Thankful Thursday

"Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed." Psalm 57:1 (NIV)

God is always there for us when life seems to be full of discouragements and disappointments. He is our strength in all situations. We can take refuge in Him when life seems difficult and challenging but He also rejoices with us when we celebrate victorious moments. I am thankful that my God is always with me.

I am currently disciplining two mentorship groups of ladies. I am so thankful for those women. They have been such an encouragement to me. They have spoken into my life numerous times and I am thankful for their transparency and honesty. God encourages us to invest in others. Each of us are a product of someone who took the time to invest themselves in us. I am thankful today for those who were obedient to the voice of God to invest in my life. I am a much better person today because of their unselfishness and discipline.

I am thankful for the special people God has sent into my life who speak words of encouragement for no reason, give me a heartfelt hug, believe in me and truly love and respect me for who I am. I look forward to seeing them each Sunday and they have greatly impacted my life in such a positive manner.

I am thankful for the women God has called me to counsel. They are going through a difficult time and need Christian counsel and direction. I feel honored that God has elected me for this assignment. I am thankful that these women feel comfortable to be transparent. I am thankful that God is truly changing their lives.

I am thankful for music! I love music and when I am feeling particularly low for whatever reason music strengthens my soul. I lead our praise team and I am thankful for this opportunity. I am thankful for God's anointing in our services and during our worship times.

I am thankful for opportunities that continue to unfold in my life. Patience is not a strong attribute of my character but I am learning to wait upon the Lord. His ways are always better than ours!

I am thankful for my mom who I don't see often but talk to everyday on IM. She is a great lady who has been through so much in her life. She has taught me so many positive life lessons.

And I am thankful for my wonderful hubby. He is an incredible man of God, a great dad and grand-dad and my best friend.

Blessings to each of you today!

For more TT visit Iris at Sting My Heart.

Wordless Wednesday

Visit this link for more WW photos.

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:3 (NIV)


No matter how many pot holes we face on this journey of life we can be assured that our God walks with us. Giving Him praise in the midst of the storms brings peace and tranquility to our minds. I am thankful today that I can trust God for all things in my life no matter how simple and complex or how huge the problem may be. God is all powerful and all knowing. He can do anything, anywhere at anytime. If you are facing a trial today that seems overwhelming I encourage you to lay it at the feet of Jesus. He is waiting for you to release that burden unto Him. If He cares about the little sparrow who has fallen why wouldn't He care about you and me?


I am thankful today for the incredible friends I have met along life's journey. We need fellowship with one another and encouragement is great for the soul!

I am thankful for the two beautiful grandchildren God has blessed us with. I pray today for Luke who is three years old and broke his arm Saturday evening. Please pray with me that there is no other damage to his arm. He meets with the orthopedic surgeon this afternoon for a permanent cast. For a three year old this can be a traumatizing experience.

I am thankful for God's promises. I know that whatever it is I am facing my God will always be there for me.

I am thankful for my health. I have many irons in the fire all the time and I know if there were any issues physically I would be limited as to what I could do for the Kingdom of God.

I am thankful for the opportunity to teach the mature adult Sunday School class. They are a great group of folks and I appreciate them so much.

I am thankful that my grandmother who celebrated her 93rd birthday last week is doing much better physically. I am also thankful that I was able to visit her a few weeks ago.

I am thankful that God places burdens upon our hearts for certain individuals. I pray that I will always be obedient to that still small voice.

I am thankful for all the ladies I have met in blog world. You will never know what an encouragement you have been to me.

Check out more TT with Iris at Sting My Heart.

Blessings to each of you today!

Wordless Wednesday

My sanctuary........

A moment in time.........................

Wait upon the Lord

Last Saturday afternoon Bobby and I decided to partially clean out our garage. What a mess! Our home doesn't have the luxury of a basement so all the excess treasures somehow finds permanent residence in our garage.

We recently learned of a place that would gladly receive our treasures and we were only required to deliver the items . It was amazing! As we unloaded the boxes from our car people were going through our things. What is that old saying? One man's junk is another man's treasures! Oh yeah! We were able to treasure lots of folks with two car loads of our junk. Our garage is slowly transforming into its original purpose instead of a storage bin! AMAZING!

That analogy may seem ridiculous to you but think about this. How many of us have become frustrated with where we are because we don't think God is using us? Are you becoming impatient waiting for God to open the door you have been continually praying about? Are you anxious about what God has for you but tired of being in a place you feel is not making an impact for the Kingdom of God? Are you discouraged being at a particular place in your life when you think you should be doing something else for the Lord?

Each of us are physically somewhere right now. We often pray, "God, what do you want me to do next?" but instead we should pray, "God, what do you want me to do while I'm right here?" Direction from God is not just for your next big move. He has a purpose in placing you where you are right now. Begin to understand God's purpose for your life by discovering what it is He desires you to do at the moment!

I am currently reading Anonymous by Alicia Britt Chole. I discovered this week that one of the ladies I work with is Alicia's best friend. What a small world.

What an awesome book and I encourage you to place it on your reading list. This is an excerpt from the book. Distracted with daydreams of tomorrow's potential, I often found today's reality pale and tasteless in comparison. Before I could even be capable of valuing hidden years, I first had to start valuing each day as something more than just a boring prelude to the exciting future. Every day is a gift from God.

I believe many times we get so caught up in thinking about God's purpose for our lives we totally lose sight of our purpose and what God is doing in our lives. Churches may make this mistake also. For example, the congregation may pour all of its energies into a new facility, only to become self-satisfied or fearful of letting certain groups use it. If this happens, they have focused on the building and lost sight of its purpose - to bring others to Christ.

God has embedded in my heart a huge dream regarding my ministry. I am chasing that dream with anticipation, confidence and excitement. God grants us the desires of our hearts. When? How? Where? These are valid questions to be considered but I won't allow the enemy to discourage me from pursuing what I know God has instilled in me. God constantly reminds me that His timing is not our timing. He has a work for you and for me now where we are. This is preparation for the bigger picture in our futures. Yes it sometimes does become discouraging when we think we know what God wants for our lives but God tells us to wait upon the Lord. We are to give 100% to the work where we are. It isn't always easy when you want something so badly but again this is preparation for the next step of our ministry and God's purpose for our lives.

Our garage is not the true definition of a garage but it is slowly being transformed one step at a time. Allow God to transform your life one step at a time as you persevere towards the goal He has placed before you.

I've been tagged.......

This is a first for me! Thank you Kim for tagging me! This will be fun. Here goes!

Accent - I was born and raised in Maryland. We have lived in Virginia for 15 years so there probably is a little southern accent going on.

I don't drink alcoholic beverages but love caffeine and drink plenty of coffee!

Chore I hate - Dusting for sure!

Pets - We have 3 dogs, 2 parakeets and one beta fish. I love animals!

Essential Electronics - That would definitely have to be my laptop and Internet!

Perfume - I like light fragrances and use a number of different perfumes from Mary Kay.

Gold or silver - Definitely both!

Insomnia - Rarely an issue! Usually so tired when I finally get to bed that I pass out in minutes.

Job Title - Pastor's wife partnering with my hubby in ministry, Woman in Ministry, Mom, Grammy and Executive Secretary

Most Admired Trait - Interior decorating and hospitality

Kids - Daughter, 27 and married, Son, soon to be 25 and married, 2 grandchildren

Phobia - I despise snakes!

Religion - Full Gospel/Assembly of God

Siblings - My brother Brad passed away nine years ago with cancer

Time I wake up - 5 a.m.

Unusual talent/skill - God has blessed me with many talents and skills but none are really unusual.

Vegetable I refuse to eat - I love all veggies!

Worst habit - Staying up too late every night.

X-rays - Recently had a need for x-rays of my back when I pulled my sciatic nerve.

My favorite meal - Oh my - dessert for sure! :-)

I am tagging Grams , Sharon and Kim at Seasons of My Heart.

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday

As women of God we each have so much to be thankful for. TT is a great place to remind ourselves how great our God really is and how amazing His promises are for all of us.

I am thankful that I have been obedient when God was speaking to my heart in a strong way regarding creating my website, blog and ministry.

I am thankful for all the ladies who read my blog and leave such sweet and encouraging comments. They truly minister to me.

I am thankful for our new little person with fur, Jericho, who has captured our hearts. A sixty pound puppy is not really little but we love him anyway! He has brought much joy,in spite of the stress, to our home.

I am thankful for our grandson's progress regarding his asthma. God is so good!

I am thankful that the Lord provided a great job with a promising future for our son-in-law.

I am thankful for those who always challenge my walk with the Lord. Although we sometimes look at these folks with discontent we truly should be thankful for them. Ministry is about relationships - good and bad. If you don't have people obviously there is no ministry. I am thankful that the Lord continues to instruct and encourage me as to how to manage the opposition and to grow spiritually from the experience.

I am thankful that God is always there for me when life becomes overwhelming, stressful and discouraging. He will never disappoint us.

Visit Iris at Sting My Heart for more TT posts.

Blessings to you today!

Too tired to make a difference

Yesterday seemed like a never ending day. Have you ever experienced one of those times? The alarm sounded at 5:00 a.m. I hit the snooze button several times before I finally convinced myself I had to get out of the bed and navigate towards the shower. The entire day was long and I was tired. I was really tired......... I was looking forward to going home to RELAX! Well the relax part didn't exactly happen but I did have a very relaxing evening.

Guide me in your truth and faithfulness and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You do I wait all the day long.

Psalm 25:5

It is difficult to not become weary and worn when you have a zillion irons in the fire 24/7. But do you know that when we come to that place of exhaustion that we are not productive for His Kingdom? We become irritable and short tempered with others, we are too tired to read and study the Word and we can't pray for fear of falling asleep when we close our eyes!

We do have a responsibility to take care of ourselves and it must be a daily priority to make time for God. Not a microwave prayer and a mini devotion. When you are craving a doughnut do you settle for those mini's. NO! We want a nice big chocolate covered donut with all the trimmings. We should not settle for anything less than quality time with our Lord and Savior. Microwave prayers and mini devotions will never build solid Christians.

Take inventory and eliminate clutter in your life. Mediate on His Word and allow Him to reenergize your Spirit. When we are exhausted, weary and worn we don't make a positive difference in the Kingdom of God.

Wordless Wednesday

God's paint brush at work!

Praising Him in Everything

"Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name..."
~ Matt Redman ~
Lyrics from "Blessed be Your Name"

The lyrics of this song are amazing. As a worship leader this is one of my favorite songs and we sing it often at our church. God is awesome and His name is blessed!

C.S. Lewis once wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

It is easy to praise God when we are on the mountaintop but it can also be difficult to raise our hands and shout praises to our Lord when we are wading through the muck of life's deepest valleys. Becoming wounded and discouraged is an element present in each of our lives. What do we do when we are hurting and disappointed? PRAISE AND WORSHIP GOD! This is truly the
antidote to our pain.

Job is a great example for each of us. He was persecuted and deeply wounded. In the world's eyes he had it all but ended with nothing. Throughout life's pain and one discouragement after another Job continually worshiped and praised God. He didn't become bitter and angry. During the numerous heartaches he continued to connect with God, blessing His name and trusting Him for everything. Job's relationship with God was stretched to the limit yet he continued to cling to the Lord. In spite of all the adversity in his life Job refused to let go of God. Even in the midst of his suffering and confusion he knew that there is no other place to take all his problems but to God.

Do we praise and worship God when we are having a major bad hair day? Do we call out blessings to His name when we are sitting in a ten mile backup on the beltway and are already thirty minutes late for an appointment that took one month to arrange? Are we rejoicing in the Lord when we are tired and weary from a long day at the office, our house is a mess, the laundry is piled higher than the washing machine, our children are tired and cranky and everyone is waiting for us to prepare the evening meal? Do we praise Him when we are in the midst of spiritual warfare and a number of hurtful things have been repeated about us and our family to others in the church? Do we truly worship God when everything goes wrong in our lives? It is certainly an easy task to worship Him when all is going our way. It's easy to be a fair weather believer. But when things get tough and life becomes challenging where do we stand?

Praising God turns our attention away from the problems and trials of this life. His name is blessed whether we are in the valley or on the mountaintop. He is certainly worthy of our praise in all circumstances.

My hubby and I have walked through many valleys in our ministry but God never fails to be there for us with outstretched hands. Praising Him in the midst of the storms brings peace and comfort to the weary. My dad passed away at the age of 49 with lung cancer. God gave me tremendous peace as I watched my dad rapidly deteriorate over a six month period. I was eight months pregnant with our first baby and the first grandchild. Dad passed away two months before Brooke was born. The pain of watching my father suffer was overwhelming but I never stopped praising God. I trusted Him throughout this time in my life and again God gave me abundant peace.

My brother passed away at the age of 42 with pancreatic cancer. He also was an unbeliever and very bitter about my father's death. As we traveled back and forth from Maryland to South Carolina those seven months I continued to praise God and believed Him for my brother's salvation. Like my dad he gave his heart to the Lord several weeks before he passed away. God was on the scene and with me throughout this difficult time in my life. I continue to praise Him today for the peace and comfort He provided to me during that challenging time of my life.

Blessed be His name! God is awesome. He is everything to me. He is my life. Praise Him today for all life is offering you. God has a plan. What you are going through today is not a mistake. Rejoice in it and be glad! Blessed be His name!

I am thankful today for all He has done in me. I continue to be a work in progress and anxiously anticipate His will each new day. Be sure and visit Iris at Sting My Heart for additonal IOW postings today!

Wordless Wednesday

Changes - Ready or Not

What a week! Brandon and Casey are getting settled in MO and Bobby and I are trying to adjust to a huge CHANGE in our household! You see, we adopted Jericho when Brandon and Casey moved. He is a 10 month old, 60 pound Lab and Boxer mixed! Very rambunctious, lovable and BIG! Did I mention that we already have two little people with fur who are very set in their ways (one of them by the way cannot accept the fact that she really is a dog) and are not readily accepting this CHANGE in their home? It certainly has been a very interesting week of CHANGE.

The thesaurus lists the following words for CHANGE: alter, modify, vary, transform, revolutionize, adjust and amend. Those are action words. Not one of those words reflects idleness or simply remaining the same.

If we are not willing to CHANGE I don't beleive that we can fully experience what God has planned for our lives. This is what makes serving Him so exciting. We never know from one day to the next what God has planned for us. When He calls on us how are we going to respond? Do you truly pray about making decisions in your life regarding CHANGE or do you simply refuse because it will totally upset your plans for the future? Without CHANGE there is no fruit and no harvest. When seeds are planted there would be no fruit without CHANGE. When blooms appear on a fruit tree there would be no fruit without change. CHANGE is a necessary step in life. CHANGE is a necessary dynamic in our walk with Christ.

CHANGE often means relocating your family, quitting your present job, accepting additional ministry responsibilities, etc. CHANGE can signify a multitude of things. As pastors we have relocated too different churches a number of times over the past 27+ years. There are certainly a multitude of dynamics to deal with when you accept a new pastorate. What if my husband would have ignored God's calling when He specifically asked us to CHANGE? Where would we be today?

For some folks CHANGE is a very difficult task. They become set in their ways and anything that disrupts their lives is absolutley unacceptable. But in order for us to serve Christ the way He expects us to we must be willing to embrace CHANGE so that we can truly experience all that God has for us. CHANGE is a necessary step in each of our lives no matter how old we become. And as we accept CHANGE God continues to mold and shape us so we can become the person He desires to fulfill His purpose and plan.

Although CHANGE may not always be enjoyable it is certainly necessary. The CHANGE my hubby and I have experienced this week has been challenging but we love our new addition. It has brought life, more work for each of us and a little added stress to our home but as time moves forward I know it will improve. I welcome CHANGE today. CHANGE is exciting and in order to be everything I need to be for His Kingdom I know CHANGE in my life is truly necessary.

Each of us are still a work in progress and I know in my own life God still has alot to do! Blessings to you today as you welcome and embrace CHANGES in your life.