Divorce

I am not sure who I am writing this for, but I keep feeling like I should. If you are going through or have gone through a divorce, my heart goes out to you. I understand the pain, confusion, and lost dreams. I have been there. Although the picture of your life may seem bleak and hopeless, please be assured that you are not alone. Besides your friends, family, support groups, church family and or counselors that will help and support you, there is Jesus.

He is with you always. He understands all your pain. He loves you unconditionally and longs to comfort you through this difficult time. Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

To receive healing, the part you play in this equation, is that you must allow Him into your heart, into your life. Look for His help and comfort. The more you look, the more His presence in your life will be revealed. He is the only one who can heal your broken heart and give you peace that goes beyond understanding and strength to go on for another day. He can turn your mourning into dancing. "Fear not, for I am with you; be not anxious, for I am your God; I will strengthen you." Isaiah 41:10

My husband and I both had experienced difficult divorces. John was not one to listen to songs repeatedly, but after we dated for a while, he shared one with me that had ministered to him. He listened to it over and over and once I received the song, I did the same. Something about it encouraged and strengthened us. I have attached it below. If you are in a painful situation right now, I hope it ministers to you also. God bless.

Looking for Adventure?

There is nothing more exciting and adventurous than living life under God's direction. We may not truly know where we are going or how we will get there, but no matter what happens along the journey, we can know that it is our best interest and that God will see us through.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on Me and come to pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all of your heart."

When I read that Scripture, I was excited to know that God has a great plan for me to give me hope and a future, and that when I pray, He will listen. As I thought about what it means to seek God with all my heart, I thought about relationships with others, especially with the opposite sex. I can only speak from a woman's perspective.

When a man and a woman meet each other and find each other interesting and attractive, they start to pursue a relationship. As they do, it seems as if other people and activities pale in comparison to the time vested into your person of interest. You want to spend time with them and learn all about them. As you do, your relationship grows and your love for each other grows. You feel a commitment towards that person and a willingness to put that person first in your life.

So when I think of seeking the Lord with all my heart, I think of the human example mentioned above. Am I pursuing a relationship with God as fervently as I would a relationship with another person? How much time do I spend with the Lord? Am I trying to learn as much about Him and His character as I can?

As I begin to fall in love with Him, I draw closer to Him. That's exciting because He said in John 15:4,5, "Remain in Me and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing." There's nothing I like better than the idea of the Lord abiding in me to lead me and guide me in the way I should go so that He can touch and minister to people through me.

As I reflect on my life, I realize that God has loved me with an everlasting love, even before I acknowledged Him. He has been patient and gracious to me. In the years since I have accepted Jesus as my Savior and pursued a relationship with Him, I have been aware of miraculous ways He has worked in and through my life. (Many of those examples are reflected in the posts I have made since I started this website.) I am so grateful for having had the opportunity to develop a relationship with our Lord, the creator of all the universe.

It seems that some people are hesitant to accept Christ as their Savior. They feel as if they would have to give up something that is important to them, or that they know what is best for themselves. If you are one of these people, I encourage you to pursue a relationship with God. You don't have to be afraid. I have heard that in the Bible, there are 365 times that it is said, "Fear not" or "Do not fear". I guess God realized that we needed to hear that everyday so that we can be encouraged to go forward without fear as we pursue a relationship with Him. The following Scriptures are just two examples

Deuteronomy 31:8 " The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." Isaiah 41:10 "Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

When I thought about how I could repay the Lord for all the good He had done for me, I realized that it would be impossible to do so, since He is the creator of everything. And then I realized that all God wanted was for me to love Him and have a relationship with Him, which would be manifested by me giving up my ways and following His commands. At that moment, I said, "Yes!" and never looked back. To me it was a win-win situation. God had what He wanted and He provided and continues to provide for all that I need. Praise the Lord!

So, how about it? Are you looking for a great adventure in your life? Are you looking for joy, peace, hope and love? Follow Jesus. In Matthew 6:33, Scripture says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things will be added unto you." As I mentioned in a previous post, one day I was thinking about this Scripture, and I felt as if God said, "If you will put Me first in your life, I will put everything in order." Since my life was in a shambles at the time, I considered that to be a great offer. I put God first in my life, and He put everything in order. Hallelujah!

Journey with the Lord Part 4

As I said when I first started this series, the parts of my journey with the Lord that I am sharing are just snapshots of my experiences with Him. I share in hopes that my experiences will be an encouragement to you, because what He has done for me, He can do for you. Remember Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

This current season of my life is the saddest. My wonderful husband, John, died on Sept. 22, 2020. If there is one blessing that came out of Covid, it was that because of Covid, I worked from home part time from Jan. 2020 and was able to spend those nine months at home with John.

About 6 or 7 years before John died, I was able to get a glimpse of how happy he would be when he would go home to be with the Lord. John had a heart catherization and was staying overnight in the hospital. Of course, I stayed with him. At one point, he said, "I don't feel well". I looked at his vital signs and they were dropping quickly. I immediately called the nurse and they came running in calling out, "Stat! Stat!"

While they were working on John, we had the most surreal experience. He had this big smile on his face and kept saying, "I'm only half way here." I was calm and just kept saying, "Don't go now." as if we were just having a conversation and I was asking him to stay for another cup of coffee. This went on for a while, and then he was alright.

On the night that John was going to die, as I was praying for him, a darkness came over me, and I started pleading with the Lord for a little more time. Then He reminded me that He had already given us more time by letting John stay here after the heart catherization. A peace came over me that has sustained me through this grieving process.

I started out in a deep, dark hole from which I thought I would never come out. Although I have God's peace, I was very sad. But God has a better plan for me. He sent an amazing number of people to help me, encourage me, pray for me and love me out of that dark place. I've spent the last two and a half years in prayer and seeking what the Lord would want me to do.

Then one day, I was watching TV, and they were talking about social media influencers. As I was watching, I felt as if God said, "Why don't you become a social media influencer for me?" I thought that would be pretty interesting, but I had to laugh at God's sense of humor; that he would use an old lady who knows nothing about social media to be an influencer for Him. But as they say, "Nothing is impossible with God."

I didn't know where to start, but God provided the people I needed to help me launch this website and create a logo and business card for me. Some things that were amazing to me were these: I didn't speak to the woman who was helping me about color. All she knew is that the site would be called your success advocate. I chose that title because I felt as if that was my calling as a guidance counselor: to help people get the resources they needed to become the best person they could be. I was their success advocate. And she knew that I wanted to share about the goodness of God. The colors she chose were purple and white and she chose to add a dove to the logo. The amazing part is that John's business card was purple and had a dove on the card. It made me feel like John was with me in this endeavor.

The next amazing part was how she added the dove on my business card. She put it above the title, "Your Success Advocate". When I saw it, I was reminded of Jesus saying that He must go, but He would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to us to be our advocate and to lead us in all the truth. The dove is a symbol that is often used to represent the Holy Spirit. Then I knew that this site was not mine. It is the Lord's. He is your success advocate. He will lead you in all the truth. My job was not founder, but as a facilitator who would populate the site. My prayer is that God will use my entries to encourage, empower, and bless all those who read it.

Thank you for letting me share some snapshots of my journey with the Lord so far. May God bless you in a mighty way as you pursue your journey with Him in your life.