Gun Control

Oh, the comfort, the in expressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts, nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away. -Dinah Maria Mulock Craik I love this quote...I received it awhile back and when I read it the first time, I thought, wow, I wonder what that would feel like? BUT...I realized I have this in my life. I don't always realize it and I sure don't trust it at times but it doesn't change the fact that it is there. You see the lack of trust doesn't have anything to do with the One person that I tell my chaff and grain to...it has to do with me. Trust is so hard for me at times. I have had experiences where someone would say...you can trust me (of course with a smile and care in their eyes) and so I didn't weigh or measure my words. I spoke truth. Sometimes it was only my truth but it was meant to be taken and guarded. As with most relationships they faded and what was meant to be guarded was now used as a weapon against me. I don't want to sound jaded but isn't that what most people do...take in the ammunition and find a gun that it will fit and shot you with it. :-( I love to shoot guns...I love the feel of the gun, the feel of the power and the feel of the shoot. I don't always hit the bulls eye but I usually get really close. It makes me think of what we do with people. We get our ammunition (their secret hurts, wants, needs, desires), many times this ammunition lays in a drawer for a time until we REALLY need it...or at least that is what we tell ourselves. We buy the gun (the time invested in this person)...again we let this sit and hope no one remembers the ammunition is also in the drawer. Then we get offended and feel we need to protect ourselves. So we remember the ammunition...we load our gun and we shoot. The shot penetrates them, but that first shot doesn't leave permanent damage. Just a small scare we think. We put the ammunition back in the drawer for awhile and hope they learned their lesson. We realize that the person has a gun filled with ammunition and they are shooting also. We decide that we must survive and we aim for the heart. We take aim and SHOOT. Bulls eye...it was dead on and it was the kill shot. They are wounded and dying and we try to revive them but our shot killed them. They may not physically die...but their spirit dies. I am sooo glad God doesn't use His big guns against us, with ALL the ammunition we give Him. I can see it now...we give Him ammunition (gossip, shameful deeds, lies) and He dips it in His blood and throws the gun shell over His shoulder. We cringe as we remember all we have done and all that we have thought. We ask for forgiveness and wait till it comes back to bite us. I am sure He says (with shaking head), When will they ever learn that I am not out to harm them. He is the only person we can have full comfort in that what we say will not come back to haunt us. He takes the chaff and the grain, keeps what is good and blows the rest away with kindness and forgiveness. He doesn't take aim with the bullet of our past to kill us. I am going to ask you all to lay down your guns...and lets stop shooting each other. Instead of picking up our guns let's blow away the offense with kindness and forgiveness. I know this will not be easy all the time...but it is soooo worth it. Captured by Grace, -D

Failure and Success

A.W. Tozer on Failure and Success: The Small and the Great (12): "A.W. Tozer is one of my favorite writers I am impacted whenever I read his work. So today I thought I would pass this on and pray it makes a difference in your life...
I appreciated this reminder from him that pride is delusional. And it’s never in our best interests.
Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' 1 Peter 5:5

Some time ago we heard a short address by a young preacher during which he quoted the following, 'If you are too big for a little place, you are too little for a big place.'

It is an odd rule of the kingdom of God that when we try to get big, we always get smaller by the moment. God is jealous of His glory and will not allow anyone to share it with Him. The effort to appear great will bring the displeasure of God upon us and effectively prevent us from achieving the greatness after which we pant.

Humility pleases God wherever it is found, and the humble person will have God for his or her friend and helper always. Only the humble are completely sane, for they are the only ones who see clearly their own size and limitations. Egotists see things out of focus. To themselves they are large and God is correspondingly small, and that is a kind of moral insanity. This World: Playground or Battleground?, 34.

'Lord, help me never to be too big for a little place. In humility let me serve and revel in You as my 'friend and helper always.'”"

Staging

I had the honor of going to Tyler this weekend and helping one of my heart friends sell her staging furniture that she stages homes all over East Texas with. I walked into the store front and was amazed by all the work that had gone into setting the pieces up to look like perfect staged rooms. Each area had all the right pieces...couch, love seat, chair, rug, table, table runner, flower arraingement, lamps...everything you need to make a house ready for sale. Especially the main looking area of a house...the living room (isn't that the first room you see) and the kitchen (usually the second room you see).
I begin to think of how we stage ourselves to get ready to sell ourselves and others on the fact that we are a great deal and are perfect for them to invest in. We get all the basics in place...the right clothes, the perfect hair cut, and makeup (for the ladies). We then try to accesorize the house we want to sell. We put on the right jewelry, cologne, watch and shoes. We make sure that our house looks well put together and that whoever looks at it will see all the work we put into it and want to buy it. We hope they do not look to deep. We want them to be so taken in by what they see they will choose to invest thier time and money in us without looking below the surface.
Many of believe that if they choose to look too close they will see the tiny cracks in the paint. They will see the tread marks that others have left on us. We hope they will not see that our foundaton is cracked and we know it is not worth what we are wanting them to give for us.
The thing about all of this is...when we stage our lives just like staging a house to sell we are trying to persuade a person to want us...the fact is YOU are already wanted.
Empty houses do not sell...statics have shown that a person cannot or will not use their imagination to see past the fascade to see what the house could become. Isn't that true with people in our lives. Aren't we afraid that the people in our lives will not see what we can become. So we stage. If that staging didn't work we will buy new stuff to stage ourselves with...new clothes, diet, new hair cut, new job... If that staging doesn't work...we will again buy new stuff...until someone is impressed enough to buy into us.
And if no one ever buys into us, we condemn ourselves for not being enough. We settle for the first buyer and get cheated on the very best that is out there for us.
The thing about it is...God knows you from the foundation out...He has an AMAZING imagination (just look around you). You don't have to stage your house for Him and pretend that you are something you are not. He already bought you. You do not have to impress anyone to invest their time and riches into you. He already does that. He showers us with riches we can't even contain. He sees our cracks and knows that our foundations are broken. He also know He can fix a foundation. He can lift us up and put a firm foundation in place for us to stand.
He has brought you with the ultimate price of His Son...You don't have to prove your worth to Him. He loves you and sees EXACTLY who you can become!!!

My Daddy's Lap

Those of you that know me will smile when I write the first line of my story today...so go ahead and starting smiling and shaking your head... :-)

I want you to use all your imagination as you read the following story...I want you to put yourself in the story...Use all of you senses to feel yourself there and block out any distractions that are going on around you...

I want you to imagine that you are walking through a forest. It has been snowing for days and the snow is up past your ankles. You trudge through the snow and start thinking about your life. You think back of when you were a kid and how you wanted to grow up so fast and be an adult so no one could tell you what to do. You start to remember what it was like being a little kid. The safety, the comfort your received and the stability of life. As you trek through the snow you begin to wish you were that little kid again who could crawl up in your Daddy's lap and rest. Rest from all the responsibilities of work, home and family. That place that allowed you to be vulnerable and safe from harm. You begin to wish you could go back and see your Daddy again...
You continue to walk and you realize that you have gotten lost. You cannot remember how to get back to where you came from. You begin to pray and ask for help. As you are walking and praying you see light coming from a cabin in the distance. You begin to walk in the direction of the light hoping that whomever is in the cabin can help you. You are weary from your trek and don't think you can make it all the way without help.
Yet...somehow you find the strength and make it to the cabin. You walk up to the cabin and and knock on the door. When you knock, the door begins to swing open. You can feel the warmest, see the crackling fire and hear the creaking of the rocker that is facing the fire. You see a man sitting in the rocker and you call out...hello. He doesn't turn around but you hear Him say..."Welcome. Take your shoes and coat off and come join me by the fire." At first you don't know how to respond but you feel such comfort at being in the presence of this man that you take your shoes off and hang up your coat. You then go and sit close to Him and begin to warm up. He asks you what brought you to His side and you begin to tell Him all the weights that you carry around in your life. The worries of your life, your past, unforgiveness, shame, loneliness, guilt, low self-esteem. You explain how they weigh you down and you so wish that you could just crawl up in your Daddy's lap and rest. You are soooo tired. The weariness of all that you have been thinking about and feeling begins to well up in tears. With your head bowed and the emotions flowing the man in the rocker reaches down and lifts your chin to see Him. You realize that this man is your Daddy. He motions you to come and crawl up in His lap. You can't believe that the creator of the universe is taking the time to comfort you. You get up and you literally crawl over to Him and into His lap. It is a perfect fit. You lay back in His arms and you look up to see the comfort in His eyes and He begins to rock. He doesn't say anything. He doesn't have to. You are at perfect peace in His arms. All the worries, responsibilities, and weights have disappeared. You take a deep breath, relax and rest.
You stay as long as you need to until you are refreshed and revived. You crawl out of your Daddy's lap and you know that you can face what this world throws at you. You say thank you and you throw your arms around His neck. He whispers that it you are His pleasure and that you can come and rest anytime. You walk toward the door, put on your boots and coat and walk back out into your life. You realize you now remember the way back. You walk back from where you came refreshed.
This is what happens when we take the time to crawl up into our Daddy's lap and rest. Many of us get overwhelmed and exhausted trying to carrying all the obligations and worries of our life. I know I do! BUT...I know there is a safe place for me...a place that I can lay it all down for awhile and REST. In my Father's lap...it is a perfect fit for me...just like I know when you crawl up into your the Father's lap it will be the perfect fit for you too!!!

Captured by Grace,
-D

Build-a-Bear

This week is special time with my nieces and nephews...and today was Build-a-Bear! We walked in and Jenna picked out a "bear"...well actually she picked out a cat. Once you pick it a critter you then take it to the stuffing machine. You then hand your bear over to the attendant and he/she opens up the back of the bear and ask the child...Do you want your bear to be hard, medium or soft? The attendant then puts a tube in its back and ask the child to step on a peddle. Once the child steps on the peddle stuffing begins to pour into the bear...the attendant then moves the bear around and makes sure stuffing gets in each part of the body. Once the bear is stuffed with the right amount of filling the child then picks out a heart to put into the bear. The attendant tells the child to rub the heart in your hand...because no one wants a cold heart. Then take the heart and rub it in your check...to get your beauty. Then hold the heart, close your eyes and make a wish. Once all of that is complete you then put the heart inside the bear. The attendant then cinches the thread that closes up the hole in the bears back. He/she then ties it closed and hands you the bear. The child then takes the bear over to shower and washes the bear. (not really it is just air blowing through a shower head). You go and pick out an outfit for your bear before you get to name it. Once you find some clothes you then get to give the bear a name. Once you finish all of that, you then take it to the register and pay for it all. The cashier then gives you a house (box) that you take your bear home in.
Of course as I was going through this journey of finding the perfect bear and of course comparing it to how God sees us.
God goes and picks out the perfect critter. YOU. He then opens you up and begins to stuff you. He begins to fill you. He makes sure each part of you has the right amount. He takes your heart, holds it in hands and rubs His hands together. He takes your heart and rubs it against His face because He wants to know you personally and intimately. He then puts your heart back into you and closes you up. He takes you to the shower of His mercy and grace and washes you clean. He then lets you decide what clothes you want to wear. You choose who you want to be at this point. He then gives you a name and claims you as His own. You belong to Him. He paid the ultimate price for you. You now have a very special place in His heart because He chose you, filled you and claimed you.
You are priceless in His eyes. Every time He looks at you He remembers the work that went into getting you to this point. He displays you as the beautiful creation you are.
I want you to think about yourself like this and NEVER undervalue your worth again!!!

Captured by Grace,
-D

Special Days!!!!

Today Spring Break started for all the little kiddo's in my family. It is also the start of "Special days" with Aunt Donna! Whoo Hoo!!! My 5 youngest nieces and nephews LOVE to have one on one time with Aunt Donna and Aunt Donna LOVES to have one on one time with each of them. Each one of them are unique and special. I also have 2 older ones (Andy and Sarah) that have grown up on me and became adults when I wasn't looking...but the youngest 5 still have time for me. :-)
Caylee is 13, Ryan is 11, Jeffrey is 9, Megan is 7 and Jenna is 7 (yes the last two are twins). Caylee,13 going on 23...She is thoughtful, pretty and a has a GREAT imagination.
Ryan wants to be a DJ when he grows up. You can see his emotions in his eyes. He is a special angel in our midst and has taught each of my family members things about ourselves we would have never realized without him.
Jeffrey is so smart and keenly aware of injustices. He knows what he likes and doesn't like. He has a GREAT sense of humor.
Megan is the most like her Aunt D. She is a girly girl and loves to hug and touch. She likes to be right next to me.
Jenna is our little athlete. She is sooo funny, determined and goes 90 miles a minute. She gets cracked up easily and laughs hard and often.
You see each one of them is precious to me. I love them each for their unique gifts and talents. I watch them grow and learn and my heart bursts with love and pride. I will admit there are times that they misbehave (trust me at times it is often) but it doesn't change my love for them. They are my heartbeats and without them I would not be me. I can't imagine what life would have been like without one of them.
I think that is the way our Father thinks about us. Each of us have our own unique personalities and quirks, yet He loves us anyway. I am hilarious (at least in my own mind), a girly girl, love to hug and touch, determined, prideful, pretty and some time just stubborn, yet He loves me despite me. He loves my unique gifts and talents. How lucky am I that His love is sooo wide, so deep that I cannot misbehave enough to change His love for me.
He also wants to spend special days just with me. One on one time to feed His truth into me. He longs for me to know how special I am and how much He loves me. There are times that I long for those special days and yet I allow life to get in the way. He asks me all the time to spend time with Him and sometimes, I admit I say...in just a minute. Sometimes those minutes turn into days and then before I know it, I am feeling unloved and empty. I then go to Him and spend that one on one time with Him and He fills me up. Why do I wait till I need it?
I am one of His heartbeats. He mourns when I leave Him. He loves to watch me grow and learn and I can just imagine that He bursts with pride and love when He watches me. I will admit that sometimes I put the fact that He is watching and waiting for me to come to Him. I take it for granted that He longs for me. Just time with me. I LOVE spending time with my Father...He is my best friend and my heart is filled with Him. Don't you wish you could have that special time with Him. The One that loves you despite you...
When is the last time you spent a "special day" (could be a moment, a day or a week) with your Father? He has invited you and He wants to. He will change around His schedule for you...Will you change your schedule for Him??

Captured by Grace,
-D

PS....
If you want to experience an intense, intimate weekend with God, you should make plans to attend Steppingstones Ministries weekend encounter. Go to steppingstones-ministries.com and find out how to register for one of these AMAZING weekends.

Dancing

I want to talk to all of you who aren't married out there...This weekend I had the honor of going to a wedding reception of some heart friends of mine. I watched them look into each others eyes and watched as the love transferred between them back and forth. She looked beautiful smiling from ear to ear and he looked like he had found the greatest gift of his life. As with any reception there was a table filled to overflowing with gifts. I know that when these love birds get home they will be able to open all their gifts and feel the love that surrounds them.
I thought about the love in my life. I was asked more than once how I was handling the event. For those of you that don't know, in the past this type of event would have thrown me into a pity party and my response would have been...Why not me?? I want to get married...in fact I feel that I was created to be a godly wife and mom, but for some reason that has not happened for me yet. In the past this was a HUGE obstacle in my life and relationship with my Father. I don't get why it hasn't happened to me, because if you ask me...I am a GREAT catch. :-) It hasn't and today I found myself face to face with my dream.
When I left the reception I was praying a blessing over the couple and I realized that I felt soooo happy for them. I didn't have the pain of the loss of my dream. I didn't ask...Why not me God? I actually was thinking how the romance between my friends is like the romance I have with my Father.
You see, my Father started wooing me a long time ago. He has whispered sweet nothings in my ear trying to make me see how He sees me. Telling me in MANY ways how much He loves me. He and I spent time together. He saw me at my worst and best and still stayed. I fell madly in love with Him as I began to see and get to know His character. I surrendered to Him fully. I grabbed hold of His hand and we have danced. He has been here with me through the storms and He calmed me. He stays even at times when I think He should go. He is the true answer to my dreams. He is the best husband I could ever want. I did get the GREATEST gift ever...His love.
Someday, maybe God will allow me to find an extension of His arms here on earth. Until He does I am going to dance with my heavenly husband and let the world slip away. I am going to call on Him when I hear something at night. I will surrender and depend on the greatest husband. The one without faults, the one who sees my faults through His Son's blood. The one who makes me smile from ear to ear.
I hope that all of you girls out there who haven't found the one, will know that The True One is waiting for you. He is wooing you to His side. He is calling your name and He wants to hold you in His arms and DANCE...

Congratulations Ryan and Mea...May you always dance!!!

Captured by Grace,

Hands

"I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. ~Isaiah 41:13"
I was struggling on what to talk about today...and then I saw this scripture. I LOVE this scripture. When I read this it reminds me of being a little girl and wanting to do something I couldn't do on my own. Just when I thought I wouldn't be able to do what I REALLY wanted to do, my PawPaw would grab hold of my hand and help me. His hands were so big and strong to me. I can still see His hands today. My uncle has my PawPaw hands and when I see them I remember the strength that came with those hands. When I was little I would stumble and my PawPaw would help me, when I felt weak my PawPaw would encourage me and say just the right thing to keep me going, and if I ever got lost my PawPaw would not have stopped until he found me. I knew what security was when my PawPaw was around. I knew I was loved because I was me and I would not have to worry about anything as long as my PawPaw was in my life. When my PawPaw passed away I questioned if I would ever feel that secure again. I will tell you that this world has put plenty of bumps in my path that have made me stumble, feel weak and I have gotten lost more than once. I wanted that security back that I had when I was a little girl. I started for it and looking at God the way I looked at my PawPaw. When I started to look at Him...
I know now, not only did my PawPaw have strong hands but my heavenly Father has strong hands. I know that when He calls me to do something that I just don't think I can I can reach up and grab those hands. Those hands will grab my right hand and walk hand in hand with me to the end. If I stumble, He will help me stand...If I feel weak, He will be my strength and if I get lost, He will not stop until he finds me. There is security in holding His hands. I don't have to worry about tomorrow. I know that my God will be there for me forever, I am not talking earthly forever...but eternity forever. Unlike my PawPaw who passed away...God never passes away. He is ALWAYS with me. He sees when I rise and when I fall, He hems me in behind and before, and He knew me before I was even born. What more security can I ask for?

Lent

Let me start by saying...I am not Catholic...but I do like to participate in Lent. Many of you are asking WHY?? I started participating in Lent to jump start a diet. :-) I know I am not alone in this...(come on be honest). I thought it would be 40 days of restriction and after that my new eating habits would be ingrained. "They" say that a habit forms in 21 days...so I thought 40 days I got this covered...so it began by giving up Dr. Pepper. I went 40 whole days...I didn't take off Sundays...without DP and as sad as this is, it was HARD! I remember back on that first Lent and wonder did I do any soul searching or repentance? NO...It was more of a competition with friends than anything to have to do with God. Of course I didn't really think about the religious aspect of Lent...because like I said I was not Catholic. So each time Lent came along I thought what can I give up that will benefit me??? So each year I picked something that I wanted to remove from my life...fried food one year, gum, ice cream, pasta...get the picture? :-) Each year I did it...sometimes I messed up but it really wasn't that big of a deal because Lent really didn't mean that much to me.

This year I decided to do research on Lent. Narrowed WAY down - The season of Lent is meant for soul searching and repentance. It represents retreating into the wilderness with Jesus. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus' withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days.

I have to say I did not retreat into the wilderness with Jesus by not drinking Dr. Pepper...I just replaced it with other caffeine. This was a HUGE light bulb for me...As I have thought over my life I can't help but think of all the times I replaced something that would have lead me closer to Jesus with something that kept me just as far away as what I was originally trying to get rid of. It looked different, maybe even felt different...but was it really different if the result is the same.?

This year as I have been thinking of Lent and going into the wilderness with Jesus, I have been wondering what are those things that keep me from going into the wilderness with Him. Is it fear? Is it shame? Is it busyness? Is it avoidance? I have been asking God to help me see what it is... As you know, when you ask God something like this He is faithful and just to give it to you. :-) God has revealed to me that I don't go into the wilderness with Him because I simply don't make the time.

I am not scared of God...He loves me despite me. I don't fear what He will tell me. I don't fear that He will send me to a foreign nation to be a missionary. I don't fear He will tell me to give up all I have and love for Him. I am willing to go and be all that for Him. For me it is simply I put my own wants and needs ahead of Him. I wish it was some GREAT BIG fear I had or something that sounded better, but it is simply not.

I have my nice, little routines and they work for me. BUT...you know what I REALLY want to do is go into the wilderness with my Jesus. In order for me to do that I am going to have to bust my routines and sacrifice my comfort for The Comfort. So this Lent I am going to repent and sacrifice my comfort to spend more time with my Father. I want to go into the wilderness so He can sing over me. So my Father can speak tenderly to me. I want to go so I can get away from "it all" and hear Him, feel Him wrap His arms around me and just sit with Him with no distractions. I know that He continually woes us...He calls each of us by name to come to Him...but I wonder why we (you) don't?

This year I encourage you to sacrifice and repent with Him during this time of Lent. Go into the wilderness with Him and see what He whispers in your ear!

Captured by Grace...

A Divided Heart

I saw this great quote on FB today...Brokenness, defeat, failure, fear...let them refine you instead of define you. {Stand still and see the GREAT thing God is about to do before your eyes. I Sam.12:16}. This again made me think of the refining fire that we all are walking through if we are born again christians. You see I know that I have allowed brokenness, defeat, failure and fear define me...There are more times than I would like admit that when I looked in the mirror, all I saw were the broken parts of me. I walked around broken. It wasn't a broken part anyone could see except me.

When I was a little girl (confession time) I would have my mom wrap a pillow case around my arm and then wrap tape around and around and around and around my arm to pretend I had a broken arm. I would walk around all day with this "caste" on my arm. I would pretend that I had broken my arm some way and get all the sympathy a broken arm could get. Then at night I would unwrap the tape and forget about what it was like to have a broken arm. I has a huge imagination and I lived it out.

As I have gotten older and looked back over my life I have realized over the years I learned to wrap my broken parts other ways. I became the life of the party, the funny friend, the caretaker, and the encourager. I would wrap my brokenness away and pretend it didn't matter. I would take all the broken around me to the Great Physician and encourage them to get the help that He so gladly offered them. Watching people get healed, and knowing that the Great Physician wanted to unwrap my brokenness like my loving momma did when I was a little girl was to much for my fear to handle. I was so afraid that if I let the Father unwrap my brokenness He would see I was broken beyond repair.

I really haven't done anything wrong to be ashamed of, it is what I didn't do over the course of my life that I was ashamed of. I would come home from seeing Him set the captives free to my own prison of fear, failure and brokenness.

Until one day I was apologizing once more for all that I was not and He in His loving compasionate way said to me...You are just the way I want you to be...MINE. You my child are a daughter of the King of Kings. That make YOU a princess!

You see, when I allowed the Great Physician to unwrap my brokenness I became healed. I may carry around scars but they do not define me. They show me my past but they do not represent my future.

Many of you that are reading this post are walking around with your brokenness wrapped up and thinking that you don't know how to begin to get healed. Let me encourage you that God has annointed some really great people with Steppingstones Ministries to help you. They will meet you right where you are at and help you to the Great Physician. Here is the web site... www.steppingstones-ministries.com or you can call 903-705-0306 and they will help you get started.

Firewalker

I am going to start out with the same sentence most new bloggers say...I have never blogged before and I don't have a clue what to say. Since I am not usually short of words, I doubt this blog will either. :-) I think I am more worried that I will say too much and step on toes! Sooo...Before I get started, I will apologize for all the misspellings, bad grammer and foot in my mouth comments that I will say.

I named this blog... Firewalker! I got this word from Beth, who got it from God (while she was doing dishes none the less)...Since my sweet friend told me this name I have not been able to get this word off my brain. I have prayed about it, talked about it, and given it ALOT of thinking time. Every time I think of Firewalker I think about the refining fire of God. So I decided today to look up about the refining fire of God and came across I Peter 1:6-8.

"In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith-of greater worth than gold, which periches even though refined by fire-may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy..."

When I broke this down and thought about it...is when I decided that I am a FIREWALKER...and I have a feeling when I break this down for you, YOU will figure out YOU just might be a FIREWALKER too.

Let's look at "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer all kinds of trials." I know for me...I have suffered trials of MANY kinds, how about you? It took the last couple of years of the most heart breaking betrayls to prove the genuineness of my faith. I had always said I trusted God...and in all honesty I did trust God with everyone else but with me and my "stuff"...I wasn't so sure. It wasn't until I learned to trust God with my "stuff" and rejoice through the trials that my faith bloomed. I realized all the trials... These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith-of greater worth than gold, which periches even though refined by fire-may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. I NEVER knew what true praise was until I allowed myself to surrender my whole self...the confident, scared, outspoken, and hidden parts of me. Totally surrendered I could praise the God who was walking with me through the refining fire. What an unbelievable feeling it is!!!! I can truly say that "Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see you are filled with an inexpressable and glorious joy..." There are times even I a walked through the fire and at times still walking, there are times I am overwhelmed by joy about my Father and how faithful He has been and is to me.

I KNOW many of you that are reading this blog have walked through the refining fire and have felt the heat...not only of the fire but of the warmth of your Father hand holding yours. If you have...YOU are a FIREWALKER. Like I said at the beginning of this blog I don't know where God will lead me (us) as I write this blog...but I invite you to join me and encourage you to invite others as we walk through the refining fire with our Father as the impurities rise to the surface, get scraped off and we start to shine!