Wounding by words

We all chanted it as children, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."
Did we really believe it? Do we believe it now?

Even the Lord tells us throughout His Word that how we speak determines what is in our hearts, and our words can either build someone up or wound them deeply.

"Reckless words pierce like a sword..."
~Proverbs 12:18

"...harsh words stir up anger."
~Proverbs 15:1b

"...a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit."
~Proverbs 15:4b

Harsh words can pierce a soul, creating wounds that have a hard time healing and in some cases, never do.

When a favorite coffee cup is dropped it may not break, but it might develop a crack. We mend the crack with glue in hopes of salvaging the cup that was so dear to us, but the truth is that no matter how much glue we use to try and seal the crack, that cup is never the same again. It is more likely to leak now and possibly break along the crack if dropped again. It has been weakened and damaged, and will never be the same again, no matter how hard we work to fix it.

Words create cracks in a person's inner being if used to hurt and destroy, if used liked weapons. And those cracks within a person do not suddenly heal or go away, they will always be in them, a vulnerable area that is likely to crack further or break over time if words are continually hurled at them.

Let us be wise and loving, keeping our tongues reined in. Let us look upon our family members and those around us as a gift from God and remember that what comes out of our mouths is a direct link to our hearts.

May we have hearts for Him and words of wisdom and healing.

Are you walking with Him today?

Blessings!

Amy

No longer blind

Have you ever been blind?
In the song Amazing Grace we sing, "once I was blind, but now I see." Of course, this is in reference to God's grace He gives us when we finally come to see that we need Him in our lives.

Although my eyes were opened over 12 years ago to God's grace, I today find myself blind still. Blind to His provision in my life, His protection, and His direction.
Oh, I know He is taking care of me, I have faith in that, but at times I find myself asking the same thing over and over.

I continually ask Him for direction, for help, for clarity.
"Show me the way Lord, show me what You want from me," I pleadingly ask day in and day out.

Granted it is not a bad thing to come to God daily with our prayers, concerns and requests, and He wants us to. Yet I realized this morning that perhaps I haven't truly opened my eyes to what He does and is doing in my life.

I pray for a job, yet I have one. I pray for direction, yet He lays it on my heart daily. I pray for Him to show me the right thing to do and He has.

So for today I choose to see. I choose to take off the blinders and be grateful for what He is doing in my life.
I choose to see it and praise Him for it.

My gratitude today:

22. warm coffee to start my day

23. a job that allows me to be home for now

24. the quietness in the house after everyone has left for work or school

25. farm fresh eggs and milk to nourish our bodies

26. raindrops on the roof

27. clean laundry and the ability to do it

28. support groups to see me through and help me in the healing process

29. an education paid for in full

30. friends that stand by me without judgment and wait patiently for me to figure it all out.

What are you grateful for on this Monday?

Blessings!

Amy

Learning to walk again

The week has been a long one. I have struggled mightily against all the doubts that keep threatening to over power me. I worry about money and yet instead of working harder I become paralyzed with the fear and do less. I worry about the direction of my life and if I am truly going the way I should, but instead of standing up and just moving forward I tend to want to just lie down. Many days it takes everything inside to get up and do something, anything. I feel like a failure, I feel so alone and I feel confused. Wouldn't it be easier to refuse to get up?

In John 5:8 Jesus said to an invalid, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk."

God can take any circumstance and turn it around for His glory. He wants to use us right where we are at, but He can't if we refuse to get up after He has called us to move. He can heal us, He can change our circumstance, He can help us walk again. ,

"God wants to use you--stumbling and all. But He won't do so if you refuse to get up."
~excerpt from Starting Over.

"Do you want to get well," Jesus asked the man who had been an invalid for close to 40 years. Jesus didn't just heal him, but He asked the man if he wanted to be healed. Jesus can do anything, through anything, in the midst of anything, but He cannot walk along beside us if we do not ever stand up and...walk.

After a year of feeling crippled and unable to move I have to learn to walk again. Maybe I'm learning to walk for the first time in my new life. I pray each day for God to keep my eyes focused on the Truth and to lead my steps where He wants me to go, and although I go through those days of asking over and over, "am I going the right way, Lord?", I have to trust enough in Him that just getting up and taking a step is the right direction.

May all of your steps this weekend lead you closer to Him and with each step may He lead you where He wants you.






Blessings!

Amy

Working it out....

"But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."
~James 1:4

Ever have one of those days? You know the ones. You force yourself out of bed and then wonder why you ever bothered getting up in the first place. What could go wrong, does. And all before the first cup of coffee.

I want to be patience and not let those things in life that will inevitably happen get me down.
I want to be that person that just shrugs and says, "oh well" and moves on.

Instead I allow the insignificant things in life to become monstrous and turn a perfectly good morning into one of chaos, impatience, and frustration.

Why? Why can I not just give it to God at the beginning and move on?
Why must I fail in this area again and again?

I want to show Christ to those around me, namely my children, but when I get like this I am not teaching them how not to do the very things they do that drive me crazy.

"Do not be so grumpy", I grumpily tell them in the mornings.
"Don't let it upset you so much,", I growl in frustration.
"Do not be so impatient", I impatiently snarl at them.

In my impatience, my grumpiness and my frustrated frame of mind I unknowingly show that it is not only okay to clothe ourselves with these emotions, but to wear them with fervor.

Reality is, we all get impatient, grumpy and frustrated, and just plain angry over things in our lives.
It's how we handle, or in some cases not handle, these emotions.

Lord, meet me where I am and give me the patience and peace to face each day with an openness to whatever may be without feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and ready to jump back in bed and hide under the covers!

May you all walk with Him today!

Blessings,

Amy

Weeds

Weeds. Need I say more.
Nobody likes them. They pop up throughout our yard choking out all other plants. You pull one and another springs up in its place. And they do not just come back slowly, but more fiercely than before.

Weeds. We have them in our lives too. They come in various forms swallowing up the good and overtaking the joy in our lives. We try pulling them by the roots, yanking them out and thinking we've gotten rid of them, then suddenly they spring up again, bigger, stronger and more powerful than before.

Matthew 13:28 tells us, "an enemy did this." Jesus tells the parable of the weeds, of how a farmer plants a field of wheat and wakes one day to find weeds have been sown among the wheat one night while he had been sleeping.

We cannot always tell the difference between the good plants and the weeds, because they can both look so similar in the beginning as they are taking root and sending up shoots. We have to wait for both, the plants and weeds, to grow so we can see which is which. It is only when both have come to maturity that we know what to pull and burn, and what to harvest and keep.

As we keep our eyes fixed on our Father above He will help us discern right from wrong, good from evil and the beauty from the weeds. Let us keep our gaze fixed on Him and allow Him to be our master gardener, weeding our lives of all that is not good, all that can be overwhelming and choking out the joy from us.

In the meantime, while I wait patiently for Him to pull the weeds, I will continue to show my gratitude for all the good that is in my life:

11. no broken bones

12. sounds of laundry being washed and dried

13. warm, fluffy bath towels

14. friends to listen and see me through the rough patches of life

15. dirty dishes in the sink indicating full, content bellies

16. a little extra money to spend on lunch out with my son

17. coffee made just so to warm and wake me

18. God's Word

19. cloudy days perfect for curling up with a good book indoors

20. peace in my heart

What are you grateful for?

Blessings,
Amy

Pearls

Yes, there is a new look, again , to my blog. Always changing, forever non-content with my blog, my life, myself. Will I ever find the real me and be happy with her? Will I forever be seeking new things so that I can find contentment?

Trials make me run, and hide, and feel weak, but the Lord says that through the trials in our lives we become stronger. We develop our strength and perseverance through Him to keep going. I do not have the strength nor the courage to continue forward most days, at least not on my own. The days that start with my asking God to direct my steps are always the best days. Are they perfect without problems? No. Are they straightforward with no worries? No. But those days are doable because I know in my heart that the Lord was directing my steps and if He is standing beside me no one can stand in my way.



My devotion today read:
"Pearls are the product of pain--precious, tiny jewels conceived through irritation, born of adversity, nursed by adjustment."
~excerpt from Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life.

How I long to be a pearl. A pearl of beauty, strength, wisdom and courage. Made from a tiny grain of sand grown into something beautiful that only God could make.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
~James 1:2-4

So many changes have happened in my life and so many more to come. I suppose that is why my blog continues to change as I strive for finding the perfect in all of the imperfect, continually changing and forever seeking.
May you and I always seek the Lord first above all else for that is where real contentment can be found no matter what changes take place in our lives.

Blessings!

Amy

Not much to say, so a poem instead...

that says it all.

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice -
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations -
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice,
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do -
determined to save
the only life you could save.

*(Mary Oliver – Dream Work)

Amy