Be careful what you grow...

 

I was having a bit of a day. Maybe it's the weather, maybe its not running yet this week, maybe it's just life...

Trying to fill my mind up with good things. I am thankful for a friend who answers with God's Truth...

 ...and I just kept having to remind myself that His love for us will get us through. 

“God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress” and “Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up” that He promises that this will all be worth it in the end. He sees us. He sees you and your pain and when you are feeling weary. And he will strengthen us again and again and again. Just as He always has and just as he promises.

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is God from of old, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives POWER to the faint, ABUNDANT STRENGTH to the weak. Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar on eagles’ wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.”

A few things I have seen this morning on Facebook and Instagram this morning...

Grandma

This past week my Grandma went to be with Jesus. She would have turned 96, the day after tomorrow. I am beyond thankful to have had her in my life these last 40 years.

I know she is happy to be reunited with my Grandpa- she missed him so.  They celebrated 60 years of marriage before he passed away.

I am so thankful for this phenomenal couple and the amazing legacy of Faith they left me.  Grandma loved Jesus with all she had and was a mighty prayer warrior. I hope I can be a little bit like her in that way.

Especially as she got older she also struggled a lot with emotions and regrets and her perceived failures.  I see myself in this as well and am striving to be different.  To leave the past where it belongs and remember I am loved and redeemed. I can't go back only forward. I can choose to be joyful in my daily life. 

With her Great Grandchildren at her birthday celebration a couple years back.

Grandkids and Spouses

Grandma's recipe boxes have been at my house for a year or so. I never even so much as looked in them until this weekend.  My sister wanted to know if her pickle recipe was in there. (It was).

I also found this recipe written in Grandma's own hand- copied from her mother-in-law, who got it from her mother-in-law. I feel like I have to make it just because...  That's 5 generations of Nemitz Women, passed down to my daughters would make it 6.

 I am so thankful for all the wonder family time this week/weekend. 💖

Rise Up and Pray

This weekend I was once again able to attend my Ladies Retreat with our church district.

I am happy to report that our trip to and from Retreat was easy and uneventful- unlike our first trip ;-)

Ladies Retreat never disappoints me. It is always a time of laughter & refreshment. This year was no exception.

There is just something about being on that campground, under that tent with 300ish ladies singing praise to our Lord. <3

The theme this year was Rise Up the speaker, Amy Carroll.  She was fantastic!

I went to a workshop on "Telling Your Story", I think it ended up being one of my favorite parts.  The session started- we were basically sketching out the bones of our testimony on our packets. - Crap. We are probably going to have to share our stories at the end. I started thinking about ways to escape. I left my page blank until almost the end. All the sudden the words poured out onto the page. I still didn't want to share out loud. But. I. Did. Out loud. With actual words.  To ladies who were not in my immediate, intimate "friend" circle. And one complete stranger.  Not quite as hard as I imagined. And you just never know how your story might touch another.

Throughout the weekend...

We learned about letting of who we are not and embracing who we are.

We did Zumba in the early morning.

We painted signs made from old pallets. (Mine is pictured at the top).

We gathered and prayed.

We shed tears and shared hugs.

We took communion.

We left hungry for more.

It felt good to being sharing Retreat with Aimee again.  We have been friends since the 6th grade. This weekend gave us lots of time to reconnect.  Sometimes life and busyness gets in the way.

One of my favorite parts about Retreat is fellowship with my church ladies.  Connecting with people I might not have otherwise.  We sat around the campfire Saturday night until well after midnight.

Sunday the peaceful morning was calling to me.  I spent the time between breakfast and the final session having some quiet time. I filled the blank "note" pages in the retreat book and the back cover with prayers. <3

My favorite song from Retreat- I don't remember ever hearing it before but then yesterday I heard twice on KLOVE.

In the coming year I am committed to praying for next year's retreat.  For hearts that God is preparing even now. God is going to do good things in the coming year...

I came home to this-

Our church is transitioning to chairs...another one of those changes that has been in the works for a while. Another one of those changes that has not been easy for me ;-) Having my very own pew in my kitchen took a little of the sting out.

Past Retreat posts:

2008

2009

2011

2013

2018

dream big, pray big

So as I said yesterday- I'm reading this book- The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.

I find myself reading with a hopeful yet skeptical heart.

Last night I went on a walk with my best friend. We talked about dreams.

This morning I spent real time praying for my family. Like real prayers not just the surface. Like I hated to put down the pen and get ready for work type of prayers.

Today I am reading in The Circle Maker about dreams. BIG dreams. Praying circles around your big dreams with HOPE and EXPECTATION.

This week I started making myself a daily page. I pen an inspiration or scripture, my to-do list, my thankful list, my water intake, etc...

As I was reading I wrote in the middle of my daily page God CAN! Doodling cloud shape around it. I wrote under it-

DREAM BIG

PRAY BIG

Two HUGE God sized prayers came immediately to my heart. I wrote them down too. 

I clicked over to our church website- I don't even know why and there at the bottom of the page was this promise...

Coincidence... I think not.

So I continue to pray- believing God is going to completely restore our marriage- making it NEW. Better and stronger than ever.

The 2nd request isn't for me- so I'll keep that one for now.

But I know He is listening. I know He cares. I know He will answer in His perfect time.

With God nothing is impossible.

don't give up

I'm tired and discouraged today. So tired. My heart is weary and yet even as I type I am convicted because God says...

• My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians  12:9
• Do not grow weary of doing good, for at the proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up. Galatians 6:9 (Emphasis added).
• We wait in HOPE for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. Psalm 33:20
• Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 14:6

Last night at Mom's Connect we talked about Grace and prayer. Specific Prayers. With boldness and confidence. 

I was reminded of my job, and what a specific timely answer to prayer it was.  God granted my hearts desire, things I thought were impossible.

The following is an excerpt from my blog just before my first interview for the job I now have. I job that was a specific answer to prayer. Oh I had to wait and the journey to it was hard and discouraging- but God saw me through and gave me the desires of my heart- I have to believe he can do it again.

This week frustration and despair has threatened to take over again. Yet I continue to cling to hope. Thursday while I was out for a run I got a call about an opportunity. One I am excited and hopeful about. I have an interview on Tuesday and would truly appreciate your prayers.
For close to a year now the idea of a new job has been on the table. Since summer I have been seeking one in earnest to no avail. It's discouraging and frustrating.
Yet, God keeps whispering his promises to my heart. Trust. Believe. Good things are out there.
The desire of my heart is to find a job close to home. One that is flexible enough I can be available to my children if need be. I don't care how old they are, always I will be mommy first. One that will not require to put Hannah in before school child care. One that will still be "enough". It seems impossible.
And yet this morning in my devo I was remind... Nothing is impossible with God. So I pray. I hope. I believe.

So today I am trying to once again trust God. To hold onto HOPE but also let go of my expectations.  I feel lost and alone. But I am not.

"As prayer warriors, we must remember that no matter how hopeless a situations may appear to us, God gives us power in prayer to do something about it. We maybe overwhelmed by it, but God is not. We may not see a way out, but God can. Because of Him, we can make difference!" 

{Prayer Warrior, pp 17}

This is WAR

Last night we began our new session of Moms Connect. I hope I did an OK job.  They say I did. I rather enjoyed it.  We had good discussion. I so love this book.  I love that the study guide is chock full of scripture.  I wasn't sure how to get started but we just dove right into the study questions.

There is a WAR and you are in it!  Make no mistake about it... whether you want to believe it or not- there is a war going on. 

But the important thing is God (2 Samuel 22:32)/Jesus (1 Corinthians 10:4) is our ROCK. The foundation on which to build our very lives and prayers.  Luke 6:47-49-- (S)he is like a house built on the ROCK- STRONG

I love, love, love this verse- If you are following God's ways- though there will be storms- you will not be shaken.

When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone,    but the righteous stand firm forever.   Proverbs 10:25 NIV

Where do these wars and fighting come from? Uh- our own selfish desires.  So why don't we have what we want? Well (a) either you never asked or (b) you asked with the wrong motives. James 4:1-3

The more you seek and study His Word (truly and honestly seeking) the more you will grow and the more your desires will begin to align with His desires for you.

How do you even know if you are cut out to be a prayer warrior?

In this life we will have many struggles. You're fooling yourself if you think you won't.  Life can be hard! In the midst of it all though we know Jesus is there. Our Rock. Our solid foundation. In the midst of it all we are also commanded to have J O Y.  (James 1:2-4).  If we are trusting in Him we will come out stronger on the other side.  He will give us the strength we need to get there.

"As prayer warriors, we must remember that no matter how hopeless a situations may appear to us, God gives us power in prayer to do something about it.  We maybe overwhelmed by it, but God is not.  We may not see a way out, but God can.  Because of Him, we can make difference!" {Prayer Warrior, pp 17}

The good news is you don't have to fight alone. When you are at a loss and don't even know how to pray- the Holy Spirit is there to stand in the gap. (Romans 8:26)  We also fight and intercede for one another.  (Galatians 6:2, also see page 23, bottom half of the page).  We are to help carry one another's burdens.

I am so thankful for the prayer partners I have in my life.  People I know I can call on at any time and they will lift me in prayer.  Thankful I can be there in turn when they are the ones who need lifting.

Here are the prayer prompts that were interspersed through out the study chapter-

• Write out a prayer asking God to help you build your life on the solid foundation of Jesus.  Tell Him you want to be someone who obeys Him and why.
• Write out a prayer asking God to help you draw closer to Him and away from the world system the rejects Him.  Ask Him to help you be clearly aware of the anti-Christ spirit that is in the world today so that you do not support it in anyway.
• When we pray as prayer warriors, we are not alone because God had called people all over the world to pray as well.  Write out a prayer asking God to raise up more and more prayer warriors who will hear his call to pray.
• Write out a prayer asking God to prompt you when something is important you should be praying about.
• (Read John 17:14)Write out a prayer asking God to help you be a great prayer warrior for Him so you can say those same words to the Lord at the end of your life.

"Start by saying, 'Lord use me as your prayer warrior,'
and the Holy spirit will lead you from there."

-Prayer Warrior, Stormie Omartian pp. 24

Next Week: Chapter 2- Know Your Commander and Stand By His Side