Seeking God with My Whole Heart

It's no secret I struggle with OCD…Obsessive Chicken Disorder. I love my 'girls'! I greet them in the mornings with a sing song voice. I simply can't understand why people don't want them or how they could be terrified of them. They are part of our family. When something happens to one, I cry!

A few weeks ago a sweet, godly man in our church asked me if I could spare six of my chickens. In my heart, I thought NO WAY! But did I really need 20 hens and the 20 eggs a day? Something possessed me to say yes! Then he asked me for 10….OH WOW!!! GOD JUST REVEALED SOMETHING TO ME AS I'M WRITING THIS!!!

So he asked me for 10. I felt like God wanted me to give him 10, and I said sure. But, when he came to pick them up I only gave him 6. I went against what I said I would do, and what I thought God wanted me to do because I began to doubt. I got greedy. I didn't want to let go my girls. And, a lot of what ifs entered my heart. 

Friends, I didn't give 10 hens away, but God took 10 away. That same evening I gave 6 of my girls away, I discovered 1 of my girls had been devoured by our farm dog. A week later 2 more devoured by our farm dog. I cried so many tears. I began to tuck my girls in the coop at night to make sure they didn't free range until I put our farm dog up.

Saturday evening one of the girls didn't go to the coop. She was locked out all night. Sunday morning we found her frozen. This made 4 hens. 6 + 4 = 10.

When God tells us to do something, we need to do it! God wants us to seek Him with our WHOLE heart. He wants us to live a faithful-obedient life. Seeking Him in truth. Blessed!

The enemy on the other hand tempts us with a faithless-rebellious life. Devoured by His lies. Not seeing the consequences of our disobedience. Defeated!

This morning I was seeking God in Psalm 119:9-16. The word guides us to His truth. It leads us away from destruction.

These are some verses that really stood out to me…

I will seek you with all my heart…vs. 10

I have hidden your word in my heart…vs. 11

Teach me…vs. 12

I meditate…vs. 15

I consider…vs. 15

I will NOT neglect your word…vs. 16

That last verse…WOW! Are you neglecting God's word? I've been there. Friends, today is the day! Seek God in the word with all your heart. Hide it in your heart. Ask him to teach you. Meditate on it. Consider it. Most importantly, don't neglect the importance of God's word. 

What's Cooking in Your Kitchen?

It's no secret I'm new to the kitchen. It's been a year of trial and error, however, I can now make a mean meatloaf and sausage and gravy that is to die for! My cooking skills have improved GREATLY in just a year. Why? Because I didn't quit when I didn't know how. I just kept at it.

Now my baking skills…not so great. Sure there are instructions and recipes, but that doesn't mean much if you've really never been in the kitchen. Some of the terminology and the number of ingredients can be quite overwhelming. For example 'soften butter'. What does that even mean? Well it doesn't mean melt. Let's just say I had some very sticky cookie dough on my hands. 

My grandmothers were simply AMAZING in the kitchen. They could cook or bake anything and It was always delicious! I'm sure they had their days of trial and error too, but because they were in their kitchens daily they grew and learned along the way. 

That's how it is with our spiritual walk. Do you want to grow in your relationship with God? Well then you need to enter your spiritual kitchen. Open the your Bible and pray. Yes, it is overwhelming at times and can even be confusing, but we must keep going back daily. We must not give up! That is what the enemy wants.

I prayed this prayer on November 21, 2005

Lord, it has been too long since I've wrote you last, and so many things have changed. I'm like the Israelites when they were wandering through the wilderness. You would answer their prayers, but then they would soon forget and go right back into the same old sin, doing the same old thing over and over until another problem came along. Then once again you would step in and help.

Oh God, that's me…I found my journal Saturday while cleaning out our temporary room. I packed it away and left it there. Tonight as I read through it, I see I've been wandering through the wilderness, too. I've forgotten all the prayers you have answered. Forgive me for being forgetful, selfish, and living day to day without you. I'm so sorry.

Why is this so hard? How come I can't stay faithful? Why do I quit so easily? I want to be a warrior and overcome the enemy. Why did you give me so many gifts and talents? Why? I don't deserve all that you have given me. I'm so unworthy. Thank you!

Thank you for not giving up on me. You are my ROCK. I want to be like you - solid - I no longer want to live in defeat, but each day in victory living with you by my side. I need your help. Here I am again. Crying out to you like the Israelites…want, want, want. 

Lord, I don't want to get to heaven and discover what I missed here, on earth, with you. 

I love you! Amen.

It's never too late to begin seeking a love relationship with God. One that is simply amazing because of the time you spend in your kitchen with God. 

I'd like to leave you with a few recipes for Seeking God in His word and prayer.

A Prayer for A New Year

It's been a heck of a start to this new year...already! Prayer. I'm not sure what I'd do if I didn't have God to share my heart with. It's been a rough few days. My oldest could tell...he said, momma do you need to go to your War Room? Indeed I did. 

Lord, I want to be your hands, your feet, your eyes, and your heart. Use me to build up your church this year.

This has been a rough and discouraging  start to the new year. I know it's the devil. He knows the plans you have for us. 

Help us to be strong. To be one. To keep seeking you daily in word and prayer. You are faithful, and I pray we will be the same.

My Goals this year...love you, love others, and fulfill the great commission.

I love you! Amen.

I pray this will be the year that YOU too will experience God in a way you never dreamed possible! Happy New Year! 

Four Seasons in Four Days

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and now today being Monday I literally experienced four seasons in four days… 

Friday I wore a dress shirt that was a tank and had to take my sweater off because it felt like summer. Saturday I wore jeans with a t-shirt and it felt like spring. We were even rushing home from the city to travel away from the tornado warnings that are typically in the spiring, not winter. Sunday it felt like the end of fall with the cooler weather and rain. I had to break out my winter coat to wear to church. 

Now this morning, Monday, I woke up to unexpected snow on the ground. I had to put on a lot of layers to go out and care for our farm animals. We experienced a lot of seasons in just four days. A sweet reminder that God's timing is not always our timing, and His ways are not always our ways. Sometimes we long for seasons of assurance and prosperity, but instead we are given seasons of doubt and hardships.

Just like the weather changed in these four days, so did my emotions. Friday my heart was overflowing with joy after having spent time with family and friends. Saturday my heart was consumed with busyness as we rushed to clean out the last final things in our home in the city. By the end of the day, my heart was breaking. A fight between my husband and I left the debris of a tornado. By Sunday, my heart was so tired from the previous days I was ready to call it quits. All I could do was cry. 

We were suppose to attend church with my dad, but it was canceled. Now all I wanted to do was stay in bed and skip church altogether. But, I didn't. We got up and went to church. In Sunday school, my heart cried and our inner circle poured into us. This is what my heart truly needed. The message from our pastor, power in prayer, was the reminder I needed to keep on praying and seeking God daily. By the time church service was over, I understood. This is why my dad's little church was canceled. God wanted me here. 

Then there's days like today. A new day. Refreshed by the cleansing of the snow. I've learned whatever the season…count it all joy. Seek His face in prayer. Find him within the pages of the Bible. Maybe it's been a long season of sorrow or a short season of waiting. It's hard at times to understand the seasons of our hearts, but God knows and has a purpose for each one we enter. He is the only one that can give us a new season. Cleansing. Leaving us with a revived heart. 

In my upcoming devotional and prayer guide Seasons of My Heart, I share through my personal prayers how God took a lifeless city girl and turned her into a rowdy farm girl seeking Him in the good, the bad, and the ugly. Seasons change my friend, but God is always the same. ALWAYS!

Seasons of My Heart will be available January 2016 on Amazon and here on my blog. Journey with me in a season of seeking God in everything. 

City Slickers

If you look City Slicker up in the dictionary, this is who you will see!

My dad asked us to put out three hay bales. How hard could it be?

It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. The tractor got stuck in the mud. 

My responsibility was to open the gate and DON'T let the cows escape. One escaped. I managed to bribe her with hay to get her back in. 

Because the cows were so close we thought it would be best to cut the string first. Wrong! Hay was falling and cows were hungry. Lessoned learned. We didn't do that again. I laughed as I watched my hubby do this for the first time.

One cow did not want to stand down. I was not about to let her escape. I was going to be quick. However my feet were quicker than my boots. My clean socks landed in the mud. The rest of me followed. All I could do was laugh even more.

I'm sure she was thinking…That's what you get city slicker!

So now it's time to go feed the cows again. Trust me when I say it's going to be a lot easier today than it was yesterday. We make mistakes. We learn from them. We grow. I have no doubt God is going to turn us city slickers into farmers. ;)