3.27.2010

Undeserving

Undeserving yet He has still given me more than I have ever asked for. People who may not know me may not see how blessed I am. I have more treasures than anyone could ever ask for. I'm not talking about my Home or my car or anything that you could buy me. I'm talking about the greatest thing you could ever own and yet it doesn't cost a thing.


I've got 3 awesome kids. I know they each have their things that they can do that can irritate me at times. But all in all they are really good kids. I just hope that I can do them justice as a mother and raise them up not by just teaching but by leading in example through the things I do and how I act. I can say that it has not been as good as it should be. I am trying to fix things in my life and just hope that I can still be a good example.

God sent me wonderful friends just in time. I was drowning in myself and God knew just how to help me. It started out me helping them. But then through it I realized they helped me more than I ever knew I needed. I think everyone needs help. We all need someone to lean on, to help us. Everyone helps me with my girls and that means a lot to me. For them to see them as I see them. To look past Caity's attitude, Syleste's tantrums and Lyvie's hyperness and to see them for who they are. It's amazing. I hope to be there to help them when they have their little ones.

Today I'm thankful for:

Priceless treasures: My number one priceless treasure is having Christ in my heart and life and being able to let him use me as his tool.

*Friends. They are God's way to warm the soul. They are here to help release us from our fears. To support us in our journey. A true friend will take your words and let your friendship grow, sometimes words from a friend can seem harsh because they know us so well that it hits on a nerve, a nerve that leads to our fears. Yet they can, in the same breath, be there to comfort us through it and help us look to Christ to overcome it.

Just as God is our Friend. He warms our soul more than anyone could ever do on this earth. As His true friend we take his words-even though they can hit that nerve and instead of breaking down and allowing the devil to overcome us with our fears, we grow with Christ from them and are free from them. He is our comforter, no matter what we face in life.

The message that He has sent through our speakers. I prayed for a message that could touch us all, touch on our fears and help release us from them. Tonight's message was right on. Goes along with the spring cleaning of our life. And although we allow him to spring clean many things in our life, we still tend to hold on to a few things "Our Closet" That we keep locked. We all have that closet that we hold the key to, and even though we don't open it much or at all, we still hold that key thinking it brings some comfort to us. It's never going to do anything for us but keep us held back. We have to Let Go and Let God take control and clean it out. I am handing my key over to him , Letting it go. It's hard and I know i will have to work DAILY, Hourly, Every minute, second, I know that I can do it though and I will do it. Just as I know that my friends are releasing those keys and together we will grow in Friendship with each other and most importantly with Christ.

Psalm 103

Of David.
1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

6 The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:

8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;

16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-

18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.

21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.

22 Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.

3.26.2010

The Reason


Tonight has been an AWESOME night. My words will not even begin to justify it. Amazing things have happened and I am glad I got to witness them. I am glad I am learning to LISTEN and FOLLOW God and what he wants for me and what he tells me to stand up and say. At the time it is very hard to do and I am WAY out of my comfort zone. But stepping out is paying off. I am so thankful for getting it all together and knowing that I can change myself and witness to my children and to my friends and family.


People who ask me to explain how *I* know there is a God, I can simply answer. It's not anything that *I* am going to prove to you through history or His word. It's something YOU have to just feel and you will just know. My answer: God speaking not only through me but through others simultaneously and it coming out from within us and speaking/sharing what He has told us. THAT Is how *I* know He exists-of course I have other reasons but that's one of the main ones. Nothing I can make you feel either.


Today I'm grateful for:


Power of Prayer: Nothing can compare in strength-IF You have the Faith.


Reasons- I have been through MANY different trials in life. I always said what everyone says *Why ME? Why me Lord? Why am *I* going through this? You know he answered that tonight while I poured my heart out to Him. To witness, to use my trials and speak out to my friends, family and girls/kids. The Devil has attacked me in MANY ways during my life. He has used Family. He has used drug addictions attacking my family to get to me, He has used people being taken away from me. He has used love being taken from me, He's used MY health, MY KIDS Health, My Family's Health, Death, He's used MYSELF against me- Looking at the outside and the differences I have from everyone else, ALL Has been *TRIED* to be used against me, TRIED is the key word there. It almost worked but it's not going to work, not now NOT EVER! I know it's going to get A LOT worse than it has been, I expect that and I am Armored to fight against him and I have an ARMY standing behind Me. With all that I have, he is so small.


Answered Prayers and Speaking to me the word to comfort and strengthen others. Tonight a major prayer was answered. And I couldn't be happier.


Not wanting for myself, being comfortable where I am in life. All I want out of life is to see that my trials were not done in vain and that I can use them to reach to others to better their life. I want them to be happy. I could be where I'm at the rest of my life as long as everyone else's life that is entwined with mine is Awesome and they are happy. That is where my happiness lies at this moment.


Knowing I am going to be FINE! I am going to get my health back. I'm slowly getting things back in life and that WILL happen when God knows I've been through it and have LEARNED from it. He always knows when it's time to allow things to heal in my life. I am learning that it's when I've Learned from it and grown from it. Not when I let it feed depression and lays me down.


Friends, I hope that you find wisdom in these words. I hope that you see God in this and not DANA. It's not me. So don't give me credit if you are helped from this, but give the credit where it is due, Look UP and praise him.


I love EVERYONE in my life, whether I've met you or not and everyone of my friends have touched my life in some way or another and my Goal is to touch their life in some way! Have an awesome weekend and look for your reason for the things that have come against you in life. Grow and Learn from it and don't let it get you down unless it's down on your knees asking God to help show you!

3.22.2010

Not letting it get me :)

Just when you think Spring has arrived and the sicky bugs will leave for a while, we get slammed with snow flurries/freezing rain with low temps again. Which I also wake to being sick :( That's ok though bc I know that it will be sunny again-hopefully to stay for a while and make complain of the heat and I will get better.


Spring is in the air and it will come.

Spring-what does this word mean to you?

To me when I hear it, this is my first thoughts:

-To bounce, jump or leap

-New life rising up

-Sunshine

-Warm Rain

-Crisp, Clean, Cool
And here's what the definition is: SPRING


Who knew that a word could have so many vast meanings.

This is what came to me from reading the meanings:

-I will move forward
-God is the source that is going to make things rise up in me
-I have been "sprung" from my imprisonment that the Devil once had me in
-God will rapidly remove the stresses in my life. Only He can Spring me from them. He will recoil me back to normalcy.
-I am growing and have been renewed through the Spring of Christ
-Like a Spring we are Resilient.
-Christ is my support that helps me to rise.

Never new that one word could mean so much and be used in a Christian way.

Today I'm Grateful for:

Knowing I will get better. Yeah I'm sick, and I could dwell on that, but knowing I will be fine and will get better is a much better aspect to looking at it. After all if we were never sick in body or mind we wouldn't appreciate the times we are well :)

Having help in the time of need. I'm very lucky that I have the family/friends that are always there to help me when I'm in need of anything. Not everyone has that support.

Sunny days will be back. :)

Ladies Retreat nearing. I can't wait. Last year was amazing and I know that this year only holds more. We have all grown so much since last year and I know that we are only going to grow more and more. We have an amazing group of ladies in our Church.

Being able to overlook. Overlook what the Devil tries to use to get me down and out. He can throw sickness at my family, use those around me to say/do hurtful things, use my kids against me BUT as long as I don't let him in, he can't do a thing. If I don't dwell on the pain he can not enter in. Another door has been slammed :)

Medicine. It can be abused but it is a God send. Some meds help us in our healing process. I know right now my Tylenol Severe Congestion is helping me to breathe, not ache and to feel less cruddy even though it makes me ill and groggy. Hey can't have something help without the ill wanted effects.

My hope for you is to allow things to Spring up in you and renew you.

Happy Monday :)



3.18.2010

Spring Cleaning My LIfe

SUNSHINE! Boy how much it changes your mood. Today has been a pretty good day. We didn't have any meltdowns this morning before school. They've gotten along pretty well with each other since they have been home. Lyvie is napping while the other two have some alone time.


The weekend is closer and I get a small break. Get to catch up on some much needed rest. And some much needed time with friends w/o kids hanging on me and requiring all my attention. Love my girls but love my breaks too.

Got some cleaning done today. I clean it....gets dirty, I clean...it gets dirty, I see a cycle here. I'm ready to be like the Jetsons and have that robot maid that does it all, hahaha.

Change is in the air. Not just weather wise but in all aspects. I know change is coming in many ways. I know more sunshine is coming our way to warm our souls. I know things are going to change drastically in our church and in our personal relationships. I know that the cycle is going to be broken and many are going to step out of their comfort zones and expand.

Today I'm grateful for:

Knowing that even though things can stay the same or in a "cycle" for a very long time that there's always a break in the cycle. There's always change when things get redundant. I'm excited to see how much change is coming. I can't wait to look back 6 months from now and see it all. Last night's message got it right on the head. I am so blessed to see God speak through all of us and relay it to one another. It's awesome when we all seem to be aligned, I know that's God.

Spring Cleaning. Not only my house but my life. It's time to move forward and clean out the past and let it go. Leave it all at God's feet. Just like we clean our homes, deep clean, we should deep clean out our minds and lives. Change the way we do things. After all if we expect things to change we must change within ourselves also.

Sleep. Can't wait to see what it's like once again. Last night was a horrible night, but I know that I will soon be able to catch up a little on some much needed sleep. I feel kinda like a zombie right now. I'm trying to stay busy and not sit still too long so I will feel somewhat energized.

Sketti. It's my favorite meal. I love to smell it cooking in the crock pot. It brings back childhood memories of mama cooking and us gathering around the table together. Oh how I'd love for that to happen just once again. My brothers, my parents and I all gathered at the table to eat a good home cooked meal. I really miss those days at times. I miss my brothers and what we were growing up. That bond is much different now. We have grown apart in many ways but we've also gotten closer at the same time. Seeing each other through our different trials has strengthened us.

Friends. I have some of the greatest people in my life. I'm glad that God lead me to this road I'm on. They all came just in time. I may have been through some storms to get here but God knew what he was doing. I just took a long time to catch up to Him and His plan for me.

The Future. I don't know what it holds for me. I don't know if I'll have some one to cherish it with. But I do know that God has a great plan for me and my life and He is going to take care of me and is not going to let me go through anything all alone. I do know that I'm accepting it for what it is right now and I'm going to be happy with whatever the future holds. I know it holds God in my life and that's all that matters.

Weekends. They need no explanation :)

Hope you all have a great weekend.


3.17.2010

Filling the cup




I have not been in touch lately with my gratitude's or myself. I've been in an odd mood for the last two weeks. I can't quite put my finger on how or why I'm not grateful or out of touch. But I will get back aligned. This is my first step to growing grateful again.

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful and have many things to be grateful for but I want more! Many great things have happened since I wrote my last list. So that should give me plenty to write about. I don't want to just be here and blog, I want to be in touch and FEEL what I'm blogging about. There's a difference between just writing and feeling what you are writing.

Here's a few verses pulled from Psalms 34 that have reached me today:

4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.

8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,

17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.

18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;

Today I'm grateful for:

Music and how it can speak great things to our spirit. The song "What Faith Can do" By Kutless to me today.

Faith. It really can move mountains. I know every mountain I've faced, I can now look back and know that through Christ I was able to conquer it. Lord knows I've faced a lot of mountains in life. But no mountain is too big. I know when we are at the bottom of the mountain starting to climb it's hard to see the other side. It's hard to find the strength to begin climbing it. But I've learned that when I prayed and climbed it with Christ, I was over that huge mountain within a blink of an eye. It is always a struggle at first to find the Faith/strength to begin the climb. When problems happen we seem to let them take us straight down, instead of laying us down we need to let it take us down to our knees and pray about it. I am one who learns things the hard way. So I always try to fight the battle in the beginning my way, but eventually turn it over to God. I'm now working on giving it all to Him before I try to do it. After all things are easier when you have someone holding you up.

Knowing that being Righteous doesn't mean there won't be any troubles. As it says in Psalm 34:19. Righteous men have troubles, but He will deliver us from them all. That does not mean that we won't have to go through it before we are delivered. If we never had troubles we'd never appreciate the good times. I am very grateful for the things I've been allowed to go through because now I can teach those that are going through them how to have strength. I know I went through everything I have gone through to be able to minister to those who are in those trials of life. I gained wisdom and strength from my trials and I hope to teach others to learn, gain, and grow from their trials. So they can obtain their Tribulation!

Sunshine! The last couple of days we've had some awesome sun. I am so grateful that winter is behind us and I can now soak up the warmth of the sun. It is my mood lifter. It does amazing things. God knew what he was doing when he made the sun so bright and warm.

Softball Season. Caity is happy and loving it so far. It's great to see her enjoying herself. Her practices gives me time to walk and reflect and the other two girls time to play with each other and their friends. Between the walking and the sun my mood is shifting back to center!

Things falling into place. Even though things are totally fixed, it's fixing. God doesn't lie and I know things are going to change greatly. It's already slowly happening. I like to look back to 2 months ago, things were a lot worse than they are now, so I can see how God has moved. The devil can continue to try to get me to lose focus on what God has showed me but I'm sorry devil you are failing and are going to fail. I am going to just move forward and gain Strength!