By HIS Grace

How many times have you had an idea in your mind and you could see the vision of it in your head, but, then when you start to put it together, things start to change and don't go the way that you planned? I see this happen too often when we are believing for the Lord to do something in our life, answer a prayer or open a door.  We have the faith that we need for God to do it, but we have a different picture of what it should look like when it happens.  I struggle with this more than I'm happy to admit.  As I am growing in this area, I'm learning that the Lord has His own blueprints that He has drawn up and how He wants things to look.  I've also learned that, with His plans comes lessons and accountability.  And of course, our plans have omitted those 2 things because, let's just be honest, we don't want to travel the hard road and go through the wilderness. And the Lord doesn't take us that way to punish us, it is on those paths where we draw closer to Him ...

As a teacher, one our many benefits is summer break.  And although, the weather here in the mid-west does not reflect the season yet, it has still been enjoyable.  Being a teacher and having school-age children of your own, you are grateful for the time off together during the school year and over summer break.  It's a blessing to be home with my kids and they are able to enjoy their summer break at home.  So what are our plannings for the summer you may ask? Well, brace yourself... NOTHING! And I am prepared to define what nothing looks like.  When I say nothing, what I mean is, there is no strict schedule that I have typed up and it is critical that we stick to it.  What I mean is that, my alarm is not set for 6:00 am.  The goal for this summer is to have a "SIMPLE" summer.  I was having brunch with a friend the other week and we were sharing what our summers look like for our families.  We also talked about how as moms we put too much p...

This week has been declared "Father's Week." As we approach Father's Day; commercials, weekly sales ads and stores have been advertising what they feel is the perfect gift for our dads.  I have been looking into crafty gift ideas for the kids to make, because I feel that, it is those gifts that say a thousand words and are priceless! At some point the kids and I will get together and come up with the best gift for dad and I will do my best to keep the day light and easy...at dad's request :) As I get into this post, I want to recognize 3 men who have had an impact on my life in some fashion.  First being my natural father.  After 36 years, the Lord made a way for us to reconcile and make room for one another in our lives.  And if you haven't done so already, I encourage you to read my previous post "A Father's Love" part 1&2 , where I share openly about our journey of rejection, healing and reconciliation.  A journey that led to God bring...

Have you ever found yourself to be ahead of God? I have found myself in this place one too many times.  This last year and a half for me has been great.  I have seen the hand of God move in my life more than ever before. My life has been transformed and I'm a different woman, mother, wife and friend.  My family has been put back together and we are stronger than we have ever been. My marriage is healthy and my husband and I have fallen in love with each other all over again.  My relationship with my children is different, I loving and nurturing them, I am enjoying the journey of motherhood.  The Lord has begun my ministry of ministering and empowering other women and I continue to see myself change and grow through it all.  So, how is it that I started to feel like I was missing something or better yet should I say, "Why was I becoming restless?" There are still some areas in my life that I am believing the Lord for. I have penned and shared about the ...