So much to share, so little time ...

I have some good news and ... some good news!

The first line of good news is that this blog will go on but the better news is that it will have to continue on my personal blog, vitaleSWEETS. Reason being is that my relationship with God continues to grow and flourish and rise and He has blessed me with so much as far as my business and relationships go. That said, I am limited on time but want to continue blogging. I've been discouraged over the past few months trying to keep up with both a Christian and personal blog and whenever I attempt to update either blog I just decide against it because I don't know what should go where.

My solution?

As the Lord has become the forefront of my life and how I live it, He and all of his involvement in my life belong on my personal blog. I can't do away with this blog because I have had some fantastic guest bloggers and there are some truly informative posts here so I will keep this blog online and open to guest bloggers, etc but I will primarily be writing about my blessed life from my personal blog from now on.

What a journey it has been since becoming a Christian in January 2011. Just as my blogs go I was living my life that I've lived for 26 years but beginning a new dimension, thus this blog. Now, here I am, able to join both as I'm no longer me learning about being a Christian, but me, Anna Lisa THE Christian. No better way to start this chapter than by sharing through my personal blog.

In times of great despair ...

Many of us go through difficult situations with those we love and often feel lost and confused. I recently had a strain in my bond with one of the most important people in my life, someone I have always looked up to. We had an argument and I lost control for a brief moment. I looked to God and, right away, I apologized for my mistake and moved on. This, in turn, was the beginning of absence in my life for about a month. The first few weeks of being avoided and ignored were painful. I would go through bouts of anger, resentment and sadness but I continued to talk to God and take in my daily Bible readings. I prayed for my loved one and for my own strength and clarity. Fortunately, life can be pretty occupied when you have a nearing 2 year old and my priority is my family so that got me through the rest of the weeks. I felt sad when I would reach out with no success until one day I called this person and they answered. They answered my call.

I said I love you and I am so sorry and they returned with the pain I caused them. I can't speak for this person but I believe they did their part, although, I wasn't out for an argument. Arguments are too easy. The difficulty many have is swallowing their pride. Could I have retaliated and cast some blame onto this person? Could I have described past situations that were equal to my offense but done by that person? I certainly could have, and then what? I would have upset the person further and possibly caused a deeper disconnect, nothing would be resolved and I am sure I would be left with that "well I got that out of my system feeling" where you think you'll feel better afterwards but you don't. This person needed to be in my life and if taking full responsibility for the issue and being truly sincere about that was the way to bandage the situation then, of course, there is no question to what I was to do.

Every single time I trust the Lord, He comes through for me and gives me the strength, the comfort, the love I need and I know He'll always be there for me in that way.

Joyce Meyer

My mother in law told me about Joyce Meyer a few weeks ago and suggested I check out her half hour special each morning to start my day off right. She could not have been more right! I've gathered wonderful and inspirational quotes from Mrs. Meyer.

She struck me with the first episode I watched. I tend to stress out very often and she happened to be discussing the effects of such tendencies. Meyer said that "stress is a down payment on a problem you may not have." Oh my goodness is that dead on.  More times than not, when I have anxiety over something and drone about it for weeks and weeks it almost always works out! Imagine that, you pray and then you end up thanking God for answering.

Here are a few others in the past weeks :

"God, you are God. You are awesome and I do not need to be demanding that you explain everything to me. I need to live by your promises, not by your explanations." 

"When you give, you are more like God than at any other time." 

"Invite God to get into your mess and change it."

Meyer is extremely easy to relate to. She does not sugar coat anything and tells life the way it is for her. She has come out of terrible experiences and is deeply sincere with every word. In NYS, you should be able to catch her at 830am and 1030pm on your Christian stations. You can also view her website and watch her broadcasts there.

My Thought of the Day

It's been a really long time since I posted... sorry about that!

Recently I've been reading through the book of Genesis and God has just been showing me so many things that I'd never seen before. That's one of the things I love about the scriptures, it doesn't matter how many times I read something, there's always another level of revelation. I could read the Bible a million times through and find something new each time!

One thing that kind of blew my mind a bit was the story of Adam and Eve. I know we've all read it and know it forwards and backwards, but reading it again this last time I began to think about the reasons behind Eve's decision to eat the fruit. She had everything going for her, a great husband, beautiful home, all of her needs provided for and let's not forget she was drop dead gorgeous and never going to age or lose her girlish figure. Who wouldn't want that? On top of all that she had an intimate relationship with God who came down daily to walk and talk with her. She had quite the life! Yet, something compelled her to eat of the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan came to her as a serpent and knew her weakness. He knew exactly what to target in her in order to cause her to fall into sin. The serpent planted a seed of doubt in Eve's mind. He implied that God was holding something good back from her, something that was for her benefit, that would make her like God Himself. And so Eve ate the fruit and gave it to her husband and he ate the fruit too. Their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked and they knew shame for the very first time. See, Satan knew that if he could cause that doubt in Eve's mind, that thought that what he was offering was better than what God had then he could get Eve to sin. Eve didn't recognize that what he was offering was only half truth. He told her she wouldn't die from eating the fruit, yet we know that the moment she ate it death entered the world. Her body began to die in that moment; her physical body, her emotional body, and her spiritual body. Eve thought God was withholding something good from her when in reality He with keeping her from death. Now here's the kicker, we're exactly the same way. Satan uses the same tricks that worked for him then to get to us now. We fall for it hook, line, and sinker. He gets us to think the things that God has told us not to touch are good for us, that God is holding something back. But the reality of the situation is this, God knows what is good for us and what will bring death. He makes it clear in His word and it's not because He wants to be a dictator or be mean, but because He, as our creator, knows what's best for us. We've all fallen into this trap, thinking we know better than God because surely this "thing" is for our good. But God knows so much better than we do, and He's only looking out for us. Many times when we fall into sin we also experience that "shame" that Adam and Eve did. Their response is the same as ours, to hide from God. But the best thing we can do when we fall is to allow God Almighty to come in, see the mess we've made, clean us up, and put us right back on our feet. Satan uses that shame to try and separate us from God, but God doesn't hold our sins against us. When we repent and ask for forgiveness He casts them as far as the east is from the west. Sitting here writing this I'm amazed by the goodness of God and so incredibly thankful that Jesus took my punishment for my sins making a way for me to come to the Father. I hope and pray that the insight God gave me helps you as it's helped me!

Today's Promise From God

When your faith is shaky ...

The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.
Habakkuk 3:19

Today's Promise From God

When it seems impossible to follow God's commands...

Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace.
Romans 6:14

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is arguably the most difficult feeling to genuinely express in a necessary situation. For example, you have probably been angry in your lifetime at ridiculous situations and in very serious situations. In the moment your anger flared, could you not have replaced it with forgiveness to resolve the situation? Easier said than done, I'm sure we can agree, but the point is that it can be done.

Take this scene from the more recent adaptation of Little Women starring Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder.

http://youtu.be/u3CGG-6alBE (unable to embed due to owner's disabling)

Jo's little sister, Amy, burns her beloved manuscript out of jealousy that Jo was able to go out while restricting Amy and sentencing her to an evening of homework. Jo's anger seems relatively understandable, maybe slightly extreme, but understandable at first glance.

Think, though, was her anger worth it? This is not to say one should not experience upset and that we should all be hunky dory throughout ever instance in our lives, but must we react with angry words and actions in our anger? The reality is, Amy burned a pile of papers. Granted, the papers had Jo's hard work that took a great deal of time and effort but it was a material item she was deeply attached to and nothing more. I am one to speak, I have had a few times in my life where my computer hard drive was done for and I thought I had lost my personal photos, the most important material thing I have. I literally had meltdowns with each loss (and they were recovered which is another story for another day!) and looking back I feel a little selfish.

Where does forgiveness play into this?

Forgiveness is not only about saying, "Well, that's alright so long as your sorry." It's about recognizing that when something is the matter, it just is and if there's something that can be done to fix the situation well then so be it but otherwise there is no good coming from anger. Anger will only hurt others. And so what? The wrongdoer deserves to feel hurt, no? Chances are they probably already do and if they are malicious than let God be their judge.

In the resolution of what Amy did, Jo was able to forgive her. She did come to the realization that it wasn't a true loss. A true loss would be losing her mother, her father, her sister. In the end, she wrote a book that was the complete opposite of what was burned. The only thing that could have made the situation better was Jo thinking about this and recognizing this before lashing out. I would like to imagine that if Amy had been 3 years old, Jo would have displayed a great deal of patience in the same scenario, no matter how upset she felt inside.

Forgiveness is the answer. Grudges stay with you and weigh you down. Forgiveness can release any bitterness you hold inside. There are tough experiences in life such as the murder of a child. Often, spectators and the loved ones of the victim are eager to see the predator be sentenced to death. If that is the fate of someone, there is no reversing the law and extreme as this may sound, God can help you achieve feelings of forgiveness to such a lost soul, relieving the victim's loved ones of a life of anger and hate and bitterness within. Corrie ten Boom is a perfect example. I have written about her work, The Hiding Place, and her experiences during the Holocaust. She refers to a meeting with a Nazi where she begged God to give her strength to shake hands with this person who murdered her sister, her neighbors, so many people and He did. She describes their shaking hands as such a moving moment because God was with there, protecting her from a life of anger. She was able to forgive.