Do you like what you see???

     Happy weekend, what a beautiful morning this is, 65 degrees, nothing but blue skies as far as the eye can see, a titch of a breeze, birds singing and the sun will soon top the mountain and fill my heart with warmth! God is amazing, I love waking up early, sitting in the quiet with only the choir of birds providing the entertainment and sharing my time with my Father in Heaven! There are blessings around every corner!
     This morning in prayer, as I sat with my head back, my eyes closed and focused on nothing but Our Father in Heaven and our savior Jesus Christ, I asked the question, "what do you think of me?" I don't know if any of you fall in to the rut of always worrying about what others think of you, do you have to be spot on perfect in appearance before you leave the house? do you worry about how you say things for fear that others will think you not as intelligent as they are? do you try and impress everyone with what you have? do you have to have things that are better than your neighbor? do you have to dress your kids in name brand clothes?...do you?... do you?... do you?.....there are many many questions to fit this topic! I lived much of my life worrying about what others thought of me, I used to turn down special outings with friends because I had nothing to wear, I have nixed speaking engagements because I was afraid people would laugh at my lack of education, that I might speak incorrectly! I have altered things because I worried what people would think of me! When the only one I should worry about, is the one who knows me inside and out, who knows the number of hairs on my head, who has seen me in my absolute worse, who made me! The one who is beside me both day and night, who has seen my hair when I first crawl out of bed in the morning, who has seen me fat, thin, and fat again! When I finally realized the only one that matters in the way of what he thinks is God and Christ I began to live, for as long as I am beautiful on the inside, my outside is beautiful. I can spend hundreds of dollars on my hair for cuts, color, perms, styles, product...I can pay high prices for name brand clothes, I can spend a fortune on shoes that are trendy(that usually hurt my feet) I can buy expensive goods for my home, can buy higher priced cuts of meat at the market, bla, bla, bla..but until I am pretty on the inside, these things are only bandages on deep wounds. When my heart finally became full of his loving spirit was when I became beautiful...haughty???NO, I am humble, but I know that I am beautiful on the inside, I love me, I love my relationship with God, I love people, I am a friend, I am a confidant, I am a child of God and I love how I look on the inside. Today I pray that when you look in the mirror that you look passed all of the outward and look inside of you! Do you like what you see? If not....it is an easy fix, ask God to come into your heart, invite him to sit at the head of your life and to guide you, ask him if what he thinks of you? Does it really matter what people here on earth think  if God is not pleased with what he sees? He made each of us beautiful, not by the size of our noses, the shape of our eyes, the color of our hair the build of our bodies, but by the content in our hearts! Is your heart beautiful? 
     May God bless you this day with the ability to see inside, to see what he sees and to be able to make changes if it is not appealing! Beauty comes from within, if it is not beautiful inside how can it be on the outside! He is love, that is the message...short and sweet....let the love in your heart be seen by all, don't deny what you know is right! Share his love today and watch the beautiful you begin to appear!
     God bless each of you with laughter this day, God bless each of you with warmth of heart and with no pain either physical or emotional, God bless you with a heart overflowing with love, and God bless you with the knowledge that you are beautiful, that he is much pleased with the way you look! Love in Christ, be safe this weekend and know that you are so very important to many, not from your outward appearance but from the heart! 

Prayer for a Good Day

Dear Lord,as I arise
And bend my knee to pray
I ask please place your guiding hand
Upon this busy day

All my yesterdays are said and done
Tomorrow may never be
But I give you full reign over this day
To make the best of me

May each little word I speak
Be filtered through your love
May all my thoughts be connected
To the heavenly courts above

And use my feet to take me
To where you want me to be
Guard my eyes that they would only
See what you want me to see

Give me a heart that longs to show
Others the way back home
And with these two hands help me
Fashion glory for your throne

From the great expanse of eternity
One day is all I can borrow
So help me Lord to take care of today
And we’ll talk again tomorrow!

In Jesus' precious name amen and amen again! 

"our father is the strongest"

     A beautiful Sunday morning here in Utah, 60 degrees, birds chirp, chirp, chirping, blue skies speckled with cotton ball clouds and no doubt the sun will soon peak over the mountain to warm my skin and my heart:) I love the summer time, thanking him for finally giving us a taste of it:) It is fast approaching my time to come to Texas, I am filled with such excitement, to see all of my family and laughing with the Ashley clan will be amazing, to see my nephew take his forever partner will be thrilling and to get to visit with some of my favorite friends will be the icing on the cake, makes the long drive seem not so long! 
     On facebook this morning, I see several posts from friends who are feeling alone, feeling like nothing is going right for them, feeling let down, feeling depressed, anxious, afraid...I know this very feeling all to well but I also know that it is but a moment in time, that all of these feelings are satan's way of trying to get close to us, when things start to falter in our lives we tend to fall back from God, when we fall back from God we are vulnerable and weak...the exact way that satan wants us to be, he can work his deeds on us when we are like this. I know it is hard to hear "snap out of it" I know it is hard to hear, "I'll pray for you" I know it is hard to hear, "just lay it on God's shoulders" but I also know that when you relent and you do decide that you cannot go it alone, when you do sit down and have a toe to toe with our Father in Heaven and you really do give it to him, things begin to change, the aloneness lifts, things begin to shape up and start working in harmony, the highs begin to outweigh the lows, the depression turns to joy, the anxiety turns to hope and being afraid is vanished! Some ask, how do you know he is real, how do you know he is there? I answer to that, look around you, look at the beauty, look at the times in life that you did not know how something was going to work out and all of a sudden something miraculous happened and it was even better than you thought it would be, look at the times when someone was very ill, and you did not see how they would come out of it then all of a sudden they took a turn for the better and were healed, look at the wrecks you have seen when you thought to yourself...there is no way anyone survived only to find that they sustained barely a scratch! Coincidence??? I think not, these things are proof positive to me that God is in all things, that Jesus Christ and God work 24/7 without rest. Today I pray you quit wondering if he is real, confess to Jesus Christ that you do believe, pray to our Father in Heaven with all your might and have faith that even though you are climbing an awful steep mountain, the top will be so worth it when you get there. Don't tell God how strong your troubles are, tell your troubles how strong your God is:) He is mighty, he is the light of the lighthouse, he is the calm of the ocean, he is the answer to all prayers.  May this day bring peace to you, may you take time to sit and praise his holy name, may he allow you truth with his compassionate hand, may you see his work and thank him, may the good things out number the bad and in all things may you know that with God on your side it will get better. Fill that tank of yours with his spirit and revel in the knowledge that you have enough "gas" to get you down the road and away from satan for yet another week! Love in Christ to each of you!

O Lord, our Heavenly Father, at the beginning of another week we come to You for help and light.

Grant, we ask You, that we make this a sacred day of rest to Your service. May we consecrate this day to find all peace and strength in You.

Make our hearts beat with devotion so that we may serve You in spirit and in truth. May we live this day laying a good foundation for our coming work.

Be with us in the worship services of Your day so that your saints may join in heart and soul. Be with us so that we may receive the blessing promised to all who sincerely pray to You and faithfully hear Your Word.

This we ask for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Don't become "it"

     Happy Thursday, boy what a beautiful morning, it is one of those break out in song kind of mornings:) Okay don't worry, I'll spare your ears!! LOL. 66 degrees, mild breeze, blue sky speckled with cotton ball clouds, I don't know where my birds are this morning, I am not hearing their angelic tweets??? On the distant light pole I see a ring necked dove sitting in wait of his mate to join him as she does each morning. I love, love, love, mornings, it is so wonderful to sit out and enjoy the quiet, the cool, and the picture that God has given his love in creating just for us to behold:) 
     Next week I will be making my first trip home in almost 9 years, I have not seen either of my brothers or one of my sisters in this many years and have only seen my mom and my other 3 sisters 2 times in this many years so you might assume that I am getting pretty excited! My life has changed so drastically in the years since visiting my old haunts, I have divorced and am now into a 3 year relationship with the best of the best when it comes to partners, no we are not married as of yet...sorry Gerald Peters:( but I know some day we shall be, I have not had the best of luck when it comes to the "I do's" so I am taking this really slow! I hope when I am in Texas to visit with many long ago friends and with many new friends that I have made here on facebook. Hopefully we will be able to make a plan so that I can meet/visit with many at one get together:)
     I am a little nervous for my visit "home" yes I still consider it home even though I have called Utah home since 1994, it is hard not to remember the quaint little house I grew up in, the smells of my moms cooking, especially her baking, sometimes just thinking of that banana pudding brings a smile to my face. I have never really gotten to know my twin nieces nor my twin nephews, I have been gone from my oldest nephew and niece since they were youngsters and now my nephew is getting married, what a joy it will be to see the once "little cutie" not a "grown cutie" walk down the isle to wed his forever partner. I know the time will be filled with much rush and haste while I am there but it will be good hustle and bustle and I know I will love every minute of it! 
     This morning in prayer, as I sat here praying my usual morning prayers and then praying the specific prayers that so many have requested, I felt so much love and joy in my heart...I felt so at peace and so filled with calm, my life is not perfect...far from it, but during prayer time it always seems to be, he affords me with such a full heart, he allows me to feel his spirit when I am "on bended knees" and he allows me peace and calm. It is my favorite part of the day, I pray often especially when I feel the world closing in around me, I close my eyes, go to my happy place and converse with him! Prayer reminds me of when I was a young girl playing tag on the school playground, I would run frantically to get to the safe area so that I would not be "it" When I made it to the safe area I could take a big sigh, and a big breath and get ready to run again! I always loved that game and tell you, I would run as fast as I could so as not to get caught! This thought came to me this morning in prayer, no matter how old we get, we are still playing the game of tag, our days are filled with the ones who want to catch us and make us "it" but we run, and we run hard to make it to safety. If you are getting caught by the tagger it is time for you to get a new pair of running shoes, it is time for you to work on your running skills and it is time for you to quit being "it" run...and run fast...to the safe place, don't let "life" catch you and make you "it" Today I pray that you will take time to see the beauty around you, I pray you look into the mirror and see the beauty that he has created inside of you, I pray that if you feel like the runner in that game of tag that you make it to your safe place. Prayer is what calms me, prayer gives me renewed hope and faith and prayer gives me the communication I need to keep me moving forward. I love you all and am so glad that you visit this page, I am so thankful that you allow me to pray with you and I am so thankful that we all have the freedoms that we have. Be someones safe place today, if you see someone in need of a friend, don't be the tagger, be the safety they need. The answer to life is love, be an answer today, I promise you will not regret it!!! God bless you with happiness and joy!