Speak Boldly Acts 4:29-30

No words are needed. We are saved by the blood of Christ... period.

I was not brought up in Christianity. I had heard about God and heard about Jesus at Christmastime but that was about the extent of it. And until God sent someone into my life 5yrs. ago he really never existed for me. I ignored anything that had to do with God for 30 some years. I never believed that there was a God out there that could love me. I never believed there was a God out there at all. I lost my Mom to cancer when I was a teenager. I will say that I did know enough about God to pray. But I guess I thought when you prayed he would automatically grant your every wish. I remember praying myself to sleep night after night, begging him not to take my Mom. Well, my Mom died so I just knew that he didn't care. How could God love me if he let this happen? This hurt me so much that I turned to drugs and alcohol to fill that empty hole in my heart, anything so that I couldn't feel.Soon after that I lost my Dad, my brother, and my best friend all within a short amount of time. Now even more than before, drugs and alcohol were what I reached for. They always seemed to be there for me and they always made the pain go away. I just didn't care about anything anymore and continually wondered why on earth was I here. So I tried for years not to be here. But try as I might, I woke up everyday only to start all over again with the business of dulling my pain and trying to turn off my feelings and thoughts. All of this led me to being raped twice, getting myself mixed up in an abusive relationship and wait there is more...being put in jail twice. Then on top of all that I got Cancer.I am telling you all of this to say that even though I thought God wasn't there for me, he was. He was there with me even though I couldn't see him or feel him. I look back now and I can see him, many times, right there beside me.One time in particular was on a night that I drove home when I should never have been behind the wheel. One moment I was driving and the next thing I knew, there was this policeman incessantly knocking on my car window. I woke up only to find that my car had come to rest right in front of a telephone pole. When I say it came to rest right in front of the pole, I mean my bumper was resting against the pole. The policeman got me out of the car and made me sit there with him beside the road as he spoke to me about God while we waited on my friends to come and pick me up. God had his hand on me then and he even sent someone to let me know it. But did I listen or even understand this or even care? No, I paid no attention what so ever. I actually thought the guy was crazy. This was one of the many times that God kept me safe. By all rights, I really shouldn't be here talking to you all today; I really shouldn't be here at all. When I got cancer,I remember people praying for me, but all I could think of was That I was getting just what I deserved, that my whole life had been for nothing. Here again God intervened but I really didn't see it that way. He was with me yet again but I still didn't get it. I sometimes tend to have a really hard head.It took a complete stranger in a diner in the middle of Manhattan, 1 yr, after my cancer episode to help me realize that God was there and that he loved me and had plans for me. At that time that hole in my heart had grown huge and I felt I had nothing left. God had sent this stranger that day all the way from Tennessee to find me because he knew that I was finally ready for him. that I was at the end of myself. God sent her. Of this fact neither of us has any doubt. This woman has since become a cherished friend of mine. She helped me to realize that everything that I had been through had led me right to that diner on that day. She helped me to see that I didn't have to be ashamed anymore and that God had given me this story to lead others to him and that if I could just help one person along the way then my life was worth something.I listened this time; I had nothing else to reach for so when I reached up this time, I reached up for God. Since this time God led me back to college where I graduated with a degree in Bible/Ministry 2yrs ago. He led me to a women's homeless shelter where I found my heart again. It was through these women that I finally realized the path my life would take. I promised God that from that day forward I would gowherever he wanted me too I walked in that door at the shelter as a volunteer and walked out 4yrs later as the Supervisor only because he called me here to Wilmore this summer to attend Seminary. You see he had filled that empty hole in my heart with his love and now it was time to work on my head. Since moving here he again has led me to a job where I can again use my past to love others to him. This timeit's with kids at The United Methodist Youth Home in Versailles. He also has placed yet another person in my life. A friend to walk with me in this journey, to guide me, to push me forward when I get frustrated and want to quit and to show me how to live a life that is truly a life for God.I just want you to know from my story (actually, this is God's story) that in life, we may make many wrong decisions, but our God is near, he's not a God that is just "out there somewhere." He longs to be near us and all he wants is for us to just reach up for him. In closing I want to share a poem that a friend opened my eyes to about a year ago. It is one that you all have no doubt heard many times. It touches me as no other poem has and God put it on my heart to share this with you today. I want you to Listen to these words and carry them with you and store them deep in your heart so that you can pull them out from time to time when things get rough.

Every Spring, I look forward to seeing the Cardinal family who Spring and Summer with us. I’d like to believe that this Husband and Wife team are the same birds that visit us every year. They have a little nest in a Palmetto tree in our backyard. Sometimes they travel in threes but always as a pair.   Every spring, I get a little nervous that they will not visit this spring. Once again, I was feeling a bit of angst thinking that surely this Spring they found a better home for themselves. Honestly, my husband and I do zero to accommodate this beautiful couple, who just by being themselves bring me great joy.

Ephesians 1 & 2

Colossians 2:14 (NIV)

Good morning everyone. How are you this morning? What direction are you heading out to this morning? Work? Meetings? Joining friends in some outdoor activity? Serving locally at a food bank, hospital, rest home? Is it a direction that is planned or has purpose? Is it for self or others? A lot going on in life today. People can’t seem to sit still. Have to do something. Always rushing here or there. There never seems to be enough time, enough hours in the day to get it all done. So, this morning, how did your day start? Got up. Shower. Dressed. A quick cup of coffee or a healthy bite of fruit or muffin. Out the door and we’re off running. But wait. Have we forgot something? Is there something that clouds your mind and says you have forgotten something. More likely, you’ve forgotten someone. Daily routines can be just that. A routine. A daily routine that forgets God. That forgets being thankful. Forgets giving praise and asking for guidance. A daily routine of me first, God comes whenever I can squeeze in the time. Too much on my mind to think about God this morning. My day is too busy to give thanks. A moment of conversation with my Creator. I’m too tired when I get home to even think about God’s blessings today. Besides, I went to church Sunday. I worshipped Him. I gave an offering. I took communion. I bowed my head in reverence. I’m good until next time. Charged my spiritual battery for the next week. Sound familiar? When we stop and take time to acknowledge God, He will bless us. Life is too hard without Him. Food for thought. God bless.