Tag Archives: Blessings

With Great Expectation

Posted in Reflections From My Heart by
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Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.  Psalm 97:11

A friend recently said to me, “God is so pleased with you right now, His face is shining down on you because you quit drinking.” I listened in disbelief and thought to myself, “Really?”

The truth is, “Yes, really.” I can be certain of that because I know truth and the truth is that God loves me and when I am living in obedience, he promises blessings. I did a bible search for the word “desires” and 50 results came up. Among them is Psalm 145: 17-19, “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of tho who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them” (NIV).

I know God has been telling me for a long time that drinking has been a blemish that tarnishes my claim to be a believer, and as you know from blogs past, I had to quit drinking to be obedient.

God is faithful and just, when God wants you to know he’s not pleased with some aspect of your life, he has a way of letting you know.

Fortunately I didn’t need to need a wake up call like a DUI or worse!

I do have a confession (since it’s just us girlfriends). On my celebratory day 61, I had a glass of wine and, to be honest, I did it with full intention because I wanted to test myself. I wanted to see if #1 – I could stop at just one, #2 – that I could control my drinking and possibly go back to being a social drinker if I could prove that I had a “handle on it” and #3 – Because I didn’t think it would be considered relapse if I didn’t drink under stress, duress or weakness.

Here is what this experiment taught me: #1 – I have incredible willpower because despite the strong temptation to order a second drink, I stayed true to myself and only had one #2 – I cannot go back to being a social drinker because the in the sobriety community says, “You take the first drink, the drink takes a second drink and the third drink takes you.” This is a battleground, this saying is true! and #3 – My amazing support system pointed out that what I did is, in fact, relapse, there is no such thing as “testing addiction” (Oops!).

So, here’s to today and celebrating, what I call my “Dover 30 days” for my do over and I’m 30 days sober (again!). Today I live in the confidence that God IS shining down with pleasure upon me for choosing him over alcohol. I am at peace and I know he is pleased with me and out of my heart of obedience, I await the blessings.

Praise be to God!

A Journey with No Regrets… Finally!

Posted in Reflections From My Heart by
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I did it! I finished reading my bible cover to cover. I am going to selfishly relish in my accomplishment because I have to admit that I am authentically proud of myself. I remember sitting in my living room back in July 2013, starring at my bible wondering where to start that day. Up until then, I read my bible for random bible studies (which is very sporadic and not truly a full immersion into the richness of God’s Word), or I would grab a book based on what I felt like reading and read until I felt God speaking to me, but that July Saturday morning I prayed, “What message do you have for me today, Lord?”

The answer was a nudging to read the whole bible starting at Genesis. Isn’t it just like God to give you an answer to your prayer that is the exact opposite of what you were really looking for? I was hoping more for something like, “Read Philippians to experience more joy, or Ephesians to get armored up”, but cover to cover – all 66 BOOKS – even before starting felt very defeating. I started reading through Genesis more times than any other book of the bible and I really wasn’t that interested in reading about Adam and Eve AGAIN. (Isn’t it the petty things that hang us up sometimes?)

Since it was God talking, I had to entertain the offer. Then I thought to myself, “Well, I have the rest of my life to do this, so why not? If the rapture comes and I haven’t finished, I guess I’ll learn how it ends anyway.” – There you have it, my motivational self-talk.

How Do I Get Started?

Thinking, if I’m going to do this and succeed this time, I need how some accountability. I scanned my list of highly devoted bible reading friends and just didn’t think any of them would want this long responsibility. Besides, this is my journey with God, if I have another person to work with we could slow the progress.

Next I thought of picking up a 365 day reading plan, but knew that if I missed just one day you could forget it. If I ended up having a backlog of days to read and snowballed, I would get further discouraged and give up.

My third option was to take it one day at a time, one chapter at a time, at my own self pace. For accountability, I would create a blog, this blog, called Godly Girlfriends. Even though upon its start I had no followers, I was still accountable to reading and writing about my bible journey.

Perfect! I have a plan that “I think” will work.

Having found a path and putting a committed plan in place I started both reading the bible and my Godly Girlfriends blog. Here we are 4 years later and I have obeyed God and read my bible – the WHOLE bible. The daily blogging stopped somewhere in the middle of Deuteronomy because I feel a strong conviction that it was becoming more of a task box to be checked rather than an authentic, focused, deliberate walk with God. This made my blog posts less frequent and inconsistent, but my spiritual life took off.

God and I grew together day after day, week after week. As I closed the book after Revelation 22, I had a flashback over these past years. Was it perfect? NO. I missed many days, even weeks, when I would jump back into a local bible study or when I purposefully slow down my pace to piggy back on a more inductive study with Kay Arthur (through Daniel) or Dr. Vernon McGee (through all the minor profits).

What’s Next?

My original plan was to pick up my Chronological Study Bible and do it all over again chronologically, but God put a young lady in my life who is hungry to learn and grow and her youth group is reading through 2 Kings. So I have decided to take on that book with her, to be her accountability partner and see what God has to teach me back in Kings for the time being.

They say that the teacher is the best student and I have to say, taking my knowledge and teaching it to this young lady will definitely be just that – teaching me!

Thank you for your loyalty to keep following. I will continue to share my life with you and all that I am learning and growing in my life’s journey with my BFF Jesus.

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen. Revelation 22:20-21

An Extra Seat At The Table

Posted in Reflections From My Heart by

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I crack open my bible to the book of Matthew this morning and in reading chapter 21, I read about Jesus’ triumphal entry on a donkey. Prophecy is being fulfilled, he’s revealing himself as more than a prophet, he’s a King! It’s purely awesome. Being “just” Thanksgiving today this story hits me – Where is Jesus today?  Christmas is flashy with the lights, trees, nativity scenes and stockings hung by the chimney with care. Easter gets the bunny and eggs and pastel decor and the remembrance of the cross and crown of thorns, but thanksgiving is nothing religious per se; it’s just a day of food and family and a lot of it. Granted, we do – and should – pause and give thanks by counting our blessings. I, for one, actually do an mental inventory of all that I am thankful for, but where is Jesus?

Of course he’s here. He’s always here, but do we make a place for him at the table? Do we invite him to fellowship with us and make this day Jesus centered?  We should! Yes I am thankful for a roof over my head, good health, a closet full of clothes, running water, beautiful children and adorable dogs, but all of this pails in comparison to what Jesus did on the cross for you and me. My sins have been abolished, I am given the assurance that I will spend eternity in heaven with him AND above all, He died for me.  My sin caused separation from a perfect and Holy God, He took it all onto himself and died. I’m so undeserving and today of all days I cannot take that for granted.

So I pledge, as I sit at the table today, I will pull up an extra chair to honor Him and to make Him a part of my Thanksgiving day. Today is an important and significant day to say thank you to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Psalm 107

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.

2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
    those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
    from east and west, from north and south.

4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
    finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
    and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
    to a city where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty
    and fills the hungry with good things.

10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
    prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11 because they rebelled against God’s commands
    and despised the plans of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor;
    they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
    and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze
    and cuts through bars of iron.

17 Some became fools through their rebellious ways
    and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
18 They loathed all food
    and drew near the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them;
    he rescued them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings
    and tell of his works with songs of joy.

23 Some went out on the sea in ships;
    they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the Lord,
    his wonderful deeds in the deep.
25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
    that lifted high the waves.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
    in their peril their courage melted away.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards;
    they were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper;
    the waves of the sea[b] were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew calm,
    and he guided them to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
    and praise him in the council of the elders.

33 He turned rivers into a desert,
    flowing springs into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into a salt waste,
    because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
35 He turned the desert into pools of water
    and the parched ground into flowing springs;
36 there he brought the hungry to live,
    and they founded a city where they could settle.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards
    that yielded a fruitful harvest;
38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,
    and he did not let their herds diminish.

39 Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled
    by oppression, calamity and sorrow;
40 he who pours contempt on nobles
    made them wander in a trackless waste.
41 But he lifted the needy out of their affliction
    and increased their families like flocks.
42 The upright see and rejoice,
    but all the wicked shut their mouths.

43 Let the one who is wise heed these things
    and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.