Learning to speak for myself...

I read something this morning that reminded me of the power of pray and the power of words…

that when I'm talking to God about HIS Child-myself or one of my loved ones- that I couldn't disrespect the Lord by complaining and speaking ill about HIS child. I can not speak curses and faults about the one whom God loves. God doesn’t make mistakes with who we are. We are his children, failings and all. We should not be speaking negatively of our Lords creations.

So this made me wonder to myself and aloud to share with you...where did we get the idea that it’s okay to put ourselves down? We were made in HIS image. Have you thanked Him for who you are? You may say, “Oh no I am a failure, I am a sinner, a loser. I don’t measure up. You don’t know the things I have done.” Well, God does. And He still loves and wants you with Him. So how dare we speak of God’s creation (us, our spouse, our children, family and friends) in that way? We have learned to speak in negative ways about ourselves as well as others. It is learned behavior. It is not only accepted but encouraged to put ourselves down. Because we never measure up to the image the world has said we should be. We were not made in the image of the world but in the IMAGE OF GOD! We need to get a hold of that and begin to see ourselves that way.

We need to learn about the power of words. The life and death of the tongue.  We need to relearn how to speak to ourselves. It is a process that does not come natural unless we had Godly parents who may have taught us. But we CAN learn it. We can ask God to guard our tongues. We can learn to take our scriptures and stand before the mirror and speak out what we mean to God. What He says about us. It may feel weird, or fake and unnatural at first, I know. But that’s because it’s Truth and we have accustomed ourselves to lies. Lies that the enemy tells us when we believe all the negative things about ourselves. It is what we say about ourselves, our children, our husbands and wives. I’m not talking about ungodly pride. I am talking about seeing God in ourselves and honoring that.

We need to begin each day with affirmation to ourselves and our loved ones of who we are in God. Have you thanked God for and prayed for your spouse today? For your husband or wife? Your children? Family and friends? Have you asked God to bless them in all they do? Have you prayed for God's love to shine on their face as it says in Numbers 6? Think about it. Think about the difference it would, could, will make in your marriage, with your children, your family and friends. In your life as a whole. Have you used your tongue today to speak life over yourself or your loved ones? Have you put those life affirming words into the atmosphere?

Numbers 6:22 says

...The LORD bless you
   and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine on you
   and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you
   and give you peace.”

This is a blessing given to Moses. Can you imagine if we took the few moments each morning to thank God, truly for our spouse, for the blessing of God for him or her? What if we

Goodbye Dad and Bethy too...

I've been thinking about my dad who passed away 4 months ago- October 23rd 2011. I only knew him for a short time. He left when I was little and my mom raised us as a single parent. Their were lots of struggles but she raised us mostly on her own and did everything she could to take care of our needs. I give her credit for her perseverance and great strength. It's tough. My dad left when I was little girl and I missed all those things most girls take for granted growing up with a father. I never got to be daddy's little girl. I never got to dream about marrying someone like him. And he never walked me down the isle.
But we reconnected about 12 years ago. He asked for and I gave forgiveness. He turned out to be a good man who made a very bad decision many years ago in his youth. And I learned long ago that unforgiveness serves no purpose and only makes one a bitter person. It takes hold of your heart and turns it black. And the person you refuse to forgive isn't hurt by it, you are. 
Besides, I wanted to know him. So we got to know each other through 1 wonderful visit after 30 odd years and many long distance calls. He drove with his lovely wife Gloria clear across the country to see me. We spent a week together. That was the one and only time I was to have with him. We lived more than 2000 miles apart. Unfortunately very little time was had before he passed away. It doesn't seem fair...
My "daddy" was a man I never really got to know.  And I have a half sister and half brothers I never got to know. Occasional emails or post on Facebook but that's it. 
I saw this video and thought of him. And then I thought of Betheny, an amazingly beautiful young woman and part of our "heart" family that we lost last year. She was such a beautiful 25 year old  woman and mommy. She was my daughter Jessica's best friend of almost 20 years...since they were little tikes. They grew up together. She had so much more living and loving to do. But now she's doing it in Heaven. You can read about her in this other post...

http://buildingsandcastlesinthewind.blogspot.com/2011/10/bethy-and-louiewhat-wonderful-world.html

But take a listen to this wonderful song, for the both of them...

Sadness and loss...again.

So I have been trying to keep this blog a little lighter than I use to. But this has been a tough week to do that. Impossible to do so this week. Back home in my home town tragedy has struck-again. Y'all know if you've read my previous blogs that my daughter Jessica's best friend, sweet Betheny Mehall and her boyfriend Cord Cox were both shot and killed a year ago this February. As if the remembrance of that isn't painful enough....well, shockingly its gotten worse. The Cox family, Cord's parents, lost their other son -Cord's younger brother Nick this past week in an auto accident! I can not even imagine such heartache as losing your son and his girlfriend and 1 year later, just days after the anniversary of that to loose your other son!  Both of them young men in their 20's. To young to die. Nothing seems fair and nothing makes sense.

And now the shooting and subsequent death of the young students in Chardon. Just 20 minutes down the road from my home town. Another tragedy and loss of life. Families dealing with such a profound loss. My heart goes out for them all. Including the family of the shooter. As in the situation with the first shooting of Beth and Cord, likewise in the Chardon tragedy. The family of the young man who made the decision to take some one else's life has to live with their sons actions too. Gosh, so much pain and loss for everyone. I pray peace and comfort for them all.

 I am a Christian and as such, I can only feel and experience this from my own perspective. I hope they knew God. Not because it will make it easier and in no way do I mean that these tragedies wouldn't have happened if they did. Only so that they could feel His comfort in the midst of this. That they may feel his love. So they may know His heart breaks for them too. My heart so aches for them. There is nothing that can change this situation. I can do nothing for these families to relieve their pain. But I can pray. And I will...continually for them all.