“As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands. Your laws are always right; help me to understand them so I may live.” Psalm 119:143-144

Pressures and stress are a daily part of life for all of us.

What pressures and stresses are bearing down on you?

A fractured family…

grandchild’s illness…

marriage differences…

joblessness?

We can all expect challenges in this turbulent life, but as Christians, we are among the lucky few with a secret superpower, allowing us to live in joy even while surrounded by stress and pressure. How?? We have 24/7 access to God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s ability to interpret and apply it to us and our current circumstances. Psalm 119 tells us we can still find joy in His commands even when stress and pressure are bearing down on us. His Word is always there to help guide us. We get to tap into a living, breathing message from Yahweh, the Almighty God.

The Alpha and Omega.

The Beginning and the End.

The One who Sees Me.

Not only can we tap into God…we MUST, because our hearts are fickle and no matter how much we want to hear from God…we also want to “hear” what we want Him to tell us. In order to grasp what HE wants us to hear through His Word, our hearts must be open and humble.

During my abusive marriage, God used His Word to tell me to stay. Then, at a later point, He used His Word to tell me to leave. How can this be? Did I twist God’s words? No. Truthfully, I was just as scared to stay, as I was to leave. God’s timing is always perfect. This is why it is so vital that we be walking close with the Holy Spirit, because He is the one who helps us to “understand” God’s laws, that we may live, and live abundantly.

There may be multiple responses to your current stresses and pressures, but only God has the solution for you. Lean into Him. Prayerfully seek Him. Surround yourself with others who will encourage you to trust God in all things. Saturate yourself in the Word. Then listen. Listen to the still small voice speaking to you and you will know your next step.

I feel it in my bones. God is going to do something amazing this weekend at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. He has already showered me with so much love and provision. I am in awe of His absolute wonderfulness.

As I look out the airplane window and see the vast beauty of all He has created, I am so humbled that He sees me. We have a “God Who Sees” all of us.

This feeling reminds me of when I am watching one of my favorite movies with someone who has never seen it before. I keep looking at their face, anticipating their reaction as they see the wonderful scene play out. I think God is watching our lives like a favorite movie He has seen 100 times. He knows what’s coming and is so excited for us. He can’t wait to see our reaction as He unveils the next plot twist, the next surprise. Mind you, not all of the unexpected plot twists in our lives bring joy, but there are plenty that do and today…I am feeling like God is on the edge of His seat, watching for my joyous reaction to His plan.

Trust me, you will have one of those days soon. When both God and your joyful anticipation collide…

A new baby

Job promotion

An amazing church service

An idea for a new book

Our God is so good to us. Live in expectation of His goodness. Then when He unveils the surprise, throw your head back and laugh from the deepest part of your soul, then go tell everyone just how great and glorious our God is.

We are so spoiled by the instant gratification of modern technology, aren’t we? Do you remember the last time you were really looking forward to a new download? You pushed go and the progress bar started off quick. Then just as it is nearing the end, at 99% of the way there, it slows to an infinitesimal speed. Your hopes are dashed and your irritation begins rising. No app. No movie. No nothin’. Just waiting and hoping if you hold out for just a few more seconds, it will all work out.

Our dreams can be like that progress bar. God plants them in us and we get excited right away. We feel His voice. See His hand. Surely, the plan is coming to fruition. And then the slow down hits. We get stuck at 99%. We are forced to wait. The question is, how will we wait? Will it be with hope-full anticipation? Will we remain joy-full? Or will our impatience rise to the surface and erupt in frustration and anger? The choice is ours.

Trust in an Almighty God who commands every second of every day.

OR

Decide God’s asleep at the wheel and has failed you.

Hmm…is it a hard choice? It could be. Depending on how much stock we place in our ability to control, well, everything.

Stay with me here as I go off on a little side story. Have you ever played “chicken” with the ocean waves? I remember a group of us playing on the beach one night. We would head down as the waves were going out to sea and then stand with our backs to the ocean. Our unofficial team leader would look out towards the water and start saying “Wait for it….Wait for it,” as we could hear the wave making it’s way back up to us. It seemed like we waited forever, filling up with both joy-full anticipation and the fear of getting soaked. Finally he would yell, “Now!” and we would take off, trying our best to outrun the wave lapping at our heels, and laughing the entire way.

The truth is that God sees what is coming. He isn’t making us wait to torture us. He is doing it to bring us the most joy and Him the most glory. God’s timing is impeccable. He isn’t a second too early or too late. Try to embrace the joy-full anticipation as you wait on Him to yell, “Now!”

He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. ~ Psalm 121:3

I used to live in fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of saying the wrong thing. Fear of what someone else could do (as if I could control that!)

Fear makes a horrible dictator. Dictating what we can or can’t say or do or think. Fear keeps us locked in a prison. A prison of our own making. It took a while for me to learn that I had a choice – and I was choosing fear.

“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

One of the ways Satan repeatedly tries to devour us is through fear. If he can bring fear to the forefront, and distract us from the goodness of God, he will. Every. Time.

However, the opposite of fear is faith and faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). Fear sees the unknown as negative and pessimistic. Faith is hopeful and optimistic. Which would you “choose” for yourself?

I am not saying there aren’t terrifying things and evil people in this world, but I am saying that we can trust in a God who is faithful and good. A God who already knows how your life will play out, and who has a plan to give you blessings, along with a promise to turn every challenge into an opportunity and work it out for your good. When you know…and I mean really know and believe that truth….fear has to release its hold on you. You have removed the well worn foothold Satan has been using, because you are no longer afraid of the unknown.

If fear is your dictator right now and you want to kick him off his thrown, here are some simple ideas to get you started.

1. Memorize 2 Timothy 1:7 and speak it over yourself whenever fear rears its ugly head.
   

   For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2. The next time you feel yourself making any decision out of fear….STOP. Refuse to make a decision based on fear. Pray and ask God to show you the FAITH-FILLED solution. Then do it.
3. Write out a list of the ways God has been faithful to you (or even those you know) in the past. Ask for eyes to see his continued faithfulness and keep adding to your list. It’s very hard to believe the lie that God can’t or won’t handle your current fear, when the truth is evidence to the contrary.

My prayers are for you to be more than a conqueror through Christ. To live in freedom from fear. To embrace the goodness of our God. What a powerhouse for Christ you will be when fear is no longer calling the shots!!

A lot of changes have taken place since my last post, and I will try to spend the next few days updating you. I know, many of you follow me on Facebook, so some of these won’t come as a shock to you.

First, I will start by apologizing for flaking out on this blog. My site was hacked and given a nasty virus. It took forever to deal with it because I kept telling myself I will deal with it tomorrow, but then tomorrow bacame more like next year.

I’m going to begin a cliff note version of what has happened in our crazy, chaotic family with a Jerilyn update.  She did end up spending about a year at the treatment center in Texas, coming back to Arizona after making some vast improvements and with a better handle on her coping skills. We decided on a step down program, which means she is in a therapeutic group home (TGH), and coming home here on most weekends.

Getting her into the TGH was an overwhelming task, as we received denials from almost all of them and were down to one last one, which is of course where God wanted her all along. The place is wonderful, we had a few hiccups in the beginning, but let’s face it, if a transition were to go smoothly for us it would shock the pants right off all of us.

She is blossoming and doing well at the TGH. The staff there truly sees this as their ministry, not a business, and it shows. Last weekend when I went to drop Jerilyn off, she wanted me to come in, pray, and anoint her and her room with oil, like we do at our home. I asked the staff if it would be okay, and the director’s response was, “Please, go right ahead…I do it every week while the girls are at school.” Praise God for this place and the girls they show Jesus’ love to. I once heard, “The hardest-to-love people are usually the ones who need to be loved the most.” So true with these girls, and I try to pour love into them any chance I get as well.

Jerilyn is going to be fifteen in January and I can hardly believe it. She is about to be taller than me. She is excelling in school right now and is starting to make a friend….BIG deal for a kiddo with autism. We were also able to get her back into the behavior-based private school she was in before she left for Texas and the school district is still footing the bill.

For right now, she is content where she is, connecting with other girls in her home who feel marginalized by society as well. This is a great environment for her to explore how to develop and maintain friendships. All in all, a lot of praises. Continue to lift her up in prayer whenever God brings her to mind because there always seems to be a new challenge right around the corner.

I promise to keep you better updated from here on out. There is still so much to tell so I will keep the posts coming. Love you all!!

One thing that happened over the summer was my nearly immediate addiction to Pinterest from the moment I logged on. I describe it like heroine or meth….because with one look you get hooked.

For those Pinterest virgins out there, it is basically a web site where people post pictures about any and everything. These pictures, or pins, range from fashion, home décor, DIY ideas and any other topic you can conjure up. My addiction is mainly to the home décor and DIY pins. They are an endless source of creativity and a total drain on my “free” time, if those things can coexist.

So…this summer in Florida when I was driving with one of my best-ies, Maureen, I spied out of my little eye a pallet behind a store. Immediately, my mind starting jumping with all the possibilities, aka…we went dumpster diving. Her kids were in the car and loving it! Who doesn’t love that crazy zany friend who flies into town and manages to stir up some chaos, right??

Maureen’s oldest daughter, Lindsey, wanted to redecorate her bedroom for her upcoming birthday and dare I say it….that pallet was calling her name. We pulled over and threw it in the back. A bit of elbow grease, some demolition help from the guys, spray paint, a touch of inspiration and VIOLA! Lindsey’s life verse as a piece of art for her new bedroom.

Lindsey did a lot of the work too! Lucky for Maureen I was able to help out and not leave her to do all of the hard work….at least THIS time….no promises next time. LOL

For those who may want to attempt some dumpster diving themselves….here were our steps.

Steps:

1. Go dumpster diving. J  Find pallet. (Be careful…kids love this so be prepared to have them tell others in a very excited way that you found something in the “trash.” LOL)
2. Give it a good cleaning with some water and a scrub brush.
3. Let it dry.
4. Smooth out the rough areas with sandpaper.
5. Prime it.
6. Paint it with your favorite color. We used black spray paint and did a couple of coats.
7. We used a small bottle of acrylic paint for the hot pink background areas.
8. 3” stencils from Michael’s for the lettering.
9. Apply a clear coat of sealant.
10. Enjoy the finished product of your creativity and hard work!

Okay, let’s talk about the really good stuff going on in my life right now. First off, Daniel is actually in the same state I am in for a few weeks. For all you married couples out there who actually live in the same state as your husband…I’m sure you are thinking “lucky April.” Of course, depending on how healthy your marriage is, you are either thinking we are “lucky” that we get to be together every day OR it means “lucky” that you don’t usually have to put up with each other every day. LOL

For me, I’m lucky he is in town, sharing life with me. We laugh a lot and we get to sleep (or not sleep) together. When your love language is physical touch (like me!) it’s nice to have your husband in town because it’s difficult to meet that need when you are 2000 miles apart.

I’m also lucky because, for those of you who have read this blog earlier, you know that life is not always (or ever) easy around theseparts, and Daniel actually takes the weight of this life and truly shares it. Prepare to be jealous girls….he is an excellent chef/cook, helps around the house without even being asked, and even encourages me to go take a nap when I’m tired. Oh…and did I mention he took me out dancing on our date night. Yes…I’m a pretty lucky lady!!

Let me get you up to speed on why we are in different states right now, since I’m sure many of you assumed we weren’t. Well, we got married in May and our plan (I seriously think God laughs out loud when he hears me say I have a plan) was to spend the summer in Jacksonville at Daniel’s place before moving him over here to Phoenix in August. We did spend an awesome summer in Jax, but then we encountered a couple bumps in the road.

Daniel owns a Brightway Insurance office (side note…if you live in Florida and we aren’t doing your auto and home insurance….why aren’t we?? LOL). Anyway, we ended up with some personnel issues in his office, which required he stay there for a while longer. Good news though is that we have everything in place now and he will be headed out here at Thanksgiving.

Another good thing we have going on right now is the church that we are attending, Calvary Chapel. I really love it and they have a special needs ministry where Jerilyn gets a one-on-one aid so I don’t have to stress about whether she can handle it. Totally awesome! Let me encourage you, if you do have a special needs child, to search out this kind of church…you absolutely need this and your children will be blessed. On the other hand, maybe you don’t have a special needs child, but you have a heart to help. Consider being that helper that gives parents like me the ability to even go to church.

Last good thing and then I am really done for today is that we have new neighbors. And they are cool neighbors! Neighbors who want to hang out and have game nights. I have literally mourned my neighborhood loss from Florida….I made such great, wonderful friends there, and until now (yes, over a year) I didn’t see a light at the end of the lonely neighborhood tunnel. So…next weekend I am hosting a game night. I’ve already got two couples coming plus my brother and sister-in-law (Paul and Vicki), so get ready 13^th Street, April is about ready to shake things up around here.  :Who-s-the-man: