Yes !!!!

   I am with a short attention span. REally. Unless what your talking about is worth while and from the heart I am usually not interested. So, let me get to the point. I celebrate those around me. I admire people. I love spending time watching others. When alone and wondering I am focused on the life around me. I am fascinated to know that I can value you and what you have. I can value you as life itself. I appreciate your thoughts and your gifts. I want you to shine before me. I want more reasons to bow before the Master and Praise Him for his creations are all so beautiful. Do not hold back. Who you are and what your doing matter. They matter to me. I can see and I value the content of your physical reality. I want for you to shine in reflection of who I am. I am in the company of those who are MUCH !!! I am encouraged by the voice of God that echos in the essence of our existence ! Praise HIm that you are rich in character . Hallelujah that you are unique in color. I love the variety of our king. I love being me. I love seeing you. I am a voice that says yes and Amen to who you are in the king.. !!!

Confession

    I am not that good at friendship. Friendship sometimes comes with too many expectations. When we have the joy of spending time with other people that we like we get that rush of new friendship. What happens when people start assuming or putting labels on the other person because of the great feeling of friendship? What do we really owe anyone ? Being friends shouldn't define our behavior it should be a platform for an open heart. Why is that we get our feelings so easily hurt by what others say or do ? My biggest question is why do we automatically assume because we share a great friendship with someone that they should not have any other friendships besides ours? All these questions weigh heavily on me this evening. I am personally going through some challenging friendships and because of my faith in God I am trying to motivate myself to learn all that these experiences have to offer ?! I am seeing alot of things about other people but the real lesson is to learn what is it about me . I am not sure as to what some of my current friendships will bring but I would hope that if anything the people whom have been apart of my life can say that I have pointed them to Jesus instead of me. I have no answers but I know who does. Maybe friendships are not what I have allowed myself to imagine. Those besty moments might be reserved for me and Jesus. Maybe the women in my life that come and go and call me friend are just people placed in my path for reasons I may never know. I am going to keep trusting God and believe that all things will work together for the greater good. And as I continue on my journey and encounter new friendships I hope the Lord will reveal to me one day the things that are happening now. It hurts my heart a little to say I have had to pull myself away a little from someone I do care about, a friend. But what must be done in her heart is something only God can do and sometimes tuff love must be ministered. I pray and believe and hope. That is all I am capable of. I was given the label of being someone's best friend and I failed miserably at it, the kicker of it is that I never even realized I had expectations placed on me. I am a little shy now to be so bold and encounter new people after this odd experience. I need some time to sit back and take a deep breath and let God fill me again with encouragement. 

Simple Truth

 I recently was given the opportunity to return to my home town and have a month long visit. One of the things I did was hang out with my daughter who is now 20 and her fiance. I noticed that the young folks don't use belts anymore. They use shoe strings. It looked so odd to me. A shoe string tied around a young person's waist to hold up their pants . With some effort on my part I became used to seeing my future son n law with a shoe string instead of belt. To my surprise when we visited the mall prior to school starting, I noticed all the kids do this shoe string thing. They even sell the pants with the shoe strings on them. So different than when I was young. When I lived in my late teens , early twenties it was all about big chunky fashion belts. The bigger and chunkier the better. They were heavy and would bust up and poke you.

  I began to think how ironic this simple truth is compared to religion and grace. When I was young trying to find myself and find my faith I was introduced to some religion. Boy did the practice of trying to be perfect and lawful alot like wearing that big chunky belt. It was way to heavy and when I would mess up and fall short the pretty decorations of religion would begin to poke and prod me. It wasn't until now my early forties that I have been relieved of that heaviness. I am now living the simple truth of grace and just like that shoe string it does it's purpose of keeping me up. Simple Truths are just like simple belts. I praise God that the kids now a days look to using a shoe string to hold up their pants. Maybe this practice of simplicity in their lives will help prepare them for the simple act of faith in Jesus. As I pondered this thought I could feel the spirit encouraging me telling me " your revelations will help awaken a new generation from religion to relationship". What a powerful lesson a shoe string has taught me. When sharing faith keep it simple. Keep it Jesus.