"Out of Order"

Then he said, “I beg of you, my Lord Jesus, show me grace and take me with you into your everlasting kingdom!”

 Jesus responded, “I promise you—this very day you will enter paradise with me.”

Luke 23:42-43 TPT

Today my only biological sibling, my little sister, Sis', should've been 51...I was going to say, would've, but honestly today I feel like she should've been 51. Not that I don't trust God's plans, I just miss my sister...and though she took her life during the heat of a battle with this life, I know that God is sovereign over all things...and that night, that dark spring night back in 2002, she had no armor to put on...she had no weapons to fight with...she had no more strength to take on another day of war against herself. Many times I have thought to myself, "oh I wish I would've been there...I wish I would've known...I wish I would've stopped having expectations of her that she couldn't live up to... I wish I would've been a better big sister."

Instead of drowning in the cruel distractions of questions that can't and won't be answered until I join her in Heaven, God called this day my "Out of Order" day...His plans are only to give me hope and a future, so today He whispered, "hang an out of order sign on your bedroom door and take a walk down memory lane with Me." So, what does a "Daddy's girl" do when He asks her to spend the day with Him??? Right I argued with Him...you thought I was going to say, she listens to God and hangs the sign, didn't you? Well, no actually I started with every excuse that comes to a mom, Nona and wife. "Lord I can't do that my kitchen is a wreck," "I can't do that I need to go grocery shopping," or "I can't do that I need to work out." Finally, when all my arguments were met with Him reminding me "it's ok to take a rest day, trust me, all those things will still be there when tomorrow comes." Then He shared this sweet nugget with me from Mark 6:31b

So Jesus said to his disciples, “Come, let’s take a break and find a secluded place where you can rest a while.”

You guessed it, here I am...enjoying a "Sabbath" of sorts. While I was relaxing in His word this morning, during my morning gift of just lingering with Him and His promises, He took me to Job 11:13, "“If you would prepare your heart,

And stretch out your hands toward Him;" This is the NKJV...but as I was writing this He took me to the MSG translation of Job 11:13-20...

"Reach Out to God"

13-20 “Still, if you set your heart on God

    and reach out to him,

If you scrub your hands of sin

    and refuse to entertain evil in your home,

You’ll be able to face the world unashamed

    and keep a firm grip on life, guiltless and fearless.

You’ll forget your troubles;

    they’ll be like old, faded photographs.

Your world will be washed in sunshine,

    every shadow dispersed by dayspring.

Full of hope, you’ll relax, confident again;

    you’ll look around, sit back, and take it easy.

Expansive, without a care in the world,

    you’ll be hunted out by many for your blessing.

But the wicked will see none of this.

    They’re headed down a dead-end road

    with nothing to look forward to—nothing.”

I get now why God asks us to go deeper with Him...He isn't trying to drown us in rules, NO quite the contrary, He's giving us His grace, He is giving us direction that will bless us...and others. While my usual reaction to this date is one of sadness and should haves, could haves and would haves, He is asking me to "come away with Him..." To let Him make the plans and me just put one foot in front of the other. 

Today instead of drowning in a pool of tears, don't get me wrong I have cried several and I have sobbed into my Saviors arms, I am choosing to walk in His memories of 2 sisters He grew together. So here goes I am letting Him guide me with this new journey, without Him...well without Him I couldn't do this.

God reminded me this morning that He placed us side by side for a reason. I remember being by my Sissy's side for many of her huge moments. She was the exact opposite of me and for a good portion of our childhood that was very evident. We may have battled to the death of a couple of our stuffed animals, and I bribed her not to tell on me many times with things she didn't have that I did, like a radio, or tv or clothes...but let someone say a word against either of us, or one of us feel the crushing pain of being hurt and we forgot every thing we ever did to each other. My little sister was my battle comrade and I was hers. She was quiet and didn't speak up for herself, even when she had a right to...according to the worlds views. We weren't raised with the knowledge about God, we weren't raised in a family where we started our days in God's word, or even to say grace before each meal. Not that we were raised in satan's house, our parents just had not learned about how to live with and for God, so they didn't raise us with this important piece of wisdom. 

But all these years later, after God has gotten a hold of me and I realize that though she didn't know why, she had no desire to have a battle of words with others, instead she would walk away...silently. Though she had no idea she was living according to what Jesus said, she was. Though God has and is teaching me about how regrets can shape and corrupt my life, for most of my life I have lived in a state of regret mostly because of my inability to walk away silently. I am learning though, in fact it is actually becoming my reaction when someone hurts me, and I start to lash out in anger. I don't know if it's because my sister was the youngest, and she always had a big sister by her side growing up, but I do know that God created her to know how to respond. In fact my mom will tell you that I always had an answer for everything, she would say, "why can't you be like your sister, she knows when to be quiet and let it go?" When I was younger, and before I met Jesus, I would shout back at her...I would need the last word.

But these last few years, God is showing me the peace in just silently walking away, while I ask Him to shower them with blessings. In Proverbs 11:12, Mean-spirited slander is heartless;

    quiet discretion accompanies good sense...I am reminded that always having to have the last word, well that is only going to end up hurting someone and in the long run it ends up hurting me. Jesus used God's truth when He was tempted by satan in the desert, He didn't use hurtful, angry, or bitterness to try to battle the liar of this world. So the farther I get in my walk with Jesus, the more He is arming me for the attacks the enemy and his minions wage against me. I am learning that I don't have to have the last word to the person, but I can take my desire to have the last word to God and lift their name up with a genuine request that He bless them. 

My little sister lived this way for pretty much all of her life, she was a little more bold about speaking her mind as she got older, but it was really just her being honest. She grew to be very blunt, her filter was still there, but her big sister wasn't. I can think about the hours we would spend playing barbies, riding our bikes, or skating around and around our driveway...I also have a memory of trying to protect her from the darkness of a babysitter who would linger in the hallway, or offer to play hide n' seek with us...I was there the night she found the only man she ever loved in their marital bed with another woman and her child...I had to tear her off him as she ripped her fingernails off in his chest while he protected the other woman...I remember many nights of her protecting her big sister in bars as I drank myself into a crazy stupor and then danced on the edge of safety. She battled against the devil as I fought suicidal attacks and she refused to let me give into them, even slapping me across my face when I screamed one night in hers about letting me die!! I was at her weddings, both of them. I was at the birth of a child she placed for adoption and also her youngest child while she sucked on one toostie roll pop after another because she was craving a cigarette so bad. She was there during the birth of my daughter and also was the only one there when I carried and gave birth to the boy God asked me to be a birth mom to...in fact she's the only one, besides me, that met him and held him...she carried him to the nursery. 

God had us side by side for most of 34 years...and for the last 16 years and 5 months I have not had her by my side. The woman who would physically fight a man in my defense...she took a 10 mm handgun, loaded it with a hollowpoint bullet, grabbed her Bible and a pen...wrote, "please forgive me God, I can't take the pain anymore," sat down at her kitchen table and put the gun to her chin and pulled the trigger...with that single act I lost my built in best friend, confidant, protector, and more than that...my only sibling...my little sister. No one could've ever convinced me that my little sister would take her own life, she was not a suicidal person...she was way to tough for that. But the wars raged and she couldn't fight them alone anymore...she didn't really know God, only that He could save her...in Heaven.

For a long time after that I felt like I had to make excuses for her taking her life, I would say she shot herself, but I know she is in Heaven because...and at one of the retreats I went to with MYRRH Minstries a friend reminded me that my sister is free, I don't have to protect her anymore...that she didn't leave this world to get away from anyone but herself, her broken mind. 

I started this post out with Luke 23:42-43 in The Passion Translation...these Scriptures were the perfect reminder for this big sister on a day that I should be celebrating the birth of my little sister who took her life...regardless of how far we are away from God, it only takes one breath, one whisper of His Name, to bring Him back to us. 

Sis', 

I miss you, I am sorry you felt so alone... I will be by your side again, when God calls me home. Thank you Sis' for making your last breath, Jesus' Name...Happy Birthday to you, my Sissy.

Love,

your big sister 

Breathed...not spoken.

This weekend while I was enjoying worshiping and singing praise to my LORD, this picture flashed through my mind...

Instantly I was distracted from praising and worshiping by the same thought I had when I saw it for the first time..."I look terrible..." This thought took my focus for a moment...but God took this opportunity to remind me who I am. Not only did He remind me of my lineage, but He also whispered, "I see the real you...the princess I created." With this whisper He brought this picture to mind...when I first saw this one, I felt beautiful.

Then He said, "I see who you are, I see beauty when I look at you. I see your heart of love for me, the joy in your heart as you lift praise up and worship with singing and dancing. The enemy wants you to see yourself as ugly while you worship me. He knows you will become self conscience again and worry about how you look. When you look at yourself through his eyes you see what he wants you to see. Look through My eyes and see the beauty from ashes you are." I wish I could explain the freedom in this bit of truth. I smiled wide and sang louder and more joyful. I knew God had a great day of directions planned and He started with the first worship, to get me started with my heart in a position to hear just what He had to share. Not just hear it and forget it, but let Him really etch this truth in my heart. 

This weekend God shared a truth with me that I have never even thought about.  I have read these verses and heard these verses many times in the past...but never with the same meaning as God gave me this time. This time, He made transparent a much deeper truth through the amazing prophet, Pastor Tim Beal. God has spoken so boldly through this teacher, who's willingness to share God's message is so evident. Every time God has blessed me with wisdom through his teaching. So thank you Pastor for your heart to not see anyone left behind. 

Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. 

Genesis 1:24 NLT

Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

Genesis 2:7 NLT

When I first glance at these verses I see the beginning of life. That God created the living creatures and He created man. I have not really looked deeply into these. I just believe that God created it all, us all, and called it all good...This weekend Pastor Tim brought these to life and brought truth to how God loves us so much. He truly set us apart, right from the beginning. Now I hope I can share what I have learned with you and I pray God will speak through this shared wisdom.

In Genesis God outlines how He is the Creator of all things. He started in Genesis 1:1 with these words...In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth. From there each day for 6 days God adds to His creation. Speaking everything living thing into existence...everything except people. Let that sink in. I am not saying that God didn't create us in those 6 days, I am saying that He didn't speak us into existence. For us God chose to get down into the dirt and shape us from the dirt...and He could have just said, "now breathe." That wasn't what He chose. Instead it says, "He breathed the breath of life into him..." This truth dug down into the deepest parts of me where it planted itself preparing to become a harvest not only for me...but whoever heard that message...whoever hears this message.

In my notes that morning I wrote, "God speaks and His voice transforms (creates) God speaks life into everything living creatures. But He breathed His OWN breath into us for life." From the beginning we are set apart from everything else He creates. He made us in His Own image and He gave us His breath. Wow for me this was a great eye opener. I don't know if I ever really thought about just how much love and detail God put into creating me...He looks at me like I look at my kids...proud. He doesn't see the 50+ year old double, hanging chin, no He looks at me singing and dancing and handing my heart to Him and He smiles and looks around to those who surround Him and He points at me and says, "oh the joy in my beautiful princess!! I love her!!!" He beams like I do with my kids. 

He doesn't look at the outside, no He looks deep into me and knows who I really am. He sees the surrender in my heart and the excitement in my actions. Because I choose His Son, and to believe in Him without seeing Him, I am covered by the blood of Jesus. He sees me through Jesus. In Jesus, I am completely covered by God's grace. He has forgotten all my sins, period. Grace erases sin, and receiving grace is easy. However, walking in it takes some learning. We get so used to worrying about what others think, we forget that none of that matters. We forget that in this broken world we are all searching for the same things, happiness, love and purpose. I think it can be easy to get so lost in the chaos in our own little bubbles, that we forget that others are going through stuff too. That's just what the enemy wants. He knows that if he keeps us distracted in our stuff, we will be too busy to help others and extend the grace they need. He knows if we get the chance to extend God's grace to someone, an "invisible" God will suddenly become "visible" to them in their stuff and that will disrupt his entire schemes.

Today, let's disrupt satan's schemes. Let's stop looking around and look up. Let's praise with everything we are, and bring joy to our LORD. So, if you're busy looking around during worship, maybe you should be looking up, letting go and lifting praise to God. After all, He chose to breathe His very own breath into us, when He could've just spoken us into existence.

Do you have a housekeeper?

When I was younger I remember hating having to clean house every weekend. My little sister and I would wake up early and do our best to sneak to my mom's bedroom door and close it quietly. We knew if she woke up, even just for a moment, she would yell her usual question/order, "DID YOU GIRLS GET YOUR HOUSEWORK DONE????!!!!!" Then we would have to get to work cleaning the kitchen and living room, our rooms and our bathroom. But if we could get away without waking her up we would have a morning of watching cartoons and eating cereal in front of the tv on the floor, before having to do our house work. If we sat in front of the tv we could keep the volume down and hopefully mom wouldn't wake up. If we woke her up, we would be put to work. 

When I say cleaning, I learned about 3 kinds of cleaning when I was growing up. The first was the "pick up" kind of clean. That's the kind my mom taught us to do everyday. Just mostly picking up after ourselves so the clutter would be manageable and dishes at night. But on Saturdays we did the second kind of cleaning. I called it "cleaning GOOD." That's the when we had to polish the wood furniture, put everything in it's place and sweep, or vacuum. We would do the bathroom just as good, it was scrubbed clean and readied for another week. Then we would head to our rooms. My sister would usually just get busy and get her room done. However, I hated to clean. I used to sit for hours in my room because I didn't want to clean my room good. But my mom would NOT give in. She would let me sit in there for as long as it took. Sometimes those days turned into evening and I would end up having dinner, doing dishes and then going straight to bed with my room still a wreck. Me thinking I won.

 Other times I would take the path of least resistance and shove clothes in drawers, or my closet or even under my bed...when I say I didn't like to clean, I really mean HATED to clean. Those times more often than not my mom would go to put something away in my room while I was at school, or out playing and that would be the beginning of her "helping" me clean. She would pull every piece of clothing from my closet and dump every drawer in my dresser in the middle of my room. She would flip my bed up on the wall and leave it up there. During this rampage she would be screaming and cussing, and a rage would continue to build in her with every bit of mess she would find. Sometimes I would come home in the middle of the rages, those days could tear my self worth down because of the words she used. But the days that she went in my room when I was gone, well those were probably what taught me how to "teach" people with destruction. Those days I would come in without having any clue that my mom had even gone into my room. I would walk in and she would be her normal self, never giving away a hint of the HUGE mess I would be walking into. She knew what I was walking into, she knew I was going to get mad. She would then come into my doorway and stand and yell orders at me. 

The third kind of cleaning, well that one I can only describe as the "pretend" cleaning. That was done when people from out of town were coming to stay with us, my parents were having a party or some other major event that my mom wanted to see her house as a "perfect home." This kind of cleaning I think made me hate cleaning more than either of the first 2. This kind of cleaning meant every single inch, every crack, inside and outside. We all worked on this cleaning. If you stopped for a moment, mom assigned you more work!! I think that I hated it most because I knew that every other day we lived in a normal house, not a museum. When I got older I would say "Why do we have to pretend to have this perfect house when people come over?!?!? It's being fake!!!!" That of course was a gateway to a HUGE blowout between us. She would scream berating threats angrily and what I couldn't say out loud I would say in my thoughts. Well I told myself every time, "I will never do this pretend cleaning when I have my own place!!!" Of course for many years I did exactly this. 

  For a long time my homes were a wreck. If people showed up unexpectedly I would pretend not to be home. If I knew someone was coming I would sound like a drill sergeant and pretty much redo everything anyone did. I would go from my cabinets being empty of clean dishes and having to wash one to cook or eat, to every dish being clean and put away. There was never an in between. I hid in my room and I didn't care what anything outside that looked like. Honestly when I lived in my room I kept everything I might need within an arms reach. This kept my life within my control, but my house was chaos. But if someone was coming, I'd be out barking orders and being everything I hated growing up with my family. I didn't realize that the way I lived my life was directly reflected in my housekeeping. Then I met God.

Funny thing is that when I met God He didn't say "you have to clean your house." In the beginning I still lived with a dirty house in the chaos. I honestly didn't relate my relationship with God, with cleaning my home. I couldn't even relate getting into God's word, with a relationship with God. I could keep my relationship with God in one part of my life and every other part of me in another. I lived for God when I thought about it, remembered or needed to look like it. But really living for God takes much more than just accepting Jesus as my Savior. Salvation is not instant in who we are, only how God sees us. God asks us to give Him ALL of us. He knows when we say yes what our expectations are. As our Creator, He is already prepared and not at all surprised when we expect instant perfection. He also isn't surprised when we get in a rush, get frustrated or even when we fall away. He doesn't put us in our rooms until we do what He wants us to. No He does the exact opposite. He lets us make our own choices, because He sees His whole plan. He will wait patiently for us. He has personal knowledge of what it will take for us to really learn what He's teaching us. He knows change is hard for me. He also knows when I am faced with change I will fight against it, as long as I can. But He waits for me.

So as I am reading my book for my women's Bible study, "Open Your Bible" (by Raechel Myers and Amanda Bible Williams) they share this bit of truth, 

"There's a kind of unsettled comfort in keeping the messy parts of our lives out of the light. There is comfort, but NOT peace." 

Instantly I think about the state of my house, and I puff up a little because I have come a long way from the chaos and dirty mess.  As I was reading I had been thinking to myself, "the closer I get to God, the more I learn about Who He is, the cleaner my house is becoming. The cleaner I NEED my house to be, continuously. I want it more organized and less chaotic, both inside and outside."  The more He changes me the more I recognize the changes He's making. With this new knowledge I decided to search through His word on the subject of a clean house. So I searched Google for Scriptures about house cleaning...this is the truth He gave me.

This was the first time I have read these in the Message translation. It brought new understanding to these Verses! As He's been cleaning me of the sins I was drowning in, it's ignited a fire for me to clean my house and keep it clean. Not only spiritually, but physically. Where there is less clutter, dirt and chaos, there will be less distraction. There are less places for the enemy to sneak in. The closer I am growing to God, the more mature my faith is getting. Then I went to my usual translation, the NLT to see the difference...

I love that God says that as I let go of the dirty, messy parts of me and begin to seek Him, I will crave more of Him. I will then understand real salvation. When I make my relationship with Him and learning about His will for me my priority, He will bring about change in every part of me and my life. Some of the changes will be very recognizable, and some changes will be subtle, like a clean house. As I look back on the different times in my life that I have had the messiest house, those were moments I was the most lost. On the opposite side are the moments I was closest with God and my house was clean. When I let God in to clean out the darkest, messiest parts of me that I have been burying and hiding forever, that's when the REAL cleaning gets done. That's when I learn how much more I appreciate a clean house and heart, than the mess and dirt of the old me. That there are going to be dark corners He has to bring to the light, for them to be cleaned up. Those moments may be painful, but God is answering my prayers for a clean heart.

Not that every moment of every day my house is dust free or spotless, but it is clean and I gladly answer the door. Believe me we still have all 3 kinds of cleaning going on in my home. In fact if you talk to my family today, they will tell you they hate when people come to stay for a visit, only because of my expectations of  cleaning that has to be done. I actually end up only having 1 helper, and he reluctantly helps. When I am cleaning I find myself complaining about having to do it all and arguing with God about how much I have to do while others sit. He reminds me that my expectations are the reason I have to do it alone. God has taught me that if I leave the messes in the dark corners, they will grow into an unmanageable mess, one that will be much harder to clean. In those moments I usually start talking about having a housekeeper...then I remember that I have a housekeeper, the only housekeeper I'll ever really need...Who's your housekeeper?

Who are your warriors?

Can two people walk together

    without agreeing on the direction?

Amos 3:3 NLT

This weekend Pastor Bill brought this little goody out. It's not one that I remember reading, but it's etched deeply into my heart now. It seems pretty simple and straight forward, on the surface. When God brings it to life through the heart of a mighty messenger, one who boldly shares Truth without fear and isn't afraid to throw a throat punch or 2, it takes on a much deeper meaning as the truth comes out. 

The truth is that we can't be going in more than one direction in our lives. We can't walk in faith and the world. We can't walk hand in hand with those who shun God and walk hand in hand with God. Don't take what I'm saying wrong, let me state clearly up front that I am not saying stay away from those who don't know God, or even those who hate God. Jesus said in

Mark 2:17

When Jesus heard this, he told them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."

God wants us to love, unconditionally, but He doesn't want us to live the same as those who don't know Him. They will never know Him if we seek to please them and walk the same lost path. What I am saying is that when I try to live just like the world, I can't live to please God. That's clear in

Galatians 1:10

 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between those who God places around us as warriors. For me His warriors are people who will speak God's truth in my life without fear. Letting anyone who calls themselves my friend speak into my life, has been a pitfall of mine. I tend to go all in when it comes to friendship. I have never been able to keep up a fake mask up for long. So a lot of them haven't lasted. That's been something I have been really giving to God and He's gotten me to the point of not even putting on the mask. It saves me a lot of heartache as I realized that if I am just who God created me to be, always, my tribe finds me. I don't have to go out to seek them, I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not. I can accept who I am created to be and embrace me. God gives me everyone He knows I need, just when I need them. Like Pastor Daniel says, "my tribe has my vibe."

 There aren't many warriors in my life, but the ones He sent are true warriors. They love me. They aren't put off when they have to share a hard word and they know I have a tough time hearing the hard stuff. They stand firm in the truth and love me in spite of me. I see God moving mightily not only in their words, but I see Him living and breathing in their lives. This is important for me as I am seeking hard after God. If I don't see God in their lives how can I expect them to speak Him into mine? Not that God can't speak through anyone and anything He can. I take the word to God's Word to see if it line's up. That's how I know if it's from God.

I know that the warriors God is surrounding me with all have the same desire for me as I do. They love God and they want to see me living in His peace and chasing His plan. They don't bring the hard truth with excitement they bring it with faith. I believe they feel blessed God asks them to share His truth with me. They don't want to see me stumbling around in the darkness, they want to turn on the Light to help me. As I have started to really take that in and realize that they are the safety God is surrounding me with. 

In Proverbs 27:17 it says,

As iron sharpens iron,

    so a friend sharpens a friend.

I'd say it's pretty clear about what a real friendship is. It's not always giggles and fun. We have to be willing to both hear the truth and also speak it in love. God is not saying for us to seek out the things that irritate us, or we think are wrong and go give our friends an earful. No, not at all. He does ask us to first pray to Him about the stuff He shows us. I have to make sure I am not comparing their stuff to mine. That I am not holding myself up as the guideline of what they should or should not do. Only God knows the plans He has for each of us. Once God gives me the words and my heart is in the right place, then I take His message to them. It's all about where my heart is, if it's buried in God and not out of selfish control, He will shine through. 

Some of the people we call friends will not being going where God is taking us and that's ok. All God asks us to do is keep moving with Him, He will change the scenery, He will change the seasons and He will change those people He surrounds us with. But our core group of friends should be speaking boldly His truth into us. They shouldn't be part of our core if they aren't lifting our names in prayer. 

My prayer is that we all pick up our cross everyday and walk with others who are lifting up their crosses everyday. And on the days that our cross or theirs is too heavy to carry alone that we will carry ours on one shoulder and theirs on the other. Lord let me never try to dull Your light and may I always walk brightly for You.

You are destroying her, purposely...why? Parental ALIENATION is child abuse

She's going to hear, see, find the truth...I've saved it ALL. Please realize that contact denial for the last 355 days is CHILD ABUSE. When she asks you if you knew about her baby sister, I pray you're honest...because I will be. She will know for a FACT that we both text you to let you know & you received the messages we have the "message read" receipts. So if you try to do to her as you & your "attorney" have done to her since the sad, sickening lies you filed in 1/2015, I will NOT be quiet...she deserves to know that you & your girlfriend have systematically denied her mother & mothers entire family, visits with her. Videos & texts & proof of calls sent to voicemail then unanswered messages...prepare because she has a Mighty Powerful God...