Our “BIRTH” Days are blessings!!

When we are younger we really do take for granted the blessing of another year. Most of the time we are focused on the things in life that bring anxiety, worry and fear. The other times we are focused on ourselves and what we think we need to do. We work so hard to make money and have success and if we struggle with our self-worth it is just another battle to add to the way of life. However, I have learned that our most important commodity is TIME! We can lose and gain money, success, fame and more. The one thing we do not gain more of is time.

When I was younger I did not like celebrating my birthday, I would find ways to avoid people knowing and if someone tried to set up a party or get together for me I would feel not worthy of it. I lived like that for a long time, but now I realize, because of the loss of several loved ones, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE and should be treated more valuable than Earth’s most precious stones. As a christian, we know that we have eternal life and live in Heaven, but God wants us to believe more than that. Jesus says in the bible that He wants us to Live life and have it to the full. He wants to give us our desires and our wants, but in that our faith must be solid. When we have faith and we claim the blessings that He promises, they will come true.

I turned 47 today and most of my birthdays I just treated as another day. What I realized is your birthday gives people a chance to celebrate you. You get a chance for people to show the love and respect they have for you. You can see people go out of their way to make you feel special. The world stops for a moment and you get to be loved on. There are so many people in this world who do not get to celebrate their birthdays because of the circumstances of life they are in. For those of us who have a community, let them love on you and allow Jesus to shine brightly as your soul is being blessed by those close to you.

I know that today is a blessing as I start my 47th year and I want to take this blessing and live the best life I can for Jesus. There is an amazing connection with the Holy Spirit that happens when you choose Him. A lot of time we feel it during worship, but if you take your time and let God work you can feel, see and hear the love and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Enjoy your birthdays and know that God wants you to feel like you deserve it because He took all the bad for you, so that you can live life to the full.

One Love, One King, All Christ

My Mom’s Last Gift to me

As I prepare for my 47th birthday this May I am so reminiscent of the last gift my mom gave me on May 17th, 2008. My birthday was 6 days before my mom went to be with Jesus on May 23rd, 2008. She was enduring 4 to 7 hour dialysis treatments, which were draining her completely. She wasn’t sleeping well, as a matter of fact she would sleep in the back room after my dad would fall asleep, so as to not wake him from her coughing. He told me about this a few years after. She always and I mean always put others first, but she always had Jesus at the top of that list. My mom did not have Dialysis on weekends, which brought her back almost to her full energetic, fun, loving self. We went to Outback as usual for Mother’s Day and it was a nice time together. I was going out of town for Special Olympics the Next Weekend and wanted to make sure I stopped by the house everyday that week of my birthday.

My birthday fell on the Saturday in 2008 and since I was going to be out of town I went by to see my mom everyday. Sometimes if I got there after 7 because of practice she would already be in bed and would be asleep. This was really a very hard thing to witness because the dialysis had really become like her paralysis. She would try and stay up to see me before she would go to bed and I could see how drained she was. I returned that Sunday which was the 18th and went to go and see her and spend the rest of the day. When I got home Sunday morning, there was a huge box and my dad had dropped off, it was a hammock for the balcony. This is not the last gift though, the last gift was my mom living out her servant heart.

I made sure to leave practice early on Monday the 19th. When I got to the house, my mom had made curry goat for my birthday. She knew I loved it and she wanted to make it for me. Now, the tradition was always 3,4 or 5 lobster tails, but this birthday dinner she wanted me to know how special I was to her. My mom was an amazing cook and learned all by watching her aunt growing up. The goat was a little tough, because she was to weak to tenderize it, but the flavor was unbelievable. She had also made some curry chicken for my dad and her. After I sat down, with my last supper from my mommy, I knew, well my soul knew something was up. You see for years, my mom would not let me see her hurt or broken, she was always smiling, even when I would see her after dialysis and I knew she was just tired!

This day was different, you see she made the curry goat on a day she went to dialysis. There I was sitting down eating the curry goat with some white rice, my dad sitting in his recliner. My mom had actually woke up when she heard me come in and she walked from the back bedroom to serve me the curry goat. She told me to get a table and sit down! Then as I was sitting and eating, she got up went into the kitchen and put 2 pieces of curry chicken on a small saucer. She ate one of the pieces of chicken and then for the first time ever, my mom got up and just walked back to her room. She didn’t say a word, she was just so tired! I remember it as if it was yesterday! It was only 3 days later that my mom would go home to be with Jesus. She loved me so much, but so so much that even in her brokenness she wanted her baby to be happy.

I want to live a life that allows me to want to put people first. That God would allow me to be a blessing to those I meet because of His presence in me!! Jesus, The Holy Spirit and God were intertwined into my moms soul and she lit up any room she walked into. Whether she was about to cuss you out or hug you so tightly, both came from the love she had for you. I am very appreciative of that gift she gave me and I know that I will see her one day again! Cherish every moment you have with your loved ones and when they are gone live as if they are watching you, because you know Jesus is!

One Love, One King, All Christ!

Treat Every Day as a New Day

We wake up every morning and God tells us His mercies are new everyday, yet many of us wake up with the same burdens we went to sleep with. When you wake up we should realize that within that new day, even though we may deal with a situation from the day before, God’s mercies are renewed that day and will guide us through. A lot of times we allow the weight of the burden to press us into the movements “we” feel will solve the issue. However, this always ends up breaking us or putting us in a position where the lies overwhelm us.

Now, if we could wake up each day and accept that God’s mercies on us are renewed we could approach life with a much more positive outlook. I think we need to understand that being positive doesn’t keep bad stuff from happening, but it does help you to see the bigger picture of how God might be moving. When we have God we have to remember this is not the end for us, we have ETERNAL LIFE and because of this we should be thankful that Jesus did what He did on the cross for all of us.

Personally, I have noticed when I treat each day as the new day a lot of the crap I was dealing with the day before falls off. Now the problem or situation we are dealing with is still there but all the build up that was on it or around it is gone and you are able to see it more clearly. You get a chance to see God work and show you how much He loves you and will protect you. Every moment of every day is known by our God. He knows your thoughts to your last breath. He is the reason and when you look around there is no doubt creation is of Divine influence.

This is also directly at me for this month of May because this is when I lost my mom 15 years ago. I want to live each day not holding onto the heaviness of her loss but I want to hold onto what she looks like and what she is doing in Heaven. My faith will not waiver and though questions will come in my head in the end I know Jesus is real and Heaven is too! I know that one day I will reunite with her and many of my friends, but until then I want to live my life the way Jesus commands us and that is to the FULL! Enjoy your families and friends, take trips and take risks, be free to know that when you pray, God will guide you and when you mess up He will discipline with His love.

One Love, One King, All Christ!