Monday, April 30, 2007

Mottos of Life

I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. "When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. "When you come looking for me, you'll find me. "Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed."
~Jeremiah 29:11-14(a)

It's no secret to anyone who reads this blog that this is my motto verse in life...for myself, our family, our marriage and life in general. I'm clinging SO very hard to this verse today. I've been blessed to volunteer for a position this past year. It's been an awesome experience that words won't ever adequately describe. There's been a lot of growth in my walk, my work experience and simply in me as a person. I attribute this volunteer position to a good portion of that...it's very humbling as I think where I was, where I am and where He'll continue to take me.

Another motto I live by in my life is this...that God would place job opportunities in my life that are such a blessing, that I would love them enough to do the job for free...with my whole heart and soul, giving it my all and letting Him shine through it all. Today, I am having an interview...to possibly be able to call this volunteer position my job. It's my first interview in 11 years...yes, I worked a job for two years in my old stomping grounds, but I didn't have a formal interview for it. So, yesterday and today have so far, been full of prayer and preparation.

"His will, not mine" is what my motto is today. That He'll formulate the words to answer questions posed to me. That His love will shine through me as I have this interview. That in the end, what He wants will transpire, and that it'll be accepted with a loving and humble heart, no matter what that reply might be.


Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Guided Ways...

"Keep me safe, O God, I've run for dear life to you. I say to God, "Be my Lord!" Without you, nothing makes sense. And these God-chosen lives all around—what splendid friends they make! ... Now you've got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I'm on the right way.

~ Psalm 16:1-3,11

Our New Addition to Be...

Hmmm...I wonder which one will be the welcomed addition into our family? One of them will be in a month or so. We haven't let our kids in on the secret quite yet. They have been trying to wear mommy down for a very long time, in terms of welcoming a puppy into the Cinder family.

I'm sure we'll be kept busy, but it'll be a lot of fun. I probably would have been stronger, but after holding these little gaphers when they were two weeks old...well, that just did me right in...so yes, I guess I can be won over depending on the situation ;D!






Monday, April 23, 2007

A Life for the Living

This is a picture from our old stomping grounds of so long ago. I'm making a 'flying' trip up there tonight and will be back tomorrow morning to take Mr. Cinder to work, teach school and live out a 'typical' Tuesday in the life of the Cinder household.

As I go, I'm having a lot of thoughts run through my mind. It's partly where I'm at and what I'm experiencing I'm sure. I haven't been on this venue to write much, mostly because of how I explained it to someone..."that I'm worried about the fact I sometimes seem bipolar or with my back up against the wall." The bottom-line is that I haven't felt very creative lately and any time I've had free, I've wanted to spend with the people around me.

I'm doing a lot of soul-searching and that seemingly amounts to many changes when I do it. Change isn't a bad thing, especially when it's coming at the following of His prompting. I'm trying hard to be more aware of each and everything I do in my life. Every moment is precious...even those ones which are spent in thought and quiet reflection. They all count towards something eternal and for that reason, I'm really surveying things to make sure I'm living with the right condition of the heart.

Anyhow, I know that driving a ton for a pretty short period of time seems really weird and crack-potty to a lot of people. But for me, it will be an awesome time of being with Him and enjoying His beauty as I drive through His creation. It will also allow me time to be with an awesome friend whom I miss so dearly. We can be apart for months and when together, it seems we never were apart at all. This will be a time of drinking that all in and hopefully finding strength to endure this continuing battle of illness with a much better strength and positive attitude than I have fought with up to this point.

I told someone this week that my motto in this life is to give to everyone who crosses my path. To give my friendship, my heart, my support and whatever else I'm supposed to do in each situation. This is so hard sometimes, because giving of yourself opens you up to a lot of pain and heartache. But to live a guarded life I think would supply me with even more heartache and pain.

I'm thankful today for where I'm at and where He'll eventually take me. My life may not be perfect...I may not be perfect...but it's a blessing to go through life living each moment, instead of simply watching them all fly by.

Friday, April 20, 2007

You Are My Love

As I sit here in the silence,
Pondering all You are.
I can't fathom all You offer me,
Despite all that I am.

I sometimes contemplate,
The roads I've already travelled.
I know You have a plan in all things,
Please help me to simply follow and accept.

You are my love,
You are my peace,
You blanket me and are always by my side.
You are my hope,
You are my strength,
When I feel like I can't go one step further.

Please help me God,
To quiet myself and listen for Your voice.
Shut out the noise and commotion,
So the confusion will die down.

I know You are the only way,
Help me never to forget.
Even when things feel so desperate,
Let my eyes be on Your light.

'Cause You are my love,
You are my peace,
You blanket me and are always by my side.
You are my hope,
You are my strength,
When I feel like I can't go one step further.

Help me see Your love,
And feel Your peace,
And always let You blanket me.
Help me know You are my strength,
And know I will never falter.

Oh I love You Lord,
You are my light.
And I need You more than ever,
Oh how I love You!

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

A Vastly Different Light

"Life is hard. Most of us have reasons to lie down on life and never get up...Christ got down next to us in the grave, stayed the better part of three days, and then got up...so we'd have permission to get up too. And start living life. Beloved, let this one sink in deeply: if God allowed you to be thrown into a pit, you weren't picked on; you were picked out. God entrusted that suffering to you because He has faith in you. Live up to it. All the way up."

~ Beth Moore



I've heard a lot about Beth Moore and her writings. I haven't had a chance to read anything she's written until last week. A while ago I was looking for online Bible studies, etc. and I had happened upon a book by Beth Moore entitled, "Get Out of That Pit: Straight Talk about God's Deliverance ". At the time, I kinda put it in my memory bank and continued on my way. Last Wednesday, while at the Christian book store to run an errand, I turned and saw this book with a sales tag on it. My inner voice prompted me hard to get it, so I did and since then, when I have time to sit and read, I can't pry myself from this book.

It's caused me to reflect even deeper about a lot of things in my life...the direction it's going and whether or not I've been sitting idle, driving in reverse, in the midst of a detour, simply under construction or a multitude of other things which could be the direction of a trip. I've been thinking about the fact that there's nothing really wrong with most of these things if God is at the realm, but if we are attempting to take control of the directing, then there's endless possibilities of what could potentially go wrong.

Another thing which has been relevant lately has been my health. Deep down, I think it's probably been an issue, as to why it can't be figured out what's going on. I know it's an issue for many around me and I'm realizing that no matter how hard I might try not to, I have been drinking those into my system and this has been causing a wide variety of emotions. It came to me last night, that maybe I'm simply not supposed to know what's causing the repeated infections...maybe that's not what He wants me to take from this experience in life. Deep down, I think the lesson I'm supposed to take away is one of complete and total surrender of all things. A surrendering which is not conditional on eventually knowing the outcome of what's going on, but one which is simply allowing me to be content where I am and learning to live a full life in spite of the obstacles around me. Maybe there will come a time when the cause is figured out and options are available to help rid the infection for good. But I can't stay in idle, because who knows how long that might be and if it will ever be.

You know, the only thing I can really do, is to take steps to be able to live in the most positive light for Him. In this book three steps are talked about: CRY OUT, CONFESS and CONSENT. I haven't read far enough to say what the book says these steps are, but simply by looking at them, I feel a lot of peace. I know in my heart, that by doing these steps daily, I will get to that level of unconditional and complete surrender that He wants me at. I know there's a lot of work ahead of me, but I truly believe that it will all be for the better...the best for me, for my relationship with God, for my marriage, for my family, for those relationships with people around me and so much more.

Life's not always easy...many times it is hard and I think we do wish we could just lay down...at least I know I feel that way a lot of times. I think when you make a commitment to change and work on the betterment, the obstacles will increase and that feeling will be very overwhelming some days. But He's with us always...He knows us and loves us in the midst of all things, regardless of whether we see something as a success of failure, I believe He sees it all as progression to where He knows we all can be. That's a huge comfort, especially in times when you can't see the light at the end of tunnel and things seem to be getting increasingly worse instead of better. Even when it feels like He's not there and doesn't care, He does and so much more than we really know. It's those times which bring us to a deeper level with Him and cause us to see who He is in a vastly different light and also to see what He sees in us each and every moment of our life.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Contemplation....

"As you feel the timber of the cross and trace the braid of the crown and finger the point of the spike - pause and listen. Perchance you will hear Him whisper: I did this JUST for YOU."

~ Max Lucado

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Chosen...


Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Those blessings come from the heavenly world. They belong to us because we belong to Christ.

God chose us to belong to Christ before the world was created. He chose us to be holy and without blame in his eyes. He loved us. So he decided long ago to adopt us as his children. He did it because of what Jesus Christ has done. It pleased God to do it. All those things bring praise to his glorious grace. God freely gave us his grace because of the One he loves.

We have been set free because of what Christ has done. Through his blood our sins have been forgiven. We have been set free because God's grace is so rich. He poured his grace on us by giving us great wisdom and understanding.

He showed us the mystery of his plan. It was in keeping with what he wanted to do. It was what he had planned through Christ. It will all come about when history has been completed. God will then bring together all things in heaven and on earth under one ruler. The ruler is Christ.

We were also chosen to belong to him. God decided to choose us long ago in keeping with his plan. He works out everything to fit his plan and purpose. We were the first to put our hope in Christ. We were chosen to bring praise to his glory.

You also became believers in Christ. That happened when you heard the message of truth. It was the good news about how you could be saved. When you believed, he marked you with a seal. The seal is the Holy Spirit that he promised.

The Spirit marks us as God's own. We can now be sure that someday we will receive all that God has promised. That will happen after God sets all of his people completely free. All of those things will bring praise to his glory.


~Ephesians 1:3-14 (NIRV)

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Courage...


“Courage is not limited to the battlefield or the Indianapolis 500 or bravely catching a thief in your house. The real tests of courage are much quieter. They are the inner tests, like remaining faithful when nobody's looking, like enduring pain when the room is empty, like standing alone when you're misunderstood.”

~ Charles Swindoll