Just Flirting ( Devotional Repost-2015)

Flirting!!! I was thinking about that...as a SINGLE person, there is JUST SOMETHING about FLIRTING!!! LOL!!! I mean lets all be honest...its FUN in the right context of course! Ya know what I mean, that harmless, fun teasing between a guy and girl...ahhhh...FUN TIMES!!! HAHA!!! I mean think about it you know when you just feel that SPARK...that chemistry??? Your just like OH WOW!!!

.

This one time, i had this HUGE crush on like a very, very, VERY HANDSOME Apostolic young man buuuuuuut as we became friends, thats ALL it was...good conversation buuuuuut I NEVER felt sparks...its like no matter how attractive of a person that he was, there was just NO CHEMISTRY!!! sooooo i just kind of lost interest in him and the next thing I knew I fell for this OTHER guy and honestly, he really wasn't as good looking as the other guy, buuuuut there was something about our personalities together annnnnd man there were sparks!!! AHAHAHAHA!!! Even tho it would be hard TO ACTUALLY start a convo with him...once we did...MAN...chemistry was STRONG!!! Some of my close girls were like, BUT MARY, the other guy is better lookin and you could talk to him easily, annnnnnd this guy isn't as good lookin and its HARDER for you to talk to him...

.

I'm like I know buuuuuuuuut SPARKS girls...SPARKS!!! I mean really, MY NAME IS MARY GINTY and i'm the daughter of Frances Ginty, talking comes NATURALLY for me!!! I could talk to pretty much ANYONE, I could probabley even get a mute person to talk to me...BAHAHAHA!!! So i'm mean...just BEING able to talk to someone...is NOT a big deal for me...like HELLO...BORING!!! HOWEVER, not every person that I talk to, do I feel sparks...ANNNND I LIKE SPARKS!!! Yup! Yup! There is just NOTHING like some GOOD O FLIRTING!!! Can I can and AMEN from anyone out there??? ;)

.

Buuuuuuut at the same time, none of us want to be KNOWN as a FLIRT!!! None of us want to be known as the kind of person that flirts with everyone, without really having ANY sort of a true interest in them...being that way...it just gives you a BAD REPUTATION!!!

.

I remember seeing a friend, a really good, Godly young lady, one time talking to a guy and after a few weeks I asked her, SOOOOO are you INTERESTED??? And she was like, actually, NO, I don't think I am! And I was like, REALLY, WHY NOT??? I mean, i was really curious, because although I didn't know the guy all that well, he was definatley on the very handsome, attractive side and I knew quite a few girls that would just LOVE to have this guys attention. So my friend, just looked at me and was like, well I don't mean to talk bad about him, buuuuuut to be perfectly honest, he is just TO MUCH OF A FLIRT!!! (Aka: A PLAYER!!!)

.

Nobody wants a FLIRT!!! And while flirting outside of marriage is okay, WHILE YOUR SINGLE, within marriage, aside from flirting with each other, FLIRTING with other people is NOT ok! I mean, being VERY SINGLE and all myself, I do NOT know all that much about marriage, buuuuuut I do know, that I would NOT be okay with my husband flirting with other woman! How would you feel if you were married and your spouse was flirting with other people, and when you brought it up, WHAT IF they didn't think it was a big deal??? WHAT IF their response was...I'm NOT CHEATING on you...

I'm JUST FLIRTING!!!

.

Oh man!!! I would sooooooo NOT be ok with that!!! Talk about INFURITATING!!! I mean come on...We're married!!! ACT MARRIED!!! We can all CLEARLY see this concept and YET, I see SOOOOOOO much, people IN THE CHURCH... that are SUPPOSED to be in a sold out relationship with Jesus Christ, JUST FLIRTING WITH THE WORLD!!!

.

Birthday Month!!!

Once again, celebrating my last days at sweet 35!!! 

The older I get, the better in life I seem to feel!!! Spiritually, emotionally and physically!!! God has been good to me!!!

Living for God is the best life!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Beyond the struggle

HIKING
So as you all know at this point, I LOVE hiking, and in this recent year, I've gotten my sister to start enjoying it as well. However, with the weather changing into summer, we've had to find a new time to go hiking, because as you know, summers here in Arizona do NOT play around, with the temperature changing, we hadn't gone hiking for about a month or so.

.

My sister and I decided that  we'd start waking up at 5 am and go for a morning hike, the weather is PERFECT at this time, although by the end of June, I'm sure we'll have to change our time til 4 am...EEEEEEKS!!!  

.

Well we figured with it being our first day back on last Monday, the struggle up would be the hardest first day. However tho, it was not! I mean, we pretty much just FLEW up the mountain, weeeeeeellll...NOT LITERALLY but you know, it was pretty easy going up, we were like WOW, that's cool!

AND THEN SURPRISE

We figured it'd be EVEN EASIER the next day, buuuuuut surprise of all surprises, IT WASN'T, it was harder!!! Annnnnd the next day even more, it was like that the rest of the week. I realized it was because the first day our muscles weren't sore because we hadn't been hiking, but NOW they were, causing the hike to be more of a struggle than the first time. It seems so strange that it we would feel MORE RESISTANCE in our hiking than we did in the beginning, but that's just the way it is, you can't sit down and just give up, you've got to KEEP PUSHING through it every day, until you've broken through.

.

Spiritual Hiking

Did you know that it's the SAME way in our walk with the Lord? Sometimes, it's later on in your walk with God that you REALLY start feeling the struggle!!! It may have been the easiest thing to  make that decision to live for God, or to walk away from sin, or turn yourself in a different direction. It makes sense and you knew it was right, so you do it. It's NOT until the next day that you start feeling it, the resistance to your decision, it's pulling at you. AWW MAN, today it's harder, I'm out of breath, I didn't realize it would be like this. And you just want give up,

to SIT DOWN...

Keep Pushing forward

Buuuuuuuuuuuuut you got to keep going, you've gotta PUSH THROUGH THE STRUGGLE, it won't always be THIS HARD if you'll just keep pressing on!!! Beyond the struggle, there is VICTORY!!! Don't give up my brother's and sister's, catch your breath, TAKE A DRINK and keep on moving!!!

VICTORY IS YOURS,

IF YOU'LL KEEP ON KEEPING ON!!! 

" I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14)

♥Mary Frances :)

Giving God YOUR BACON!!!

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

.

[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.

.

“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!!!"]

.

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. 

.

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!!!

.

 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!!!

.

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)

.

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!!! 

.

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

.

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 :)

No alternatives!!!

What are my options??? That is a question that we ask quite frequently. We are living in a day and age and a society that is BIG on alternatives...Options...choices. You could be on the airplane getting a meal and there is going to be someone that doesn't like what they are being given and they will say, What's my alternative??? Resturaunt menus are filled with OPTIONS for all the different eaters.

There is a vegetarian section, gluten free, low-carb, fat free... People want OPTIONS!!! People want ALTERNATIVES!!!

.

Everyone wants to hear an alternative to what they should do. Someone Is diagnosed with cancer and the first thing they will be told is, their OPTIONS!!! A girl gets pregnant and people will tell her, these are YOUR OPTIONS!!! There is alternative music, alternative thinking, alternative schools, alternative educations, alternative lifestyles, alternative religions, alternative marriage there is EVEN alternative meat for vegetarians!!!

.

What really perturbs me is when people think of living for God as just an option. That alternative thinking seeps into our everyday living. But there has to be a time in our life that we decide when it comes to living for God, there are NO ALTERNATIVIVES!!! There are NO OTHER OPTIONS. If things don't turn out the way I planned, OH WELL, I'm gonna KEEP ON LIVING FOR GOD!!! Fixed! It bothers me so much when I hear people say, "I ALMOST backslid!"

.

I don't say that to sound holier-than-thou, I say it because it is worrisome to me. It means that somewhere in their mind backsliding IS an option in their life. We can't live in a way that says, well I WANT to live for God, buuuuuuuuut if it doesn't work out, I guess I'll jus go back to the world! I have a dear friend that I was extremely close to. I watched as God picked them up from a life of NOTHINGNESS and miraculously changed their life for the better, buuuuuut they NEVER could get it out of their mind that GOING BACK TO THE WORLD, wasn't an option.

.

There is a bumper sticker that says, "Try Jesus, if you don't like Him, the devil will always take you back!" We can't live with that mentality, we can't just TRY Jesus!!! We have to BURN all of our bridges of alternatives and options in our life till we can say, I can't go back, BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO GO BACK TOO!!! We have to say, THIS IS IT!!! This is my ONLY OPTION!!! There is NO PLAN B!!! I have NO ALTERNATIVES!!!

.

I can honestly say that the thought of backsliding does NOT enter my mind! You know WHY??? Not because I'm ultra spiritual, buuuuuuut BECAUSE I have NO OTHER OPTIONS!!! Its like what Peter said to Jesus, "Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." (John 6: 67:68)

.

Yes, there are times that its HARD!!! Yes there are times that there is sin in my life! Yes there are times that I need an attitude adjustment!!! Yes there are times that I'm confused, bewildered, frustrated, sad, mad, devastated, heartbroken... Buuuuut its like Peter says, TO WHOM SHALL I GO???  I have no alternative for myself outside of a life devoted to living for my God!!! WHAT ELSE IS THERE??? I have NO other plans! I have NO other options!  

.

 LIVE FOR GOD???

I have NO alternatives!!!

"My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed:  I will sing and give praise" (Psalm 57:7) 

♥Mary Frances :)

When I felt like an adult!!!!

Soooooooo there's this Christian radio station that I like to listen to in my car, weeeeeellll pretty much cuz the CD player is BROKEN...surprise, surprise, LOL!!! Anywayz, they'll like ask these random questions in the afternoon and have listeners call in with their answers in between songs!

♥

One day, the question was, WHEN did you FIRST feel like an adult??? And I remember sitting there in the car, in my early 30's and thinking,

HONESTLY, I STILL DON'T!!!

You know, when kids come to you, your just like, REALLY???

OR THIS...

AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Soooooo ME!!! ;))))

♥

I don't know why I felt that way! I'm moved out, I work, I drive, I pay bills, I travel by myself...I don't even have a curfew...buuuuut I STILL don't feel like an adult!!! However, recently, with my mom's death, it hit me, I think I ACTUALLY feel like an adult now. I'm not sure WHY, perhaps its just because it hit me, I'm doing this, I'm DOING what my mom wanted me to do, BUT without her! I wish I wasn't doing this WITHOUT her, buuuuut I AM, because she prepared me so well to be able to!!!

♥

I'm going to church, i'm living for GOD, WITHOUT HER!!! IT's what she always wanted me to do, AND I was doing, but the difference is that I could stop now and she would never know! I would never have to worry about her being saddened or disappointed in my decision...buuuuuuuuuuut THIS IS MY DECISION!!! This IS the life I CHOOSE TO LIVE!!! NOT because I HAVE to! NOT because I don't want to disappoint or please anyone! BUT because THIS is the life I WANT TO LIVE!!! I always said it before, AND TRULY MEANT IT!!! Buuuuuuuuuut NOW IT'S REAL...annnnnd soooo NOW for the first time I can say that...

I feel like an ADULT!!

Sooooooo it basically feels the same...BAHAHA!!!!

Okaaaaaaaaaaaay we ALL know that I'll always be an ADULT CHILD, buuuuuut Heeeeeeey I AM A CHILD OF GOD and I'll NEVER be to adulty for that!!! Hee, hee!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

It's NOT the puppet!!!

I was thinking about puppets one day, i'm not into puppetry, but I know some people that are! and I always enjoy watching a GOOD PUPPET SHOW!!! BUUUUUUT I was thinking about how it works with puppets. If you see a really LAME puppet show, its NOT the puppet's fault, its the PUPPETEERS fault! And you don't have to have an AMAZING puppet to have an AWESOME show!!! A really GOOD PUPPETEER can do a good show with ANYTHING!!!
 

.

I've seen awesome puppet shows with SOCK PUPPETS before!!! Yes, SOCKS!!! Was it the socks that made the show awesome??? NO!! It was the puppeteer, MAKING THE PUPPET SOCKS do awesome things. You know WHY??? Because IF your a good puppeteer, you don't need the biggest and the best puppet around to do a great show, because YOUR skills as a puppeteer will make whatever you are using good!

.

 This got me to thinking about our own lives. If we put our lives into this world's puppeteers, we'll end up involved in all the wrong things. Hollywood, drugs, imorality and ultimately a life of misery and emptiness! Thats the devil's puppetry in your life...DESTRUCTION!!!

.

However, IF we'll put our life into GOD'S HANDS, he can make something beautiful out of our life!!! Sometimes we think that God can't use us because we're a NOBODY! We think WHO AM I that God could use for his glory? I wasn't raised in church, I come from a broken home, i'm  the only one in my family living for God, my dad's gone,I feel inferior, i have no experiance, I don't know how to dress, I don't know how to act!

.

 Maybe you feel like that one lone,

 dirty sock, with a hole in the toe,

 it doesn't matter!!!
God has a plan FOR YOU!!!

.

Its NOT the puppet that is amazing...its an AMAZING PUPPETEER!!! You don't need to be an amazing person to do great things, you just need to put YOUR LIFE in the hands of an AMAZING GOD!!! :)

    "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."(Jeremiah 29:11)

♥Mary Frances :)

Just FLIRTING!!!!

Flirting!!! I was thinking about that...as a SINGLE person, there is JUST SOMETHING about FLIRTING!!! LOL!!! I mean lets all be honest...its FUN in the right context of course! Ya know what I mean, that harmless, fun teasing between a guy and girl...ahhhh...FUN TIMES!!! HAHA!!! I mean think about it you know when you just feel that SPARK...that chemistry??? Your just like OH WOW!!!
,
This one time, i had this HUGE crush on like a very, very, VERY HANDSOME Apostolic young man buuuuuuut as we became friends, thats ALL it was...good conversation buuuuuut I NEVER felt sparks...its like no matter how attractive of a person that he was, there was just NO CHEMISTRY!!! sooooo i just kind of lost interest in him and the next thing I knew I fell for this OTHER guy and honestly, he really wasn't as good looking as the other guy, buuuuut there was something about our personalities together annnnnd man there were sparks!!! AHAHAHAHA!!! Even tho it woiuld be hard TO ACTUALLY start a convo with him...once we did...MAN...chemistry was STRONG!!! Some of my close girls were like, BUT MARY, the other guy is better lookin and you could talk to him easily, annnnnnd this guy isn't as good lookin and its HARDER for you to talk to him...
.
I'm like I know buuuuuuuuut SPARKS girls...SPARKS!!! I mean really, MY NAME IS MARY GINTY and i'm the daughter of Frances Ginty, talking comes NATURALLY for me!!! I could talk to pretty much ANYONE, I could probabley even get a mute person to talk to me...BAHAHAHA!!! So i'm mean...just BEING able to talk to someone...is NOT a big deal for me...like HELLO...BORING!!! HOWEVER, not every person that I talk to, do I feel sparks...ANNNND I LIKE SPARKS!!! Yup! Yup! There is just NOTHING like some GOOD O FLIRTING!!! Can I can and AMEN from anyone out there??? ;)
.
 Buuuuuuut at the same time, none of us want to be KNOWN as a FLIRT!!! None of us want to be known as the kind of person that flirts with everyone, without really having ANY sort of a true interest in them...being that way...it just gives you a BAD REPUTATION!!!

.

I remember seeing a friend, a really good, Godly young lady,  one time talking to a guy and after a few weeks I asked her, SOOOOO are you INTERESTED??? And she was like, actually, NO, I don't think I am! And I was like, REALLY, WHY NOT??? I mean, i was really curious, because although I didn't know the guy all that well, he was definatley on the very handsome, attractive side and I knew quite a few girls that would just LOVE to have this guys attention. So my friend, just looked at me and was like, well I don't mean to talk bad about him, buuuuuut to be perfectly honest, he is just TO MUCH OF A FLIRT!!! (Aka: A PLAYER!!!)

.

Nobody wants a FLIRT!!! And while flirting outside of marriage is okay, WHILE YOUR SINGLE, within marriage, aside from flirting with each other, FLIRTING with other people is NOT ok! I mean, being VERY SINGLE and all myself, I do NOT know all that much about marriage, buuuuuut I do know, that I would NOT be okay with my husband flirting with other woman! How would you feel if you were married and your spouse was flirting with other people, and when you brought it up, WHAT IF they didn't think it was a big deal??? WHAT IF their response was...I'm NOT CHEATING on you...

I'm JUST FLIRTING!!!

.

Oh man!!! I would sooooooo NOT be ok with that!!! Talk about INFURITATING!!! I mean come on...We're married!!! ACT MARRIED!!! We can all CLEARLY see this concept and YET, I see SOOOOOOO much, people IN THE CHURCH... that are SUPPOSED to be in a sold out relastionship with Jesus Christ,  JUST FLIRTING WITH THE WORLD!!!

.

People living on the edge!!! Its like HOW much can I get away with and STILL be saved? I know that the pastor preaches against that, buuuuuuuut I don't think its ACTUALLY going to send me to hell! I mean, where exactley in the Bible does it say that I shouldn't do that? For some people, they hear that the pastor is gonna be outta town that weekend and its like, PARTAAAAAAAAY!!! They start breakin out all the clothes that they know pastor preaches against...its like WHAAAAT??? You shouldn't even HAVE THAT anymore!!!

.

 You see people doing things that YOU KNOW they shouldn't be doing and when you try to kindly, as a friend, question them about it, they're just like, well I'm not backslidden!!! And its like, no your NOT, your JUST flirting....JUST FLIRTING WITH THE WORLD!!! That kind of an attitude is soooooo IGNORANT!!!

.

THINK ABOUT IT!!! Why do single people even flirt with each other ANYWAYZ??? Its because, we're single, and we're TRYING, HOPING to get married...SOOOOO WE FLIRT!!! ;) or in my case, WE TRY TO FLIRT!!! HAHA!!! I for one, would ONLY TRY to flirt with a guy, that I would be interested in finding out IF he was THE ONE for marriage!!!

.

 Flirting is NOT a commitment! It is NOT a relationship! It is NOT marriage!!! Buuuuuuut FLIRTING LEADS!!! Flirting is a tool, that can ignite sparks between two people, and if it keeps going the sparks can  turn into a burning, blazin fire and IF the chemistry is right between two people, eventually, FLIRTING can LEAD to marriage! I've NEVER known two people, that have gotten married, that the relationship didn't start, with a little bit of GOOD O FLIRTING!!!

.
I've NEVER met a married person, man OR woman that was ok with their spouse flirting with another!!! You may say that flirting isn't ACTUALLY cheating and your "technically right," its NOT!!! However, when I see any two married people flirting, even tho I may not actually voice my oppinion out loud, in my mind, a RED FLAG goes flying up!!!
.
I may be keeping my mouth SHUT about it, BUUUUUUT... in my mind i'm thinking, ummmmm...something is NOT right!!! Flirting outside of your marital vows is an INDICATOR that something is NOT right!!! Its the SAME way in your relationship with Christ! Disobediance, living on the edge, seeing HOW MUCH you can get away with and STILL be saved, is ALL an indicator, that SPIRITUALLY something is NOT right with you!!!
.

Flirting LEADS to something else! Thats WHY, no married person, in their right mind, is okay with their spouse FLIRTING with other people...because even tho its NOT the actual ACT of adultry... FLIRTING LEADS!!! You wouldn't want to be married to someone that continually pushed to see just HOW MUCH they could flirt with others and STILL be considered married to YOU!!! What kind of a person would live their married life saying; How much can I get away with and it NOT be considered ADULTRY???  We all want to be kept away from marrrying THAT KIND of a person...AND YET...its done all the time to JESUS!!! When you live your life ON THE EDGE, trying to see what you can get a way with and still be "In Church" your flirting with the world annnnnnd FLIRTING leads!!!

.

FLIRTING LEADS!!! You may not "TECHNICALLY" be backslidden YET... buuuuuut... FLIRTING LEADS!!! Your starting sparks with things you shouldn't be starting sparks with!!! Your flirting with the world... your supposed to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ, buuuuuut  your flirting with His adversay!!! Don't be a spirtitual PLAYER!!!

.

The Bible says, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24) You may still be going to church, BUUUUUUT there is coming a day, where your going to have to CHOOSE!!!

THINK ABOUT IT!!!

ARE YOU JUST FLIRTING?!?!

 Your going to have to MAKE A CHOICE! Your either going to ask your saviour to forgive you for not being completely true and stay with your FIRST LOVE or your gonna choose to GO WITH WHO YOU HAVE BEEN FLIRTING WITH!!! Because you can't FULLY EMBRACE JESUS, while flirting with another!!! Why you would want to be in a half-hearted relationship with Jesus is beyond me...YOU KNOW that you wouldn't want it in YOUR marriage!!!

.

I'm telling you all, JESUS LOVES YOU SOOOOOO MUCH...NO ONE will EVERRRR love you like JESUS will LOVE YOU!!! There is NOTHING and I mean NOTHING, worth getting in the way of your relationship with Christ!!! I encourage you all today, when it comes to Jesus, don't be all having fun with His adversary, don't be a player, don't flirt with the world, CHOOSE JESUS!!!

♥

"And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." (Deuteronomy 6:5)

♥

Get beyond a half-hearted relationship with Jesus!!! LOVE HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART!!! Embrace Him fully and completley...

 with a burning, blazing, fiery passion ignited from within you!!! 

 

♥Mary Frances :)

Preserving your youth!!!!

How to stay young??? In the world that we are living in today, people will do ANYTHING to try and stay young! They diet, they excercise, they have face lifts, tummy tucks, lipo, they dye their hair to cover the grays, they try and use makeup to cover wrinkles, They hang out at clubs, party, drive fancy cars, get drunk, get high, they wear clothes they shouldn't wear, they'll try just about ANYTHING to try and stay young, but NOT really obtaining their desire!!! But REALLY how can  you STAY YOUNG???

.

This past week at A Mountain Apart Youth Camp, we all had some good laughs about my actual age and the fact that I was hanging out with people that were in reality, WAAAAAAAY younger than me!!! The last night, Sis. Devi walked into our room and was like WOW, you girl's is room is A MESS!!! 

Without missing a beat Delora says, "Well YOU KNOW, its just a bunch of teenagers...

 AND A 29-year-old...

 that are staying in here!!! 

Annnnnnnnnnd we all laughed really HARD!!! Buuuuuuuut it got me to thiinking about YOUTH!!! I mean, I know I was the oldest camper there, yet I didn't feel awkward or like I didn't fit in! The girls that I hung with the young people I was hanging out with the most, that I considered, the OLDER young people, were the ones that were 18, 19, 20, 21 year olds and then there was basically a HUUUUUUGE gap in the years  to me...buuuuuuut I honestly didn't think about it when we were all goofing off and having fun together!!! I mean, despite the age difference, we were basically all at that same point in life. Graduated from high school, working a job, living for God, waiting and seeking the will of God for our lives...I understood and connected with them on the same level. 

.

Underneath the green grass...

This past week, while at A Mountain Apart Camp, I found this secluded, peaceful little spot underneath this beautiful weeping willow tree near the pond. It was soooo pretty and quiet I just liked to sit there sometimes and think and just contemplate on things. 

Weeeeelll the spot that I was sitting on the ground beneath the tree was really dry and barren of much grass. While I was sitting there, I looked out and saw this BEAUTIFUL, tall green grass just blowing gracefully and I thought that I might like to move over there and sit in it and enjoy its luciousness, but then I changed my mind and thought NO I like it where I am all just stay where I am, but the WHOLE time I kept looking out and noticing how pretty that grass over yonder was.

After a few minutes, someone on the little bride across the pond saw me and yelled out to me. So rather than have a conversation yelling across the pond to each other, I jumped up and started walking over to her. As I was walking around the pond I thought, OH, I'm going to walk through that beautiful, willowy, green grass, just so I can feel it against me.

.

 Well as I began walking through it, much to my dismay, I felt a wetness and as I continued to walk, my feet began to squish into mud! UGH...all over my ADORABLE flip flops...YUCK!!! And     I tried to get out but I kinda sunk a little and even started to slip before I got out of it.

.

Once I got out and I was walking over to talk to my friend I thought MAN, that grass looked sooooooo pretty but it SURE was a BIG HASSLE walking through it. Really, it was NOTHING but a buncha trouble. It had looked soooooooo pretty  and perfect from the surface, buuuuuuuut I had NO way of knowing what was underneath.

.

Meanwhile, my hard, dry little spot across the way seemed like it truely was the perfect little spot. Because, despite, its dullness and hard barren ground, it was safe. 

ANNNNND of course it got me to thinking about life. Sometimes in life, the ways that are right can seem sooooo boring and dull. You can look out and see something in the world that just seems like it is oh so beautiful and perfect and you want it. Maybe it goes against everything that you have been taught...but all you can see is the surface beauty of the matter, underneath there is MUCK but you can't see it because its covered by the beauty. 

.

The Bible says, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 16:25) You can't see what's underneath. You have NO IDEA the harm that the choice can bring you. Its a slippery, sinking path. Your gonna loose your footing and its going to bring you down.

.

I'm telling you, if any choice your considering to make, it doesn't matter HOW wonderful it may make you feel, IF it EVERRR goes against the word of God, it  is wrong! It is wrong! IT IS WRONG!!! Don't leave the safety of God's haven. No matter what you may be seeing out yonder, God's ways are ALWAYS right. God's ways are strong. His ways may not be glamorous and pretty but they are safe and secure. The ways of God will keep you. You can depend on God's way. God's way will NEVER fail you. 

You know what I did WHEN I was done talking to that friend?

.

I WENT BACK!!! I went back to my safe little haven beneath the beautiful willow tree. BUUUUUUUT...This time I WALKED AROUND the tall willowy grass and I thankfully and happily sat down on a dry, bland, rather UGLY ground...BUT it was secure and it was SAFE!!!

.

Don't leave God's way, BUUUUT if you have, If you've messed up, made a mistake, made a mess, you don't have to stay there stuck in the muck, JUST GO BACK. Go back to what is right. Go back to the safety of God. 

"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure..."

(2 Timothy 2: 19)

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower: 

.

the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."

(Proverbs 18:10)

♥Mary Frances :)

Showin some LOOOOVE!!!

At West Coast Conference this past year there was a really strong emphasis on reaching the lost. Seeing a soul through the eyes of Jesus. Well, while I was at the conference, I really felt impressed on my heart to show the mom of two of the children that I bring to church some love.

.

Now this lady is cRaZy!!! She is CONSTANTLEY SCREAMING at her kids, she is hyper, loud, annoying, obnoxious, ADHD, says about two thousand words in a minute, has a history of drug abuse, AND the only reason WHY I actually think she may NOT be on drugs is cuz social workers and CPS makes frequent visits to her home and she still has her kids...lol... and soooooo above all else, she ACTUALLY refers to herself as,

THE cRaZy WHITE LADY!!!

.

Sooooo I mean when you see kids having to live in these kind of situations, its NATURAL to just feel love and compassion for them. OH THE POOR THINGS!!! Havin her for a MOM...your just like, OH their ONLY HOPE in life is JESUS!!! And your heart just goes out to the kids!!! BUUUUUT THE MOM?????? Buuuuut I felt God impressed on my heart, show that cRaZy WHITE LADY some LOOOOOOVE!!! .

Weeeeelllll the NEXT time I go over there and I see THE cRaZy WHITE LADY, I go over to her and give her a hug and as I am giving her a hug I tell her, I want you to know that I love you AND I'm praying for you! So as I am STILL hugging her she says, OH thank YOU soooo much for your prayers, I have been REALLLLLY needing them...we've really been going through it over here...LET ME TELL YOU...we JUST got rid of all the.....BED BUGS!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAUUUHHHH!!!

(What was going on in my mind at that MOMENT!!!)

AND I AM TELLING YOU she says as she releases me from the hug, that has been SOME ORDEAL!!!! I have done over thirty loads of laundry...blah, blah, blah...They are sooooo hard to get rid of!!! Sooooo I REALLLY appreciate your prayers!!! Heeeeey... WHY DON'T you come in and visit with me for a few minutes!!!????!!?!?!! And I think...Oh sure, WHY NOT?????

.

And as I am sitting there in the apartment, visiting with THE CRAZY WHITE LADY i just think, YOU WOULD DO THAT TO ME GOD!!! YOU JUST WOULD!!!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!! Whoever said that living for God is boring, has OBVIOUSLEY, never really , truley...LIVED...

FOR HIM!!!

♥Mary Frances :)