The Place Between!!!

A few weeks ago, my pastor was preaching about faith and belief in what God can do and it got me to thinking about hope. How we hope for things in this life, for hearts desires to come true. How despite circumstances, we still hope, despite the odds, despite the unlikely chance of something coming to pass, we still hope it will happen because God IS ABLE.

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BUT, what about REALITY??? 

The truth is that sometimes we don't always get our every heart's desire. Sometimes really hard things happen to God's people. Reality is that sometimes-loved ones do end up dying young. Reality is that accidents happen. Reality is that cancer is real. Reality is that babies are stillborn. Reality is that sometimes people lose their job. Reality is that parents' babies die. Reality is that children's parents die. Reality is that spouses die. Reality is that death is real. Reality is that some people never do get healed from infertility. Reality is that ABUSE is happens. Reality is that broken homes are very real. Reality is that broken hearts happen. Reality is that dreams get shattered. 

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WE HOPE-but there is still REALITY!!!

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I love to dream of wonderful things happening. I'm that crazy girl that dreams about it raining fluffy puppies. I have a wild imagination that can take me and anyone I'm with anywhere. I take people on an adventure through my words spoken or written.  BUT I also know REALITY. 

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I know what it's like to think all my dreams are FINALLY coming true but everything falls apart. AND I know what it's like to wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and WAIT AGAIN and to think that maybe, just maybe, after years and years of being best friends with someone, FINALLY they're going to go for you and you and FINALLY everything is coming together BUT instead that person chooses to backslide-THAT'S REALITY!

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It's not just a matter of not believing. It's knowing how many times before you've believed and still been wrong. Reality rages against hope. Reality mocks hope in the face. Reality says your little brother just died. Reality says remember what happened before? Reality says, every other time has been a failure. Reality says every other time you believed and where did that get you? Reality says where has all your prayers gotten you? 

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AND yet I still HOPE!!! I still believe even when doubt whispers facts of reality in my ears. Maaaaaaaaaaybe one day you will get married buuuuuuuuuut your already 40, even if you do get married, you think you're going to have a baby? You still want to be a mom? Even if you have a baby RIGHT NOW, you'll be 60 by the time your baby is an adult, you want that? And the answer is STILL YES. 

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 Hope and Reality are on opposite sides of the globe of my life. What is that place between the two??? What's the place in the middle of living in reality, yet still hoping but also not living in your own fantasy world of make believe??? 

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What is the place between HOPE AND REALITY???

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I pondered this thought in my mind for several days, then it hit me...

The place between hope and reality is- TRUSTING IN GOD! Despite everything that happens, we can still trust in God. He said I know that thoughts that I think toward you, not to harm you, but to give you an expected end. God has GOOD in store for us even if it hurts. There are times in my life that I have been so hurt, so disappointed, that I have literally felt a spirit if cynicism trying to take over my heart BUT GOD told me I could still trust Him. 

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I have refused to become a cynic without hope. I would rather have a soft heart that is disappointed over and over again, than a hardened cynical heart that is never disappointed because it dares not to hope. Hope is found in our brokenness when we take the road of trust. 

"The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart..." (Psalm 34:18)

Why is hope found in the middle of brokenness? Because GOD IS there and where God is, THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE!!!

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Trusting in God is that place between hope and reality, it's that place in between our dreams and God's dreams for us. Trusting in God is the surrendering of our will to His will. We don't know what the future holds, but we can trust in God.  We can hope and know that if we're disappointed again, that God is still in control, and we can trust Him. God knows what He is doing. We can trust Him.

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We can't see the future but when we trust God, we show God that our ultimate hope is in Him. "...Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colassians 1:27) At the end of our lives, I don't believe our last thought will be aww man, I wish i had done things my own way. We can trust God because the outcome of fulfilling His will in our lives will always be greater than the fulfilling of our own will. God's will for our lives will not leave us disappointed in the end.  God's ending will always leave us astounded. When we take the road of trust, our hope will become our reality. 

"but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.." (Romans 824-25)

♥Mary Frances :)

When there's still roots (Part 1)

So we've always had a grapefruit tree in our front yard. Weeeeeeeeeellll, a few years ago, after some recent heavy rain storms, it fell to the ground and we had to have it carried away. In the front yard there was a huge bare spot where the tree had once been. Buuuuuuut one day, when my brother was over, he noticed that there was a small green plant growing where the big grapefruit tree had been. He asked me, is that a new grape fruit tree growing there? I was like, I have no idea!

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 I went over and smelled one of the leaves and was greeted with a beautiful, strong and refreshing citrus smell...it WAS a NEW TREE!!! We were sooooooo excited!!! Apparently, the roots from our tree were still deep in the ground and with all the rain, it began to grow a tree again!! 

Sometimes, in life, there are things in our lives that fall down and are taken out of our lives, we are left with a bare and empty space that we are not sure what to do with. 

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Buuuuuuuuuuuuuut when we have roots in Christ, something new will grow from Him. When an old tree in your life dies, Be patient, trust in God and wait to see what God is going to put into the bareness of your life!! The tree may be gone, but you still have your roots, something new will begin to grow again!!!

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"For there is hope for a tree, When it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And its shoots will not fail. "Though its roots grow old in the ground And its stump dies in the dry soil, At the scent of water it will flourish And put forth sprigs like a plant." (Job 14:7-9)

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"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (John 12:24)

♥Mary Frances :)

Just a candy wrapper!!!

Soooooo quite a few years back, my good friends Joe and Anali Velez were here with their little baby girl, Alina! Like most babies, Alina loves playing with anything that makes noise, like wrapping paper, MORE that what is ACTUALLY inside the wrapping paper!!!

Weeeeeeeeellllll one of the days she was here just crawling around and she found a candy wrapper, she was just having the time of her life with it when once of her parent's saw it in her and took it away from her. You should have seen the look on her face when they took it from her, ABSOLUTE DEVESTATION!!!!

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That lil baby girl threw the biggest lil fit ever. We all tried to console her with other toys, I had just given her this really cool toy from a yard sale, a dancing swan, that lights up, sings, and swirls that carousal ANNNNND walks all over the floor...I mean, talk about a COOL TOY...from an even COOLER AUNTIE ;)...

I'm like,

looooook Alina, you want your Swan????

BUUUUT NOOOOO, she wanted her CANDY WRAPPER!!!

There she was, surrounded by other toys to play with, just crying her eyes out, meanie O parents had taken her candy wrapper away. It was just a little piece of trash, buuuuut for Alina, it was THE BEST THING EVERRRR!!!

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She had no way of knowing or understanding that her parent's were just being GOOD parent's, taking it away from her. Her parent's were looking out for her, they saw that it was small and despite her fascination in it, it could be harmful for her. She had know way of comprehending the danger, for her, it was her beloved little toy, it was HER CANDY WRAPPER!!! 

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This got me to thinking, how often are we THE SAME WAY with God??? The world has littered our lives with little pieces of trash and every so often, something catches our eye...

Oooooh look, IT'S SHINY!

and we pick it up and start to play with it! Oh wow, this is pretty cool, it crinkles and makes a funny noise too...I LIIIIIIIKE IT!!! 

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It could be anything, internet surfing, video games, influences, friendships, relationships, social media, etc...a thought or an idea an activity or place or person or just a thing, buuuuuut God sees the danger in it even when we don't, so, like a good and loving parent, he simply takes it out of our hands. And there we are, like a little baby, we throw a FIT!!! How DARE YOU GOD!!! How could you take that away from me??? It was just a little piece of trash but there you are, MAD at God because he was looking out for you! How can you do this to me God??? It was shiny and it crinkled, that was MY CANDY WRAPPER!

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And all we can do is focus on that little piece of trash that God took away from us, when meanwhile, like Alina was surrounded by nice toys she didn't want, we are surrounded by the blessings of God all around us. The goodness of God surrounds us. God has done SO MUCH for us, buuuuut ALL we can focus on is what he hasn't given us or what he took away, OUR CANDY WRAPPER! 

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You guys, if God NEVERRRR does one more thing for us, He died on a cross for our sins, he took our place, he forgave us, he washed away our sins, he saved our souls from a burning hell, I think we can surrender a few candy wrappers that the devil has left littered on the ground so we can make it to heaven.  And when God takes it away from us, instead of being a baby about it, THANK GOD, for being a good, protective parent that is looking out for you! We don't know better than God. We are just little children that a loving father is protecting from harm.

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Don't hang on to your candy wrapper,

it's  a piece of trash!

Just let it go!!!

"If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles." (Job 11:14)

♥Mary Frances :)

A Confident Winner!!!

Soooooo it's been a while now but I wanted to share with you an older memory. It was a Wednesday night at kids church, several years ago. My brother and his wife were doing this relay game with the kids where they had take M&Ms and put them into 4 different cups according to their colors and the first one done ✔️ was the winner 🥇 

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So they did 4 boys first and the boy that won got to go up against the girl that one in her group of four girls, WELLLLLL this girl Queen by far beat ALL the other girls...

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Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut...

 OF COURSE one of the girls  noticed that within all the M&Ms she had split up, there were NO BLUE M&Ms. Weeeeeeelllllll, YOU KNOW KIDS, of course all the girls that lost were like, THATS NOT FAIR!!! 

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So Queen looks at her cups and then, INSTEAD OF BALKING BACK AT HER TEAM MATES, she is like, YOU KNOW WHAT, your right, I DIDN'T have any blue ones, I PROMISE I DID NOT EAT THEM, buuuuuut you guys are right, that wasn't FAIR, LETS PLAY IT AGAIN,

SO I CAN WIN FAIRLY!!!

Annnnnd that was EXACTLEY WHAT SHE DID!!! 

She played the game AGAIN and WON AGAIN....buuuuuut this time, FAIR AND SQUARE!!! Then she went on and played against the boy that won AND beat him too!!!

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 I couldn't help but think, WHAT A GOOD SPIRIT this little girl Queen had! She was confident enough in her ability to win the game, that she was willing to risk losing her prize AND PLAY IT AGAIN!!! 

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 When the other girls started complaining about her winning unfairly, she could have been like, NO I WON!!! And you know what, SHE DID WIN! It was NOT her fault that she hadn't been given any blue M&M's, AND my brother and sis-in-law would NOT have made her play again to prove it! But she CHOSE on her own accord to be fair to the other players and play again!!!

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AND it got me to thinking...

Are we CONFIDENT ENOUGH IN GOD, that He will do what is best for us, that we are willing to LOSE the prize we have been waiting for,  so he can teach us, TO REALLY TRUST IN HIM???? So He can prove to us that we can truly put our confidence in Him? If something is God's will for your life, you won't  have to manipulate a situation for it to happen, just stay in His will and GOD WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!

Do you trust God ENOUGH to say, you know what God, I'm willing to let go, SO YOU CAN PROVE yourself to me, SO YOU CAN SHOW ME, that you REALLY CAN DO IT! The right way! Without MY "HELP" and ON YOUR OWN TERMS!!! When we try to manipulate a situation, our confidence is NOT truly in God's ability, BUT IN OUR ABILITY TO MAKE GOD'S WILL COME TO PASS!!!

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Trusting in God is MORE than just believing that he is going to do what you think he should do, IT'S BELIEVEING that he is doing what's BEST FOR YOU, EVEN when He doesn't do what YOU THINK HE SHOULD DO!!!  Instead of pouting and saying but, but, but, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!! 

Instead we can say, Ok God, I thought you gave this to me, BUT my confidence in you, is high enough to say, OK, LET'S DO THIS AGAIN!!! I trust that you really do know what is best for me! SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN REALLY DO GOD!!! 

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MY FRIENDS, He ONLY has GOOD PLANS FOR US, we're only human, but cast your doubts at his feet, You can put your confidence IN HIM!!! We can be so confident in God, that just when it seems all our dreams are finally coming true, they can slip from our fingers and dissolve to nothingness, YET, we can say with confidence, GOD IS STILL GOING TO DO IT!!!

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"For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken." (Proverbs 3:26)

♥Mary Frances :)

Behind the scenes...

Last year, I was trying to open a new PayPal account and the card I was adding wouldn't go through! It kept like denying money transfers and it was soooooooooo INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING!!! I was liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat IN THE WORLD is going on????

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I'm a busy woman!!! I've got bills to pay, money to send annnnnnnnnnd just some really important things to do...

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike HELLO...

SHOOOOPPPPPPING!!! ;)

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Weeeeeeeellllll NO MATTER how many times I put my bank card in, no matter how many times I put my bank account info in...NOTHING WOULD WORK with my PayPal account! I read and reread the directions over and over again!!! I was getting SOOOOOOOOOOO MAD!!!! WHAT AM I DOING WRONG???

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Finally I tried to call PayPal buuuuuuuuuut whatda ya know, their lines were busy and I was gonna have to be on hold for liiiiiiike a million-kajillion hours and hey, "Ain't NOBODY got time for THAT!!!" ;)

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Sooooooooooo I decided to email the customer care email and asked them what was going on with my account and if they could explain to me what I was doing wrong??? Well, they got back to me the next day in an email and explained to me that I had done everything right with adding my new debit and bank account, but that PayPal does a security check before they allow things to go through my account to make sure it was ACTUALLY me and not just someone claiming to be me. (I'm paraphrasing!) They explained that it could take about two weeks and they are so sorry for the wait etc...

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After reading their explanation, I couldn't really be mad at PayPal anymore! After all, although it was frustrating to have to wait, Identity theft and fraud IS REAL and PayPal really was just looking out for me!!!

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THAT GOT ME TO THINKING...

What if there is a hold up in our lives, because behind the scenes, God is doing a security check??? Think about it, so often we don't understand WHY God is making us wait on something. Why God just doesn't let certain things go through??? You've been waiting SOOOOO LONG for something, buuuuuut...

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 WHAT IF there really is nothing wrong with you??? Sometimes we do need to make changes in our lives and we should ALWAYS be ready to do self-examination. BUT, What if this is just God looking out for you? What if, BEHIND THE SCENES OF YOUR LIFE, God is doing a security check to see if this is THE REAL DEAL!!!! To see if something really is THE BEST THING for you!!!

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In your Bible, Numbers 22, you can read the story of Balaam and his donkey. The long story short the donkey would NOT move forward on their journey because the angel of The Lord was blocking his path with a sword, but Balaam could not see the angel and got mad and beat his donkey to keep going. Then God opens Balaam's eyes and he to can see what his donkey saw. "And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way..."

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There have been times in my life that I just could not understand WHY God did not allow something to work out! It seemed like everything lined up in a row and pointed in that direction to happen, It literally made MORE SENSE for it to happen in my life, than for it to NOT HAPPEN annnnnnnd YET it never did. 

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That's because there was a God-block standing in the way, stopping it from happening. Only now can I see, what God could see all along. There are other things that i may never know and always wonder WHY they didn't happen, buuuuuut I know that I can trust God to look out for me. 

I want to encourage you all today, to know that sometimes things aren't working out because God is doing a security check behind the scenes to ensure that this is indeed THE BEST thing for you. Don't push, or beat or fight against the God-blocks in your life. Seek God on the matter. don't stop Him from standing in the way of something bad happening in your life. If it is right, be patient, it will happen when it has passed through God's security check!!!! 

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"Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." (Psalm 37:5)

♥Mary Frances :)

I can wait BECAUSE…

Waiting. It's a part of life. 

I recently have someone working on a project for me, and I picked out a person that I have no doubt in my mind will produce a good product. I've talked to them about it and things are going slower than we originally planned, buuuuuuuuuut it's in the works. 

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Have you ever asked someone to do something for you and they do a shoddy job??? They're late in getting it to you, but not because they're working hard buuuuut because they're just lazy? Then when they FINALLY DO, it's still WET...liiiiiiike they literally just slopped it together two minutes ago...

Well with this person is NOT like that!!!

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Sure I might be able to get someone else to do the job faster, but I don't know that the workmanship would be as good. Afterwards, I told my sister, you know, even though I AM anxious to see the end result, I don't mind waiting longer on them, because I trust their work. 

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As soon as I said it, a thought entered my mind, that's the SAME REASON I can wait on God,

            BECAUSE I TRUST HIM!!!

Sure there are times that I feel frustrated, I get anxious to see the end result, but I don't take things into my own hands, because I trust HIS HANDS over my own. When you try to do things YOUR WAY, the ultimate reason is because you think you can do a better job than God.

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Buuuuuuuuuuuut even though I don't know what exactly he is doing, I know He only has the good things in store for me.  Whatever happens will be the best thing for me. I may not understand why things may take so long, buuuuuut I KNOW it's not because he's waiting till the last minute to slop something together for me.

I TRUST...

SO I WAIT!!!

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"I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait,
and in his word do I hope." (Psalm 130:5)

When you get back down the mountain...

If you've ever hiked a mountain, it's a pretty amazing feeling when you get to the top and then you look down. When you look down, you can clearly see every single path and trail and where they lead too. Looking at it all, yo think it would be impossible to ever get lost because every trail is so clear in your to your eyes. 

YET, every time you start the climb down, the clarity of where you are going and what trail to take is suddenly not so clear to you anymore. There have even been a few times i've started to get lost and had to stop and ask another hiker which way to the parking lot...and I think HOW can I not know which wat to go, when just a bit ago every path seemed SO CLEAR to me!?!?

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Sometimes in our walk with God, the same thing can happen. We have that mountain top experience with God and every path in life seems so clear...we think we'll never have a doubt or worry again about  where God is taking us on our journey with him. BUT then we come down from that glory high and eventually the cares of life can leave us confused and wondering where to go next.

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That happened to me a few years ago. I thought God had told me some things that were going to happen and it all seemed so clear...BUUUUT then LIFE happened and I remember just sitting there and I said God, it all seemed so clear not to long ago, I could see all those paths so clearly, I thought I could never be confused about life again, BUT now here I am at the bottom of the mountain and I don't know what to do or where to turn next. I was on the very paths I had clearly looking down on before, but now that I’m here, I don’t know where to turn next. God, Would you make those paths you showed me before, clear to me once more?

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And HE DID!!! You guys, if your confused and your paths seem unclear, just ask God to give you clarity in your life. Not only will he stop and tell you what to do next, He'll take you by the hand and walk with you every step of the way. Don't try and find your way on your own...

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STOP and ask the Master Hiker for directions!!!

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

♥Mary Frances :)

When life has a black out!!!

I remember a time when I was 18, My sister and I went to a youth camp in Oklahoma. The dorm buildings  were solid brick buildings with now windows anywhere. One night as we were sleeping in our very uncomfortable bunks, I suddenly woke up to pitch blackness. I mean it was SOOOO DARK I could NOT even see my hand in front of me. As scared as I was, I knew from the whispers around me that there was a storm that had caused a black out which caused every light in the campgrounds to go out. It was dark my friends, DARK!!!

Even though I was scared and uncomfortable with the lights being out, I figured I would just go back to sleep, after all that made the most logical sense to do right??? I'm closing my eyes to go back to sleep when I hear a whisper, Mary! Mary! It was my sister, she was like, lets go to the bathroom...I'm like, just go to sleep! She's like, No lets go! I'm like, we can't see ANYTHING, there is no way we're going to make it out of this big room of bunks, into the hall and THEN find the bathroom in this pitch blackness! She's like, NO LETS GO!

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Well sure enough WE GOT LOST! I'm telling you all it was one of the scariest feelings ever! We were literally lost in out own dorm room. You have to understand that per a room there are about 30 bunks set up and we were completely lost amongst them. We had no idea where our beds were anymore or where the door to the hallway was.

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Holding hands we felt along the beds and walls, tripping over stuff till we finally made it to the hallway. Once in the hallway we were greeted the same blackness. Now we had no idea which room was ours OR how to get to the bathroom. We had no idea what to do as we walked along.

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 Struggling through the darkness, we suddenly saw a tiny sliver of light. We realized that it was coming up from the dorm door. It was light from the moon seeping through the bottom door. It was such a tiny bit of light but to us it may as well have been a torch shining through. Thinking we could open the door all the way and let more moonlight in the dorm to find our way around.  Excitedly, We RAN to THE LIGHT!!!

The easiest part of writing...

This past year, Denae Abbott wrote a brand new Christmas play for our church to produce, "The Gospel According to Luke" Of course Denae did an amazing job as writer and director of the play, buuuuuuuuuuuut of course every Christmas Drama, comes with it's DRAMA!!! HAHA!!! Which usually comes from the ones acting out the play. 

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One Sunday morning, Denae and I were talking about it, having previously written a Christmas play together and I myself NEVER having the desire to ever direct a play again. (I'm NOT a director!!!) So we're talking about and at the same time we came to the conclusion, IT's not the writing part of the play that's hard, that's EASY!!!!  IT'S THE GETTING EVERYONE IN THE PLAY TO DO WHAT WE WROTE THATS HARD!!! The easiest part, IS the writing!!! 

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Now, if your not a writer, you may see that differently, buuuuut if you are a writer, writing is just a natural part of who you are. Although, you may occasionally have a writer's block, something that I myself have never really struggled with, if you are a writer, writing is simply a creative way of expressing yourself. To me, writing is like creating a picture but with words instead of paint. To me, writing is not a hassle or a chore, it's part of who I am, my passion. When I don't write, it's never for lack of inspiration but a matter of time or balancing out my life with other responsibilities and hobby. However, It's not hard for me to write, it's easy. Yes, the hardest part of writing a play is not writing it, it's getting the players to cooperate in doing what you wrote. 

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And that got me to thinking, God is the writer of our life stories. The Bible says in Hebrews 12:2 that we should look unto "Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith." God has already written each and every one of our life stories and I don't believe it was hard for him to do that. Writing our stories was the easy part, it's getting US to cooperate with His writing that is THE HARD PART. As one preacher said one year at a Heritage youth conference, "If you want God's will for your life, it's easy, just stay in His will." If you want a beautiful life story, it's simple, let the writer of your life, WRITE! 

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We sit here below and we fret and we worry and we try to figure it all out, yet God already has it all written. Before we were ever even born, God had written our life stories. However, in the process of us fulfilling His will, we get frustrated or mad or sad or sometimes just bored so we meddle or we try and liven things up in God's plan. But it's already been written, we just need to trust in the writer of our lives and know that his ways are better than ours. And if you have stepped out of the writers plans for your life, it's not hard for the Lord to rewrite that part, if you'll only step back in and begin to cooperate again with the Author and Finisher of our faith. His mercies are new every morning. Writing our stories wasn't hard for the Lord, it was so easy for Him to write out beautiful stories for each and every one of us. HE has great things in store for us, for our lives. 

Just trust the writer.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

Hey Girl, HEEEEEEYYY!!!

Don't be the kind of woman...
that always needs a man,

BE THE KIND OF WOMAN...

that ONE MAN really needs!!!

This saying speaks volumes to me. There is something about learning HOW to be your own person that is dependent on God. Someone was talking recently about how there really aren't a lot of options here in AZ for singles and someone else spoke up and said, WELL, you really don't NEED a lot of options, your ONLY MARRYING ONE PERSON, you ONLY NEED GOD'S WILL! Be a woman that ONLY NEEDS God's will, and EVENTUALLY, IF it's God's will;) they'll be a man, THAT ONLY NEEDS GOD'S WILL!!! 

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I think there is a lot to be said about a person that can wait on God. You don't need to CONTINUALLY be in a relationship WHILE YOUR WAITING for God's will for your life. Plus, you can SAVE YOURSELF AND OTHERS, a lot of drama and heartbreak, if you'll learn how to just be!!! Just be and Learn how to DEPEND ON GOD while you wait. Of course that doesn't mean that THE FIRST relationship your in is going to work out, relationships are the in between a YES AND NO for marriage, BUUUUUUUT...you know if your the kind of person that just HAS to have someone to depend on, don't BE THAT PERSON!!! You don't ALWAYS NEED A MAN, buuuuuuuuut...

YOU ALWAYS NEED JESUS!!!

DEPEND ON HIM!!! 

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:9)

♥Mary Frances :)

Giving God YOUR BACON!!!

I was reading this the other day and it totally cracked me up...

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[A pig and a chicken were walking by a church where a gala charity event was taking place. Getting caught up in the spirit, the pig suggested to the chicken that they each make a contribution.

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“Great idea!` the chicken cried. “Let’s offer them bacon and eggs!"

"Not so fast,” said the pig testily. “For you, that’s a contribution. For me, it’s a total commitment!!!"]

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It makes me think, how often do we just give God a CONTRIBUTION of ourselves. Yes, the chicken was giving of herself, but it wasn't her everything. It was what she had produced that she was giving of. When the chicken gives her eggs, she may miss them, but at the end of the day she's still there, she's still alive, she's still breathing. 

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On the other hand, for the pig to donate it's bacon, it was a total sacrifice. There was NOTHING else left once it gave the bacon. There is a difference between us giving God contribution of our self and really giving God OUR ALL!!!

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 So often we sing the song, ♪♪I will give you all, I will give you all, IF ALL is what you ask of me, THEN I will NOT withhold..."♪ Buuuuut soooo often we ARE withholding! There are parts of us that we have NOT really released to God. We haven't yet said I don't know what's going to happen, BUUUUUT I'm trusting IN YOU!!!! I'm going ALL THE WAY WITH YOU JESUS!!!

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ABRAHAM GAVE GOD HIS ALL!!! The Bible says, 

"By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." (Hebrews 11:17-19)

WHEN Abraham OBEYED God and gave him Isaac, it was MORE than just him giving up his son. You can say well it wasn't ABRAHAM sacrificing himself to God, it was his son! NO, you don't understand, Abraham had a promise from God that out of this son would come the many nations like the starts in the sky and the grains of sand. By obeying God and laying Isaac on the altar, he was willing to give God back His promise. He was laying his own dreams on the altar as a sacrifice to God. However, Abraham trusted God and laid it all down...

"And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. (Genesis 22:12)

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When you give God your ALL, there is NO GOING back!!! Its NOT just giving God what you've produced of yourself, its NOT just a contribution of you can produce from yourself. When  You give God your ALL and  I mean REALLY GIVE HIM YOUR ALL, there is NO GOING BACK, because there is NOTHING left for you to go back too, because you gave it ALL to God. God doesn't just want WHAT you can DO for Him. God wants YOU!!! ALL OF YOU!!! 

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♫♫♪And IF my sacrifice is LESS♪♫ than giving you my very best, help me remember Calvary's cost, and be willing to say yes♪♪♫♪

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God didn't just give us a contribution of himself, he gave us His ALL!!!! Think about it, when Jesus sacrificed himself for us; They beat Him! They spit on Him!!! The scourged him! He was whipped! He was mocked!!! He SUFFERED!!! He BLED!!! He DIED!!! HE GAVE US HIS ALL!!! And God did ALL THAT, HOPING that we would give him OUR ALL!!! He doesn't just want  your contribution...

 GOD WANTS YOUR BACON!!!

"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

(1 John 3:16)

♥Mary Frances :)

MORE trust!!!

No Mary! We're scared! We can't see!!! This is the voice of my girls yelling at me on a Wednesday night Bible class as I blindfolded them and were doing an object lesson with them. Leading them around outside the church, they couldn't see but I could and was leading them. They were freaking out, I laughed at their dramatics and said, you can't see BUUUUUT you know ME, you know I would NEVER do anything to hurt you guys.

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Do you trust so and so?! Has anyone ever asked you that? And i'll think, yes, to a certain extent I trust them, BUUUUUUT, I don't really know them that well, the people that I truly trust enough to let into my uttermost thoughts and feelings are the people that I truly know. The ones that have been there for years and their friendships have stood the test of time. I know their character and I know that they love me and only want what's best for me. These are the people have been there in the good times and the bad times, they've seen me at my best and they've seen me at my worst and they've stuck with me through it all. They know ME and I know THEM and that IS WHY I trust them!!!

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That got me to thinking about trusting in God, sometimes we say we trust God, but we trust him like we trust someone that we don't really know that well. We see him as that person that we don't know very well, that nice co-worker, or the friendly acquaintance we have fun and take pictures with at a conference but we don't truly know them, so we trust them yes, but only to that certain extent. And that's how we are with God at times, we trust him yes, but do we trust him with the uttermost part of our hearts? Do we trust him with all our fears, our hopes and our dreams? 

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If your having trouble trusting in God, it's only because you don't know him well enough. But its SOOOO SIMPLE, if you want to trust God MORE, just get to know him MORE!!! I promise you, the more you know God, the more you will see his true character, you will see for yourself his nature, his loving-kindness, his mercy and his grace. How do you get to know him more, pray more, read your Bible more, ask him to draw you closer to him, seek his face, you will not be disappointed with getting to know The Lord!

Then when the hard times come and it feels like your blind-folded and your scared because you can't see the way, I can imagine hearing the Lord saying, but why are you scared when I'm leading you? you know me my child, you KNOW I would NEVER do anything to hurt you!!!  Just get to know him more, he will show you that he is true! The more you know him my friends, the more you will trust him!!! 

"I am the good shepherd...

. and know my sheep, and am known of mine." (John 10:14)

Doors

Have you ever noticed HOW MANY different kinds of doors there are???

There's doors that have to be PUSHED to be opened, there's doors that you have to PULL to open. There's sliding doors, there's car doors, there's revolving doors, there's glass doors, there's screen doors and there's automatic doors, there's locked doors and I'm SURE, many more!!!

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WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A DOOR???

A door is a moving structure used to block off, and yet still allow access to something, an entrance to a place, yet a closure to a place within an enclosed space, such as a building, room, closet or vehicle.

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In life, there are MANY doors that we will walk through and some that we will SEE, but NEVER walk through. The question IS, HOW do we know if a door is meant for us to walk through or NOT???

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So often you will hear and probably even say at some point, "I'm JUST waiting for GOD to open the door before making a decision." AND while this is good to a certain extent, SOMETIMES, we're waiting for God to open a door that says PUSH or PULL on it!!!

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Sometimes, the door has a LOCK and only God can unlock it but there are other times that the door has a lock and GOD has given us THE KEY and now it us up to us to take that key and unlock the door. Sometimes we have to KNOCK and WAIT for God to open the door, And YET there are other times, when God locks a door and it will NEVER BE UNLOCKED!!!

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Sometimes, there's a revolving door, and God wants us to go through something before we can get to what is on the other side. Sometimes you just gotta shut the door for a little bit, while your riding to your destination and THEN its time to open that door again! Sometimes there's sliding doors and you gotta figure out if you should SLIDE that door all the way open, or if you should just partially slide it open to not let anything IN or OUT with you.

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Sometimes there's a glass door and you can see very clearly what is on the other side and weather or not you should open that door! Sometimes there's a screen door, and you can only kind of see what is on the other side, but you'll never really know, TILL YOU OPEN THE DOOR!!!

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Sometimes in life, there are automatic doors. There are things in our life that are just automatic. They just happen without us trying or doing anything for them to open. Church, school, family, those were automatic doors for me that just happened without trying. Waking up and going to sleep are just automatic doors. And you'll find blessings that come to you in life, that were just automatic without you doing or saying anything to have ever gotten them!!!

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There are automatic things that God expects us to do. I remember hearing someone once say that they kept bumping into someone, they didn't know what God wanted to do, but they just wanted to pray about if they should witness to them or not. Bishop Abbott spoke up, WELL, I can tell you what God wants to do for that person, HE WANTS TO SAVE THEM!!! Sometimes we over-spiritualize the OBVIOUS or THE AUTOMATIC!!! Should you witness??? YES!!! The Bible says that God is NOT willing that ANY should perish, BUT that ALL should come to repentance! Should you repent??? Should you obey God's word??? It's an AUTOMATIC DOOR!!! YES, you should!!!

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As a female, sometimes, its good for us to be a lady, WAIT and let a man OPEN THE DOOR FOR US, but sometimes, you can't always wait around for someone to be opening the doors for you.

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I've seen AZ females, usually in the dating or newlywed stage of life, SIT IN THE CAR after reaching a destination, in 120 degree weather and NO AC, WAITING FOR THE GUY to get out of the car and open the door for her. Now, I believe in chivalry, I like it, its nice, I appreciate it, BUT, in 120 degree weather, I'm OPENING MY DOOR AS QUICKLEY AS POSSIBLE AND HIGHTAILING IT TO THE CLOSEST PLACE WITH AC!!! Why??? BECAUSE ITS HOT OUT!!!! Sometimes you just need to be PRACTICAL!!! The original intent of chivalry was NOT the romanticized version that we know about now. The original intent of chivalry was for a man to do something for a female, elderly person, or child, that they could NOT do for themselves.

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There are times, when you need to wait, trust in God and LET HIM OPEN THE DOOR! There are times in life, when there is NO WAY you can open the door yourself and the only thing you can do is WAIT for God to open it. However, while YES, God IS indeed a gentleman, SOMETIMES, there are things that YOU CAN DO FOR YOURSELF!!! Sometimes, you just gotta OPEN YOUR OWN DOOR!!!

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HOW DO YOU KNOW IN LIFE, WHAT TO DO AT EACH DOOR YOU COME TOO???

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The KEY to knowing how you should proceed at each door in life, is THROUGH PRAYER!!! Jesus says in John 10:9 "I am the door..." THE KEY to knowing, IS SEEKING GOD or THE DOOR!!! We have to continually seek God in prayer for His will and direction in our lives. "The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God." (Psalm 14:2)

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Should I wait? Should I PUSH? Should I PULL? Should I knock? Should I get a key? It can seem so complicated knowing what to do in life, and yet, its SO SIMPLE, PRAY!!! God wants us to PRAY!!! We will know what God wants us to do at each door in life, when we seek Him for His will and direction in our next step.

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“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” (Psalm 32:8)

♥Mary Frances :)