Today we finish what we started ~ True Love!

As I said last week, one thing I love to talk about is True Love! I never seem to tire of it, True Love that is.

I believe in True Love …  I always have and always will. I always believe that true love will prevail in the end.

I believe and pray the SONS of Thunder will find True Love!  I have already been praying for their future brides.  You can read more about that here, if you like.

I believe my friends will find true love too, even if it has been taken away before.  It will come back. It always has a way of finding its rightful place, whether in your heart or only in a precious memory.  I witnessed my parents true love all the days of their life.  Yes, true love faces hard times, but true love endures all things.  

And on days when life is hard and I am weary by life’s many responsibilities, I remind myself of True Love!

But one of my sweet friends once said to me she didn’t believe in true love. WHAT! I remember saying! You do not believe in true love? It can’t be so … No, No, No,  you must believe in true love.  It is impossible not too!

Have you not seen The Princess Bride, Somewhere in Time or Sleepless in Seattle and well, the list goes on!

Who doesn’t love a good old movie where love wins in the end!  But let’s remember, Hollywood is one thing and the God of the Universe is a whole other realm.

Those are just movies … Created simply by man …  That is Hollywood…

God can do so much better than Hollywood!

Let’s get serious about what true love really means on this Thankful Thursday.

Any one that has seen a baby born, a sunset or has experienced real forgiveness knows that the power of true loves does exist.

People, directors and Hollywood can’t even compare to the capability of the Love of  God!

His true love and saving grace are in His Son, Jesus Christ.

So on this Thankful Thursday my mind is pulled to real, True Love.  The true love of God and His Son, Jesus Christ!

As I shared last week, I am moved  by music. Songs inspire me and often pick me up when I need it.  My parents loved music and made it an intricale part of my life.

I am so moved and inspired by the Phil Wickham song,  True Love!  I cannot listen to it and not feel the incredible power and transcending love of Jesus Christ.

This artist shares so vividly the love of God displayed on the Cross!

On this Thankful Thursday as you read the lyrics I pray you know how loved you are:

And just for a moment remember that True Love does exist:

Come close listen to the story
About a love more faithful than the morning
The Father gave His only Son just to save us

The earth was shaking in the dark
All creation felt the Father’s Broken Heart
Tears were filling Heaven’s Eyes
The day that True Love died, the day that True Love died
When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn’t move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that True Love died, The day that True Love died

Search your heart you know you can’t deny it
Come on, lose your life just so you can find it
The Father gave His only Son just to save us

The Earth was shaking in the dark
All creation felt The Fathers broken heart
Tears were filling Heaven’s Eyes
The day that True Love died, the day that True Love died

Now, Jesus is alive

Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
Oh, He is alive
He rose again

When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn’t move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that True Love died, The day that True Love died

Come close listen to the story…

Be blessed and encouraged abundantly today on this Thankful Thursday as you come close and listen to the story about a love more faithful than the morning and never forget that the Father gave His only Son just to save us!  That, my dear friend, is True Love and something to be so thankful for on this Thankful Thursday!

John 3:16 says it all! Check out Phil Wickham’s video on YouTube. I have also posted it on my Facebook page. We as believers are so blessed to know and experience true love – now pass it on!

Lyrics by to Ethan Gillette, Zach McK , Jimmy H. for these lyrics

It all started several months back.  It was a typical morning for the Sons of Thunder and The Little Black Dress that day.  We were scrambling for breakfast, searching for backpacks, digging through the never-ending mound of socks for a matching pair ( really I am not  exaggerating) and trying to find homework that had misplaced for the umpteenth time. Oh, and of course lets’ not forget the library books. Where are the library books? And what about breakfast?  Who has a breakfast bar to spare?  And I think to myself,  Dear Lord, please help me and take a big deep breath!

Frustration loomed everywhere and our morning was getting off to a very crazy start as you can tell… Have you been there and done that too! I am pretty sure this morning routine sounds familiar to you too?

Winters stood in the garage and He was just kind of shaking his head as we prepared to drive away.  As to say, Thank God you are at least in the car.  That is half the battle.  Just getting the three Sons of Thunder loaded in the car is a feat in itself.  If we can make it  to the sanctuary of the driveway we are assured to make it to school on time…

Well, then again, at least we hope so, as long as one of the Sons does not say”  I think I forgot…

I simply remember, Winters and I caught eyes again, and I said;

Thank God we have a car to drive

Thank God our children are healthy

Thank God we have money to pay for the car and for this life we are trying to rebuild and the endless mound of sock because that means we have socks to wear.

Thank God we have food on the table and friends to celebrate our life with!

Yes, Winters it is Thankful Thursday and we both laughed but we also reflected on the fact that, yes, indeed, we were really so thankful.

That is how I started this simple series each week.  I, like many of you get distracted by the difficulties of life but I want to acknowledge and remember all the good and abundant blessings in my life today and everyday.  About a year ago I added a section to the Power Prayer Girl Handbook,  reminding us to be thankful because that empowers you and I to be an even more effective prayer warrior! 

When we focus our attention on being thankful and grateful it keeps our heart soft and pliable.  It stirs us away from having a critical and negative spirit and makes us better women of God!

Today’s Thankful Thursday is really no different from that very first Thankful Thursday several months back.  However, school is out, so there is very little early morning scrambling.  Yippie! Just crazy trips to the pool and now rather than searching for sock we search for goggles, towels and the pool key! Oh, my!

 Just another thing to give thanks for because we have a pool to go and not everyone does. What a treat.  And thank God I can wear the Sons out and hope they sleep very, very well.  Could I be so lucky.  Mother’s you know you are all hoping for the same thing tonight!

But just like every other day, I again focus my attention on the good and all that I am thankful for…

I am thankful that school is out,

that friends and family are alright through the devastating storms across our country.

I am grateful my parents are with the Lord and not suffering.

I am grateful that my children are so happy and healthy 

and the list goes on and on.

On this Thankful Thursday and really everyday of the week I pray you will try to have an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving.

I pray you will look around you and give God the Glory and thanks for all the blessings that fill your life!

So dear, sister what can you give thanks for today! Start making your list.  It will change your day and even your life, I promise.

Be blessed and encouraged on this Thankful Thursday and as we continue to give thanks each and everyday. Not just today!

How people perceive us greatly affects how we perceive ourselves. It is just a fact of life.  I wish it wasn’t true, but it is.

People will say things that cut so deep we feel we may never recover.  And sadly, we may not.  It is only through God’s mercy and grace that we can move through hurt, pain and the misconceptions of who people believe we are.

Dear friends, we are not the sum of what others perceive and believe us to be. No. We are the sum of what Jesus Christ says we are!  That is the Truth. Now if I can just get the Sons of Thunder to understand this when others pick on them at school that would be great.  We are working on that!

As you walk life’s journey, remember how God sees you.

“I will give thanks to You for I have been awesome and wonderfully made” Psalm 139:14

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God. And that is what we are”! John 3:1-2

This is one of my favorite verses!

“We can be confident of this, that he who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus! Philippians 1:6

Hallelujah and Praise the Lord! God does not perceive you. He knows you. He calls you many things in the Bible and one of  them is “friend!” It does not get any better than that!

Be blessed and encouraged abundantly today as you remember the Truth and not perceptions.

The news came on a beautiful hot day on June 8, 2009, at around 5:00 p.m. I was in our backyard in Georgia.  We had created a lovely oasis.  Years of hard work, digging, landscaping, building arbors, laying cobblestones and  flagstone (hauled all the way from Oklahoma, ironically) and plantings.  Everything had all come together to make a beautiful secret garden.

We had the prettiest rosemary bush that made for the best rosemary pork chops and a multitude of other great recipes.  I also planted boxwood, compact holly, Azaleas and Gardenia. It was a feast for the eyes. My mother- in- Law has an amazing green thumb and with her encouragement, and literally some  seed money, one year I bought about 20 azaleas.   I then embarked on a new adventure of creating a space that was a blessing to all who entered it.  It was our favorite place to be.  The end result was a place we all found peace and serenity from the  hectic metro Atlanta lifestyle.  It was our peace of Heaven on earth.

On this particular day, I was on the phone with one of my dear friends, our former pastor’s wife.  I had not spoken to her in many months. We had shared each other’s hardships and had even joined together to lead a women’s Bible study at our church.  We had just been discussing how many changes  had occurred in our lives in the last two years.  Most were difficult and some had even tested our faith.  But we were both determined to stay strong and trust God no matter what.

It was the perfect place to be when John appeared on the porch with a very strange look on his face.  I knew Death had come.  It was there among friends, family and in my beautiful secret garden that I heard my mother was now with Jesus.   I had wanted to go and be with my mom but I had also wanted to be with my husband and children.  I was so torn.  I wanted to be with my little ones, to wipe their tears when they heard MiMi was gone.  Selfishly, I wanted to be with my husband and have him hold me as I grieved.  I was pulled between the roles of daughter and mother.  Who do I put first?  Whose needs are the most important?

I felt deep in my spirit my mother was saying to be among the living! Be with the Sons of Thunder, as we love to refer to the Winters boys.  She adored John and I know she would have said for me to be with my husband.  So that is what I did.  I would have loved to have been there as mommy left this world for the celestial heaven and enter the Kingdom.  Yes, but I was with her.  I was with her throughout our lives and we had celebrated this precious life together.  She had really lived!

So I held my boys that hot summer day and we shared death and life together.  I will never trade that moment for anything.

God is merciful and full of Grace.  As we sat in our secret garden and took in the moment, a  hummingbird zipped by three or four times.  The beauty and the splendor of these sweet little birds is a joy to see.   I love to see them but rarely did.  Was this a precious gift from God?  Yes!  A gift from my mother?  I certainly think so!

Since Mom’s death, we have moved to Oklahoma and that sweet hummingbird has followed me here.   I see that sweet hummingbird often and every time I see it, I think of Mom.  It makes me smile and think of what an amazing creature my mom was.   Her energy was endless like the sweet hummingbird.  The visits are truely a gift.  When it drops by, it brings a smile and the hope that God’s love endures forever.  My mom is in my heart always and I am as certain that I will see her again, as I am that I will see the sweet little hummingbird.