A Lord's Lady's Thoughts

I woke up this morning burden for families who are dealing with drug addictions. Anyone who knows me knows that our family has dealt with this for about ten years now. Our little boy and little girl just started trotting down the wrong road and no matter how loud we yelled for them to stop they just kept going. Believe me it has taken a toll on our entire family. We don’t understand why they would want to be high and live in a fake world. Homeless, hungry, and broken when God has given them so much more. They are missing out on a beautiful life. As parents, we started off wanting to believe their stories, and sometimes our heart aches to believe them again. But trust in them is so hard to come by anymore in them. One is actually facing prison time now. My heart is so broke watching my little girl face a life I would have never dreamed she would have faced. I can remember holding her hand as we would walk and she would say “Mama I wanna be just like you, a waitress. I love you mama!” My heart has been like a roller-coaster with its ups and downs, wanting my little girl back. To be part of our family once again like she use to be. Parties, Holidays, dinners, and just restless days laying around veggie in front of the Tv watching a movie. 
However today I want to have parents to see this problem as it is………. John 10:10 One of Satan’s deadly weapons these days. He comes to kill steal and destroy our kids’ lives. He is no respecter of person. Oh, but the second part of that verse is what makes me shout these days……. But I have come “JESUS” that they might have life and have it more abundantly. Jesus is the deliver we need to seek. Jesus is the only answer for sin and that is exactly what drug addiction is. Yes, I know people say it’s a disease but sin is a disease. And the only answer for that disease is Jesus and being filled with the Holy Spirit. So today call your child and tell them you love them and that Jesus loves them unconditionally. And let them know you have laid them at the feet of Jesus and you are proclaiming their complete deliverance in Jesus name. 
Prayer,
Heavenly Father the last couple of years have been a heartbreaking ride. So many tears have fell and so many prayers have been said. But today Lord I not only pray for my children but for every child, man and woman who has any addiction at all that you take the scales off their eyes and let them see that they do have a heavenly Father who loves them and that he has given them a future that is beyond whatever they could ever dream. I also pray for the families who have been broken in the addiction of a family member. I ask Lord that you comfort them and strengthen them to be encouraging and uplifting and love their loved ones unconditionally just like you do us. We all have fallen short, but we all have a heavenly Father who cares enough to love us at our worse and deliver us from all sin if we only confess and turn it over to him.

In Jesus name, Amen

My thoughts for today…..,. You know discipline is hard thing to accomplish in this day and time. But as children of the most high God it is not only so very important to us, but also to those who we love and even strangers. They are si impacted by our actions. So many of us often don’t realize the impact of our personal decisions. However Our loving God has placed each of us in a circle, chosen us to be a light to this dark world. To represent Him and his unconditional love. So For us to choose what is foolish, to ignore godly correction, and it truly not only jeopardizes our own future, but also the future of so many others.
God bless!!!
Proverbs 10:17

The Lord is not slack concerning His promises, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
Yesterday was a very hard day for me as a mother. I had to visit my little girl behind bars. I sat there wondering why did she choose this life style? Why does she choose to not enjoy the life God has prepared for her? Why can’t she understand that this road she is on is leading to destruction and death? My heart just kept breaking. I held back the tears (which is amazing if you know me). I tried to talk to her about getting her life on track and giving her life back to the Lord because he is her only hope to have a future. However every time I spoke it felt like i was speaking into then air. But I know My God’s Word Shall Not Go Out Void!!!! 

I know someday I will see her whole again and be able to enjoy her once again. But with Mother’s Day coming up it hurts. It hurts knowing that I will not be able to spend my time with my little boy and my little girl on Mother’s Day. However as I read to day God’s promises he will not slack in. So I know that I know that deliverance is around the corner and that one day soon she will being giving glory to God for bringing her out of this horrible mess she has gotten herself in. 
Heavenly Father I know that this world has been over ran with drug addiction and its stealing our children. However ever I know that you have already got a plan set in motion for the mothers and fathers who praying for their children’s recovering. I can honestly say although days i hurt I still praise you because I know you are in control. I pray that other parents let go and let you do the work you need to do in their children. 
In Jesus name

Amen

What’s on your mind? This always gets me when I turn on facebook. I am 44 years old and believe me when I say so many people don’t care what’s on your mind; They miss a privilege that the good Lord gave them to go beyond their daily busy lives, their calendars, and pour grace and encouragement, and love into someone. I say this because for the past week I have been examining my friends, my hobbies, my habits, my time, and I realized that frankly there is so much more I can d… can do. This week has been rough… which seems like most days anymore…..however I made Jesus a promise….I know I am perfectly unperfected and I know that there are people whom I consider friends that backbite me, I know that sometimes my mouth does the backbiting also…..(that was hard to say) but I know it is time, no more time to waste to make some major and I mean major changes in my life. First of all my mouth….if it ain’t uplifting or out of love I am not letting it come out of my lips. Secondly I am going to love people regardless of how I know they feel about me. Why because I believe when I get to heaven God’s is not going to look at my perfect nails, or my cute hair, or the cloths I just bought, or even the job I carry. I believe I am going to show up completely exhausted, and messy and fall at His feet because I choose to love……regardless of how someone feels about me, regardless of lies. I am going to love because God knows that people may not understand me sometimes, they might not understand my reasoning sometimes, heck they may not like me at all….but I choose to love them, because our Father said if we don’t have love we have nothing. Now that is what was on my mind.

Love ………

I am filled with praise today. After fighting  LONG BATTLE with smoking I have been delivered and set free. Thank You God!!!!!!! As so many of you know the last couple of years have been filled with heartache, pain, tears, doubt, weakness, scars, and bent knees. I sadly I failed God horribly. However I am so thankful that he loved me enough to see what I could be in Him.

I learned so much through this battle.The keeping of one’s faith is the hugest battle any of us will fight. If you have decided to be a Christian, a God honoring woman or man, this life will fight you for it everyday all day. It’s going to hit you when you least expect it from people you would never think would hurt you. Nothing absolutely nothing  hits harder than life. The world tries so very hard on a daily basis to steal your joy and your peace with circumstances, every unexpected tragedy, loss of a wayward child, divorce, …… However brothers and sisters we need to learn to fight.

I texted one of my friends the other day and just spoke to her and said…”Carrie I don’t want to be this person that is so wishy washy in her services to Christ. I want to stand up and be bold in him and allow the world to see Him in me everyday. That is my new years resolution is to quit being wishy washy and serve God whole hearted. ”

In Isaiah 54:14 is says….”there is no weapon formed against me that should prosper..” So why should I doubt, why should I back up in a defeated mentality, why should I be scared????? Sadly when the battles of life hit me I fell hard. With grief and hurt that knocked me almost to a fetal position I almost gave up. In my mind I wanted to stop caring, to stop feeling, just to breath was a chore anymore.  I would try to get back up only to be knocked down again. I turned to an old habit of smoking……(not proud of this at all) and I battled this for almost two years now. But the other night I cried out How could I hurt the one who knows my past and still sees good in me. I could I hurt my Lord and Savior who rescued me from myself who forgave all my sins…….and then forgot them.

But I simply just said Lord I am sorry……so very sorry…..help me see me through your eyes. Help me learn to see the light at the end of the tunnel and not the darkness in the middle. This year 2017 I am laying it all down…..I am learning to study more, learning to fight a war like it should be fought…….that is on my knees in prayer, and learning to listen….just listen to my God.

So my prayer today is if you find yourself in a place that you don’t want to be, or like me find your self wishy washy, lukewarm, on the fence: That you realize today…..that even those people even though they are loved by God still don’t make it in to the Kingdom of Heaven. (“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. ¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Rev.  3:14-16)

Praise God I have been delivered!!!!!!!!

Heavenly Father I pray today for all those out there who are at their end, who just don’t believe in their selves anymore, who think they just can’t go one more mile. The people who have fought and fought with out gaining ground. I pray for the ones that are what I call wishy washy. Lord I pray that your children wake up and stand in the gap for these people…….pray that they lay all of it down at the cross, and allow you to fill them up with ever lasting joy, and peace. Something that this world can’t take away. In Jesus name, Amen.

Your Servant Always,

Darlene

Hello everyone!!! It has been awhile. The last two years of my life has been a roller coaster ride, and if you know me I hate roller coasters…LOL However our family has been through one trial after another. Not to long ago I remember calling my Pastor and saying…”when is it going to stop, I am exhausted…” But today I am a new woman, a better woman, a stronger woman, a braver woman.
I have realized quit a few things in the past couple of years. One is storms are sure to come…that’s a given. But what we don’t understand is that storms are not to destroy us…it is to strengthen us make us braver to fight with passion, to be the beacon of hope for someone else.
And two is we have to prepare prepare prepare. It is imperative that we prepare for the storms of life. We need to get away with God one on one and fill ourselves with His Word, with His Spirit.
The world today cares for no one…..destroys anyone in its path…..drugs, alcohol , porn, immodesty, gossip, hate, false witnesses, and so much more….but we who are children of the most High God who have prepared to fight a good fight can reach out and help someone else through the storms of life.

Have a blessed day,
Darlene

Last Sunday I was blessed to hear to awesome sermons from two very great men of God. Pastor Eric Hustead and Evangelist Randy Perry. The first sermon in the morning was “Get Up”. He talked about the man who laid at the Pool of Bethesda year after year waiting for a miracle. Then one day Jesus came by and said do you want to get well??? A simple question that hit home. In the last several years I fallen short…..I just in a matter of speaking just lay there and wait for my miracle to come to me. However the next words…….Pastor Eric spoke was…” Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” Oh my how my heart just fluttered…… I knew then that God expects me to get up and quit crying in my sorrows and trials. But to get up and raise my hands and declare my healing and take off testify about what the Lord has done. Trust me it hit me hard………

So I went home that afternoon and told the Lord I was gonna get and be the women I am designed to be. So at 5:30pm I got ready to go to church for the evening service and listened to Randy Perry and his beautiful wife testify through beautiful music. Then he mentioned the title of his sermon……..Wholly follow Christ????? Oh my …… then and there I realized that I have been lazy pure out lazy. Making excuses for behavior, for words, for actions…….just plain out being lazy. Shame on me…….. I have allowed so much STUFF to get in my way of loving my first love as I should. I wonder why life is overwhelming me, why I can’t sleep, why my heart hurts constantly……..I have allowed the trials of wayward children, the trials of family issues, the trials of medical problems, the trials of wayward friends, the trials of finances get in my way of serving the Lord wholly.

So I say to you today….examine your life…..every piece of it and ask yourself…are you wholly following Christ, are you getting up and testifying about the King of Kings!!!! Because one thing I have learned this week…Your either saved or your lost…..no gray area……no wiggle room…… Your either following Christ or your following the world.

Heavenly Father I repent for allowing stuff to overshadow the goodness in my life. I repent for my laziness expecting everything to fall into place. Lord I am so sorry for allowing the world to turn my eyes off you. Please forgive me. I pray for everyone who reads this that they too examine their lives and look closely at their walk with you…..because my prayer is that your people realize that they need to get up and wholly follow you….there is not half way, there is no lukewarm……It is all or nothing. In Jesus name I pray. Amen

I remember as a little girl my daddy putting me on his shoulders and giving me rides. However I also remember sometimes being scared I might fall. He might drop me. But my daddy would just ….”honey daddy’s got you!!!”.

As I was driving to work this morning I was thinking of my children and my sister Linda and her husband Rodney. Life has threw them some horrible blows, and some they have manage to get their selves into. My brother-in-law was in a horrific accident that ended up taking his foot and some of his leg and shattered his hand and gave him a blood clot behind his eye. But thank God he spared that precious and amazing mans life.

Then there is my children who just don’t understand the burden that bears on a parent’s heart watching them make mistakes that we already made and know the outcome. Knowing that people who don’t want to see you succeed and see you in an undeniable relationship with the Lord is truly not friends. Friends that bring you to the point to where parting, lying to your parents and other love ones, drugs, alcohol, etc…….they are friends that is the devil tactics to take them out because they have a God-given purpose in this world for the Lord.

Then my mind just thought we are a lot like that little girl on daddy’s shoulders…….my brother in law and his wife I am sure was shaken in their faith wondering why Lord…why???? I am sure my children tremble and wonder can I come back and sit on daddy’s shoulders again??? Is God still here??? Where is the comfort??? Why did he let me slip?

I understand very little and I don’t in no means think I am a bible scholar. But I do know that difficult times hit our lives and we find ourselves shaken, we find the breath knocked out of us sometimes. We don’t understand why. And then the enemy oh how quick is he to start-up a ruckus ..throwing one doubt after another ….convincing us we are alone, or we have been forgotten, or we have been betrayed, and even sometimes he hits us with the horrible blow of God has let this happen. We become bitter, angry.

But back to my daddy…..he did drop me once …..but he was quick to pick me up and said” baby girl why did you let go…..daddy had you…….” That is why I am writing this today because my heart is heavy for the ones that are going through difficult trials and inside they are falling apart and are confused. But my advice to you is the same advice I have been giving myself the last few weeks……Trust Him!!!!!!!! Daddy has you!!!! Even when we are scared or we don’t understand God has us safely cradled in his loving arms…….and his promise to us is he will never ever let us walk alone.

Heavenly Father, I come to you today thanking you for all that you have done in the last few weeks. Actually thank you for ever thing you have done. I know that you owe us nothing but you love us so much you just want the best for us. Lord today I ask that you reach down and comfort those who feel shaken, lost, confused, alone, who just don’t understand why things are happening to them and give them peace. Give them a word straight from the throne room. Pour your spirit out on the lost and let them know that no matter what they have done, where they have been…..no matter how many times they have fallen God has them….Daddy has them!!!!!! In Jesus name!!!!! AMEN

In the past several months as most of you know there has been one conflict, one trial, just one things after another. I told my sister this morning that God gives the greatest battles to his greatest warriors. The problem is sometimes we don’t feel like strong vigilant warriors. But oh how glad am I that he sees what we can do …….  Last night I was listening to pastor TD Jakes and he said We cannot become distracted, When things appear impossible and your situation challenging, keep your eyes on Jesus and keep moving forward!   Trust me that is the hardest thing to do when your heart is breaking. However your spirit knows that Jesus has it under control…that’s where our faith kicks in….we may not see the outcome but we know who knows the outcome….and he only has the best in store for his Children!!!!!!

So devil I am standing and letting you know…….come hell or high water, no matter what  you throw at me I am not going back to the place or the person I us t be. I have walked down a well-worn and bumpy road….and a dessert that seemed completely unbearable……and I have through situations with my children and family that has knocked the breath out of me…..and made me tremble and even unstable at times…..but listen to me……….really listen to me…….. I am taking back what you stole from me….my daughter, my son, and I am taking my peace of mind, my entire family, my trust in people, my health, I am taking back every single thing you have taken………You will not woop me………. I serve a God who is standing before me, behind me, and beside me and we are raging war and you know what…………. IT IS WRITTEN WE WIN!!!!!!!!!!

We have all been there as parents…..” Mom it is just to hard I can’t do it. I don’t understand and I can’t do it.” Oh my when I hear my son say them words when he is doing his homework or training for ball my heart just crumbles. Why? Because I know he has it in him to be great. I know he has the talent to be a great baseball player and for him to be a world leader.

However are we not like this so many times in our lives……I just can’t do this God!!! I can not take one more step!! I don’t how you expect me to do this, it just isn’t me, I don’t under stand. It is even harder at these times when you don’t have anyone in your cheering corner, or even worse those who say “well maybe this is what you were suppose to do.”

I can speak about this so clearly because I have health problems, physical problems, a major depression disorder, wayward kids that just break my heart traveling down a road that is filled with destruction and even death. I can speak about this because other I am surrounded by so many people I feel so alone. I feel like the weight of the world on my shoulders. I found myself here resenting screaming……” No more Lord……No more…..I just can’t take one more day, one more step, I am at my wit’s end. The pain is just too much to deal with. ”

The scripture James 1:2 says: God blesses those who  patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward the will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” And how I love him. Even in my lowest point he reach down and let me know that I have provided you with all you need…just ask…..just hold on….just be patient  and allow me to work my plan out in my timing. Trust me I am not telling you it is easy….and I am not telling you that I still don’t have tiredsome days…..but I am telling you I know where I can get strength to pick myself up and smile and say Lord …..you got this right!!!!! So don’t quit……..Shout Lord…….You got this!!!!!

Heavenly Father there is so much in this world that we have to deal with, death, divorce, depression, health issues, lowliness, loneliness, bullies, hurt that is so deep…..but I ask in the name of Jesus right now to give your children strength to call upon you for strength the battle that will soon give the crown and the eternity reward of living with you. In Jesus name Amen

#foreveryourdaughter