Ride The Waves That Tried To Crush You

Ride the Waves that Tried to Crush You

^{2 Corinithians 4:8-9} We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

Ever been here? Trouble on every side, perplexed, knocked down....

You are not alone. Seriously....I think so many of us have felt this way at least (and I mean at least) once or twice.

I watched this movie one day, a movie that I never would have normally watched. It was about surfers, and truthfully, I would avoid a movie where everyone is in swimsuits...however, something really intrigued me about this one and I stopped to watch.

Here's the basic gist of the movie. This girl loved to surf. She was very good at it....however, one time while surfing one of those awesome big waves, the wave slammed her down underwater, where she hit her head, board got caught on a rock and she nearly lost her life. Fast forward a year or so, and she is surfing again, but not competitively, she's just hitting the small waves, having fun, but never putting herself in that same position again.

She finally is encouraged to brave THE waves again in competition. Guess what...almost the same thing happens again. Fear causes her to misjudge the wave, and it crashed down over her, and her board is stuck again on a rock underwater and her ankle is fastened by a strap to the board. It's getting harder to breathe and she's trapped....she finally gets free from the board...she tries to swim to the surface, gasps for air....when suddenly another massive crushing wave crashes over her and sends her back under again, deep into the water. She barely had enough air to begin with, now she fights back to the surface, and gets one quick breath, before again...one more unrelenting wave...uncaring crashing wave sends her forcefully back underwater, deep, deep into the black water. By this time, you wonder does she even have the strength to fight her way back up again, and if she does will it even matter. You're on the edge of you seat, (realizing that's ridiculous because this is only a movie, ;o) hoping praying that she fights her way to the top once more . She does and this time there's enough of a break that someone is there with a jet ski to get her out of there.

Fast forward a little bit, and she is recovering in the medical tent...when she realizes...she will always be bound by fear if she doesn't get out there and ride that wave...... everyone gasps. She's out there now...she watches one, two, three waves come and go.....she stays afloat on all of them, just letting them pass. Then there's one that's coming that's gonna be huge...powerful...She starts swimming towards the shore getting ready for this wave....she stands...and...she rides that wave perfectly...it pipes around her providing a type of silence that is beautiful, the crowd of course can't see her, but she comes out of the wave on her feet with the most beautiful experience of her life. She rode the wave and won!

Long story, but if you're still with me...thank you. God showed me so much in this movie...How many times have the waves of life battered us, crashed over us...how many times have we felt like we were fighting for our lives, just fighting to catch our breath, when just as soon as we can breathe again, something else hits us and sends us crashing down again...

Too tired to fight...too tired to try again. But something...something says..Oh you might be knocked down, but not knocked out...you might pressed down, but not destroyed, ... discouraged, but never with out hope.

I'm telling you there's something that God does that even when things begin to appear "hopeless", He allows even just that glimmer of hope to guide us to the surface....

I can't even swim in the natural, but I know this...I'm tired of just coming up for air...tired of feeling like all the energy is used up in existing.

Things are changing. I'll say that again...This time things are changing....

This much I know...it's time to ride the waves...to the other side.

2 Corinthians 1:7-9 (New Living Translation)

⁷ We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us. ⁸ We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through...We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. ⁹ In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.

Thanks for reading. Love to know if you did.

Just had to add this link to this post...not normally my type of music...but the lyrics....come on!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWRJAHaOrYg&feature=av2e

FireFlight - "Unbreakable"

Where are the people that accused me?
The ones who beat me down and bruised me
They hide just out of sight, can't face me in the light
They'll return but I'll be stronger

God I want to dream again, take me where I've never been
I wanna go there, this time I'm not scared
Now I am unbreakable, it's unmistakable
No one can touch me, nothing can stop me

Sometimes it's hard to just keep going
But faith is moving without knowing
Can I trust what I can?t see to reach my destiny?
I want to take control but I know better

God I want to dream again, take me where I've never been
I wanna go there, this time I'm not scared
Now I am unbreakable, it's unmistakable
No one can touch me, nothing can stop me

Forget the fear it's just a crutch
That tries to hold you back
And turn your dreams to dust
All you need to do is just trust

God I want to dream again, take me where I've never been
I wanna go there, this time I'm not scared
Now I am unbreakable, it?s unmistakable
No one can touch me, nothing can stop me

God I want to dream again, take me where I've never been
I wanna go there, this time I'm not scared
Now I am unbreakable, it's unmistakable
No one can touch me, nothing can stop me


© ALLEN VAUGHN AND RAY; MEADOWGREEN MUSIC COMPANY;

Divine Appointments....Don't Miss Them.

So, I totally believe in Divine Appointments. Basically this where the timing and location and people involved are just "too coincidental". You know what I mean...you're running late, and

you swing by a store you normally don't go to, and lo and behold, you see "Sally". You haven't seen her in years, and you start talking, and she has a position open at her company that is

exactly what you've been looking for....coincidence? No. Divine Appointment.

You're early for an appointment, and you're never early. When you arrive, you see "Mike" leaving as you are coming in. "Mike's" son has been in the hospital, and you know he's going through a hard time, and Mike just opens up and starts talking real with you, and even lets the tears flow. You tell him, that you'll come by the hospital with his son's favorite ice cream, and give Mike a hug...You can tell that you've made Mike's day....and yours. Coincidence? I think not. Divine Appointment.

I can't tell you how many times in my life, there has been something that has happened and I have known beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was a divine appointment.

Today was one of those days...running late for church, wondering why I can live so close and still be late...beating myself up for not getting up earlier and getting there on time...then when we get there, there are no seats left, and since the teens will leave after praise and worship is over for their service, an usher goes ahead and moves 4 teens to a new location and as I walk into the row....I am placed right beside a boy I have been praying for and who I had been communicating with this week. He hasn't been to church in months. Coincidence? Again, I think not. Divine Appointment. I was able to remind him how much God loved him, and that God has an amazing plan for him...it was beyond awesome what God did in that meeting. He took a huge step coming today, and an even bigger step to allow God to heal some deep hurts. Then on this very day, Stevie Wonder shows up and reminds us in song, that if God's eye is on the sparrow, then we know He watches us. Divine appointment.

I remember one day I got very sick at a concert I was working, and had to leave. As I left, I suddenly began to feel better. Strange. The next strange thought was...well, I suddenly have an extra hour to myself...I need bras. Yes you read right. The strangest thought, but it was true and so I decided to go shop for bras while I had this unexpected time. At this store, me and another lady struck up a conversation and found out she was a minister, and we shared how God had brought us through some tough times...conversation didn't last longer than 5 minutes. What I didn't know is one of the sales clerks was listening to every word. She approached me later and said..."I'm so glad you came in today. I really needed to hear what you guys were saying. I feel like I just need to get closer to God and I really needed to see some strong women" She then starts crying right there in the store. I told her that God must sure love her a whole lot, to take someone from a concert, plant the strangest thought in their mind to go buy a bra, and have them there at the exact time as someone else, for her to hear that conversation. I asked her if I could pray with her for a moment, right there in the middle of all the bras...and she said yes...As I prayed a quick prayer, she really started to cry. I gave her a hug and my e-mail address, and reminded her of how much God loved her to rearrange schedules just for her....Coincidence? I think you know by now...no. Divine Appointment.

So here's my point. Whether you're running early or late, whether you are going to the same places you go everyday, or for some reason take a detour....keep your eyes open for those divine appointments. You never know whether God has someone who can bless you or someone he wants you to be a blessing to...all you need to do is be willing and keep your eyes open.

God has a divine appointment for you...can you fit it in?

Smile, with tears in my eyes.

Today I had the incredible pleasure of watching a young couple start their life together as man and wife. The groom had tears in his eyes as he watched his beautiful bride coming toward him. The father, brought tears to my eyes as well, giving away his oldest daughter, to a man that has pledged to love her, and be faithful to her, and be a Godly husband and leader all the days of their lives. It was an absolutely moving, beautiful wedding!

Not only was this day so beautiful because of the love and commitment of this young couple, it was beautiful because there were families there to help them celebrate that had overcome some of the greatest obstacles in life.

I watched as twin boys probably around the age of 3 walked down the isle of the church, each carrying a wedding ring...one for the groom and one for the bride. I watched as a beautiful little flower girl, threw rose petals as she walked, smiling the biggest, most genuine smile in the world, and did her job proudly and perfectly.

Here's the beauty of this day....This young couple is dedicating their lives to ministry, just as her parents, and grandparents have done.(I'm sorry I don't know more about the Groom's family). The grandparents started a ministry working with men who had life controlling issues like drug and alcohol addiction. They started this ministry in Capital Heights, MD many years ago...raised their own children while giving others the opportunity to have their lives restored. Then their son stepped in and decided that God had called him to that same work. He too raised his family as he did the work that God had called him to do.

Through what God has done in this ministry, I have seen men whose families have all but given up on them, and who many times have all but given up on themselves, find a place to allow God to truly heal them, re-create them, free them...It's something that just can't be described.

Today, those beautiful twin boys who were ringbearers, were also trophies of a couple who had endured much and survived. A man who allowed God to take the very addiction that robbed him of so much in life, to bless him with his wife, and the blessing of those two boys. It was a picture of a restored life and a restored family, and to see these two boys, all I could do was smile with tears in my eyes at how far God had brought this family.

That beautiful little girl, smiling the whole way as the flower girl, will be a little girl who will never have a reason not to smile, because of the changes that God made in her daddy well before she was born. She too was a trophy of what God had done in her daddy's life. See I knew him when many wondered, including himself, if there even was hope for him. Now, he too has allowed God to take away the very thing that tried to kill him, his dreams his future. I saw him with his beautiful wife, and kids, and again all I could do was smile with tears in my eyes. I felt as if I had a movie camera and was capturing wonderful sites.

I saw this same dad, stoop down and allow his young son, not yet even two years old, try and drink from daddy's big cup. When the son had gotten his little drink, daddy stuck his hand out to let his son give him a "high-five". The little boy will never have to know the life his daddy has been freed from. Again, all I could do was smile, with tears in my eyes.

I watched the father of the twins, discipline one of the boys, take him and seat him on a bench with a stern reprimand, and a time out. I saw this man loving his boys enough to discipline them, and train them, and develop them, and they too will never have to know the life their daddy has been freed from. I watched as he and his wife shared a dance, with tears in their own eyes, and I marveled at how far God had brought them.

So you see, although two days from now, it will be 4 years since my own husband's death, and this wedding was already an emotional time for me....it made me smile with tears in my eyes, as I remembered a man who had also experienced freedom from a life of addiction, a true personal relationship with God. I smiled as I remembered the love we shared and the way he loved his children, and I just couldn't help but smile with tears in my eyes.

Now this young couple begins their lives, and for now they will continue on with the ministry to hurting men who need another chance. What lives will God allow them to touch? Will they too raise their children as they minister God's healing and freedom?

All I know is that today was beautiful...painfully sad at moments as I missed my own husband, but so beautiful. And as I look back on today....all I can do is smile, ...with tears in my eyes.

"UnDone" - The next level

If you are like me, there has been at least one time in your life where out of hurt or frustration, or simply defeat...you say 'I am DONE'.

It's really a form of just giving up. Being too tired to fight, and just giving up and saying "That's it. I'm DONE"....Done trying, Done Caring, Done Hoping, Done Believing, Done.

Ever been there? Like you've hit the wall...can't go any farther?

I guess what I really want to tell you is that God wants to help you be "Un-done".

It's interesting....I heard the phrase "In His Presence I Am Undone"...then I felt it...In His presence All things are new....so new in fact that there was suddenly an awareness that I was "Un-Done".

Suddenly some of those things that had made me feel like I had hit the ceiling and could go no further....things that made me think and say "I'm done..." were gone. There was a new energy, a new hope, and new determination. Suddenly that phrase was so true. I was no longer done. I was "Un-Done".

It went right along with a word I had heard about breaking through the ceiling that seemed to limit us with the mindset that there's nothing more for us. To begin to believe that breakthrough is on the way, and when you breakthrough that ceiling, it becomes the floor of a new dimension, a new level... In His presence, breaking through that ceiling no longer seems impossible, it seemed probable.

If you need strength for another day...joy.... if you need to feel "un-done" instead of done....It all happens in His presence.

Our picture of God has been so warped by religion over the years, that sometimes we only see God as someone ready to punish you for all the wrong you've done, someone who wants to keep you from doing anything fun, someone who wants to make your life boring or sad. This is such a misconception...let's be real...that is such a lie.

Could you, would you, dare to believe that He is a God who has such amazing plans for you... a God who desires to give you hope, and desires to take you to the next level. A God who wants to help you breakthrough everything hindering you...To breakthrough that ceiling and let it be the floor of your new level.

It all starts with Hi God. I could finish a sample conversation about what you can say, but the reality is, I have a feeling, once you just say "Hi God", you already know the words that will follow. There is so much that happens in His presence....take some time today to find out what that is for you. He's got something great for you....find out what it is.