A Mosaic Piece

".. He is the image and glory of God..." (1Corinthians 11:7)

One of my favorite pieces of furniture is a mosaic table. Whoever made this beautiful table, took many broken pieces from what once was a whole piece of tile or plate. The artist actually broke a plate or piece of tile to use the pieces for their art piece.

Doesn't that sound a lot like our Christian lives? We start out whole but somewhere along life's journey, the world chips away at us, breaking us into little pieces. Sometimes, our Maker may even chip away at us to make us more like the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

It is God who designs those pieces together for His glory. Pieces of my life, pieces of your life into a beautiful design to create an awesome art piece for the world to experience, so that the world may desire that same beauty for their own lives.

We are more useful to God broken and shattered, brought together as one as God intended all along to make us into a beautiful mosaic piece.

Blessings...
Connie

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

(Psalm 4:8) "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. "

When I was but a young baby, I was born calm, responsive to those that brought me into the world and cared for me. I sought affection and in return gave it, I was loyal, I was friendly and I loved unconditionally.

As I grew, I never expected the world to be any different. But it was. It challenged my foundation. And I began to learn to protect my heart and myself.

Can you relate? Because some of us made it, some of us didn't. We all have different masks that protect the real us. Heaven forbid someone would know what was behind the mask. What would they think? They might see that we are scared, lonely and weak.

And then one day, we begin to forget who we really are. We have lived behind the mask for so long. "Who am I?" Something in our life happens and God allows it. It threatens to reveal the truth behind the mask. To expose us. We can only run for so long.


The creature (aka the mask) has begun to expect too much from us, more than we can give. We have grown weary. We have nursed this creature late into the night and its hour has come. We have leaned on its beauty and strength, but in its moment it broke. We have gone to the stream so that it may refresh us, but it has all dried up. All its goodness has gone. Its purpose has come and disappeared into the night.
Like a roaring lion that never sleeps, seeking to devour its prey, ruling his kingdom, his time has come and his time has gone. He's full and now looks to fine rest.

It's time to let our Abba show you life without your mask. Without the Creature. Without the Lion.

As the Lion sleeps tonight.

Find rest in your Abba…..

Connie

May You Have A God-Filled Weekend!

A Second Chance

(Luke 16:27-28) "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment."

How many times have you done something and said, "I wished I could do that over? I wished I could go back to the minutes before this or that happened and change the outcome." We have all been there. Especially when the event was tragic and we wish we could change the course of time.

Sometimes we are given a second chance to make a difference, maybe even a third. If we are smart, we won't let those opportunities slip by us.

Our precious Savior came to give us that second chance but there are many people still thinking they will always have time to make a decision. I can do that tomorrow. But we know tomorrow never comes.

Do we want to be like the Rich Man missing his chance at tomorrow? You have a promise of today and that is all unless you have Jesus.

And then you have Forever…..

Have A Supernatural Weekend…..
Connie

Do The Storms Rock Your Boat?

(Luke 8:24) Msg "...and He fell asleep. A terrific storm came up suddenly on the lake. Water poured in, and they were about to capsize. They woke Jesus: "Master, Master, we're going to drown!"

We see the "Works of the Father" all around us. We witness Christ in the lives of others. We even experience, live and breath Him in our own lives. But when disaster hits, we panic. Yes, we think God has fallen asleep and forsaken us.

The disciples were use to Jesus working wonders all around them but when the time came to rescue them from their own disaster, they lost focus for a period of time. They began to rely on their own abilities.

"I can really do this on my own" and we do for a while… but then the boat begins to rock from the storm that come our way, the winds start to pick up, the waters begin to fill the boat and we finally cry out "Master, I am drowning--help me!"

It is then that I, just as the disciples did, pocket my pride and humble myself before my Lord.

It is then my Lord, rises and says, "Silence". It is there the storms obey. The winds die and the water ceases.

It is there that I can find rest.

Blessings….
Connie

WORKS OF THE FATHER

(Matthew 6:1-4) Msg "Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding. When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure—'playactors' I call them— treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get. When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out."

"Mama, Mama watch me!" And then our children would perform. "Mama, Mama watch me!" Again, I would watch the same performance. You know this scene. Anyone with children has seen this, heard this and experienced this many times.

We are performing for our parents but also for those around us. We want them to see us. We want the attention. As we grow up, that part of us really never changes, does it? We still seek recognition, we just learn to hide it and be a little cooler about it.

When Jesus came to do His works, changing water into wine, healing the sick, making the blind see and so on, He never said, "Oh look at these great miracles I have performed." No, Jesus never used the word "Miracle." Jesus always referred to what He did as the "Works of His Father." He always directed the attention away from Himself and onto His Father.

How are we supposed to do that? By keeping our eyes on our Heavenly Father, dancing for only One. When you forget about the world around you and live for only Him, nothing else really matters. It will be like staring into the eyes of your lover.

Remember our rewards are not of this place but of our eternal home…….

Blessings………


(Prayer request-- one of my sweet potato queens (a group of us girls that get together often) is in surgery as you are reading this for a tumor on her brain, I guess that makes it a brain tumor but the other way sounded a little better… her name is Pam…. Please lift her up in prayer….)

HALF BAKED

(John 12:25) - "In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal." (MSG)

My kids love brownies. That is their favorite dessert or "Momma's comfort food". Many times when I am fixing them up a batch the kids will harass me, "how much longer" or "Oh, come on, we know they are done, let us have them now." On occasions I have succumb to their cries.

In doing so, the brownies have usually turned out to be not quite fully baked, gooey and not really fit to eat. Even putting them back into the oven doesn't work well. I should have been patient and left the brownies in the oven.

I think we are a lot like that in our Christian faith. We start pleading with God to help us in a situation. We don't want to wait or walk through a situation. We want results NOW. "Come on Father, please, now." And you know what, I "think" sometimes our Abba will grant our wish. Why? I think it's an important lesson He may want us to see so that in the bigger situations or in the next batch, we might be willing to wait with our Abba. We don't want another gooey batch in our life.

Next time when asking for the comfort food of our Abba, wait for the fully baked.

Blessings……...
Connie

God Show Me How to Pray

To Mom, Love......

"We've all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong, on Him,…" (Isaiah 53:6) Msg

When I was young, I remember a time that I had stepped in to protect my sister. As the oldest, it was my responsibility to watch out for Lynn. Kind of funny, I might deck her but no one else could! Anyway, there was a boy in the neighborhood that was harassing her over a situation that my sister had caused so I stepped in and told him that I had done whatever it was that he was accusing my sister of. I was diverting the situation from away my sister. I had intercepted the wrath.

I did it because I cared for my sister and did not want to see her hurt.

The boy talked big. He wanted a fight. But he was mostly all bark, so eventually he moved on and left my sister alone.

Christ came to stand in between His Fathers', our Fathers' wrath and our punishment for what we had done (living apart from God's will). Christ had chose to intercept the wrath for us because He cared and still cares for us and did not want to see us hurt nor see us perish. (Jn3:16)

In doing so, Satan became disarmed at the Cross but he still continues to roam the earth. He continues to tell the lies when we are down, when we are weak, at our most vulnerable state so we will listen. And he wraps it in a beautiful package that draws us in.

But we are given a choice of gifts, Satan’s (as I mentioned above) or Christ's -- the gift of love and the gift of grace; in such abundance. Can we not also extend that same grace, same love to one another? (1Jn 4:11)

Which gifts do you chose?

The greatest gifts I have ever received were wrapped in a crinkled up brown paper bag held together by tape, signed, "To Mom, Love……"

There is no greater love……….

Have a Supernatural weekend…..
Connie

The Second Birth

"Neither death, nor life . . . nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38 -39)

The other day I was sharing the birth of my son with him. I told him how at the moment he was born the doctor handed him over to me and I held onto him embracing him for the first time. I looked into his eyes and felt an immediate love so incredibly special. It was just like that when my daughter was born. The love was so overwhelming it cannot be put into words (I believe that when we are left speechless, it is a Heavenly experience). Tears flowed from my eyes, as my love spilled forth.

I love my children no matter how wonderful or how bad they are. They are my babies and I love them totally, 100% unconditionally.

When we enter into the Kingdom of God through Christ Jesus (the second birth--Jn3:3), He embraces us with a love so incredible, as well as unconditional, unlimited and complete, that nothing can separate us from this perfect love.

There may be times we don't feel worthy of that love, but that is within us not God. That is Satan trying to rob us of the only fight he has left. (Jn 10:10)

Isn't it comforting to know that we too have Someone that will share our hopes and dreams and still love us through our faults and shortcomings?

Our Abba wants the best for us and nothing will ever separate us from that love.

Have you experienced the second birth?

Blessings
Connie

And It Spread Like A Fire

(Matthew 13:33) Msg. "God's kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley bread—and waits while the dough rises."

Some times when I get up early in the mornings, I just like to sit and stare at the fireplace. I am mesmerized by the sound, the fragrance and the way the fire dances off the wood. It is amazing to me how a small fire can fill a room with radiance and even soothe my soul.

Before long I will hear the pitter-patter of feet from a room and soon one of our children will appear. No words will exchange, but they will climb up in my lap. They too have now been magically drawn into the beauty of the fire. We both sit and stare. It sings to us. All the room has remained silent as the fire performs her concert.

Christ came as a meek and lowly child. He mingled with us. Many were drawn to Him. Mesmerized by Him. Supernaturally drawn to Him. He did not come as some expected as a Mighty Warrior, not yet anyway.

A quiet revolution? No area of the earth will be untouched by His redemptive power.

In the end, He will rise again! In the twinkling of an eye.
(1 Cor15:52 )

Blessings
Connie

Let God Rewrite Your Story

(2 Samuel 22:25)"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes "

A little girl is born with no eyes so how will she see? She sees the world through the eyes of God. Her world is one of beauty and one of love. Ivey Sirmans shares her story through her mom. Never before have I heard such a story of love. Some would look at her story as sad, maybe you would look at her with such a disability but not Ivey's parents. Ivey is a gift. And God chose her parents specially because not many people could have appreciated Ivey like Gwen and Matt. Ivey is teaching the world how to live, how to love but most of all she is teaching us about God.
See Princess Ivey

Ashley was born and appeared to be normal at birth, but sometime into her very young life she started having problems. She became very sick. Her parents could have become very angry with God but they did not. They chose to thank God each day for her life. Ashley is teaching us of God's grace and mercy each and every day of her precious little life. Ashley almost died last night and her parents still praise God for each moment they have her. Ashley continues to teach us about God. Please pray for Ashley. See Ashley's Journal

We can let God become our eyes and our hearts if we let Him. We can let Him rewrite our life. (2 Sam 22:25)

What will your story be?

Blessings……
Connie

And The Red Seas Parted

(Joshua 1:9) The Message "Strength! Courage! Don't be timid; don't get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take."
(Revelation 3:7-8) "Write this to Philadelphia, to the Angel of the church. The Holy, the True—David's key in his hand, opening doors no one can lock, locking doors no one can open—speaks: I see what you've done. Now see what I've done. I've opened a door before you that no one can slam shut. You don't have much strength, I know that; you used what you had to keep my Word. You didn't deny me when times were rough. "

I always hear and I have even said it myself, "God will open doors" to the paths He directs me. I don't think that has ever been a problem. The problem comes in; do I have the courage to walk through the door?

What is behind the door? What am I afraid of? That is it, isn't it? Fear! Fear of the unknown.
Remember when Moses was running from Pharaoh? Moses finally ran until he reached the Rea Sea and he couldn't run anymore. God said, "Keep moving." Moses thought God has lost it. But you know, God is into this whole dramatic thing, that way there is no doubt who gets the glory. And you know the rest, the sea parted, and Moses and his people walked through. His door was opened. But what if he hadn't trusted God?

How many "what if's" are there in our own lives?

What are you going through right now in your own life? Divorce? Addiction? An illness that tries your faith? We all have our "Moses moment" that makes us pause at the open door. When I went through my divorce I felt too unworthy to be a disciple of God. Satan kept me in that bondage for many years. God left the door open until I was ready to pass through and receive His mercy.

The day I finally walked through the door, the seas parted and I was embraced by a Heavenly love from my Abba.

Are you afraid? What if someone rejects you?

Yea! After all, I wonder what Jesus thought?

What if they reject Him, the Son? Hmm!

Are you ready for your Red Sea to part?

Blessings
Connie

Happy Birthday

This past week, Knox Britt celebrated his birthday in Heaven. His mom and dad still can't believe he's gone. Their hearts hurt beyond any earthly words given to us, I can only imagine.
I just want to take a moment to wish him a Happy Birthday. I bet it was a wonderful celebration. Imagine having Jesus at your birthday party!

And I wanted to say a prayer for Cristy and Billy.


I love you guys
Connie

Freedom is Never Free

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." (Galations 5:1)

The week of Christmas, my family visited the Arlington Cemetery in Washington DC, the site of many fallen soldiers. As I stood there looking across thousands of gravesites, I thought of how many children and young adults gave their lives for me. Then I thought of how many families the wars had touched. Freedom is never free.

My friend Jeff, before he died often shared his nightmares about his war days. But this deepest hurts were those when he returned to the U.S. His own people did not receive him. He was spit on and cursed for fighting for his country and doing what his President asked him to do. I saw Jeff cry. Freedom is never free.

And I have read the story and heard my Father whisper, "My Son died on a Cross for everyone's sins, so that all may have life--eternal life with Me(Jn 14:6). I AM the one who sent My precious Son to fight for you all because I love you so much(Jn3:16). But My deepest hurts are that My Son's own people did not receive Him. He was spit on and cursed for fighting for His people and doing what I asked Him to do. I saw My Son weep (Jn 11:35)."

Freedom is never free.

In Memory of Jeff Purdue…...

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/photo_gallery/12-26-05.html

Close the Mouths of your Lions

(Daniel 6:21) The Message "… said Daniel , ""My God sent His angel, who closed the mouths of the lions so that they would not hurt me."

Yesterday I ran into someone special. You might think this strange that I would say special but it was a special moment, as I will share. I ran into the wife (yes, they are still married) of the man that killed my best friend for the first time since Jayne's death 26 years ago. Years ago, this would have caused the fight or flight syndrome in me and I can tell you it would have been flight. I would have gone into a panic mode where my heart raced, my palms started sweating and I felt I couldn't breathe, because even the mention of his name caused that response. But yesterday when I saw her, we immediately knew each other. We had gone to school together.

One of my nurses asked me what I thought God was trying to tell me. At that time, I said I didn't know.

Last night as I told my husband about our meeting, he asked me what we talked about. I told him we talked about Jayne. He stood in awe that we could even go there. We also talked about Jayne's daughter and where she is in her life. She has kept up with Jayne's family. At no point during the conversation or at the point that I saw her did my heart even skip a beat.

Yes, I did wonder what God was saying to me.

This morning in my quiet time with the Lord, He revealed the answer to me.

Dear child, in your forgiveness, in your faithfulness, I give you the gift of closure…. I have "closed the mouths of lions so that they would not hurt you" any longer. (Dan 6:21)

Blessings

Connie

Bask in the Son

(Mark 4:26) The Message
Then Jesus said, "God's kingdom is like seed thrown on a field by a man who then goes to bed and forgets about it. The seed sprouts and grows…."

Well, I have become my parents. I now love planting flowers, plants and beautiful gardens. I use to wonder why on earth my parents would just stand and stare at their flower gardens. What could they possibly be doing or thinking! But now I know. There is such peace, such joy. When the seeds are planted, it's like magic waiting for the flowers to appear. When the first shoot breaks through, it's kind of like a hallelujah moment, isn't it? But do you ever wonder what took place under the ground during all the time it was in secret before it announced itself to the world?

Similarly, we as Christians once we accept the Lord as our Savior, think we should be in full bloom. We think we should be a flower that exudes of a fragrance so great that it attracts all passersby. But that isn't the case, we have now learned to our sadness, that there are long periods of uncertainty, silence and darkness in our spiritual growth. Maybe just like our little seed underground, no one sees us. We are busting to be announced to the world but darkness prevails. But God is helping us built character, life and a fragrance unique to us.

He is preparing us to weather the storms and the wind that will come our way. And eventually we will realize that our weaknesses or failures are not a lack of commitment to our Abba but a way of preparing us to rely on Him.

And to help us relax so that we can bask in the Son.

Blessings……...

Connie

Take Up Your Cross

(2 Timothy 3:16) The Message "....Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us."

Why did Jesus talk in stories (parables)? Just think about it. How many of you on Sunday listen to your Pastor when he's telling a great story versus being lectured to? Jesus was no dummy, He knew how to crawl inside our souls and stir our emotions.

He wanted us to see through the eyes of others.

I hear it daily, "I just want "it" (whatever ''it'' is) to be fair." Whatever we do in the work place, at school or yes even Church, it needs to be fair. Well, why? What was fair about how we treated our Savior? Jesus was clear in the story of the workers wages that "it" would not be fair. And He helped us see why; He pulled us into the story through the eyes of both sides. He helped us see our pettiness. But how soon we forget.

Jesus came to teach us about ourselves so that we too could see through the eyes of others. He wanted us to have compassion; He wanted us to understand the "suffering with" so that we could embrace each other, because we are really no different from each other.

Scripture says, "Take up your Cross...." not take up your Crown now does it? (Matthew 16:24) There was pain and suffering at the Cross. The reward was (is) on the other side of this life. It's waiting on us in the form of…---- yes, a Crown.

We are all hurting, broken and in need of a Savior. And Jesus is the only way.

Blessings.

Who are you running from?

(Romans 12:4) The Message ",,,,So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be,...."

Have you ever read the book the Death of a Salesman? For those of you that haven't, it is about a man, Willy Loman, who had an incredible gift to draw people to him. He had a winning personality. Thus, everyone loved Willy. Somewhere along the way, Willy lost his gift. As this happened, his world fell apart and he became depressed and lost all hope. Eventually Willy committed suicide.

Willy's son gave his fathers' eulogy. At the funeral he said, "Willy never knew who he was."

BAM! Is that just a big slap in the face? How many of us really know who we are apart from our duties as a spouse, parent or even work? We carry out our duties very well, but when something happens in our roles, it seems like the rug has been pulled out from under us.

Who am I?

Maybe we never really learned who we were in Christ. Maybe we have been running from Him. Maybe we never knew how or that we could climb up in His lap. It's easy to do. We can paint ourselves in some very good little bows and ribbons. "Father, look at me, I’m doing everything under the Son for You. I am in every activity in Church." But what if our Abba never had planned that for us? Wonder why you are so tired all the time?

Maybe it's time to quit running from and time to start running to......

Blessings……...