I am persuaded!

It seems like sometimes the hardest thing to do is believe God.  Of course I believe in God, but believing His Word, what He has spoken, and His promises is difficult sometimes.  Unfortunately, sometimes it is a whole lot easier to believe the lies of satan.  Maybe that is because when crazy emotions are involved it becomes a slippery slope downward.

Lately, the enemy has done a good job of making me believe I'm alone, abandoned, unloved, lost, stuck etc. etc.  I am so thankful for people in my life that continue to encourage me, pray for me, and continue to be at the other end of the phone when I'm falling apart.  One such person led me through a prayer Sunday night when I couldn't find the words to pray to the Lord anymore.  That was the turning point for me.  Monday morning... turn off the "sad, feel sorry for myself" music and put back on the worship music (even though I didn't want to).  Sometimes it really is a sacrifice of praise. 

This morning, the drive to work turned into one of the sweetest times with my Lord than I have ever experienced.  I was worshiping along with IHOP's Joy album (Laura Hackett's He's Alive in blue font) and shouting out Truth and telling satan to back off. 

"Now I believe, now I am persuaded

that no power, no principality

Not even death can keep me from Him

I am convinced, I am convinced of the power of His love"

I remember a similar time feeling this way after Jelani died.  I was sitting in the prayer room at IHOP.  I was having a difficult time entering into worship.  I felt like such an outsider.  That's when He spoke to me.  He simply said, "Let Me love you, receive My love."  Whoa! It hadn't occurred to me that I was resisting God.  He never stopped loving me, but I had pushed Him away.  Here I was again.  Not allowing God to fill the loss in my life, the hole in my heart.  But this morning I became persuaded, convinced of His love for me.

"There is no power in heaven or hell
That can keep me from the love of the Father on His throne
There is no power in heaven or hell
That can keep me from the love of the Father on His throne"

Satan is a good liar.  And I fell for it.  But his lies are nothing compared to my Father's love for me.  As I sat in my car driving to work this morning, like I do every morning, God joined me and filled up every inch of my car.  I got it! He gave me revelation of the love He has for me.  I'm sure I will never fully understand the depth of that love, but the glimpse I had this morning was amazing.  Tears of joy streamed down my face as I sat in His presence, in His overwhelming love.  It was a nice change from the tears of sadness lately.  I still ruined my makeup but I didn't care.

"My God's not dead, He's surely alive
He's living on the inside, roaring like a lion"

He is so crazy in love with me, like a roaring lion He ran after me, snatched me away from satan and brought me back under the shadow of His wings.  Protected by His love.  I have to do my part though.  Tomorrow I will wake up and have to fight satan away again.  Thursday too, and so on.  But, I know the end of the story.  I'm on the winning side.  I will laugh again and find joy in life.  And I am so thankful to all of my patient friends.  Please keep me in your prayers as I keep stepping forward. 

Standing On The Promises Of God

"But there will come a time you'll see

With no more tears

And love will not break your heart

But dismiss your fears

Get over your hill and see, what you

find there

With grace in your heart and flowers in

your hair"

-Mumford & Sons

You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book? When I cry out to You, then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me.  In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?

Psalm 56:8-11

Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord; let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.  For innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me.  Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me!

Psalm 40:11-13

Busy weekend

What a week!  Seven days, 80 some hours of work, little sleep, equals an amazing weekend of beautiful weddings.  Luckily, I was able to take Monday off to recuperate.  5am Saturday morning I was at Wisteria ready to set-up wedding number one in Lake Elmo.  By 7am we were at Starbucks charging up for the long day ahead for wedding number two.

The wedding was at the family home on lake Harriet in a white tent.  The wedding planner, Julia LaCroix, did an amazing job with every detail.  I'll let the pictures tell you the rest...

Ceremony:

The reception was in the same tent which means we had an hour and a half to change over the ceremony area.  Each of the ten tables had a different style arrangement.



It was a beautiful wedding.  But we weren't finished yet.  Sunday morning back in the shop by 5 o'clock to set up another wedding at the airport Hilton Hotel.  Finally, by 7:30pm I was free to rest and relax.

Today I had plans to treat myself to a manicure and stroll along Centennial Lakes, both of which never happened.  Instead I stayed home to sleep most of the day away and watched a two part BBC movie on Queen Elizabeth.  I guess I was more tired than I had thought.

Random thought: some things just don't get easier with time.  I don't care what "they" say, it's just not true.

Cute picture of my dog from today:

I burnt the pizza I was making for dinner so when the smoke detector went off she freaked out and hid under the grape vine in the back yard.  I love how sweet and timid she is.

This made me really sad:

I saw this bird tonight.  I got so close to him and he wouldn't fly away.  He looked very skinny and sick, plus his eye was puffy and red.  Poor thing.  I wanted to grab him and pet him but probably not the smartest thing if he is sick.  Hopefully he will be okay.

That is it for now.  I'm excited for what Deb and Audra have up there sleeves for me this Saturday.  I love surprises! 

Thursday

Today for 12 and a half hours I made lots of these.

Tuesday: Cut in literally thousands of red roses

Wednesday: I created boutonnieres and corsages for the three weddings this weekend