Our journey

He sent His word and healed them; He rescued them from the Pit.  (Psalm 107:20) HCSB

I've been feeling led to start a blog, as well as writing a book, which is crazy because I don't feel like I'm a writer! I'm a talker! I always struggled with reading and writing in school.  My mother had to get me a tutor in the first grade.  I have always felt inadequate in reading and comprehending, as well as writing, grammar, & spelling.  There are fears, the 'what if's and the 'what nots', which I will not bore you with.  I'm sure you have the same fears.  I would much rather call you or email you, you being who or whom I'm close with, over the phone and share what I've learned from The Lord, what I am learning and what I want to know more about, my fears, my failures, my accomplishments, my journey  ...
But I'm going to be obedient to what my heart is saying even though my head isn't feeling it, because we can't live by our feelings or our fears! I've done that for way too long.  When I have lived according to my feelings I'm been a train wreck at times!  When I've lived by fears I've gone to a pit.  The alternative, we have to live by faith, putting our toes in the water and doing whatever God is asking us to do.  To just do it! To do what's in our heart, even when our head doesn't understand it or feel like it or is fearing the call.  As some of my favorite preacher chicks say "when we face our fears we become fearless"! We are either living by fear or living by faith!  May we live by faith and trust and obey! Help us Lord!

For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.   (2 Timothy 1:7) HCSB

Do any of you have a mess right now? An emotional mess, a physical mess? I've had all of the above.  They say our mess becomes our message, our test becomes our testimony! So, in future posts, I'm going to write and share some of my journals about my mess, my tests, my journey ... With Jesus, as well as without Him, me seeking Him, not seeking Him, life lessons with my husband, with my older kids, with my late in life strong willed 4 year old princess, with my family, with my chicks,, with my friends, with the chicken poop on the carport and the dirty dishes in the sink, with life in general ... all of it's joys, demands, disappointments, good choices, bad choices, seasons of disobedience, highs, lows and whatever He is calling me to at this moment, for this season of my life! My life before Christ and my life after He saved a wretch like me! Oh, Amazing Grace!

If my former mess and message gives hope to just one person, it will all be worth the struggle, the time, the fight, the facing the fear! Lord, may I keep my eyes on you Lord, not on others, not on my circumstances, not on my fears, not on my self, but on you Lord! Amen!

So if you feel led to read about my journey, this so called "blog", I hope you will grab your Bible, a pen and a notebook journal for the reflection questions.  I pray that His Holy Spirit would speak to you, encourage you, comfort you, and that you would be still, and that you too will write about your journey, your beautiful story!  If we allow Him, He makes all things beautiful in its time! More importantly, I hope you will draw near to the one who made it possible for you to have a story.  The one who gives you breath! His Word says when we draw near to Him, He promises to draw near to us!

So for this first blog post I want you to think about where you are on your journey? I recently went to a marriage conference where Dale and Jena Forehand mentioned the quote "an unexamined life is a wasted life!"! Life is short, let's not waste what He died to give us!

Have you examined your life lately?
WHERE ARE YOU at on your journey?
Where are you at on your journey of life spiritually, emotionally and physically?
Need improvement in one or all of those areas? (Pray and meditate on 1 Thess. 5:23)
Where else do you want to go and what else do you want to do?
What do you want your obituary to say?
What do you think The Lord is calling you to do for this season of your life? To trust ...to obey ... To read His Word... To write ... To share ... To love someone ... To forgive ...  To fast ... To pray ... To work for Him... To serve Him in His church... To go to church ... To be planted in His local church... To trust Him financially ... To Tithe your 10% ... To trust your kids with Him ... To submit to Him ... To submit to your earthy husband ... To trust Him with your health and sickness  ... To eat better ... To exercise ... To take care of your body ... To accept Him as your personal savior? .... To ...(...fill in the blank )  praise God He is patient with us!

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5:23) HCSB

Dear Lord, 
I thank you for the opportunity to serve you and to do whatever you ask us to do! I thank you for the grace you give us to do the things we can't do on our own.  I thank you that you speak to us, your sheep, and that you are our shepherd and you lead us and guide us through the journey of life!  I thank you that you help us to face our fears, and you give us the gift of faith to believe In you, to seek you, to come to know you In a deeper intimate relationship with you! Thank you for taking me deeper.  Thank you for healing my soul.  I pray for each person that reads this.  I pray that you would bless them Lord in a special way, that they would go deeper with you Lord! I pray that this blog be whatever you want it to be, nothing more, and nothing less, not what I want Lord but only what you want!  I thank you for you always being there to comfort me through my mess, as I share my mess and your message of hope to others, I pray, if it's your will, that it would comfort others as your Word says in 2 Corinthians 1:4 I pray that each person reading this would be comforted by you Lord, they would experience your peace and your love! Thank you Lord for life, for dying on the cross for me and for all others.  Help us to examine each area of our lives Lord! Search our hearts Lord! Continue to burden our hearts for what hurts yours Lord! And as we journey together with you Lord and with one another, we will give you all the honor, all the glory and all the praise to you! Because it's all because of you JESUS! All because of you JESUS! 

He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:4) HCSB

Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. John 4:6 HCSB

Sit down at the well today and be still... Let Him give you living water today and everyday of your journey! He promises you will never be thirsty again!

Until next time...
His Grace and peace to you,
Terri