Blessed by Grace

Who am I

2010-02-18T13:54:00.000-08:00

You know sometimes it is so easy to get caught up in what we want to do, and when it doesn't seem to be working out we ask God "if it is your will please let this circumstance work out". But think about it. That is the wrong attitude to have, and defiantly the wrong question to ask.

What we should be asking God for is for His will to be placed in our hearts, and when it is to have the strength that it is going to take to go forward with His plan.

Often I get caught up in everything around me, I see what I think is the best thing and usually it is stuff concerning my future and I think it would be the best for my life. I think well God COULD really use this experience in my life to do something great.And that is where I am wrong. God doesn't need help planning my future.

No in fact everything He has done is perfect, it always has been, it is, and it is going to be perfect.

Since when has His grace not been enough, since when has His strength Run out, and since when have I elevated myself above Him. Be taking charge of my own life and telling God what is best I saying No, Sorry I don't like your plans, they just aren't working out the way I planned, So I am taking charge.

And that is not a good place to be. When I take Christ out of the picture I open up myself to so much. And I cannot handle it all on my own.

So the prayer I should be praying is Lord please make your will the center of my heart, make my ways your ways, and help me never forget all that you have done for me. For who am I but a servant for you. Take me make me, make me,use me for all that you want me to do

America

2009-07-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

Click,17 killed in a drive by shooting, click abortion is at an altime high click, gay marriage on the rise click.

O America ,where have you gone? Land of the free? home of the brave? Human life use to be valued. But now it is taken. Not only from the old but also from the young. Freedom of speech, some would have me be silent. Freedom to worship but only if it agrees to those around me in my community. Our soldiers are beeing mocked, our flag is being laughed at. If you turn on the TV it will tell you that, America is gone. Replaced by a more agreeable country.

As I walk down the steet I stop, looking at a young man in uniform, standing outside a recruting office. Sir why are you here I ask? I am here to fight for my family, my wife and my small son. To ensure to them the same freedoms that I used to take for granted.I am fighting an enemy who stands for everything evil. I am here to make sure that my son will have a chance to experience freedom.

As I walk down the street I am stopped by a demonstration. "Be a voice for those who have none" "Stop abortion". They are marching so those little ones will have a chance at life. I feel a tug on my sleeve I look down into the face of a small girl. Looking down into her small face she looks up at me and said " they wanted me to die.They said that I would be a burden. But somebody took the time to talk to my mother, somebody carred enough to take the time so that I could be here today. "

Still pondering her words I continue down the street only to see a church. I duck inside the doors to get out of the heat. At the front of the church is a little old lady sitting on the front pew. I walk down the isle and sit beside her. She looks over at me with tears in her eyes. I believe in the power of prayer, I believe that if Gods people will call out to Him then He will hear their prayers.

Some would tell you that America is gone. But I still see her. Every now and then. I saw her in the soldier fighting for freedom, I saw her in that little girl standing out in the heat so that others could hear her story, I see her in that little old lady, praying for America and her healing.

America is at a hard place. We need to acknowledge God and His sovereignty. We need to stand up for what is right and fight for the freedom that God has given us.

So as for me I will live my life so that maybe somebody will see a little bit of America in me.

God Bless America. The land of the free and the home of the brave.

Stand up America, stand up for life and liberty. Acknowledge your weaknesses and accept God's strength.

To God be the glory

2009-06-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

To God be the glory

The other day I had the amazing privilage of leading a 9 year old girl to the Lord.
I have been praying for this young lady for 3 years and the other day my prayers where answered. If there is a more amazing feeling than showing someone how to be saved than I do not know of one. Our God is an amazing God.

I was thinking the other day of the amazing grace that God has shown me. Logicaly I should be left on my own. I did not deserve any love or grace. But God chose to come and die for me. The love that He has shown me is one that I want to share with the world. On my own I am nothing but with Christ I am everything. And yes I may make mistakes and yes I will fall but no I am not alone.

God thank you. Thank you for coming and bleeding and dying for me but most of all thank you for rising again. I am so unworthy of your love and mercy. But by youor grace I am now free.
And I want show others your love.
Take my life and let it be holy and consecrated Lord to thee.
And so I am going to saw to God be the glory.

Complete Surrender/Complete Rest

2009-05-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

When something painful occurs it is hard to see the rhyme or reason behind it. All we can see is that we are hurting and that things will never be the same again. And at the moment all we can see is the pain and sorrow. But is doesn’t stop their. No in fact that is only where is begins.
God desires to use every situation to bring us closer to Him. And this is no different. It was through my weakness that He showed me His strength through my pain that I discovered true joy. And that joy is in the fact that I trust what God is doing.
When something amazing happens I thanked God and said I trust what you are doing when something good happened I thanked God and said I trusted what you are doing but when something bad or even hard happened I asked God what are you doing?
I thanked God for all the gifts that He had given me. My family, my country, my friends but I never thought about the hard things being gifts as well. But when I look back I can see that He has taught me. I see His goodness, mercy and patience. I have experienced God in a way that I never would have if I had not suffered a little down here.
I gave God control over my life. At the time I though that it was something that I would never be able to do. But I all I had to do is say I surrender all. And then I let go of the reins and God took over and did the rest.
My pain has turned to Joy, my sorrow into peace, my bitterness into happiness. Through Gods suffering on the cross we can have true joy and maybe just maybe through my pain I can point others to the one who set me free.

Photography Scavenger hunt

2009-05-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

Vanishing Point. Off into the distance

Broken. The family chains have been broken but the missing links are safe I know.

Making a statement. Happy

Squirrel. Oklahoma what can I say

Coffee. The best way to start the day

Police. My brother and siters playing cops and robbers

Date. Happiness graduation

Self Portriate. Ha Ha

Stapler. Helps hold things together

Time. What will you do with it.

Fear. Failure

Leap. My brothers on our trampoline

White Trash.one mans trash is another mans treasuer

Reflection. A pretty Princess

Freedom

2009-05-13T12:07:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot about the lies that we believe. I know that in my own life I have believed many many lies. The lie that I am stupid, alone, worthless,ugly and the list goes on and on. I have justifies these lies in my head yes I am stupid I cant spell I cant read very well , Yes I am alone because I am different , you bet I'm worthless who wants a person who cant spell or read very well I have no amazing skills and I have been told all through my life that I was ugly . But wait I know those are lies . God has told me as much. So why do I struggle so much with believing them? The truth is that I have grown comfortable with them. I have believed them for so long I know what to expect. Their are no mysteries no hidden passages ways. But with giving them up or choosing not to believe them anymore , now that is a whole new ball park ,I don't know what to expect I have no clue what is going to happen. And to tell you the truth part of me still is scared. Now at this point all I have done is identified these as lies. But I had not yet asked God what He thought of me. The truth is that God has made me perfect. He loves me and I am worth more to Him than anything else in the world. He laid down His life for me , He suffered bleed, and died for me. And He is My friend. "Greater Love Has no man than this ,that a man lay down his life for his friend"John 15:13. As for being afraid "1 John 4:18 There is no fear in Love; but perfect love casteth out fear;. And who is that perfect Love? 1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, God dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. So i guess it all comes down to trust. Am I willing to trust God with those lies . The answer is yes. I am willing. So I have given those lies up. Given them to God and Cast has casted them away.
So are you willing. Satan wants nothing more than to dampen your effectiveness for God. And if you choose to keep believing those lies then you and not being an affective witness for God.
Now I still struggle but God will always be their for me.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in dispair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. There is true victory in Jesus. Will you chose today to be free?

Is it worth it

2009-05-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

Graduation Day is only a week away for me. And I am so excited. Things are going great people are coming the decorations are just right and I am one happy camper.That was how my day was going until around 7:30 pm . I had been feeling like everything was going great sure their was a few things that had happened earlier that made me upset and a little sad/mad but overall I thought I was feeling fine.Then I got the call informing me that a certain situation wasnt going to work out. That is when I lost it. Those feeling that I thought I had cleverly pushed aside came flooding back. I was all alone. So I started asking questions. Well God why? I dont understand. God I really needed this to work out and now it isnt and I dont understand.God just listened and with the sweetest voice He said "Rachel is it worth it"?Is what worth it? Rachel all this time you have been depending on yourself and looking at what you think you need. And now here you are feeling alone and depressed and I am wanting to know is it worth it. No God it isnt worth it. And now Rachel I think the question really is do you trust me. Trust me with this situation and the one that just happened and the ones to come. God I will fail you. Rachel first of all you are mine and yes you are going to fall but when you do know that I am right there to pick you up and to help you .God am I worth it. Rachel there has never been a time that I have ever regreted having you . In fact it is quite the opposite. So the question still remained do I trust God . And now I can say yes. I do. So now God I come before you now acknowleging my weekness and knowleging my faults and I give them now to you. Lord I know that you can use all situations for good so I am giving you it. I am laying it at you feet. Take it and use them to bring praise and glory to your name.

Smile

2009-04-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

My Happy List

Sunshine
Chocolate
Friends
Shoes
Family
Cleaning
Running barefoot through the grass
A soft breeze
Rain on a tin roof
Playing football with my family
Playing the guitar
Singing( even though my sisters don't appreciate it very much)
Cake decorating
Making people smile
White water rafting
Volleyball
Riding Horses
Bouncing on the trampoline with my brothers
Shopping with my sisters
Star gazing

God has given me so much to be thankful for and this is only a small list of how much He has given me.

Trusting

2009-04-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

Have you every wondered why God made you a certain way. Why he allows certain things to happen in your life . I have . For those of you who may not know I have Dyslexia and I have really been struggling over the past few days. I had just finished an assignment and I felt really good about myself but when I went to type it out on the computer I noticed that I had written it all backwards. When I saw that I got really frustrated I felt like I should have been able to catch that mistake . My Dyslexia is not life threatening but it is frustrating . And for many many years I have felt stupid and second best. But when I asked God about why he made me have Dyslexia He just said Rachel I want to use it as a ministry. A way that you will be able to communicate to others . I don't know how God is going to do it but I am trusting that he has allowed me to be Dyslexic for a reason .And if that reason is good enough for God than it is good enough for me. So I am going to thank God for allowing me to be Dyslexic and trust that he has a great plan for me .
When I was younger People use to make fun of me because I was different because I would read slow and spell everything wrong. And I use to feel like God had made a mistake when he made me. But Now I know that my God makes no mistakes I know that he created me to have Dyslexia and that it is all part of who I am and it is a big part of who I will be . I could chose to give up I could chose to let it beat me . But my God shall supply all my needs and he will always be their for me when I need him .

So little time

2009-04-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

Tick ,tock, tick ,tock , seconds turn into hours and hours into days . Time is one thing we all wish we could stop . My Dad always says that he is going to wind back the clock so that I could always stay little . But one that is for sure about time is that one day we will run out. I just found out yesterday that a friend's brother died in a car crash . So young ,but he is out of time . I was thinking about it and all that is left behind is his memories and the consequences of what he did in his life. So how am I going to be remembered ? How will people see me when I die? I want to to say that I was a great witness ,that everything I did pointed back to the saviour, that I made mistakes but I did not let them controll my life ,that I had a deep love for people and that I had lived my life to it's fullest potential. We are in a race .A race aginst time .The Bible says ,
"Teach us to number our days that we may apply our hears unto wisdom .Psalms 90:12"
So how will I spend my time today? Who will I influence? Today I will be making memories memories that will last through the years but what type of memories will I make ,and what impressions will I leave behind.

In Gods Hands

2009-03-31T06:45:00.000-07:00

The storms may rage the winds my blow cares of life come against my soul in trouble times I know just where to stand no safer place to be than in Gods hands. In Gods hands I'm in good hands my soul is safe and secure in Gods hands sweet assurance it's good to know I'm in good hands.Sometimes it seems a trial last to long it scarcely past and I must face another one but in trouble times I know just where to stand to safer place to be than in Gods hands. In Gods hands I'm in good hands my soul is safe and secure in Gods hands sweet assurance its good to know I'm in good hands. Weary and feeble I turn to a solid rock strong and firm. In Gods hands I'm in good hands my soul is safe and secure.

This is s song that God has really used to encourage me. About a year ago I lost my Baby sister.

And in that time I felt alone .But God gave this song to my family and it lets me know that no matter what happens that we are always on his mind and always in his care.

Now I don't always feel this way but that does not mean that it is true. Gods says that he will never leave us or forsake us and that is his promise to us his promise to me .

It is very easy for me to lose sight of who is really important I get so caught up in everyday activities that I lose sight of the one who is able to really help me .

It's funny the other day I was really feeling down the weight of everything just felt like it was to much so I ran to my room and cry and said God I know that I am unable to do this on my own so I am coming before you and laying my pain and my anger and my fear all at your feet take them , I no longer want to be bound by them . And at that moment I had this sense of peace fill me and I felt his arms wrap around me . And that song began to go through my head in Gods hands I'm in good and my soul is safe and secure.

God has always been their for me and he has never left me and that is so amazing

In Gods Hands there is sweet assurance