The Moments

As she glances out the window, she admires and takes in the view.    

Laughter, smiles, bliss, taking it all in – living in the moment.

This moment is what matters.

The boys in her life help her feel full.   Its like eating a fresh baked pie.  Each bite tastes so wonderful so blissful, with each bite she feels full and content.

This moment is what matters.

Time flies.  They tell you time flies when you are younger and you ask yourself – “What do they know?”.  The words touch her heart now, she realizes that the years pass in a matter of minutes.   They were right .   She realizes that this is something learned through experiences as she looks back.

This moment matters.    

She takes in the smells of their rooms when they are sleeping at night.  The smells remind her of the times when she rocked them to sleep, reminds her of the blissful feeling of love in those moments.   As she glances at their faces she is full of so much love in this wonderful life.    A sense of peace overcomes her as she gives gratitude to the moment and the beautiful view.

This moment matters.

The babies grow into young men, and she begins to see that they are becoming so much more than she could ever imagine.   Viewing the world through their eyes, helping them navigate through the rough and smooth – she feels so blessed for them to call her mom.

This moment matters.

More than she could ever imagine – the great gifts in this life are the ones you love and living in every moment.   

This moment matters.

Walking hand in hand in this life with her best friend. Her best friend was an angel sent from above.   Then the blessings she has been given are beyond her wildest dreams.   She gives thanks.   The gift of life –  her two sons – the greatest gifts of all.  Love so deep.        

This moment matters.

The joy experienced in this life always overcomes the sadness.  There are storms in this life but it is through strength and love that shelters us from the rain.   The sun always shines, and she has seen it happen so many times the rainbows that come after the storm.   

This moment matters.

She looks out the window and gives thanks and gratitude to  it all.  She knows He is the source of all of the good.         

This moment matters.

My Grownup Christmas List

The little girl with the brown curly hair, sparkle in her blue eyes, and a little white nighty runs to see what is under the tree.   Her parents smiles beam ear to ear; its a full size doll house, with little plastic figures, excitement stirs inside.  The same excitement is in her brother  – he too receives his perfect gift.   But the most important that they all share was the love for one another.

The love that resided within the home was lasting, deep, and strong.   The mother that loves her children so much and wants them to have the best was quick to sacrifice her needs for her loves.  A father that works hard to provide for his family to give them more than the pennies his family had, and wants to be the father he never had a chance to have.    Two children unaware of the challenges behind the scenes, all they feel is love every day and have parents that care so deeply for them.   Challenges come there way as they move from place to place, but the bond is never broken.  The gift that grew was inside their home.

As I look back in time, I have such admiration for the love that was built in our home.    We each have a story, the journey unique to each one of us.   My journey has been one coupled with challenges but always fought with victories, as I had Him in my corner.      My heart has been healed in so many ways, there have been hurts, pain, injury, illness, but as we moved through each of these valley’s the silver-lining always emerged –  the love for family.  Love.   A single word that carries so much meaning…So thankful.

Years ago my Christmas list was about material things, but in this 40th year of my life, my grown up Christmas list is so much more:

• Good health within our family.   Healing of ailments quickly and strength to run through our veins.
• Good health for our friends, and those that we interact with every day.
• Protection and well being for all whom we love.
• Protection of our sponsor kids and their families, may there lives be blessed and all barriers be broken so that they can have abundance in all things.
• For peace to reign in times of uncertainty.
• For those that are struggling for Hope to shine through. 
• For people to replace anger with forgiveness, to have the ability to let go and enjoy every moment.
• Forgiveness to always be present.
• For our family to live in the moment and enjoy it to the fullest.
• For the focus of all to be on how we can come together and care for one another.
• For love to reign. 

We are so blessed, to have the son of God that came to this earth to bring new life, abundance, joy and to always forgive us in all things.   He leads us, loves us and helps us to navigate through this messy life. He is the reason that we have the good in our lives.  May you be blessed during this Christmas season and may love shine on you and yours. 

Dear Lord God, As I sit here today, thank-you for showing me the positive always.   I thank-you for the abundance you have given me as gifts in love, family and life.   May I always be grounded and focused on the people that matter, and may you guide me in times where I am uncertain of my focus.  I thank-you for a heart of love that I have deep inside.  I pray for all of those people today that are struggling, may you bring them light and peace father.  If there are people that have lost loved ones during this season, help to heal the pain.  You are the healer Lord.  You know best, may we always trust you to make right our paths.   Thank-you so much for loving us the way that you do.  I pray for peace, love and joy to erode the earth.  I pray for this in Jesus Name Amen.

May you blessed,

Vanessa

The Power of Choice

Perspective…. It can be everything to us can’t it be?   Past experiences often influence our response and trigger feelings within.     The only thing we have control of in this life is how we choose to respond to the moments.    Sometimes we may not feel like we have control, but that is not the case, there is always a choice.

I have had moments in my life that have taken my breath away, moments that have torn me inside out from the core, and moments that leave me numb.   We all have those moments.

It is in those moments where the something powerful emerges – the POWER TO CHOOSE.      As I look back in my life, the moments I have experienced, that have been allowed to happen in my life, have always turned out for good.

But it doesn’t always end up that way for us all because there are usually two paths.

One path is driven by fear, we are a victim, a slave to the moment.

Another path although bumpy offers the least resistance.  This path can offer learning, good to come out of the bad, and is embraced by moving forward one step at a time.

I am thankful for all of the choices I have been given, and the roads I have traveled.  While there has been difficulty along the way, there was always a light to help me navigate.

This journey of life involves difficulty, happiness, anger, hope, sadness, joy, death, life.   As we go through the valleys and up the hills, we have the power to choose and embrace what is.  As we take one step at a time there will always be a light to shine our way.     I believe this to my innermost core.

Today as I sit in this moment, I thank God so much for teaching me how to get up after I fall, how to let go of the fear and trust, how to move forward and to learn to love and trust myself inside out.    This is all a journey, a process, something that I struggle with – loving myself.  But bit by bit I am realizing how I love others is the same grace I need to show myself.

Thank-you Father for your grace you always show me in my day.   YOU are so powerful, and your love is never ending.

Luv Ness

 

A Heart of Love

“One of the hardest things in life is having works in your heart that you can’t utter.”  – James Earl Jones

 

Tonight I received a text relaying some news that was not easy to receive.     Life stopped short for someone I knew, someone who lived in the moment, and someone who loved her daughter with all her heart and always showed a smile despite difficulty.   

Looking back on the moments I shared with this beautiful lady, I was in shock, unable to utter the words to describe how I felt.   I suddenly began to realize that I am heading into a new phase of life.  A phase in which people will leave me, life is flying by.

I look back on all of the phases in my life, phases as a child, where I couldn’t wait for the school year to end.  The school year would turtle by but then the summer would flash by in a blink of an eye.  As I began university, I couldn’t wait to finish so I could begin my ideal life.  Then the next phases were marriage, kids, a working career, death of grandparents – and before I knew it, there was a women looking back at me that had aged so quickly.  As I look in the mirror, the woman looking back is entering her 40s and I gaze in complete disbelief of how quickly life has gone by.

Through this journey of life, we all have a story to share.  Each story cannot be compared.   There are moments of complete gratification and then moments that hurt so deeply, that the words cannot describe the feelings.  But a question I ponder as I look back in time, what gets us through it all??

I will tell you LOVE.

Love – A four letter word that can push us forward and bring strength to every situation.       It is that simple.

Love for self allows us to give grace for ourselves when we fall.

Love for others allows us to sympathize, identify with, gives us compassion and understanding of the human condition.

Love for our family pushes us through the times where we feel we can’t take that next step forward.

Love for our children drives us to be more and to show adversity in the face of pain.   This love runs through every inch of our souls.

Love for our significant other or spouse, helps us to feel strong when we are weak, and equally bares the burdens we may feel at times.

Love for the Source beyond us.   Knowing that there is something out there (God for me) that is guiding us, directing us on our path and reassuring us along the way.

Love pushes us forward, ushers us in the direction we need to go.     In all of the moments, LOVE is a source that we need to draw from and leverage.   If love can be our navigator, we can always take any step we need to in the right direction.

Today I pause for the love of a friend that smiled every time you saw her, and showed strength.  Moments and time are so precious.   I know she will be one of the most beautiful angels in heaven with her beautiful red hair.

May you pause today and concentrate on the love you have for someone else, and reflect on how fortunate we all are able to experience love in this life.

Dear Lord God, thank-you so much for giving me a heart that feels deeply.  Thank-you for allowing me to reflect on my blessings today.    I pray for those who are going through difficulty and loss, may you bring them sunshine through the rain.  In Jesus Name Amen

Be blessed

Vanessa

Achilles Heel or God’s Grace?

An Achilles heel is a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength, which can actually or potentially lead to downfall. While the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, idiomatic references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to downfall are common. (wikipedia)

As I sit here today, I ponder and wonder.    I wonder about the pain, and ask myself how much more.   But I am learning how to cope, and realizing that I must not lean on my own understanding of this life.    Although I see my life through a different lens, and can look back and see a glimpse of the “why”,  I still do not know how this story will unfold.

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33)

The moments that seem ugly are not of God, but sometimes the bad happens for the good to come.   He knows this, and is the only one that knows the future.

Free will…  We have the power to choose how we respond to the moments that make us gasp for air.

These past four years have been quite the journey.    My Achilles Heel is seeing the ones I love in pain of any sort.    It is an item that is out of my control, and fear begins to set in.   Fear sits, it bubbles, and becomes bigger.

We received some news this week about my dad now.    I feel tired, I feel weak, and ask “why”?

He reassures…

He says breathe….

He says come and rest…..

I was watching the movie this weekend God’s Not Dead.   It is a story of a professor that tells his class that they will only pass his class if they declare God’s Dead on a piece of paper.   Intimidation.  Fear.  It sets in and bubbles, and through the nervousness, all students begin to write these words on a piece of paper.

It takes only one, for the good of many.

Then one young man just cannot write the words it is against his complete being.   He tells the professor he cannot write the words on paper as he would be denying God.   It takes one to stand up, one to keep plugging along; through one others see.

The journey is not easy, but sometimes we are meant to take it so others can come along for the ride.    

In this movie, there is a section that explains that Satan leaves unbelievers alone (physically, mentally,etc).   He does this because he doesn’t want them to come to God.  Often pain causes us to come closer.   All that comes from the Devil is evil and bad.   All good that comes into our lives is from God.   Good vs Evil.  Good or God always overcomes.   Always.

There is no question that my Achilles Heel has been attacked repeatedly these past few years. But is it really my Achilles Heel or is it God’s Grace?

God’s Good Grace.

I lift my eyes to God, and I have hope and trust good will come from these experiences.   There is no doubt that when God looked on the trials that His son experienced, there was heartache and pain.   But so much good came from the blood of Jesus.  We all are promised something beyond our wildest dreams.

God will heal, restore, and make all things good. God has promised us the greatest gift.

So today as I find out some news that does not feel the greatest, I say I trust You God to protect my family and heal their bodies of their ailments from the inside out.   I lean not on my own understanding and ask that you be my eye’s to see, my ear’s to hear, and my mouth to speak.  You are in control.  In Jesus Name Amen.

Stepping Out In Faith & Embracing The Moment

Every moment holds something in its hand.    Whether it be a learning, an experience, or just a moment to be still and breathe.

It is easy to get caught up in the moment, to let fear, anger, and resentment take over.   But we all have the ability to control how we choose to respond.   We can choose to let go, to not give in to the hurt, pain and unhappiness.

Perspective is everything.    When you look in the mirror of your life what do you see?  When I start my day I pause, and ask for strength and perspective.

Dear Lord God,

Be my eyes to see what you want me to see,

Be my ears to hear your whisper of guidance and direction,

Be my mouth to speak words of forgiveness and love,

Use me, guide me, help me.

It’s you who I choose to see in the moment.

It’s your grace that guides me.

It’s your love that helps me see.

I lift it up to You.

I choose to let go.

You are my direction,

You are in control.

It’s through you that I become whole again.

 

When I look in the mirror, I see a woman who has come through this life stronger than before.   I see the times where I was carried, I see the times where the brokenness was set free.   By His grace, I picked myself back up.  He held out His hand, and asked me “Step out in Faith my child, and trust ME”.    Thankful for Him waiting patiently, guiding, and giving me more than I could ever expect in this life.   

In the mirror I see a life that is full, a life that has abundance,  and a ton of love.