A little perspective

My child,
Walking in the unseen realm of faith and maintaining a sense of peace and trust in Me is hard, but My grace makes up the difference in the places where you fall short. You know I love you so much and would do anything to shield you from pain and sorrow if at all possible. But pain and sorrow are often the only way for you to see your need for Me in order to grasp that you are unable to change things on your own. I love you enough to cause you to depend on Me and cry out so that you get to the place to give Me permission to intervene in the circumstances where you fail. I am compassionate, merciful and steadfast and would tell you that you belong to a heavenly Papa who is faithful and loves you perfectly, completely and unconditionally. My plan does not always line up with what your human reasoning can fathom as I develop eternal values in you that cannot be shaken. Unlike you, I understand that your own superficial, short term priorities are not going to benefit you in the long run, because you are being fashioned by Me into a beautiful vessel of honor that I want to use for My purposes in the days to come. Often this fashioning is not pleasant, but I would ask you to see it as an adventure and a glorious refining process! I challenge you to trust Me to lead you to a place of peace and maturity, where you can say with confidence, Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

With Love,
Your loving Heavenly Father

Update on my life :)

Okay, so it’s been awhile since I’ve written a post about me and what’s going on in my world! I just recently got back from a trip to St. Louis. Went to a Joyce Meyer conference. I truly left feeling like a Relentless Woman. Which was the theme of the whole conference. About being relentless in our faith walk with God, about being relentless in letting our baggage (fear, rejection, anger, etc.) go and going and walking in a life of peace, and there were some great guest speakers that tied everything together that Joyce was speaking about. It was a great weekend and didn’t want to leave. It was also pretty exciting because the Vice-Presidential debates were going on at the same time we were in St. Louis. It’s a pretty neat city to explore and experience. I’ll share some pictures with you.

So back to the good ole’ grind when I got back, and plugging away at school, and taking on a second job at Bath and Body Works. Wish I didn’t have to do it, but you have to do what you have to do, and it will only be for a season. I just hope I can balance it all, so prayers are very much needed.

I think people will agree that this election season has been pretty much consuming everyone, including myself. It’s all you hear about anywhere and everywhere. As exciting as it is, I’ll be ready for it to be over come Nov. 4th.

So that pretty much sums it up. Pretty exciting stuff, huh? LOL! I just figure they’ll be time for excitement when I get out of school, right? Ha!!

Enjoy the pics! Lauren

Till there was more of me than there was of you…

Then, I looked upon the tapestry before me. Light flooded the many holes, creating an image, the face of Christ. Then our Lord stood before me, with warmth and love in His eyes. He said, 'Every time you gave over your life to Me, it became My life, My hardships, and My struggles.

Each point of light in your life is when you stepped aside and let Me shine through, until there was more of Me than there was of you.'

I don’t know who all reads this blog. Rather a lot of people or few people come here, that’s beside the point, but it’s my hope that lives will be changed and people will be inspired.
These are pretty scary times we’re living in. And on Nov. 4th we’ll have a chance to cast our vote as to who we want to run this country, and as I cast my vote, my prayer for this country will be less of us and more of him.
No matter our circumstance or what might be going on in our life right now and in this country, there is a HUGE God out there, who loves us and loves this country! We as individuals and as a country have faced many hardships and struggles, but within those hardships and struggles remains a forever and constant triumph God.
So, through the many holes of our life and in the holes of this country…. May we see the face of Christ!

A Kiss is just a Kiss...

I don't know if any of you have ever heard of the phrase "Being Kissed by the King." If so, look for those moments when you're being kissed by God. Those moments when you received an answered prayer, when he touches your heart and blesses your life. It's called being Kissed by the King. I was just looking through my journal and this is something I wrote when God placed the words on my heart.

A Kiss is just a Kiss-

A kiss is just a kiss, until you've been kissed by the king. It comes with a love that changes everything. It's firmly planted and lets you know it will never ever let you go.

A kiss is just a kiss until you learn to receive one of the very best kisses from the king of kings. It comes through his word and through knowing his heart, and from these two we should never part.

A kiss is just a kiss until we let him lavish his love and get a sweet and tender kiss from up above. They're kisses from a father, kisses from a friend letting us know he'll be with us to the very end.

So have you been kissed today?

Sarah Palin Campaign Rally

This post surely isn't to sway anyone's political views. No matter what your views and beliefs are, it's pretty amazing to take part in this historic election. I was able to attend the campaign rally held by Sarah Palin in The Villages. It was quite the experience and just wanted to show you some highlights. Please pray for our country and it's leaders and that God's will be done. We as Americans need to unite now more than ever.

Why?

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are almost dead?

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Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they already know there is not enough money?
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Why does someone
believe you when you say there are four billion stars; but have to check when you say the paint is still wet?
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Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?


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Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?
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Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
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Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?
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If people evolved from apes,
why are there still apes?
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Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?
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Is there ever a day that mattresses
are not on sale?
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Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?
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Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?
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Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?
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How do those dead bugs get into those en closed light fixtures?
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When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, 'It's all right?' Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, 'That really hurt, why don't you watch where you're going?'
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Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?
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In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?
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How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?
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And my FAVORITE......
The statistics on sanity is that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you

On a more serious note. May we never forget today and may it forever live in our hearts. 9-11-01.

Love,
Lauren

Randomness

Where does the time go? It's true when they say time stops for no one. I can't believe it's already September. Fall is probably one of my most favorite times of the year.

I just this week started back to school after the labor day holiday and having a week off, more like 2 weeks off due to the storms. I see it as one semester down and fewer to go, lol. Now it's back to the good ole' grind.

At the beginning of next month I am looking forward to going to St. Louis, Missouri, for Joyce Meyer's Annual Women's Convention. I went back in 2005 and haven't been since. Had an amazing time and absolutely love the city, and of course can't forget about spending the whole weekend in God's Word with thousands of women from around the world. Praying in advance that I will get what I need out of this trip and that God will show up. Also, will be looking forward to celebrating my niece's
3rd birthday next month.

Okay, this is a change of subject. But I have totally been into this election this year unlike any other. I kept up with both conventions for both parties and listened to what each one had to say, and really have come to realize the significance and importance of this election. There is so much at stake and I feel truly honored to be able to have some say by casting my vote. Putting the title of Republican and Democrat aside, we're all united under one nation, and ultimately it's God's decision who will end up in the White House next. It will be interesting to see where my sudden interest in politics will take me. Being that I'm going to school for court reporting I've been introduced to a glimpse of how the legal system works and really interested to learn about government and politics which I will be surrounded by in this line of work. So I just ask whoever reads this, go out and vote, get informed, and let your voice be heard, there's too much at stake! Okay, I'll get off my soap box now.

Have an awesome day and weekend!

lovelovelove,
Lauren