husband.  How sweet that she took her husband into account before she jumped.  If he wasn't ok with it then she wasn't going to do it.  True relationship, people!  2.  She prayed about it.  Yes, the littlest thing, like jumping out of a plane she wanted to ask God permission for.  She said that she prayed and earnestly listened to what God had to say and on the day of the jump, she did not have one doubt or concern about jumping!  She was worry free and therefore made the jump.  I know that God gave her the desire of her heart that day because the sky was crystal blue and the wind was calm.  There is certain criteria to jump and the wind blowing at a certain speed can cause you not to be able to jump.  The instructor said that they had been waiting for 4 weeks for a day like Saturday!  Unbelievable, how God works!  On Sunday, the day after the jump it was overcast and very windy, she would not have been able to jump that day.  So, I know with out a doubt, because she followed and listened to God that she was able to fulfill her desire to jump.

I wanted to share this story because she inspired so many people that day.  She doesn't consider herself a hero, but to some people she is!  She is truly an inspiration for women and girls and men for that matter.  She inspires me to be a better woman and she inspires me with my own relationship with God and with my husband!  Her and my grandfather have and continue to inspire so many people that come in contact with them.  Saturday, April 2, 2011 will be a day that I never, ever forget!  I will never forget the pure joy on her face, the giggles that I heard as she jumped up and down, the family that supported her and most of all the witness that she was to her family and the strangers that watched and cheered her on as she landed safely to the ground!  She is such an inspiration and I thank God everyday that I can call her my grandmother!