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Archive for Hope – Page 2

Simple Brown Packages

Posted by Guest on Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 in Faith | Comments (3)

So I finally decided that today was the day I would unpack my bags from an amazing weekend with my better half.  “A week later!?” you say?  Yeah.  But if it was the last time you were going to smell your significant other’s clothes smelling like them for at least a year, you might wait a week to wash them, too.  All morning I have thought and thought and analyzed and worried and fretted and wrung my hands and cried…..then I had an epiphany!

Today is a special day!  God is answering some very desperate prayers today!  God is saving lives today!  I can wring my hands and cry and worry all day long, but then I give God NO GLORY for what He is doing in my husband, child, and my life today.  “You mean God get’s glory in war?!”  Yeah, I do.  Not for the war, but for what He can make come out of it.

Remember Joseph?  His brothers were jealous and sold him off.  Then one day there was a famine and Joseph interpreted a dream and saved them from famine.  (That is the Terri abbreviated version, and may be slightly off – BUT) Joseph told his brothers what you meant for evil God meant for good!  Had he never been sold to slavery, he would never find favor with the king and in turn never interpret the dream that saved his nation from famine!  Can God be glorified in war?  ABSOLUTELY!

I have prayed YEARS for God to help my husband find a job, to get us a home of our own, to make me closer to Him, to make me content where He wants me.  Today it hit me.  If Steven never went to war, we would not have the money to move out when he comes home or pay off our debt.  If he never went to war, he would never get a chance to grow spiritually and find that God is closest to us when we are farthest from Him.  I would always depend on Steven to provide the security and strength I need, and never learn to lean on God and find His strength is PERFECT and can carry me!

Today is a sad day for me.  I cry because I miss my best friend and feel my heart is breaking in a million tiny pieces.  BUT today is an excellent day for me, too!  Today I can teach my child that God is amazing in power and has angels who protect his daddy!  That He has angels who protect us!!!  If you don’t believe it, read your Bible!  It’s right there!  I don’t walk into this blindly.  It is HARD!

I walk into this knowing that my God is bigger than any terrorist and bigger than any situation I will ever see.  He loves my husband far more than I can imagine and wants the best for us.  I prayed for answers, and He is delivering!  It isn’t the package I chose.  It isn’t in the pretty wrapping I prefer.  But sometimes the best gifts are in simple brown packages, aren’t they?

The end result is going to be worth the wait.  So I will come to Him and TRUST Him.  (Matthew 11:28)  I want THAT rest!  I want to wait quietly in calm expectation for God to restore my strength and help me recover when I am so tired I can’t even breathe!  And I want to let Him lead me the next year, because I KNOW that where He goes, only good results will follow.  It won’t be easy.  It’s going to hurt and I am going to fall, but thankfully when I cry out, He IMMEDIATELY reaches out and picks me up!

So I ask, what is in your brown package?  Did you miss your little God hugs today?  Watch for them!  They ARE there!

So I sat down and watched Alex terrorize the poor seagulls and just prayed….”God please give me peace. Peace and strength….” So when i got up, I looked down and this is what the bench said…..What an amazing God!

by Terri Melvin

Terri is a a photographer/stay at home mom of a rambunctious 5 year old boy and has been married for 7 years. Her husband has been in the Alabama Army National Guard for 11 years, and he is currently serving his second tour in Afghanistan. Terri is also currently leading Tour Of Duty: Preparing Our Hearts for Deployment at her local church, and has loved EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

Popularity: 3% [?]

The Name Says It All

Posted by Guest on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 in Faith | Comments (0)

Isaiah 9:6:

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

When I went with my two friends to Israel, I earned a nickname that is rather funny. I earned the name of “banshee” during a very bizarre cab ride. It would literally take me 20 minutes to give you a complete picture of the cab ride, but I will keep it to the moments before I screamed loud enough to wake the dead. You see, I believe the cab driver must have been having mini strokes for him to be driving in the manner he was. When you don’t speak the language and you are in a somewhat dangerous country, you do not just jump out of a cab when you don’t know where you are located. That vulnerability will make you endure events that you would not in your native country.

While sitting in the back seat, quietly having a conversation with God on how to get out of the cab, I noticed that we were about to hit a stopped city bus. As we got closer and I continue to question in my head on what to do, we hit the stopped bus and folded the entire front end of the Mercedes cab. As crazy as it sounds, the bus just pulled off and we then followed behind them. Then came the pedestrian that the cab driver was now aiming for with the damaged cab. I couldn’t take it anymore. I mustered every sound that I had in my body and screamed “Stop!” so loud that every human in earshot trembled. Thank you God, we stopped! Now we still could not get out of the cab for about another ten minutes but when we did, my girlfriends laughed at me. My friends knew me and it was not common for me to go around yelling at people or making big public displays.

My nickname was given to me as a tease towards something that I did that seemed out of the norm for me. Was God joking when He proclaimed the names of Jesus? Many could question the name “Prince of Peace” because there is no peace on this earth. In fact you could argue that the opposite is true about peace on earth. Or is it?

When you get to know Jesus you learn that the Prince of Peace is a relationship peace. I know this because when I was mentally or emotionally wrecked from life, I called on Him and He answered me with His bold peace.  Several times because of events, my insides went numb from too much pain. When I miscarried, for weeks all I could utter was the words “dear God.” When my mom suddenly died, my prayer was “this hurts too much, God; help.” Every time I prayed, I felt His wonderful presence. Now the pain did not go away, but for that moment I did not feel that hope had left my life.

My dear friend is completing her first deployment. In a five-month period she lost her grandmother to a stroke and just recently her mother to a sudden heart failure. I know what is in store for her for the next few weeks. Unbelievable numbness with periodic thoughts of this is just a bad dream.  When loss happened to me, I walked around in a fog performing what was needed of me, thinking the entire time, “my world as I know it is gone.” I am not a person that questions God, but I do suggest if you are, ask those questions directly to God. Don’t stop the communications. I challenge you to take this verse and challenge God with it. If you truly believe in God and have faith in His will, then proclaim this verse in your life.

Your circumstance will not change; in my case, this meant my baby was not coming back to life. All I knew was that my dream of motherhood just died and I felt that God cheated me. After long conversations with God and proclaiming the many promises in the Bible, I understand that most things are way beyond my comprehension. I just have to trust. I just have to believe. I just have to ask God to give me peace with my circumstance.

I cannot figure out why some people walk through fire after fire. I do not understand. I don’t think we are supposed to because we cannot see the big picture from God’s view. What I can do is tell you what I do understand and believe. I believe that God’s will is perfect. I believe that I can do all things with Christ who strengthens me. That does not mean that I am always happy or that I want to endure the circumstance in front of me. It just means that I have the power and might to fight the evil that plagues this earth and I have a choice to a peaceful life even with severe loss.

My Jesus gives me hope and there is no peace without hope. Thank you Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace for my hope.  Thank you that I can proclaim your names as a promise from You to me and all those who follow and believe.

_______________________________________________

Today we are pleased to welcome our guest blogger, Kathleen Cline! Kathleen is the author of God + Military Spouse: United Our Families Will Stand and I Want To Be the Fat Pretty One: Reflecting God’s Esteem. You can read more about Kathleen at her website.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Family Roast Beef with Creamy Horseradish Sauce

Posted by Delta Whiskey on Thursday, January 6th, 2011 in Food | Comments (3)

In our family, the true comfort food is a roast beef served with wedges of cabbage, potatoes and carrots.   Read More→

Popularity: 9% [?]

A Treasured Possession

Posted by EbonyS on Wednesday, January 5th, 2011 in Hope | Comments (5)

The year I turned 12 stands out in my short history as the best year ever. That was the year I became a ‘woman,’ the year I was allowed to wear lip gloss and mascara (clear), and the last year I made straight A’s. It was also the year I received my very own quilt. It was red, white and blue in a perfect log cabin pattern, handmade by my beloved Grandma. Well, with time, as all things have a tendency to, my quilt began to show signs of wear. There were the small snags from where the clothespins had caught on a corner just right. The yellowed stains left behind by the teary puddles of an emotional teenager. The cozy softness caused by many, many trips to the laundry room. Patches in places that a simple mending job just wouldn’t do. The Big E. sewn into the back, my favorite initial.

This lovely heirloom saw the tops of my own children’s beds as I grew from a single gal to wife and mom and could not use it on the huge bed now shared with my husband. It gathered more stains as Kool-Aid spilled, peanut butter plopped, and diaper accidents found their way into the shared memories of that beautiful quilt. I remember the last time I saw it. I packed the quilt, along with several other handmade items, into a box as we prepared to enter into the ‘military’ chapter of our lives. Baby blankets, placemats, doilies, and my beloved log cabin quilt, all stored for safe keeping in a cardboard treasure chest. I’d never see that box again.

What made this one quilt so special? It was handmade by my Grandmother, a one-of-a-kind product of her time and energy and love that cannot be replaced. I haven’t had the heart to tell her that it’s gone. If given the opportunity, I would do or give (almost) anything to give it back, rips and stains and all. I’d pay (almost) any amount of money, travel (almost) any distance, trade (almost) any possession just to have it back in my hands.

You know Who else has a similar passion, but for you and I?? No matter what rips or stains or initials we’ve been marked with? God says in Dueteronomy 14:2  that we are His “treasured possessions,” and in Colossians 3:12, it says we are, “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.” God loves us. He created every single one of us to be unique. One-of-a-kind. “Fearfully and wonderfully made,” is how we are described in Psalm 139:14. Genesis 1:27, in the story of Creation, at the beginning of time, announces clearly that we were created in the image of God. We must be beautiful in God’s eyes. No matter how beautiful we all started out, we’ve all made poor decisions that seemed to leave stains. And not one of us have escaped the heartbreak that seems to rip us to shreds at times. We all have patches, places where there has been loss, and our best attempts to patch those areas up. These things only endear us to His heart that much more. How can I say these things? How can I be sure?

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The big difference in how much God loves us is that there was no ‘almost’ when God decided to do whatever it took to get us back, his treasured possessions. He paid the ultimate price, traded the best of what He had. For me. For you. Softly worn, stained, torn and patched one-of-a-kind quilts. Christmas has come and gone, the New Year already here to shoosh us on our busy ways. Will you remember what so many seem so eager to forget? Jesus came as a baby, yes, but He came to ransom our lives, and not just in the month of December. We have the opportunity to offer ourselves as a Gift back to God every single day, stains and all. Can you look at your patchwork life and ask God to use each rip, stain and memory for His Glory? God doesn’t need us to be perfect, just to be present.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Crock Pot Lasagna

Posted by Beth on Wednesday, December 8th, 2010 in Faith | Comments (1)

The other day I made Crock Pot Lasagna for dinner.  As I was cooking I began thinking about posting my dinner menu on Facebook.  When I post something special I am cooking, oftentimes it gets a big reaction and a lot of comments. What would happen if I posted cereal with milk or PB&J?  Would I get the same reaction?

God’s Word is sometimes like this with us as human beings.  The Bible is a collection of stories or accounts of the Jewish people and others involved with them.  There are many amazing things that happened to and for the people in The Bible.  Consider when Joshua and his army marched around Jericho and the Wall fell down or when Gideon defeated the Midianites with only 300 men?  How about when Peter was on the rooftop and he experienced the heavenly vision from the Lord?  Or when the disciples were in a locked room and Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection?  Consider when John was on the isle of Patmos and the Lord delivered the book of Revelation to him!  These were all amazing, out of the ordinary days in the lives of a just a few honored and Godly men in the Bible.

Now, think about all their other days.  If they lived to be almost a hundred years old, which John the apostle did, how many days did they have like this?  Was God absent from their life during this time?  Did He go away only to return for the spectacular event? No, He did not.  In Hebrews 13:5 He promises never to leave us or forsake us.  He is always with us.  Even on those less than spectacular days when you moms are covered in baby boogers, still in your pajamas, with your teeth not brushed, He is still there, helping us more than we know.

So what do we do on those not-so-spectacular days when nothing quite as amazing as the parting of the Red Sea is taking place?  We do His Word.  Still.   We read it, think about it, and act on it.  We practice it.  We practice 1 Corinthians 13 that says, “Love is patient.  Love is kind.”  When your child is climbing on the cabinets for the 956th time, we are patient and kind.

We “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanksgiving to His name. (Hebrews 13:15)” When your husband is late from work and will miss dinner, thank God anyway because you have a husband on his way home.  If you are currently going through a deployment, you can thank God for the opportunity as a military family to serve the nation.

God is faithful to us even when we cannot see Him amazingly in action and nothing quite spectacular is going on.  He is watching over His Word to perform it. (Isaiah 55:11)  If you act on God’s Word you will most assuredly grow in your faith today.  (See James 1 and Isaiah 55 for further study.)

Crock Pot Lasagna

1 1/2 pound ground beef

1 onion chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 can tomato sauce

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

1 cup water

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp dried oregano

1 pkg.  (8 oz.) no-cook lasagna noodles

4 cups mozzarella

2 cups combination of your choice of cheeses, cottage cheese, shredded parmesan, and/or ricotta

In a skillet cook ground beef, onion, and garlic until meat is browned.  Drain grease.  Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes, salt and oregano to the cooked ground beef; mix well.  Spread a fourth of meat mixture in the bottom of your crock pot.  Arrange 3 lasagna noodles over sauce.  You might have to break them to fit properly.  No worries, they will cook with the meat and cheese and you won’t notice.  Combine the cheeses; spoon a third of the mixture over the noodles.  Repeat layers twice.  Top with any remaining meat sauce mixture.  Cook in the crock pot on low for about 5 hours.   Enjoy!!!!!

Popularity: 3% [?]

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