Flowers From God

The Bible says, "every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of heavenly lights." I didn't understand this until just a short time ago that when someone does something nice for me or gives me a gift, God is behind it. He is the One who motivated the giving of the gift, as we are His hands and feet. We are His vessels carrying out His will. So when someone gives me flowers, I know that God wanted me to have flowers that day. If someone buys me a meal, I know it was God's idea. If I'm feeling blue and someone pays me a compliment, I know that was God trying to cheer me up! And by the way, it does cheer me up to know that my Lord cares about the way I am feeling!

I used to think God was more of a disciplinarian than a gift giver. In my younger childhood years, my caretaker was heavy handed with the belt of punishment. The message that molded my framework was, "I'm bad." The more time I spend with God the more I learn that He is not like that at all. His is a message of Love and acceptance that says, "I'm fearfully and wonderfully made, I am the daughter of the King, I am a princess, and I am good!" It has been my experience, in the past few years, that the Lord actually delights in giving us gifts to brighten our day. 

The Lord puts a smile on my face everyday and I sometimes feel Him smile back at me as if to say, "I love to make you smile!" So the next time you find yourself smiling, you can know that it's from God. He Loves you so much that He wants to put a smile on your beautiful face!

Oh Yes He Can!!

It was a beautiful early Autumn day. The sun was kindly shining down on us making for a very pleasant tour of the Oregon Gardens. My husband and I had never been there before so we decided to go check it out. It was so beautiful! Just as we were visiting one of the small ponds afloat with lilly pads and cute little frogs, my cell phone rang. I looked at it to see who was calling and saw that it was my daughter, so of coarse I answered it. She said I need to call my brother, it's an emergency!

 My heart began to beat faster and faster as all the horrible things that could be wrong raced through my head. For a moment my surroundings lost it's beauty as fear began to choke me. I called him. "My wife has filed for a divorce and she won't even consider counseling," My brother said with devastation! "Wow, I can't believe it," I said, while relief that no one had died came over me, only to be replaced by the shock of this situation that no one saw coming. "But your church doesn't believe in divorce, how can this be," I said, knowing they are both very active members.

After the shock wore off and the reality of this serious problem set in, God filled me with peace. As the Lord brought to my recollection how He delivered me from a nearly 8 year addiction to alcohol, hope and faith began to rise up in me. If you would've known me then, which I'm glad you didn't, you would understand it was a pure miracle of God that set me free! If God can do that for me, He can do anything! I have no box for Him to fit in, nope, I believe God for everything! My box has been permanently shattered! Thank You Jesus!

After many phone calls, prayers, and words of encouragement, I told my brother, "God can fix this."  There was just one problem, my brother was now very angry and had lost all desire to reconcile. He had become adamant that this marriage was over!  That did not change my mind, it just broadened the magnitude of the miracle God would have to preform in order to save this family from divorce. They have a daughter that was around 4 years old at the time. I did not want to see her thrown into being a child of divorced parents. And neither did God! He did exactly what I prayed for! My brother and his bride have fallen in love more than they have ever been before. The divorce was called off and they are a very happy family to this day! Praise the Lord!!! Nothing is too hard for God!!! He can do anything! Oh yes He can!!!

My brother sent his wife these beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day, remembering she loves daisies, he had the florist incorporate them into this gorgeous arrangement! :)

GLORY TO GOD!!!

What are you believing God for? If you will share it with me, I will agree with you. God says if two of us come together and agree upon anything, it will be done for us! I believe Him!

Handle With Care

Okay, I'm just going to come right out and say it, "I'm more affectionate towards my sweet little, adorable, beautiful, huggable, kissable, Yorkie, princess, can do no wrong, cute even when she does naughty naughty potty, most awesome doggie ever, than I am my husband." Can't tell from the adjectives, and lack of adjectives can you? I mean, what can I say, just look at that face!

The man I once referred to as my soul mate, hero, best friend, and the love of my life, has over time and circumstances become the one I am the hardest on. He is the one I am least patient with, least kind too, and expect the most out of. The Lord has revealed to me that I am selfish and full of pride where my husband is concerned. This man is the very person I am commanded to love, honor, and obey. He is a priceless gift from God, and I have not treated him that way in a very long time.

I received two pieces of profoundly great advice shortly after my husband and I were both saved. The first one came  from a kind, elderly, very godly man and pastor, before Sunday service one day. He said, "always treat your husband as if he is Jesus Himself." I nodded my head as if in agreement, and smiled sweetly all the while thinking to myself, "well, that would be so much easier if He actually was Jesus! I think I might have tried it once or twice, but unsuccessful in making it a lifestyle change :/

The next most valuable piece of advice I received was from a kind and very wise lady I had recently met at church. We were dining out for our first lunch date, getting to know one another a little bit. She told me that early on in her marriage, God told her, "you are not the Holy Spirit to your husband."  Oh man, I can't tell you how many times I've tried to be Him and tell my husband what's what. The more I did that, the more distant and repelled he became to me and the things of God. This is not the effect I was looking for, and it's definitely not helping the Lord any. Slowly but surely I am learning to hold my tongue as I hear those words in my head, "Lori, you are not the Holy Spirit."

It doesn't bring glory to the Lord when I'm not obeying what He has asked me to do. God has told me that my job is to love, honor, and obey my husband and He will be the One to instruct him. After all, He is God, not me! That is such great news, as He does a much better job of it! What a burden lifted that is!

So it all boils down to this, Jesus told me today, "bring Me your mess and I will fix it." So that is exactly what I am going to do, with you as my witness. :)

 "Lord, I admit to You that I have been selfish and prideful in my relationship with my husband. I humbly come before You and ask for Your forgiveness. I would also like to ask for Your divine help in removing every bit of pride and selfishness that keeps me from bringing the glory to Your beautiful Name that You so fully deserve. Lord, please remind me when I start to loose my temper, or speak unkindly to my husband, that I want to bring glory to You and the only way to do that is to fully obey what You have commanded of me. My husband is a precious gift to me, and I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful man in my life who loves me just the way I am. Please help me to handle him with great care. Thank You dear Lord for loving me enough to show me the error of my ways. Thank You for fixing the messes I make in life. In Your wonderful Name I pray Jesus. Amen

I like what Joyce Meyer says, "I'm not where I want to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be!" I'm so grateful for the promise that, "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Hallelujah!

I'm very happy to say that my husband and I are about to celebrate our 10 year anniversary on the 23rd of this month. The exciting part about that is, now that we have God in our lives, our best years are ahead of us! Praise the Lord!!!


*What is the most helpful piece of advice you have ever received?*