Yo, God~~~Renew Your Strength and Soar like an Eagle

But those who wait for The Lord, who expect, look for, and hope in Him shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up close to God as eagles mount up to the sun; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint; or become tired. Isaiah 40:31

As I reached for my weights this morning to start my daily weight loss class I call "Yo, God" my imagination already was ahead of me. Instantly I knew what scripture I wanted to meditate on while working out. Feeling great from the refreshing Christmas gathering with my family there were new smiles on my face and heart that weren't there before. 

Before meeting with my family I felt like the poem that stated "how do I know my youth has been spent because my get up and go has got up and went."  Mine was more like this:

 

" How do I know that my strength has been spent.

Because my get up and go has got up and went. 

With my spirit flat on the floor and my smile upside down

I wondered how in the world was I going to get around. 

My cancer had me dragging; life's stress had its toil,

was there really something I could do to get out of this hole?

Then I spent time in the scripture and exchange laughter with others,

suddenly what was flat was no longer smothered. 

It's true what God says about renewing your strength,

next time I will mount up like an eagle in a blink. 

It may take me back to the scriptures, to my family galore

but one thing I know I won't leave my spirit at the door. 

God is my strength its not the weights in my hands

but its His love and His presence that gives me my stand.  

Now with my spirit inflated again to be worn,

my upturned smile returns to me more. 

Come fly with me eagles, come fly with me now.

Lets renew our strength in God and get our feet off the ground. 

Life's too short to be a chicken unable to fly.

Lets fly away, fly away, fly away all. 

Mount up fellow eagles. 

"Yo, God here comes Your convocation of eagles."

Copyright 2014 Karen Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipe Publishing
Sent from my iPhone

95 days till Easter~~~~~~~~~~~~~Committment

December 26, 2012

On my journey to be free from my slavery to food it is now 95 days till Easter. On this day I make a commitment to stop dieting. It's time to stop trying to make food behave and place the responsibility on myself. Wow! That is so opposite of what the world starts on January 1st, the commitment or resolution to diet.

I need instead to do it God's way and stop doing anything that makes me talk about, focus on, lust after food, or allow it to control me. Eating by the clock, savoring the smell of food, lusting over a mere picture of food, or falling for the power of suggestion to eat what I don't need all have to go.

In my commitment the battery on the clock needs to be removed. There is no more eating in the morning because that's what we are supposed to do or eating at noon or six o'clock because they are the appointed times to be hungry. I need to allow my stomach to tell me what the appointed time is not the clock.

My desire to keep my commitment to myself and God needs to be stronger than my desire to eat what I want when I want it. A good scripture to think of here as I begin is, Philippians 4:13 "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."

Thorn in our flesh

In the Bible we find the old familiar story of Paul and how he was given a "thorn in flesh as a messenger of Satan to buffet him lest he be exalted above measure." Several times he pleaded with God to remove this so called thorn. I don't know if God answered Him each of the three times he pleaded with Him but what He did finally answer put an end to the pleading.

 

God told him in 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficent for you. For My strength is made perfect in weakness." It was an answer that was good enough for Paul and it needs to be good enough for us. It doesn't matter what Paul's thorn was nor does it matter what we would consider our thorn in flesh. Big or small, been there the longest or the shortest amount of time doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that God's grace is sufficent for us.

 

In preparing for rain (an answer to my prayer) as I've been talking about one of the best way I can do that is to work on my relationship with God. To live my faith and act it out in my attitude. I need to stay strong in the Lord, not in myself. Believe it or not the thorn in our flesh is there for God's use and our benefit. It's used to get our attention, to humble us, to teach us how to trust, follow, and have faith in God.  Too often we thank God for the roses (good things, blessings, etc) but we don't thank Him for the thorns when we really should. It's the thorns not the roses that do so much for us in spite of the pain they can cause and the struggles they create.

The thorns create storms in our lives and we need to use these moments for the betterment of our person instead of for an opportunity to grumble. Storms show us where the lose shutters are, the missing shingles, and the other things needed to be corrected before the next big storm hits.

We need to make God enough in our lives. We need to know and accept the fact that He is sufficent. In order to do so we need to come to the end of ourselves and surrender all we have to Him. Surrender our pain, our loneliness, our attitude, our time, efforts, and whatever else that has our fingerprints all over it.

God is sufficent. We need to believe that and live it out daily. In preparation for my rain (answer to my prayer) I need to keep my focus on God and know that He will come through for me. It may not be the answer I'm seeking but it will be sufficent to what God wants in my life and in the life of the individuals around me.

 Praise the Lord the thorn God has inflicted in our flesh is not there for our torture but for our teaching. Self-inflicted thorns are a totally different story, a totally different outcome.

Breast cancer awareness

Cancer not only affects those who have it but those around them. October is breast cancer awareness month. Let's support them in our prayers as well all those affected by this disease.

The other day when I was having a "bad bone" day I call them. My  bone cancer was getting the best of me I was having a hard time grocery shopping. The gallon of milk I wanted to buy weighed more than what the label said it did. After asking for help from a man who was standing in line to lift it up on the counter for me I gave him a tip afterwards. The tip was, "Don't get cancer it sucks."

He smiled at me and told me he had no intention of getting it. I told him that was a good idea. After leaving the store I got to smiling at the fact that the young man probably would have preferred a dollar or two dollar tip instead of the one I gave him. However, what I had to say was a good tip. The thing about it is the fact that not too many people "Intend" to get cancer. I know it wasn't on my agenda. I'm sure its not on the agenda even of a person who smokes to get lung cancer.

The thing about it is, it comes and we need to be aware of it. We need to be strong enough to withstand the pressure, emotions, burdens, and hardship it creates. God's strength is what helps me to face it day to day. It is because of His love for me that I'm able to hang on. Having a support group around me that could fill a football stadium helps as well. I'm so thankful I'm not alone. It's important that we get that message out to anyone affected by this disease whether its breast, prostate, lung, brain, or whatever kind of cancer. With God and the help of each other we can survive emotionally and spiritually. Whether our bodies survive as long as we would like them to is a totally different thing.

I love the story in the Bible about Moses and the battle the Israelites had to fight in Exodus 17:11,12 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun." The end result was they won the fight.

We need to do that with those affected by cancer, the one with it as well as those who are caring for that person. We need to prop up their hands when they grow weary until the battle is won. The one tiny detail about Moses' victory was what he held in his hand. In his hand was the rod of God. In our hands and hearts needs to be the word of God, His written promises to hold on to, His guidance to direct us, and His love to comfort us.

In love W.I.T.H. Jesus,

Karen

Continuing to Pray

In my previous entry at first I didn't make it very clear who suffered from the seizure disorder my niece or my sister. It is my niece Stephanie. In her own way my sister suffers from it too as she cares for her daughter.  It's difficult to stand by and see your child suffer so much. Its a tremendous feeling of helplessness. It's been a long and hard journey for the both of them. When I had epilepsy my husband was my caregiver. It was just as hard on him as it was me. It took only twelve years to get thru it but we made it thru together. Unfortunately twenty years later came another journey, one marked by my breast and bone cancer.

Just the same, we should never fall into the trap of trying to figure out who is it harder on the one with the disease or the one caring for them. Both parties are in need of equal prayer and strength.  Both have vital parts to play in the success or failure of the journey they travel together.

So for both my niece and sister I pray that together God will carry them thru in their journey forward towards Him and the plans He has for them in their lives.

Luv always,

          Karen, sister and aunt

Praying for Others

Tonight I set aside my own needs as I lift before God my niece Stephanie and my sister Juli. Fighting seizures most of her life my niece's journey goes on. Hoping for an end to the uncontrolled seizures she's been having the end has been temporarily postponed. Burdened with disappointment yet filled with anticipation as well for the future I pray for both of them tonight that God will comfort their weary souls and renew their strength that they will both wake up afresh and ready to face a new day.

It's been a long journey for the both of you and I just wanted you to know that I continue to travel beside you. Me and all your many other cheerleader prayer warriors lifting you up in prayer and spirit. Stay strong, keep moving forward, and exercise your faith and trust in God knowing He will never leave you nor forsake you.

These prayer candles in this picture tonight I lite for the two of you. As I kneel upon my prayer pillow my heart and love goes out to you. The best I can say and demonstarte is that you will trust in the Lord with all your hearts and lean not onto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.

The road continues and so does God's love for you and my love for you too.

Luv,

Karen, sister and aunt

Bend in the Road

As I travel to town daily to go to work I go around a bend in the road that was nicknamed “Dead man’s corner” many years ago. Over a long period of time it earned that name because of the people who were killed there. This includes the drunk driver that hit my husband, brother, and their best friend. It was on this corner that as I came into it I found my adopted granddaughter and her mom sitting on the side of the hill waiting for a ride to rescue them from the car troubles they were having. I picked them up and took them home, the car was rescued later.

Life is full of bends in the roads. As much as we would like to travel from Point A to Point B with the straightest of all road it doesn’t work that way. Funny thing about a straight road, they can be boring which makes the journey appear to be longer than it really is.

The bends in the roads we encounter can come from situations such as being diagnosed with cancer, told your spouse wants a divorce, troubles with raising kids, problems at work, and so much more. These are all disruptive moments that come up in our lives that we need to be prepared to handle.

Unless you are familiar with the road you don’t know what is around the bend. We trust in the road department that they don’t have some surprise on the other side. We trust that the road is built well enough that we can get through to where we want to go.

With life’s situations that create bends in our roads we need to trust God as our road department that He knows what He’s doing. That the road we are traveling won’t end up in a surprise on the other side.

When traveling in a car we are taught to have some kind of provisions tucked away in case something happens. And trust me things can happen such as flat tires, dead batteries, trees blocking the roads, lost drivers and so much more. In our spiritual journey we need to be prepared to take with us the provisions God supplies through His grace, mercy, strength, and wisdom.

The bends in the roads we encounter don’t have to earn the nickname “dead man’s corner.” How we handle the situations we come up upon will determine whether we will live through them or allow our spirit to die there and go no further.

Years ago with my epilepsy I once had it created a very big bend in my road. I was declared disabled, lost my job, my driver’s license was taken away, I was told to never have kids all in the span of the first month or two of my new marriage. Many times thanks to pity parties and discouraging moments I stopped on the side of the road and wanted to quit. It was there that I wanted to die but God wouldn’t let me. Little did I know at the time he was traveling with me through these bends, he was the one that rounded the corner and found me sitting on the hillside as He asked me if I needed a ride.

Praise the Lord we have God with us during these moments. We should never doubt that. Just because He is there doesn’t guarantee us smooth sailing, what His promise is, is a safe landing on the other side.

As I travel into the next bend in my road with cancer I’m glad God is still with me. The hard times I face are not punishment for bad behavior from yesterday but for blessings in my future to learn what I need to learn in the classroom of hard knocks. My teacher travels with me, on my spiritual car I’m traveling in I hang up a sign on the trunk that says, “Student driver. How’s my driving? Call Jesus.”

Journal Note Coping Skills, trusting God

I promised I would share with you my “coping skills” I used over the years. Tricks pulled out of my hat that worked temporarily but soon failed. As with any trick, they may work for the person down the street but that doesn’t mean they will for us. What is important is we work on finding what does work for us one ingredient at a time; one recipe at a time.

Samples of things I did to endure were: 1) I recorded scriptures on a tape to listen to at night using earphones to help me fall asleep and give me peace. 2) Frequently I used solitary bathrooms as my crying room as I struggled to regain the strength needed to endure the outside world. 3) Sitting on the baptistery stairs at the church and praying and talking to God helped a great deal. 4) Frequently going into the sanctuary of the church dropping to my knees crying out loud to God was a must. I remember once doing it in my bib overalls, another time in a dress that I lost a button on as I fell to my knees. I never did find the lost button but I found God. One time when I was praying I felt the tremble of the earth below me. Later I went back to that same spot and tried again to see if the tremble was still there but it wasn’t.

5) I anointed my house once, the door jams and the front door as I prayed to God.  6) I painted the walls of my house with songs of praise each morning before leaving for work to cover the anger from the fighting the evening before. 7) I would daily leave all my cares and anxieties on the rock pile at the edge of our property so I wouldn’t take them to work with me. 8) I built a set of stairs out of wood and put a cross on the top of my four inch creation to give me a place to focus. 9) I even tried the running away trick and the trick of anger and revenge.

 At times it seemed like the only friend I had was the smiley face on a deck of cards that would pop up randomly as I played solitaire on the computer. It was a face I looked forward to as it was a reminder to me that someone still cared. Someone was still smiling at me. On top of all the other tricks I listed I had one I thought was the answer. It seemed like a good approach to my problems. It was logical and what appeared to be fool proof. Wrong! Little did I know my effort to deal with life turned into a trap that I would later get caught in? It would be a trap that took years to remove.  

 Over the years it got to the point that I told God I had no more tricks to pull out of my hat. Everything I tried to do to cope wasn’t working or lasting very long. God spoke to my heart and told me the problem was “I” was trying to do these things; “I” needed to stop and allow God to help me.

 Giving up the notion that I needed to get my husband to change was the beginning of better progress for myself and my marriage.   It was time to stop believing the lies that Satan had me feeding from. Lies such as the fact that my only friend was a smiley face on a deck of cards, the lie that getting angry was showing I was dealing with life. The lie also that I was the only one going through such terrible times. The lie also that no one cared.

 Satan is good at getting us down and then he has his ways of holding our heads under as we drown in our own self pity. Way back when I didn’t lean on the promises of God, I leaned on my tricks. Later I learned the best defense is that which God provides. The promises He gives us in His word such as “I will never leave you nor forsake you. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

 Those are the things we need to throw in Satan’s face and tell him what Christ told him, “Get ye behind me Satan.” It’s a statement that will need repeating over and over again but that’s okay. The important thing is that we don’t quit or give up on ourselves or God. We need to use our hard times to learn from and to draw closer to God.

 Honestly if my walk in life had been smooth and easy I probably never would have prayed to God as much as I have. I would never have drawn as close as I am to His side. As the song says, “If that’s what it takes then Jesus let it rain,” Amen! We definitely need to stay close to God when life circumstances are raining down on us. Leaning on Him and doing all we can to stand strong in Him.

 
It’s important to remember that Satan can make us stumble but he can’t make us fall. We are the ones that allow that because we aren’t focused on the things above, the eternal stuff that needs to be in our hearts. Praising the Lord thru it all is the best way to cope anything. Praise Him for His love, his mercy, grace, forgiveness, comfort, companionship, wisdom, understanding, and so much more. Claim His promises in His word and stand on them. Satan will try to knock you off your newly found platform of promises but don’t allow it. Stand firm, stand strong.

Journal Note #4

Well time has passed and so has part of the goals I’ve set for myself. My husband came home from being away at work for a week and out the door went my efforts. Again that isn’t his fault it’s my fault.

One day at a time we need to challenge ourselves to press on and to not give up. When we stand before the Lord in judgment God’s not going to accept our excuse that our spouse made it difficult to be what we wanted to be.

The idea of blooming where we are planted is all about growing where you are in your walk with Christ, your spiritual maturity and your ability to overcome. Instead of sitting here asking “why me” we need to stand up and say, “What I can learn from this.”

Today I am challenging myself and my fellow Paulette’s once again to move forward with our goals. I don’t know about you but too often in the past I was the first to give up when things got tough, I don’t want that for my life any more. I am choosing to finish well even if it takes my entire life to do it.

Dear Heavenly Father, today I pray for my fellow Paulette’s out there that are struggling as I am struggling. Forgive us Father for allowing the things around us to take us off our course of being who we need to be in You. Help us to lean more on You instead of away from You. To take the challenge to work on improving ourselves and use it to glorify You.

This week’s goals:
1. Balanced checkbook
2. Clean one room per day
3. Complete a half done journal note in my diary
4. Exercise self-control when it comes to my eating and exercising


Today’s promise sword:
I can do all things THRU Christ who strengths me. Take that Satan!

Journal Note #3

I’ve once again come up against where I am the weakest. I have a hard time blooming where I’m planted because life gets a little difficult. The atmosphere in the house changes and I go with it, this needs to stop. I’m a true Paulette all the way but even Paul was able to hold his own and be the person Christ had called him to be.

Even in the most perfect of conditions if we don’t deal with our weak areas they will remain weak. The purpose of my journey is to not get out but to get through by the grace of God. A journey that brings glory to God in all I say and do.

I want my struggles to be other people’s planks that get them through their own difficult moments in life. One thing I have learned over the years is the fact that “every moment eventually passes.” They may take their time sometimes but they do pass. What we do in those moments, how we react, what we say goes with us so we need to do what is right and beneficial not revenge and self-seeking.

I can both stop in my weaknesses and wallow around in them like a pig does the mud or I can choose to keep moving forward. I choose to keep moving forward. I am going to conqueror who I often am and turn it into something I want to be for Christ and Christ alone.

First order of business to tackle is the getting down on myself when issues in life come up and I take it out on myself. For some reason the first person I like to come down on is myself as I hammer myself into the ground. I know this is wrong but it’s what I do and I need to overcome this worldly trait and replace it with something God would want me to have.

A good place to start is to turn to our sword collection from the Bible. They are promises God makes in His word for us to hang on to and use to fight our battles not against flesh and blood but against the principalities of the dark world Satan creates around us.

For example:

With fiery darts in flight everywhere from Satan I run to my Bible for my defense. Quickly reaching in I draw out the sword to use against my enemy that says, “Though a good man falls he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholds him with His hand,” Psalm 37:24. Waving that in Satan’s face I stand by God’s promise that though I may fall I will not be utterly cast down for God is holding me with His hand. The knowledge of this gives me strength and stability knowing I have God on my side. I may stub my toe, or run into a brick wall once in awhile but I will NOT be utterly cast down. I have the God factor on my side and that is something I will be more than happy to stand by. It’s not for me to hammer myself down but to pick myself up using the strength of God to carry me through even the darkest times. As He holds my hand, I need to be holding His.                                          

Each of us needs to look for promise swords and use them to fight our battles. Too often we pull out scripture and try to use it against our spouses, children, or others and it backfires in our faces. It does that because we are miss-using the scripture for what it’s supposed to be. God’s words are there for our benefit, our defense, our guidance and to get to know Jesus as well as ourselves.

As wonderful as it would be to get our spouse to read and learn from them it doesn’t work that way. We can only work on ourselves, wow did I say that? My marriage counselor would be proud! No, all we can do is our part and hope the influence from that will make a difference.