For the City of Cleveland, Ohio

Isaiah 61
The Good News of Salvation
1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
4 And they shall rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
And the sons of the foreigner
Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
6 But you shall be named the priests of the LORD,
They shall call you the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.
7 Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
Everlasting joy shall be theirs.
8 “ For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery for burnt offering;
I will direct their work in truth,
And will make with them an everlasting covenant.
9 Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles,
And their offspring among the people.
All who see them shall acknowledge them,
That they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed.”
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.


~~~~I believe this w/ all of my being for the city of Cleveland. It will be a city of Hope. I am honored & excited about all God will do in this city & to think I had a part in it. Glory to God!!!!

1 month to live cont.

So, I said I'd be back & here I am...finally!! Wow, good thing I don't just have 1 month to live....life is crazy-busy & everyday seems to speed on by!!!!

Well, Celebration Church sent out a question to all of us asking what would be the 5 things we'd do if we only had '1 month to live'...I was thinking about this...it's such a tough question. But,, if I knew I only had one month...#1 I would speed up our move to Cleveland, Ohio & organize an outreach to the City!!!! Sounds huge, but not too huge for God. #2, I would cling to the Word of God like I've never done before, because I believe there's Power in the Word & if I'm dying of some weird sickness I know his power is More powerful than any disease!!! I would stand firmly upon His Word!! #3, I would slow down and spend every waking moment w/ my husband & children investing in them the love of God & my love for them.....not that I don't already invest in them, but I don't do enough of it..., I get too busy. #4 I would take a week & go on a cruise because I never got to have a Real honeymoon and go on one w/ my honey, so we would go on one w/ our 5 kids and we would invite Everyone in our family....LOL!!!! Then, Sean & I would sneak off and enjoy 'us'...just for a litte while..lol!! #5 I would make time to write the songs that are in my heart & sing them w/ everything...worshipping & praising my King of Kings celebrating my life on earth, but also celebration my eternal life which is Even Better!!!!!

I think of how apostle Paul said, 'it is better for you that I remain here in this body, but it would be better for me to go and be w/ Christ in heaven.....'

I don't ever want to love this life so much that heaven seems Less than...you know?

I don't ever want to fall out of love w/ Christ & be sucked in to the neverending pit of unsatisfaction....

As I long for eternity, I also long to be here w/ my loved ones....evangelizing this world who needs to know the name of Jesus....know that He came for them....& I'm to carry that message everywhere w/ my life...

As apostle paul said in the bible, 'it's like a fire in my bones...I can hardly contain it..there is no quenching it..'

That is how I feel about the gospel....the love of Christ....and it's not to be contained.

So, I'll end w/ this. Let's remember our purpose everyday, Let's not lose sight of how temporal the things of this world are, Let's love, help, serve & when we do the opposite of that, let's be quick to change. I don't know about you, but I want to leave a legacy!!

What if you only had, "1 Month to Live".....?

Our new series @ church this month is "1 Month to Live".

What if you knew that's all you had left on this earth??

What would you do differently?

I'll be back to share my thoughts on this.......

May we look at today & live on purpose!!!!!

Psalm 27:1
[ Of David. ] The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

I'm Alive!!

Wow, it's been forever since my last blog! Since our trip to Ohio, we
have been getting things ready. Preparing to put our house on the market!
We've been painting, packing, organizing, etc.!! Lots to do & only so much
time to do it. On top of, homeschooling, work & ministry!!! So thankful
for the grace of God in my life!

We had an amazing Easter Weekend. Our church had 6 services in all & we
served at 5 of them. It was awesome to see hundreds of new families & so
many people come to know Jesus Christ for the first time!! Powerful!!

Anyhow, I'm Alive!!! And thankful for that. I read a good quote:

"A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life."
Charles Darwin

May we all discover the value of life.

much love,

faith

Daydreamer or Visionarie?

What is the difference? And which one are you? I think of a daydreamer as one who dreams....they have a dream, but they just hope....maybe someday it will happen. Oh yes, they talk about the dream & they want it to happen. They have hope, but they do not act on what they hope for. A dream without action is a dead dream. A dream that comes and goes, but never makes an impact in one's life or the life of others. A Visionarie, on the other hand, is one who not only has a dream or vision, but has the audacity to Act!!!!

I don't know about you, but I want to be a visionarie. I want to take risks. I believe God has given me a vision. It's not just for me, but it's for others. Just as he has given us talents & gifts. Not for our benefit only, but for the benefit of others....to impact the world.

Dream has several definitions: A wild fancy or hope....A condition or achievement that is longed for; an aspiration....A daydream; a reverie.

Vision also has several definitions: Unusual competence in discernment or perception; intelligent foresight: a leader of vision.... The manner in which one sees or conceives of something.

I believe there are self-made dreams & then there are God-made dreams.
I tell my children you have the freedom to choose which dream you will follow.
Your dream or God's dream for you. God has a plan for each one of us. When we align our lives with his plan we are satisfied & empowered to act. We act in faith believing in the Dream/Vision he has given us. And I am not saying that self-made dreams are not dreams that happen because we see many people walking out their dreams....movies stars, etc. But there is no greater power when we find our purpose & run w/ the God dream/vision. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Plan: To have as a specific aim or purpose; intend.....A proposed or tentative project or course of action....a series of steps to be carried out or goals to be accomplished.

We all have the power to choose whether we will Act: (The process of doing....To carry out an action) or be Complacent: (Contented to a fault; self-satisfied and unconcerned.....contented to a fault with oneself or one's actions.)

Daydreamer or Visionarie?

Our Final Exploratory Trip to Cleveland, Ohio

Just the Beginning.......



If I could pick one word to describe the beginning of our trip it would be adventureous!! Everything was going so smooth, considering our five children in the equation....our youngest being 7 months & still nursing...if that was adventureous enough!!! But the adventure really began in Memphis Tennesee. My dad calls us on the phone..."where are you guys?" He then warns us of some terrible weather. "Is it snowing?", He asks. And at that point, there was no snow. Well, let's just say, we were on our way to see Alot of snow!!!! It was about 20 minutes when we began to see snow....more snow....more & more..until we could no longer drive. We called the two hotels at the exit, no rooms available. So, we found ourselves at a Travel Center w/ lots of other people!! They told us they never have snow like this....it may snow once a year if at all. We are just amazed...sooo..much snow!!! At first, it was exciting..we hadn't seen this much snow in several years..the kids were loving it!! And then we told them we weren't going to stay in a hotel, but sleep overnight in our van. They were so disappointed. We told them this is an adventure, let's make the best of it!! That is when Sean began telling them stories...we were all laughing out butts off!! It was so fun...cozied up in our van in the middle of a snow storm...8 inches of snow in all!!!! Ofcourse, we didn't sleep very well, but we were thankful. Thankful to be together, safe, warm & parked right infront of the Travel Center that had everything we could ever need!! Others were less fortunate...they were stuck out in the snow waiting for help. I was so thankful to have the security of knowing God's hand was upon us & as we prayed & called out to Him He was right there with us.

Well, we were finally able to leave the Travel Center the next morning at 10am. That was a little frustrating because we so wanted to get on the road and get to Cleveland!!!! We watched several cars/semis try to get out of that parking lot. It was an upward slope & many would just slide backwards...scary. It was our turn and we made it!! Now, just to not slide off the icy, snowy covered roads. Needless to say, we came to many road blocks on our way out of Tennesee, but once again Thankful to God for bringing us out of that storm safe & sound. All Glory to God!!!

We eventually made our way to Cleveland, Ohio to find even more adventures were ahead!!!!

The Power in Forgiveness

What happens when a wounded heart forgives.......?

It's just a part of life. People hurt people. It's funny how so many times we'll blame God. Why God? Why did you do this to me? I'm sure God's wondering why we don't see the truth. No, probably not, considering he already knows the truth. The reality is, people hurt people, not God. And sometimes we hurt ourselves. I know I have made poor decisions in my life that brought me pain. I've also made decisions that brought other's pain. How many of us have told lies? How many of us have said something mean? How many of us have been selfish? We all are guilty in some way. Why can't we just admit the truth? It's hard I know, but it will set you free.

I told you in my first blog about some pain I was carrying around. Pain that wouldn't go away. Not until I acknowledged it was there & then I had to release that pain. I literally said out loud, I lay this at your feet, God...I will no longer hold on to this! I can honestly say my healing came
when I forgave.

You see, I was angry at those men for violating me. Angry as hell. How could they do that to a little girl....those sickoes. And these men weren't strangers to me. I was also angry at my parents, why didn't they protect me? I was angry w/ God....why didn't he stop them? I had allowed bitterness to take it's root in my heart. And the loved ones in my life were paying the price.

I'm not going to tell you this was easy, but I did forgive those men. And I realized it was free will that gave them the Right to violate me. And it was my free will to be bitter. I also realized my parents weren't super heroes. They were human too & they had no idea what those things were going on. No idea! And God, he wasn't to be blamed. He loved me....he would never want those terrible things to happen to his daughter!

The healing process didn't happen over night. It was a period of many nights. That first day in my apartment when I cried out to God.....that was the just the beginning of my wounded heart
being healed.

You see, that day I experienced true forgiveness. In all my ugliness & filth God reached down from heaven w/ the power of his love & touched my life. I began to see clearly.....the disillusionment was no longer. That forgiveness I experienced that day would be the same forgiveness I would have for those men.

God showed me 'true forgiveness'. It says in John 3:16-17, 16"For God So Loved the Whole world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

God So loved the Whole world & gave his greatest gift to us...His own Son, Jesus. He didn't just do this for me, but for everyone. I realized that I was a sinner just like these men....I committed different sins, but still, I was in need of a Savior. They need a Savior too. When I saw how much God loved me....I could clearly see how much he loved them. How could I not forgive them. God being Perfect has forgiven me for All of my sins. I choose to Forgive. There is power in Forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn't put bandaids on wounds, it heals them. Because the Love of God covers a multitude of sins. The love of God is a power to be reckoned with. His love Transforms. This is how a wounded heart forgives....because it is forgiven also.

Acts 10:39-44 says,
39"We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, 40but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.