Doldrums? Duldrums?, Dull Drums? Drums can be tuned. Tune it to the Left or Tune it to the Right.

I really DO have so much to be thankful for in my life. I am thankful. It’s lengthy, but you’ll hear/see/know my heart through it all.

1. I have been praying for us to be out of debt for quite some time and we are working diligently towards that goal. Just recently, someone sent us a sizable financial gift that will help us out tremendously.

2. For over 3 years, I have wanted to convert my living room color scheme into dark brown and lime green. I have wanted a dark brown leather love seat, ottoman and chairs to match; it's on my prayer/want list. Two days ago, I kid you not; a friend was in my house, saw my furniture and said, "This is the exact color and style of furniture that would look absolutely fantastic in my house! I said to my friend, well, it's yours, but I am looking for dark brown leather furniture to replace it. I prayed out loud and told Father I needed furniture to replace the ones I was giving this friend.

I sent out a mass message to friends (all 13 of them, lol) in my area telling them my desire to bless my friends and need of a replacement couch/love seat/chairs and asked them to pray for me. I told my sister this morning that I would like to give my couch set away today but really do need/want my living room to have furniture as well.

Father is so amazing! Within 24 hours of sharing with my friend who wanted our furniture, I received an email stating someone had a brown leather love seat and chair they would love to give me with pictures attached. I immediately sent an email to my friend whom I am giving our furniture set to and said, "When would you like to pick up your furniture..." and told them what happened. The friend who is letting me look at their brown leather furniture said I didn't have to take it if it's not quite what I want." I am so stoked! The joy that is busting out of me is unreal concerning these two magnificently wonderful miracles. Father loves me so much and is doing everything to work His will in my life and His other kids!

3. Thanksgiving is my most favorite of all holidays (along with my birthday), hands down.

Why:

shopping for dinner

planning out the meal

inviting friends, friends of friends, people I don't know for the meal

the warmth in the home

the fragrances

all the most glorious memories I have from previous Thanksgivings

making the dishes

glimpses of Keven’s mom and dad (dad passed away 4 years ago) coming to my mind

            as we prepare food

making sugar cookies for my boys and Aaron

making the darkest chocolate pie Keven loves

making the turkey, Lois peeling the potatoes and visiting with me, making the dressing, potatoes, gravy, pineapple bread, corn pudding, sweet potatoes (being sure to darken the edges for George because he loved it that way)

all the pleasant conversations all throughout the day

seeing family and loved ones

and so much more....

This year there is no shopping, no fragrances, no friends coming over, no left overs, no hospitality needed on grand, grander, grandiose scales, no family to visit with in my home (outside of Keven)...yes, this is my reality for this year...it may seem like I am sad and you know what, knowing some of the responses I will receive from my 'encouraging'-keep-on-the-sunny-side-of-life-be-joyful-in-all-things kind of friends, it is sort of sad. Yet, IT IS ALSO a year for something new.

You see, Keven asked if we could do something different this year. Everything within me screamed and cried out, not to him, "You KNOW this is my favorite holiday! You KNOW I love to bake, cook, have fragrances wafting throughout our home, organize and time when the foods need to go in and out of the oven, shed a tear for lost ones, and for family members I won't get to see, but remember with great thanks for them in my life! You KNOW I LOVE EVERY DETAIL ABOUT THANKSGIVING and YOU WANT ME TO GIVE THAT ALL UP because YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT?"

For weeks I had been asking Keven what we were doing for Thanksgiving because I was already gathering a list of people to invite (ok there may have only been 3-4 on the list and they may have already had plans, but I had a LIST) and it didn't matter to me if anyone came. Having Thanksgiving Dinner at my home or with others in their home brings sweet love, joy and comfort to my life.

Thanksgiving Day (though I am thankful everyday) is my day to offer Thanks to Father by serving, giving, creating, blessing, preparing, sharing the foods and memories I hold dear with others and make new memories for the new year.

Now before anyone wants to beat Keven up for taking such a special holiday away from me or want to beat me up for being ‘selfish’. Here’s what I have chosen to do:

When Keven explained to me that he wanted to do something different this year for the holiday. I thought, “uggh, really, why?” I SAID, “Ok, if that is what you want to do, ok.” Now I have had a week to prepare myself that things are going to be different today and tomorrow. (Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving) I also have been speaking to myself aloud and in my mind, “You are deferring to the wants and needs of Keven. You are giving and showing love. Chin up Wendi, you can do this. You can give to Keven, bless the socks off him AND make new memories.”

Again, I do so love the old memories and memories we would have had this year if we had had Thanksgiving in our home or with others. I am not trying to recreate the past, but I like the old memories. I love to serve…I love to serve and bless Keven as well. I like change too.

That my dear ones, is what I am doing this year. I am deferring and preferring Keven’s desire or want to have a change in our Thanksgiving THIS YEAR. I am choosing to keep a healthy attitude and happy facial expressions even though there is some sadness in my heart.

I am choosing joy, mind you, but that doesn’t mean I cannot feel sadness at the same time and shed an occasional tear. I miss my children, my parents, Keven’s dad, Keven’s mom, Keven’s family, my sisters, and my many, many friends who live all over the world. I miss you all terribly, but not so terribly that I am crippled without you, for that would be unhealthy and unwise. I do miss you though. I am thankful for all the sweet memories. You have invested into who and what I am and I am a product of who you are.

Thank you for all the memories and a very happy Thanksgiving to you, whether you get to do what you want OR YOU CHOOSE to be unselfish and DEFER TO BLESS AND LOVE SOMEONE ELSE AND DO SOMETHING FOR THEM.

If the heartbeat in a certain area of your life seems a bit inactive, dull, stagnate or has lost its luster try tuning your drum (the things you are beating, desiring, wanting, needing). A simple turn to the left or right can change the pitch to any drum. If I had chosen to concentrate only on what I liked, wanted and needed for Thanksgiving my drum would sound flat. It would cause other areas of my life to sound flat or be flat.

Ring a Ding a Ling...Beep...This Girl is on Fire

Three Questions of the Day for the rest of our lives:

Will I look at my Bible with the same intent as I do my cell phone?
Will I read my Bible as much as I read my cell phone?
Will I respond to what my Bible says as quickly as I respond to my cell phone?

These questions popped into my head today after I read someone's status...

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ouch!

We can also replace cell phone with computer, relationships, food, anger, hatred, adultery, lust, greed, selfishness, hurt, harsh words, emotions, over spending, laziness, etc.

Fresh Spring Water for Everyone!

Valley – an elongated depression between uplands, hills, or mountains, especially one following the course of a stream.

When people mention they have hit rock bottom or are in a valley in their lives this brings the realization to our mind that things are not going so well for them, generally. Valley-times are often very treacherous and hard on us, but I would like to offer some hope for those of us who are in a valley emotionally, financially, physically mentally, spiritually, relationally, in our character and with our time (EF PMS RCT).

As I read Psalm 104:10-16, it reminded me of what truly happens in a valley. In the valley mentioned, the springs that flowed gave drink, had homes built beside them in the trees, caused grass to grow and trees to be fruitful as well as full. Did you catch that? Springs were provided in the valleys. Springs, life-giving, fresh water, thirst-quenching springs.

What if we were not so quick to get out of and complain about the valley we are walking through, but we took the time to look around to see the things provided for us while we are there?

What if we decided to see the good things flowing in and out of our lives in the valley?

What if we were to see the drinks, refreshments, and thirst-quenchers provided to help sustain us until we get out?

What if we were to look around and see the beauty Father gives us through His creation?

What if we were to choose to gaze upon the growth in our lives, others, His will and His ways and all the fruit He provided?

What if we were to grasp that the Lord of all creation didn’t leave us in the middle of a desert but carefully placed us in a valley provided with springs that have the capability to bring things to pass in our lives, not by small measures, no, the fullest of measures?

Though it is a valley we are walking through or will be walking through, we have the ability to take the time and effort, by CHOOSING TO DO SO, to notice, enjoy and partake of the life, growth, and health happening and being produced around us, in us and others.

Let’s make a conscious effort today to observe, appreciate, and respond to the ‘springs, trees, fruit, nests, etc.’ Father has given us, whether we are in a dark valley, surfing the waves, driving our cars, in a long line at the grocery store or have heard the same story from a loved one for the fiftieth time.

Poser or the Real Thing?

Thank you for taking the time to read my my blog today, I really appreciate it. Thank you for caring about me and reading what Father is doing in my life. Thank you for reading what I write whether silly, sad, happy or something you could’ve done without. Thank you.

I will not pose as someone who knows everything about what is going on with our government and our world. So many things we see, read and hear about have been spun to fit the agendas of those presenting their ideas. What I DO know is tried and true and anyone who knows my Father, can and should put their hope, trust, faith in His Word (the Bible). I believe many of us have put our faith in our government for our source of income. Yes, I realize many of us or our spouses work for the government and do receive a paycheck from them for the work that has been done. However, I am not talking about this.

You see, no matter what happens with our government with regards to the finances we receive from them, God, the One and Only Father God is, has been and always will be our Provider. Either we believe His Word is truth and life or we do not. We are not supposed to pick and choose what we believe about it. We must believe His Word is truth from beginning to end.

He is our Provider. In the midst of plenty and in the midst of great suffering He and He alone provides for us. During this time of not knowing what is going to happen with our jobs and finances we will see many lash out against our government and our God. I believe one of the things that will be revealed to us will be where we have placed our trust. If our trust is placed in Father supplying all our needs according to His riches then we will not be let down. We must believe Father did NOT bring us to this point in our lives only to say, “Ok, I’m done with you now. You’re on your own. I’m no longer going to provide for you.” He has been walking with us since the day we were conceived in the matrix of our mothers. He has been walking even closer to us as we have made Him King of our lives. He will never leave us or turn us out in our time of need, trouble or want.

I do believe we as people of God do need to repent. We need to repent for allowing ourselves to believe that our government is our Provider. Every good and perfect thing is from above and thus our jobs are good, some may feel their jobs are perfect, others, not so much. Yet, the jobs came from Father freely. Some of us have allowed our jobs and the money we receive from them to replace God in our lives. There is a simple fix to that line of thinking. All we need to do is admit we have done this and ask for forgiveness. He is such an incredible Father that when we do this He wipes us clean. He doesn’t stop there though He renews us from within as we allow Him.

I believe we also need to seek forgiveness for speaking against our government officials instead of praying for them. If we call ourselves believers in Christ then one of our responsibilities is to:

(1 Timothy 2:1-15) First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

I would like to take this opportunity to plug the local church. I am not a church leader in any way at this moment but my passion for God’s house burns within me. Another area we are lax in is with our tithes. I believe many give ‘offerings’ but many do not give a tithe from the job Father provided them. Ten percent is all He asks for and I know some of you are thinking, “Wendi, 10%? We aren’t even going to have money coming in. When it does come in, our bills will be behind, we will need groceries, our rent paid, and more.”

I do understand about bills, budget and our necessary items. One thing I know for sure is God is true to His word. If we will repent from not giving Him our tithe (10% from the gross amount of our check) and then give it to Him, He HAS to fulfill His promises to us. He has to. He is not a god who is not real or lies. He is our God and He will take care of us, even if/when it looks like He is not. Let’s pay our full tithes to the local church and not withhold any longer.

Trust me in this, He will provide for your every need. He cares about every detail of your life. There are so many stories I could tell about how Father supplied for us supernaturally, but let me give you one recent example that happened to our son, Gareth.

Gareth attended Youth With a Mission Creative Arts School in Alesund, Norway in September 2010-2011. He needed $10,000 for the 9 months of schooling he received. Gareth knew this going into the school but had no idea where it would come from outside of God. Keven and I, along with a few others, helped Gareth on a monthly basis, but nothing near the amount he needed. In December, the school told Gareth he needed to pay off his school year within two months. A long story made very short: by February, Gareth’s school had been paid off completely, along with money to live on.

I have so many other stories of things I didn’t necessarily need but God placed it on someone’s heart to give me exactly what I wanted. One example of this is, my mother-in-law has some hand lotion on her sink and it smells delicious. Well, I looked it up online and it was pretty expensive for my budget. It wasn’t too many days later and someone gave me a bottle of this very same lotion. That’s my God. That’s my Father caring for my wants. That is Father supplying from His riches into my life.

It comes down to two things:

1. Where is our trust? Is it in the government providing for us or is it ultimately in Father providing us whether through our government or other supernatural means? Either way, it all comes from Him.
2. 
   
3. Will we choose to obey His word to pray for our leaders, be obedient to His word and give our tithe freely?

Let’s put our focus/trust back on the One Who really can make a difference. Let’s talk to Him about what is going on with our government.

Let’s ask Him to move mightily to save us.

Let’s ask Him to move this mountain(s) from our lives and provide for us generously.

Let’s not walk in fear, despair, worry, or anxiety during this time of not knowing what is really going to happen.

Let’s choose to be wiser in our spending.

Let’s trust Father to take care of us.

Yes, let’s be real about what we are feeling but let’s not let that RULE and REIGN over us.

Let’s let God’s words permeate the details of our lives.

I Don't Want to Die! I don't Want to Die by being Hung with a Rope!

I was falsely accused. A sheriff was out to get me and out to get me he did. He did everything he could to get me under his control. He lied. He lied so much it became truth to him and those he served. I was arrested and put under his authority. He did not stop there he wanted me dead. He convinced the people of the town I deserved death and so they agreed. A few people didn’t believe this sheriff and fought for my freedom, relentlessly. I could see their compassion in their eyes but oh, this sheriff was far too powerful or so he thought.

It was decided, I would have death by hanging and he was 'kind enough' to come in and tell me what exactly would happen, both he and his deputies. However, I did not fear I trusted Father to help me for I knew the truth and I knew no matter what, my God would come through for me.

I was falsely accused and the people believed the accusations. It broke my heart because I would no longer get to see the people who cared so much for me and fought so hard for my freedom. Vileness and despair was forever seething from this sheriff about me.

They brought out the gallows but it was different from a full-sized gallows. I had to stand on a dark wooden bench AND somehow get hung. The deputies were all laughing and going on about how horrible this death would be for me but I trusted Father to save me or give me strength to see Him reveal Himself through the hanging, whether by saving me or simply giving me courage to endure the rope and situation. The deputies were telling me that my eyes would pop out and if I didn’t want that to happen I needed to close my eyes really tight which would hold my eyes in my sockets, so I held them tight.

All of a sudden, I felt something so surreal, I could sense what was happening but it didn’t seem like it was. I had been hung and left dangling on the rope, still alive. I could hear what was going on around me. I wouldn’t die. I thought I was dead and my spirit was experiencing life around me, but it was actually my body experiencing everything, yet I was not dead.

I wasn’t moving so they thought I was dead and released me to the coroner. They took me down from the rope and laid me on the floor for the coroner to come and take care of me. I could still smell, hear, and feel but I was so still. I thought, “It has happened, I am now dead,” for when I was falling from being hung, I could feel the pressure of the rope around my neck. I could feel pain shooting through my body and I could sense I was not breathing. However, I still felt alive but in a different place, a hazy, yet spiritual-type of place where I could even see what was going on around me without my eyes being open.

There was friend who stayed with me to the end along with the deputies. The coroner said death by asphyxiation/hanging, but I was still alive. I was still in my body even though I was in a slump lying on the floor. The coroner took me for my autopsy. As we entered the autopsy room, the others there were finishing up with a burn victim. As the victim was being moved, one of the doctors came over to see me all slumped on the floor. I was not placed on a lovely clean cot, I had been dragged there and left in a pile because the sheriff had convinced most on his force that I was the worst of offenders, yet he never would say the charges against me aloud. It was amazing to me that people would believe him without any actual crimes stated.

I kept thinking to myself, “I am alive, I am alive, and they have to know I am alive before they start cutting me open and thereby really killing me.” As they were moving the burn victim from the table it was on to another place, the doctor was looking at me and I forced my eyes open just a sliver. The doctor nearly fell backwards with fright, alarming the people who were moving the burn victim. They dropped the burn victim to the floor and the entire body split to chunks in a three-foot area from where it fell.

“Good,” I thought, “they saw me; they knew I was still alive and surely they would help me”. This was not the case, for the sheriff had been successful at turning their minds against me as well. An immediate phone call was placed to the sheriff and he arrived quickly. He was screaming at the top of his lungs, spewing out his disbelief and anger. He spoke rashly with vile words of death to me. You see, there was absolutely nothing else he could legally do to me now, death by hanging was my sentence, but I could only be hung once. He was fuming and pacing trying to figure out what could be done. He determined he would take my body and put me in an old abandoned barn and let me rot there until death took me.

That is exactly what he did. He found an abandoned barn and threw me in the center of it with no covering, no blankets, nothing. He left me there to die an awful, slow, painful death. It felt like death was coming every day for I had nothing to neither eat nor drink. No one came to care for me for he had placed me there in secret. I could barely move and so I didn’t. I breathed shallow breaths all the while with my mind I thanked Jesus for keeping me alive. For that is what I was – alive.

I wasn’t in a surreal place any longer I was in my actual body not on the outside looking in. When hanging it was as though I had been allowed to see everything that was going on with minimal pain and only a sense of what was really happening. It was as though I could see without opening my eyes, as if I was in a daydream, but a real daydream.

I saw with my own eyes slightly cracked open the barn walls with small slots just big enough to allow the golden sunshine come in and warm me as I lay on the hay in the middle of the barn. It felt and seemed as though all the spaces between the wallboards were casting sunlight upon me. I was so weak and frail. I couldn’t move. It seemed like days on end and no one was around to check on me, for dead I was.

Somehow though, my friend found me. He scooped me up in his arms and took me to a secret place where he could tend to my severe wounds and needs. He didn’t talk to me but I could feel the love, gentleness, compassion and warmth flowing from him right into me just by him being in the same room with me and then even more so when he touched me. 

I had lain so long on my right side in the barn, pain started to overcome me. Being in this man’s presence, I began to feel pain, true overwhelming pain, I hadn’t felt before. I was in agony but not the kind of pain that I would cry out for death to take me. The suffering from this pain was the kind I knew I had to feel and sense in order to recover. I was beginning to feel for real, I was no longer just sensing my surroundings from the outside looking in I was seeing my surroundings and feeling them, seeing and experiencing them from the inside out. I was healing. I was being made whole.

I began to sit and move in ways I hadn’t moved in so long, it seemed like an eternity since my limbs were utilized. Slowly and methodically, I started to use them. My friend told me the sheriff was dead which was hard for me to believe. My friend also told me the sheriff had died in his old age. Reality hit me hard for I finally became aware that I had been suffering in that barn for years and years, then into the care of my friend for years as well.

I was happy to hear the sheriff was dead but my friend reassured me that the original deputies and new deputies were still around and knew my story. I needed to move far away from their grasp. My friend shared with another friend that he had found me and had been taking care of me for some time but that it was time for me to relocate and begin a new life.

They had to stuff me in the trunk of a car for there were roadblocks and checkpoints when leaving that area. We were stopped at one of the checkpoints and the officers opened the trunk and I got out but it was as though they couldn’t see me. We got the ok to leave, so I tucked myself back in the trunk and we set off for my new life.

We arrived at my new home and were reacquainted with friends of old who had longed to see me. I was not the same in body or spirit for what I had gone through had changed me inside and out as well as outside in, but people still knew me. I hadn’t yet seen my face and had wondered if my eyes or eye had popped out. I also wondered if I was really seeing or only imagining seeing things, as I wanted, for my senses had become so heightened during this tumultuous time.

I looked into the mirror, my face had been totally changed, and I was no longer the same neither on the outside nor on the inside. I wasn’t what some would call ugly but I was different. I looked like I had lived a hard life, bumped and bruised, but alive. The left side of my face was swelled and it seemed my cheekbone was higher as well as my eye. "How could I not look different from all I had gone through, all the torture and harsh punishment I received," I asked myself. I was seeing myself for the first time, far from anything the world would consider lovely, but I saw one who had been marred and mauled by an onslaught of attacks from vicious people. There was nothing lovely about me; I was very plain, very peaceful.

Days grew into weeks and I found myself becoming antsy and even short with my friends who were caring and watching out for me. They warned me to be careful for I was getting to a dangerous point of no return in thinking to highly of myself. I would go about the house saturating myself in the ‘pretties’ that were there just for me. Once they told me though, I became devastated. I started grasping at everything in the house, everything I thought to be of great value. I didn’t want to be who I was becoming, so I cried out, while clinging to the curtains screaming, “Jesus, I don’t want to be this way. Forgive me, heal me, and take me from myself." I called to Him and He answered.

You see, He had been with me all along. He was the one Who saw me being falsely accused. He was the one Who found me in the barn. His friend was Holy Spirit Who was right beside Him healing, comforting, forming, and caring for me. The other friends who came to visit me were all the beautiful aspects of Jesus, God and Holy Spirit.

This dear friends, was the dream I woke from this morning. I believe Holy Spirit kept prompting me to get up. Get up I did and started typing. 

Who/what are the ''sheriff's'' in your life? How about the deputies? 

Are you in a situation so deep that it seems you are dead, but really you are just barely hanging on with little breath?

Father or The Father, Holy Spirit or The Holy Spirit, that is the question I asking of you.

Prayer is a one to one conversation with Father. Sure, if we pray Jesus please do such-and-such, God is awesome enough to work for us because He is God. Think about this for a moment, if I were to call you Buster when your name is actually Abigail, wouldn’t you wonder why I was not calling you by the name given to you at birth? It’s not that God wonders why, it’s just a learning point for us that when we pray we should pray like this, “Our Father”.

I would like to stretch our thinking a bit more by opening our minds to praying to Him and talking about Him as Father. That is one of His names, Father. So often, I hear in our Christian circles people talking about God as The Father and such. I would like us to consider talking about and to Father just as I have written Father. No, He will not stop hearing us or listening if we pray, talk about Him or talk to Him using the name The Father, a different name unless it is not a name given Him, then we would be praying to someone else and that I will not do. Take some time to chew on this especially when you are out and about having conversations with others about Father. It’s easy to say His name God, but to call Him Father instead of The Father is different. His name is not The Father, it is Father, among many other names but The is never a part of His name.  

Let’s take this a step further, Holy Spirit is not a THE Holy Spirit, He is Spirit and His name is Holy Spirit. I’m not getting all hung up on whether Holy Spirit is a He/She type thing, what I am trying to communicate is His name is Holy Spirit, not THE Holy Spirit, so when speaking of Him, maybe we could consider saying, “Holy Spirit”, like we would say if referencing me-Wendi Peck. I am also not trying to bring condemnation on those who say The Holy Spirit or The Father, I’m simply sharing what I believe is truth about Father and Holy Spirit.

Many times, people say prayer is a two-way street, you get to talk and you GET to listen. This is very true. Often I find myself having conversations with Father as I am reading/studying my Bible. The Bible truly is His very words He wants us to hear, study, know, and memorize. Daily Father shows me what needs rearranging, gutting, enhanced, etc. in my life as well as how to pray for others, how to magnify Him, and more. Let’s set aside some time today to quiet ourselves, open the Bible, read it, speak it, talk with Him about it and enjoy. 

It's 5 am Somewhere and This Might Be The Conversation:

No seam ripper can tear us apart.

We are bound together, Moon.

You’re the cott-on which I rest.

I love you sew much.

You keep me in stitches.

You patch me up.

You needle me as much as I needle you.

We zigzag together.

You hem me in with your prayers.

I love to pattern my life after you.

You lay me down, cut me up and make a beautiful piece for all to see.

You’ve padded me on the shoulders as well as ripped out my seams.

You’re full of ZIPper.

I’m hooked on you.

I needling you all the time.-Angi

I’m just dying to change color.

You don’t have to per-suede me.-Angi

We make a good seam.

You make it easy to change the tension in my life.

You’re the prettiest button in this box called life.

Even though we’re yards away, we permanent press into Father.-Dave

Don’t you threading me, I’m pre-washed!

Quilter I may hurt you.

Seamstress is a filler.-Keven & Wendi

Seamstress is an attachment you don’t want.-Keven

Darn, we’ve spun out of control.-Angi

Did you see him the other day, he was all frayed?

Where you coming up with all this scrap?

Manual NEVER stop!-Angi

You’re the zig in my zag.

Bobbin I are talking about ironings (ironies).

I am not SCRAPPY.

Only spools rush in where angels fear to thread.-Angi

You cut me up.

Eyelet you in, don’t let me down.-Keven

I think Keven is a little bias.-Angi

You’ll always have a lace in my heart.

Weave a good pairing.

Seams like nobody likes a good quilter.-Keven

You should bolt from bad patterns in life.-Keven

I told the boxer to bobbin weave.-Keven

You’re sew smart.-Angi

I ‘felt’ the same about muslins.-Keven

Should we post this floral the world to see?-Angi

We sure are squares.-Angi

Sew, needles to say, I love you Moon and love God even more. He is the master at work in both of our lives.

You have these qualities because you spend time with Father and this is Who He is and what He does.

Sewing with Angi, Dave, Keven and I

We did not look these up or copy them from any sight, just had fun using our minds and laughing with/at each other via texting.

Dumpster Diving Anyone Interested?

One of the things I do on my daily walk - take out the trash...Let's examine our lives today and ask, "What things need to go out with the trash and into the dumpster never to be brought back into my home?" You might be thinking, “No way am I digging in a dumpster for any thrown away items. I would never bring trash like that into my home.” I have thought the same thing as well. Yet, I have dug into the dumpster of other “things” (hurtful attitudes, angry words, bad habits, time wasters,  character/emotional/physical/spiritual/mental and relational destroyers) to dig them out and put them back in my life, my home. How about u?

Let's put them there and keep them there, who's WITH me?

Keep 'em Comin' Bartender!

This morning (9.11) I went about doing my normal things I do. During my walk I had the fantastic opportunity to meet and greet Miss Stella. Oh this was NO happenstance meet and greet I was intentional with my yelling, “Good morning,” across the parking lot to the woman with the cane, hobbling to get out of the sun and into her cool apartment all the while walking directly for her.

Sweetheart, Miss Stella, warmly shouted, “Good morning,” to me as well. Of course, by that time the increased gate of my walk had drawn me close and she welcomed me into her ‘space’ where we chatted for some time. Miss Stella was lonely; she made it clear through the words and actions she shared. She mentioned how she had moved from New Jersey to ‘this place’ and how much she hated it, but she needed to be near her children who lived in the area. She went on to mention a couple and our front office rental agent, Lucy. Miss Stella shared all about how they had reached out to her for if they hadn’t she would be somewhere else. We visited a bit more; she with sweat running down her face mentioned how warm it was. We parted ways with hopes of seeing each other again. I love connection stories like that where I can laugh at myself. It gets even better, keep reading.

As I was grilling my chicken, doing my thing, enjoying life and turned on some blaring music, there stands a young military man greeting ME! “Hello,” I raise my voice and shout, “Hello”, go about turning my meat, minding my own business when the thought hits me, “Turn your music down. You will get to share life with this young man. Turn it off.” I did and realized Omar had a question for me. I answered Omar’s question about how to get the grill going. You see, there is a secret switch on the back of the huge outdoor grill section he didn’t know about. I then learned Omar just returned from the Netherlands from a military tour. He just moved into the apartment complex a couple weeks ago like us. We talked about many things and I shared with him my many thanks for serving our country. He drew tender in his speech as we reminisced about today, 9/11.

A Few Thoughts about 9/11 by Wendi Ann Peck

9/11, a day to remember.

9/11, a day to be thankful for what we have.

9/11, a day to say thank you to all who have served.

9/11 a day to say thank you to all who are still serving to keep our America protected.

9/11, a day to offer prayers, like every day when we think about it or see the digital clock/iPod/computer/phone display 9:11.

9/11, a day to check in on those who were most affected by this tragedy.

9/11, a day, like so many other days in many people’s lives where tragedy of this magnitude has occurred in their country and lives.

9/11, we will always remember.

9/11 is real very 364 days of the year when it is not 9/11.

As we moved on in our visit I shared that I had just made homemade chocolate chip cookies and invited him up to our apartment around 7-8 pm tonight. He delightedly said he would like to come if he could. We talked more about grilling, I shared a piece of chicken with him and he asked how I seasoned it for “this is really good and tender.” I gave him my marinade recipe freely and learned he is an avid griller who enjoys cooking shows. I learned so much about this young man.

I need to just stop and say, “Father, thank You so much for sending Miss Stella and Omar into my world so I could be Your hands, eyes, feet, light, ears, and mouth extended. Thank You for entrusting them to me today. Thank You, Holy Spirit for guiding and directing my paths. Thank You, Father, for making my paths even straighter.

Omar needed to be off and we said our farewell’s with hopes of seeing each other again someday.

Doot, dee, doo, doot, doot, dee, doo, my ‘tunes’ are back on, loud and clear to my ears, and I’m enjoying life, the grill, the sun, the beauty-everything. Along comes Mr. Brian. Mr. Brian needed a key fab to pay rent in the computer room and guess who had one. Why, of course, the person who was sent there by Father to meet him. We had a wonderful time swapping Newport News Shipyard Stories but alas, he had to leave. He showed me where he lived and I welcomed him to come visit me anytime he saw me grilling.

There you have it and that is only up to 12:30 p.m. Of course, I woke to my darling husband right next to me. I also had time with Father, Jesus & Holy Spirit during my Bible reading and journal time, which was tremendous. I cannot forget the many texts and Skype time I had with my Moon. Awesome! What in the world, is the Lord going to share with me the rest of the day? I have myself wide open, my heart exposed to Him.

A thought: what I found similar with the precious people Father sent my way today, is that they were willing to take the time to return my greeting, give me a greeting and share life with me. Those of you, who know me well, know this blessed my heart more than words can ever describe.

I wrote all of this to share a text messaging sequence between my sis, Ang, and myself it goes like this:

Me: Who knows me well enough to know this blessed by heart more than words can ever describe.

Angi: He is a pretty cool guy, that God guy!

Me: Yea, I’ll take a ‘pint’ of Him and keep ‘em comin’ bartender…

Angi: Yea, He ‘on the rocks’ me too.

Me: Umm…shaken and stirred please.

Aren’t Jesus, Father and Holy Spirit the best thing for ‘what ale’s us’?  

Eye Candy

My sister, Angela, quoted in her Facebook status on 9.10.13: “After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools. you put up with it when someone enslaves you, takes everything you have, takes advantage of you, takes control of everything, and slaps you in the face. I'm ashamed to say that we've been too 'weak' to do that,” 2 Corinthians 11: 19-21.

What do we really 'put up with'? Are we feeling weak?
In my weakness, Father, there I will find my strength in You.

                                                                                            

I love Angi’s willingness to see her weaknesses as well as how Father has, does, and will strengthen her. We read the same Bible readings daily and we often talk about what stands out to us and what Father is saying to us. This is what I received out of these particular verses as I read them:

In 2 Corinthians 2:20 in the NKJV it says, "For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage..." I was stuck on that verse and started to think, “If one can bring us into bondage, surely THE ONE can bring us out - instantly or through a process.” I also was thinking of how (1) I allowed others to bring me into bondage in my life, you know, by just being around and having all their "eye candy" around and I do not mean physical body eye candy either. Eye candies are the things that draw my focus off doing what is right. (2) I have brought others into bondage by simply living my life enjoying my eye candy. Yeeeeouwcheeewow wuh!

Here are a few examples of eye candies for me: donuts, cookies, cakes, yelling when I am angry and more. I fight against these eye candies often. When they are presented to me I have learned (still learning) I have a voice and a will to say, "NO, I will not allow them to enslave me, take what I have worked so hard for (a healthy body, mind, soul, and spirit), nor take advantage of me, take control of everything in my life or even slap me in the face. When I say NO to these 'eye candies’, I am actually taking control and slapping the candy in the face. Uh huh, take that, Jack! (No real Jack intended, of course.)

Let us stop putting up with these things...let us say NO and rise into the realm of the supernatural and out of the 'fleshly' natural.

Father, so often we have ‘put up with’ being in bondage by others and ourselves, forgive us. Today, we are taking a stand, declaring to You that we will allow Jesus through the guidance of Holy Spirit to bring us out of and into freedom. Whether this freedom happens instantaneously or through Your divine processes, we will go as you lead.

Adventure-land here we come!

Often I am requested to explain how I am doing so soundly with the transition of having children in my home to one of them living in Norway since 2010 and the other who at 17, after graduating high school, elected to stay and live with friends in Illinois in 2012. I believe I have found the true component to transitioning successfully.

It is difficult at times without the boys, but I have to concentrate on the fact – they are doing what Father desires for them. I could be selfish with my emotions and desires and want them near me but I KNOW that is NOT God's will for them. I want them to be in His will. It has not been easy but it has been easier than I thought. I have allowed to GIVE myself the peace and gifts talked about in Galatians 5:22-23. We have the gifts but it is our choice whether we want to give them to others and ourselves.

It was a little concerning for me when Keven and I moved out here all by ourselves. It was the first time we had been together as a couple for an extended length of time since our first six months of marriage and even then I was pregnant. We definitely had a week or so of adjusting to the two of us without Micheal but I clung to Christ. I asked Him to help me see Keven through His eyes and love Him with His heart. I also took on the word Adventure. Every time Keven and I would talk about our lives together finally as a couple without kids or go anywhere, we would both say we are going on an adventure. That was what we talked about on the way out to New York. It was our adventure.

One thing you can choose to do is find a positive word to use that describes this new season in life. You can surely use ours to view this new season in your lives as an adventure, it will help to fight the enemy who would love you to embrace and keep grief close to your heart. Yes, there are times of grief due to the fact our children are gone and no longer in constant need of us. HOWEVER, it is our choice whether or not we embrace grief and loneliness or if we embrace the new beginning, adventure or season Father has for us now.

We have to choose to release our children so they do not desire to come back home. We must choose to release our children so they do not feel guilty about living somewhere else, but release them and ourselves to follow hard after the Lord through this transition and the rest of their lives. We must embrace Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit and keep our eyes fixed on Them as well as lavish our love on our husbands as well. For so long our husbands have not been the complete concentration in our lives under God because we were raising our children, but now it is a new season.

Are you struggling in any other areas in your life journey? If you could read what I have previously written and apply it to this difficulty the principles apply the same. It is our choice. We can embrace healthy eating, truth, wisdom, etc. or embrace harmful eating (etc.) due to sadness, boredom, loneliness and change. I encourage you to make a plan for doing what is right in this tough area for the rest of today and all day tomorrow. If you want to do something not so healthy put it in your plan, as long as it is not harmful to anyone or yourself, please. Start there. You can do this. You can make the change from diet to lifestyle change, from gloom and doom to gladness and vivaciousness, or from living in sin to living in victory. Sure, there are bumps, but you can make it through them.

Talk to me. Share with me. If not me, then the support you have. I am here for you. We CAN do this.

You are an amazing, powerful, devoted, intelligent, child of God. Welcome to your fresh season, your different adventure, your new beginning. You get to select where you are going and what you determine to embrace. There is no condemnation with any choice, unless you are walking in disobedience for condemnation follows disobedience because Satan slaps it upside your head. Conviction on the other hand is from Holy Spirit, which is one of the benefits of being a child of Father. When you are ready, Father will help and assist you to make the adjustments needed. Cry. Weep. Rejoice. Talk. Pray. Read the Bible. Journal. Strategically plan one day at a time. Embrace God. Embrace Jesus. Embrace joy. Embrace life. Embrace God's will for your kids and every single area of struggle and victory in life. Also, ask Father for grace throughout this transition.

I must also make certain I let you distinguish the fact that I am still very much in ‘want’ of information and conversation from my children so I ask many questions. I would like to hear from them more even if it is through a text stating, “I love you, Mom”. This is in no way to drop any hints to them either to contact me or to make them feel guilty when they do not. Life is busy for them, I understand completely. Recently I have come to accept the fact that they do not need to hear from me as much as I would like to hear from them. Again, this is in NO WAY a reflection of their love for me. Their love for me is trustworthy and not reliant upon how many texts, calls or visits I receive from them. I know they love me just as they know I love them, no matter what.

The true component in transitioning from children being in our home to Keven and I being the only ones in our home is being at peace with the fact that my children hear God and are following His design for their lives. The peace I have comes even when they may choose to do things differently than I would. I may share my unwarranted opinion, but I think that comes along with being a mom until they have their own families.

**Fun Fact (?) It has been said that 95% of all Jacuzzi's have fecal matter in them. Yikes!

Jacuzzi Time! Wooooooooooohooooooooooooooooo!

A friend of mine, Rufina, posted this comment on Facebook: "The question is not 'Do you know and admit you're a sinner?' Even the devil can admit to that! He would say 'Yes, I am a sinner and a very fine one at that!' The real question is 'do you hate your sin?'"

Here was my response:

I think we need to dig even deeper than ‘do I hate sin’? Yes, I hate sin yet I still do it. It comes down to choice. Am I going to walk in sin RIGHT NOW...this very moment...this very hour...and then what am I going to do if I do walk in sin? Am I going to stay in my Jacuzzi of sin (which I like to call 'poo')?

Just think about that a minute – a Jacuzzi of sin. When we choose to sin we are placing ourselves in the Jacuzzi of c--p and poo...do you have a picture of a Jacuzzi, cesspool or a sewer of poo? Good, THAT IS the image I am trying to display in your mind. We say to ourselves, and others, while we are sitting in this hot tub of poo, disgust, and rank odors, "Come on in, the water's fine" or "I'm doing great here". We end up splashing around in it, which causes all the 'floaters' to go wild and we 'think' we are having so much fun. Then before we know it we find ourselves sinking lower and lower in the poo (sin), getting darker and darker, smelling more gross not even concerned with how we smell, look or emit ourselves to and UPON others. Yikes! This is disgusting, I know! This is what sin is like, but much more devastating.

I mean, can you imagine playing in a Jacuzzi full of c--p? No way, the infections and diseases found in feces are horrendous. We are so careful to wash our hands when we use the bathroom and for a very good reason, yet we choose to take part in sin, which is far worse than not washing our hands after using the restroom. Maybe when we are literally washing our hands from now on we will ask Holy Spirit to reveal to us the Jacuzzi's of poo, c--p, and sin we are playing in, get out of the Jacuzzi and get clean.

Yes, let us choose to hate sin, walk away from it before even entering the Jacuzzi full of poo, thus staying clean.

I know this image is crude but there is much truth to it. My sister, Angela Dilley, and I have been discussing it for the last year. When one of us is in the Jacuzzi of sin we always ask, "Are you ready to get out or are you going to sit there and play in it some more?" Sometimes to be honest, we do stay, but having that revelation often brings about quick change.

NOW, if we are in the stinking' Jacuzzi, let us choose to get OUT quick and allow Jesus to cleanse us with our confessions of wrongdoing. Let us shower, bathe, and swim in the pools or Rivers of Life He offers and not in the hot, stinky, gross, sticky, brown, black Jacuzzi of sin. Amen?

It's Time

      1 Chronicles 10:4 It is time for us to draw our swords and thrust our enemies through causing them death. 8 It is time for us to strip the slain enemies taking back all that belongs to us. It is time to send word throughout our friend’s lands and ours “God’s victories are for us TODAY!” It is time for our temples – body, soul and spirit – to KNOW that the enemy has been defeated, death cannot hold us down and to lift our hands in victory letting His praises out.

  12 We must be valiant (boldly courageous; brave; stouthearted), rising and taking back from the enemy that which he has stolen as well as what we handed over to him to have control. 13 It is time for us to choose to stop being unfaithful to the Lord and the guidance He gives us. It is time we stop killing ourselves. It is time we stop causing untimely and unwarranted death in the very facets of our lives: emotionally, financially, physically, mentally, spiritually, relationally, in our character (EF PMS RCT) and with the time we have been given. It is time for death, due to our poor choices and our enemies, to STOP being so prevalent in our lives.

It is time for LIFE, ABUNDANT LIFE, to be predominant and widespread EF PMS RCT. It is time for us to keep the word of the Lord alive and active in our lives so its sharp two-edged sword can pierce to the very fiber of our being, bone and marrow. It is time for us to continually inquire of the Lord as to what we should do, go, say, feel, think, act, eat, smell and know allowing His life to be produced and doors opened into other kingdoms for our good pleasure and His.

Hebrews 3:15 Today as we hear His voice let us not harden our hearts as we did in our rebellion, Let’s choose to stop our defiance and bring ourselves to His feet for His direction. Let’s choose to do His will and not our will in our EF PMS RCT.

Misty Edwards – As in the Days of Noah                           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shi8fPtjFdc.

Prompted to Praise. Prompted to Pray.

Happy 4th of July, Independence Day everyone!

I have had many prayer requests for healing come to me from friends, and friends of friends with intense infections, diseases and cancers. I have been reading in 2 Kings with my daily Bible (remember I sent the reading guide out last week) about Hezekiah and how sick he was and how the Lord healed him. I believe the Lord gave me a prayer strategy for healing and have been praying it for the requests that are coming my way. I would like to challenge all of us that when someone asks us to pray for them before the end of our time with them we take their hand (if you are comfortable with that) and pray for them. It doesn't have to be a long prayer as a matter of fact, it can be as simple and full of faith as saying "Jesus" into and over their situation. 

Healing can come with just the name of Jesus being spoken as a prayer. Yes, it can and it has happened. One of our leaders at my church went to pray for someone in the hospital. On his drive there he was thinking of all the things he could pray when he got into the room. When he did get into the room and started to pray he spoke "Jesus" and could say nothing more. The woman he was praying for was healed INSTANTLY. I am NOT kidding. There is power in the name of Jesus. There is POWER in the presence of Jesus in our lives, we CARRY Him and all His kingdom with us. Let's give Him out to others:). If you have time to listen and also have time to soak in this song please give it a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOyjD5Zw2ew. The name of the song is Break Every Chain by Jesus Culture.

I have also heard  two more miracles of healing and these were in my family in the past two weeks. My sister Angela was hit on the head by a van hatch door and went to the ER. She didn't break anything but her pain levels were off the charts. The doctors couldn't do anything but give her medicine for it. She went home and for a couple days was in severe pain all over. A couple of her girlfriends threw her a small birthday party and at the end of the party they prayed for her healing. Do you know she was healed from all the pain and affects of that accident? Yes she was! 

The other story I would like to share happened two days ago on July 2. In the morning I was writing some updates on Facebook and I thought to myself 'no one in my family is in the hospital'. I sat delighted in the Lord and praising the Lord for His healing and protection then went about my day. That evening I received a call from my sister that my dad had fallen off a stool while putting tiles on a wall and he was headed to the ER. Dad had bumped his head and neck against a door corner and had used his left hand to break his fall. He was in such terrific pain and the swelling was tremendous in his wrist. Angela and I immediately sent out prayer requests to our prayer partners and family. Dad had a CT scan and x-rays. The CT scan showed dad's head and neck were just fine, as always, thank You, Jesus! The X-ray showed a possible hairline fracture so they put a temporary cast on him and sent him home. Yesterday dad was in NO pain whatsoever. He was only taking ibuprofen for the swelling. Can I hear a Hallelujah?! One doctor said dad did not have a fracture but they are waiting on the results from the radiologist which should come by Friday.

Here's the thing, Holy Spirit prompted me that morning to praise ahead of time which I believe was part of the reason dad's injury was lessened. Holy Spirit prompted Angela and I to call others to arms, to battle, to war for dad and that also sent miraculous healing into the situation. I stand right now and give Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit praise! They are worthy! Worthy of all my praise They are! woooooooooohooooooooooooooooo!

My heart and my flesh are crying out for more of Him. I want so much to enjoy Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit. I want them to totally saturate me. 

I pray the prayer below encourages you and promotes healing into your bodies as well as others as you it pray over them. It is not Wendi's prayer. It is the Word of God turned into a prayer. Let us follow the Word of God and lay hands on our sick bodies, praying in faith, believing He will manifest healing into and through us. Let us also lay our hands on other's praying in faith, believing He will manifest healing into them (Mark 16:18).

2 Kings 18:15 Today Father we refuse to pay ‘money’ or give any credit to the diagnosis of (person’s name you are praying for) ________the doctors have given (name) _________. 19:6-8 We speak that fear will have no hold over (name) _________, their family and their friends that they have heard or felt. We speak that all bad reports like these are blasphemous as they discount Your power and might working in and through (name) _________. We command these reports and any more that will rear their pathetic heads to be bound and sent into dark, lonely and voided places, in Jesus’ name.

                14-16 We, like Hezekiah, have received the word from the hand of the messengers (the doctors) and have read it. We also have come to You, spread it out before You and are praying now. We will continue to do so until the day of his/her manifested, confirmed healing.

                O Lord God of (name) _________, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear, open Your eyes and see, and hear the words of the messengers, which reproach You. 19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save (name) _________ from the hand of (diagnosis) ________________ that all the kingdoms of (name) _________’s earth, all the people in (name) _________’s life and so many others may know that You are the Lord God, You alone.

                20-24 We thank You that You have heard the prayers we have prayed and this is what You are going to do for (name) _________: You will cause (name) _________ to shake his/her head “NO” to those who have despised him/her by these reports.

These reports have reproached and blasphemed Your will for his/her life. They have raised their voice, lifted their eyes on high against Your word and will for (name) _________. They have cut down Your word in him/her and have entered the extremities of his/her being, going into his/her darkest of places. They have dug and divided out things that should not have happened. 27-28 Yet You know their dwelling places, these enemies of ours – their going out and coming in and their rage against You and Your child. Because their rage against You and Your child and their tumult (turmoil) have come up to Your ears, You will therefore put Your hook in their nose and Your bridle in their lips, turning them back by the way they came saying,

32-34 “You shall not come into (name) _________ again. You shall leave and take every vile thing connected to you out, nor shoot any more arrows there, nor come before him/her with a shield, nor build siege mounds against him/her. By the way you came (diagnosis)__________________, you will return; You will not come into this child again. For I am and will continue to defend (name) _________, to save him/her, for My own sake.”

35 Father cause Your Angel to go out and kill (name) _________’s enemies right now.

"...But forget all that - it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.  For I am about to do something new.  See, I have already begun!  Do you not see it?"  says the Lord. Isaiah 43:18-19 NLT

Jagged, Dull, Sharp or freely give to Father?

Before I started reading my Bible for today my sister, Angi, called me and said, “Wendi, I know you’re going to be sitting on the first verse. You’re going to want to plant there. Be ready.” We both laughed because she knows how I can read a verse and get stuck on a word  or phrase in the verse, sit and chew on it, then write a whole bunch about what it means to me. Well, I am here to tell you this is exactly what occurred as I was reading the first verse. I texted her to tell her I was ‘planting’ on 2 Kings 10:32 (which was the first verse of today’s reading) and she sent me a text back saying, “I’m sooooooo chuckling.” The following is how Holy Spirit and I communicated to each other when I read it.

2 Kings 10:32 “In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel; and Hazael conquered them…” (Side note: when I read the word Israel, I often like to replace it with the words the Church, His people or my name.)

            Sometimes we don’t understand the why’s and how’s of God but one thing is for sure, He has a master plan and we are a part of it. Today let’s release anything He is asking us to cut off of our lives. Let’s let it go freely, trusting in His master plan and that He will either return it or replace it with something far greater.

Sometimes we hold so tightly to the things, attitudes, emotions, and people of this world, which causes us to lose our focus. We hear Father graciously asking us to let them go and hear His warnings to be careful with what we have so it doesn’t replace His right standing in our lives. When we choose to keep these things He’s requested then He comes and divides those parts from our lives. He often comes gently first and He sometimes comes with a mighty penetrating sword because He knows these things we have held so dear will cause such devastation to ourselves, others and our relationship with Him.

When we offer God our lives, every part, and do not hold anything too tightly (except our undying love and affection for Him), He never has to come with a knife, sword, or blade. He simply approaches us and asks for what He wants and we freely hand Him what He desires. When we do this we are telling ourselves, others, the world and our enemies we are trusting Him to take care of what we have been given, no matter what it is be it our children, hopes, fears, or other precious commodities. I can hear Him saying after He asks for the items from us, “I got this.” He does, you know. He’s embraces us so close and securely we cannot help but understand and know we are knitted into His Kingdom and His being.

Let us be vigilant to give Him liberally of all He asks and not use our jagged knives to separate ourselves from the safe position of being hidden in the shadow of His wings. For when we use our rough daggers the cuts are often tragically more profound and harder to heal than when He comes and slivers away the things that distract us from Him, His Kingdom, His principles, His love, His people and more.

Father longs for us to be the conquerors and not the conquered. Let us then take time to solely and soul-y surrender the things He asks for so we can walk in newness of life. Let us rely on Him to even heal the jagged wounds we have done to ours and others minds, hearts, bodies, will and spirits by what we are continually doing, thinking, saying, hearing, tasting, feeling and more. Let us, by His power and His might, tower over our flesh AND our enemies and boldly proclaim, “Not today! Not this minute! Not this hour! My flesh will not have all dominion, all power, or all authority over me today! But TODAY Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, You Three will have all power, dominion, voice, and authority over, in and through me! Today is Your day, o Lord! Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the power. Yours is the glory, forever and ever. Today, this very minute of this hour, I choose. . .FREEDOM!” We can say boldly today, “The Lord reigns in every territory of my life, not just for a brief moment but for the length and breadth of my days on this earth.”

            11:2 Let us realize that when Father asks for an area of our lives He is stealing us away from those things and enemies who long for death to manifest in and upon us. Let us grasp our Father hiding us and tending to our needs, longing for us to be nestled in His arms. Let us heed His cries for our safety. Let us listen to Him through others He has sent to care for us as well.

            Let us resolve to stay within the house of the Lord. Let us allow the Lord to keep watch, guard and escort us for He will not allow us to be broken down when we are fixing our eyes completely on Him. He surrounds us entirely on all sides with every weapon necessary to defeating those ideas, desires, and habits that we have chosen to cast away from to our death! Let us remember, He is with us when we come in, and when we go out!

            How incredible You are, O Lord! How merciful and righteous You are! Your love knows No bounds, nor does Your protection. You alone are God and our hope is in You once again. We are giving You all that we are, all that we have, all that we have done for You to tend carefully. Our lives are forever in Your hands and loving arms.

            11:11You guard and protect us as far left is from right and up is from down from ourselves, others and our enemies. When we allow You to do this, it enables You to show the true King of kings and Lord of lords, Who has the most glorious of all crowns, through our lives.

You have placed kingdom authority upon and within our hearts and lives as well. 12 You have crowned us with righteousness and anointed us for Your name’s sake. You have saturated us in Your kingdom and Your kingdom has no end! Long live Spirit! Long live Jesus! Long live Father! We choose to make You KING over everything today.

11:17 Let us also choose to renew our covenants (commitments) with the Lord that we should be His people. 18 As He exposes the areas He wants let us break them into pieces. Let us slay them to their very cores thus assigning (19) Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit as Rulers in our lives on their rightful thrones. 20 It is then when we can truly rejoice! It is then when our souls are at peace.

12:1 Since we have chosen to do these things, let us again choose to continue to do what is right in the sight of Father all the days of our lives. 12 Let us trust Father to take care of all damages, gaping wounds and scars that occur to us, for we live in a world where pain, unfairness, broken heartedness, sickness and death are prevalent. It is essential for us to remember He is big enough and strong enough to restore everything the enemy drives our way whether it is through illness, tragedy or people.

17-18 Let us be careful to keep the possessions Father gives us and not walk up and hand it to our flesh, others or the enemies of our souls. Yet, if Father asks us to give these gifts to others, let us do so accordingly, knowing that every good and perfect gift is from above and He will either replace it or grant something fresh in its place.

Acts 18:5 Let us also be very watchful to keep the blessings, teachings, convictions and promises Father gives us near and dear to our hearts while we expectantly wait to be compelled by Holy Spirit in all that we do. Let us also tune our ears to Holy Spirit’s leading to share with others Jesus is the Christ. We must remember although we are led by the Spirit to minister to people they may not receive our message and we, like Paul, (7) can choose to depart from them and go tell others who WILL (8) believe on the Lord with all their households as well as others. Father will send us to those who will hear, believe and be.

9 The same words Father spoke to Paul He speaks to us, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with You and no one will attack you or hurt you, for I have many in this city.” Let us continue where he has positioned us, teaching God’s word among the people. 13 Let it be known of us that we persuade men, women and children by the power of Holy Spirit to worship Father and trust in Jesus as their Savior, which is contrary to the passions of this world.

Psalm 145:1 Let us praise His works to one another and declare His mighty acts. 5 Let us meditate on His glorious splendor and wondrous works. 8 How gracious and compassionate is the Lord? Has He been slow to anger with us? Has He been great in mercy? 10 Yes! All His works praise Him, let us join in the anthem, join in the song of those whose hearts and lives are fixed on Him.

11 We resolve to choose to speak of Your glory, talk of Your power and (12) will make known Your mighty acts. 14 For You uphold us when we fall and raise us up when we are bowed low. 16 You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living creature. You and You alone are the only One Who can and delights to do so. How glorious! How priceless! How majestic! How magnificent You are!

18 You come even nearer when we call to You and again fulfill every desire for those who fear You. You hear our cries and save us! HALLELUJAH!!! We agree to engage every ounce of our body, soul and spirit to bless Your Holy name forever!

Proverbs 18:1 “A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment.” This is exactly what I was doing when I was overeating in the months of March, April, May and June. This is what I do when I prefer my will over His will; I willingly isolate myself from the BEST He has to offer me. I thank God He is faithful, just and forgiving of my sins as I confess them to Him throwing them as far as the east is from the west.

Selah (means pause and think about this).

  

*The italicized portions of this note are prayers.