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 :)

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 your line BREAKS!!!

Have you ever been fishing annnnnnnd...

Okaaaaaaaaaaaay, NO, I've never gone fishing, LOL!!! Buuuuut recently, one of my friends and my brother went on a deep sea fishing trip. They had a good time on the trip, but were slightly disappointed in the lack of fish they caught!!!

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But the thing that was even MORE disappointing for my friend then NOT catching anything at all, was the fact that at one point, he ACTUALLY had a BIG ONE on his line, buuuuut as he was reeling it in, HIS LINE BROKE, and that BIG ONE got away!!!

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And after my friend had relayed his disappointment, it got me to thinking about how so often, this very same situation happens to us in life. We all have hopes and dreams that we desire and wait for. Sometimes it can seem like your just waiting and waiting with your life fishing line sailing through an ocean of faith, your waiting and your waiting and your waiting for that BIG HOPE to finally get caught on your line.

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Then it happens, what you have been waiting for, IS FINALLY biting on your line, its hooked, and you begin reeling it in, but as your reeling it in, the worst thing possible happens, YOUR LINE BREAKS and before you could reel it in, what you've been waiting for is GONE!!!

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Your sooooo disappointed!!! You wish that you had never even thought you were about to get what you had been waiting for in the first place! You feel discouraged and your faith is down. What happened??? Why did your line break??? We can't always explain or understand the way things happened, maybe you weren't ready, you needed a better fishing line, it wasn't time and God just wants you to keep trusting him, or maybe God has something even bigger for you and you need to just keep waiting.

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Just remember while your waiting that God IS in control! He is all powerful and he knows what he is doing. WHEN YOUR LINE BREAKS, you've got a God that knows WHERE ITS AT!!! You can be like the disciples, fishing ALL NIGHT and getting NOTHING, buuuuuut one word from Jesus, "Cast  your nets on the other side", and your net is so full you can hardly even lift it!!!

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Don't give up my friends!

You've got to just keep trusting and waiting and listening!!!

"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 :)

Looking from ABOVE!!!

I LOVE being on the airplane and just looking at the clouds...it just totally awwws ME!!! Like they are just like right there...sooo close to you that you just want to reach out and touch the fluffy things!!!

And the weirderst thing is when you have flown up SOOOOO high in the airplane and you look out the window and the clouds are BENEATH YOU!!! Its soooo cRaZy!!! To think that these things, that usually are soooo high up and out of your reach are actually NOW UNDER YOU!!!

Buuuuut it gets even cRaZiEr because you flying higher and higher up and at one point I looked out and the clouds were sooooo FAR below me that they looked like they were just floating on top of the ocean!!! I was like NOW WAY!!! I mean, know how much higher they are than the ocean. I have stood many a times at the ocean and looked up...waaaaay...waaaay...WAAAAAAY up into the sky and seen the clouds up on high...BUUUUT NOW here I was flying...up soooo HIGH ABOVE the clouds that THEY looked EXTREMELY close to the ocean!!! In fact, they were WAAAAAY closer to the ocean than they were to me anymore!!!

AND I got to thinkin that, I BET that must be the way God sees things. There are times in our lives that our hopes and dreams seem sooooooo FAR ABOVE US!!! They seem way out of our reach...like we would never be able to get to them. BUT, thats not the way God sees it!!! He just looks down and the things that WE think are soooo far out of our reach...God sees how close they really are to us!!!

Don't give up my friends!!!!

 Whateverrr it is that your WANTING...a job, a better job, a house, a degree, schooling, where to live, a best friend, a sibling, citizenship,  a baby, adoption, a healing, ministry, A SPOUSE...hahaHa...a lost loved one to be saved...or just direction for your future, WHATEVERRR it is don't give up!!! Just keep waiting on God...It may SEEM FAR...but from God's view its CLOSE...way, way closer than you think!!!

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"But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it."

(Romans 8:25)

 ♥Mary Frances :)

What IF WALDO???

I was thinking about this the other day...

Annnnnnnnnnnnnd THEN IT HIT ME...

WHAT IF WALDO IS MY FUTURE HUSBAND???

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Now before you all start thinking that I'm crazier than I already am, LET ME CLARIFY something with you all, HE REALLY COULD BE WALDO!!! Think about it!!!

1. Is Waldo Apostolic??? Idk...HE COULD BE!! Look at HOW modest he dresses!!! Pants and long sleeves...this BROTHA has holiness down...I LIKE THAT!!! Purrrrrr Waldo!!!

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2. Is Waldo Chocolate??? NO, he's NOT!!! Buuuuuuut did you all know that I ACTUALLY DON'T CARE about a guys skin color at all??? My WHOLE point has ALWAYS been that it ACTUALLY DOESN'T MATTER!!! That's what my TRUE PASSION on the matter ACTUALLY IS!!! And my goal IS and WILL ALWAYS BE to educate and change the ignorant mindset of skin color and interracial marriage...EXCEPT, there is ACTUALLY NO SUCH THING AS INTERACIAL MARRIAGE, buuuuuuuut I'll save that for ANOTHER day!!! That being said, when it comes to my future husband and how I feel about his skin color, I will quote what a anonymous friend said to me today, "I don't care if they're WHITER THAN SNOW or if they're BLACKER THAN COAL!" I was like, Oh yeah, HEEEEEEEEYYYY!!! To me its more important that he has the attributes I want, on fire for God, burden for the lost, has a job, has a car, has good self-esteem, motivated, take charge, spiritual leader, good with finances, kind-hearted, patient with Mary Moments, organizes my Maryness, wants to have at least 7 kids, willing to adopt, tithe paying, pastor obeying, righteous, Apostolic Warrior,  man of prayer

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3. Is Waldo anything like me??? NO!!! Obviously, Waldo IS NOT like ME!!! There is NO WAY he could hide that well if he was!!! This is GOOD!!! Cuz I think that a guy LIKE ME, WITH ME...would NOT BE GOOD!!! LOLOLOLOL!!!

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ANYWAYZ,

YOU NEVER KNOW!!! YOU JUST NEVER KNOW!!! Whoever he is...I will wait for him...BECAUSE...

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"Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?"

(Proverbs 20:6)

♥Mary Frances :)

Book Review #1

Okaaaaaaaaaay sooooo when you all hear the title of this first book, you all are going to laugh, buuuuuut just listen to my review cuz this book has helped me soooooo much!!! Annnnnd it could make things clearer for you as well!!! This book is called,

Confessions Of A Boy-crazy Girl!!!

When I read that she would do ANYTHING to get a guys attention, even swallow a live goldfish, this brought back so many teenage memories!!! Liiiiiike, bringing binocular camera to a youth conference to take pics of my crush at the time...YES REALLY!!!

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Soooo this book was specifically written for teen girls, buuuuuut surprisingly, or maybe NOT soooooo surprisingly, I had no difficulty relating to this subject!!! Hee, hee!!! ;) So this book is a very easy read. I read it about two weeks ago, one Sunday night when I didn't go out to eat cuz my car was dead, so I thought I would read this book!

SPECIFIC HIGHLIGHTS TO ME:

(A few things that specifically spoke to me)

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1. Your NOT waiting on HIM!!!

She talks about how its not proper for us females to pursue a man. And she talks about how it may seem like its taking forever for him to ACTUALLY notice you. But she said the thing that we need to remember is that ultimately, if we're praying and seeking God on the matter, ultimately, it's NOT him, we're waiting on...

IT'S GOD!!!

 

One of God's tools is TIME!!! We don't know why its not happening or what's going on, buuuut if we're trusting in God, THEN IT'S GOD we're waiting on, NOT MAN!!!

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2. Is God waiting on me???

This wasn't in her book but when I read the first one this came to me as well so I figured I would add it in! What if it's ME??? Seek God to find out if there is something about YOU that God is waiting on YOU to change...OR for you to seek HIM, so that he can show you something. Maybe there is something that God wants you to see or learn BEFORE he lets it happen so that when it does happen, its so clear and you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that its right.

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3. Turning to God

is not a once in a lifetime experience

Many times I've had people tell me, just don't think about it and as soon as you don't it will happen OR let it go and just trust in God. What people didn't understand was that, I've done this all before. This is good coming from a young person but what people than me younger didn't understand was that, lets say I was 30 at the time and the person telling me this is 20,   10 years ago I was 20, the same age they are NOW, 10 years ago for them they were 10...just kid.. AND yes you can NOW be on the same maturity level and be able to relate to each other but what they didn't understand was the span of years that I had been a single person.  I had one dear friend tell me, Just give it to God, don't think about it and then when you don't it will happen, that's what happened for me!!! And I get that buuuuuut they didn't understand that in the process of time, I'd already done that many times and NOTHING happened!!! I'm jus sayin!!! But what she says in this book is that, Turning to God is not a once in a lifetime experience, but a moment by moment journey!

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We will CONTINUALLY, have to turn to God and give things over to him, and just understand that JUST BECAUSE we do that, does NOT mean that God will give you what you want like he did when so-and-so did that!!! Therefore, over the process of time, this will be a continual thing that you will need to do!!!

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4. Don't put God on trial!!!

This was by far the most important thing that I got from this book. Sometimes we say we're trusting God but we're really TESTING him to see how strong and might HE IS!!! We sit ourselves on the judges seat and we put him on the trial seat and It's like we're saying Ok God, lets see if you actually come through for ME!!! So are you going to what YOU SAID you were going to do or what???

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How dare we put, GOD, the Almighty, our creator and redeemer on trial! God IS GOD! God knows EXACTLEY what he is doing. We don't TEST GOD, he tests US!!! We don't have to see HOW strong GOD is, the Bible already says HOW strong HE IS, He's THE ALMIGHTY, but God wants to see how strong WE ARE...and maybe he just wants to make you stronger!!! Sometimes we feel like God gave us a promise and we want to see if HE IS GOD ENOUGH to actually fulfil it.

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I know for me personally, there have been times in my life where I actually felt like I wanted God to fulfil his promise to me, JUST BECAUSE, I wanted to know that God keeps his promise. I want to know that I can trust you God, so I want  you to keep your promise to me EVEN THO I really don't want what you promised to me, I just want you to keep your promise!!! That makes NO SENSE if you really think about it and YET that's what we do!!!

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It finally hit one day WHY it was soooo important to me that God would keep a specific promise. I realized that growing up, my dad would always make us kids promises and then he NEVER kept them, NEVER!!! (If your in need of a father's love I talk about that HERE!) Over and over again he would promise that he was going to change that he was going to be different, there was going to be peace in our home and over over again I would get my hopes up and over and over again my hopes would once again come crashing down in disappointment. Til finally one day in my early teens, I just stopped believing him. When he said he was going to do things, I just smiled sweetly and platonically nodded my but inside I was really thinking, YEAH RIGHT, this is going to be just like every other promise you have ever made.

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BUUUUT what I realized is that I was relating the broken promises of an earthly father with the promises of my heavenly father. When I finally saw this I had such clarity that I could trust fully in God, my heavenly father. I mean think about it, what child would be mad if their dad promised them that for their graduation they were going to get a $1000 and they heard that their WHOLE life and then when they FINALLY graduated their dad was like, well ACTUALLY instead of a $1000 I'm  going to give you a brand new super expensive car...Okaaaaay that's the best description I have of a car...LOL...but is like all pink and glittery...hee, hee...OR you can choose to go on a trip to ANYWHERE In the world??? What child is going to be like, DAD! you broke your promise to me!!! You said you were going to give me $1000 buuuuut instead you gave me MORE????

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If you read in Hebrews 11 at the end it talks about all those that did not receive their promise from God because they received something greater. Think about that! Do you want your promise or do you want something GREATER than the promise??? I'm not going to put my God on trial! He knows what's best for ME!! He's my father, he has great things in store for me!!! He can give me More than just a promise he can give me something BETTER THAN THE PROMISE!!! (Okaaaaaaaaaaaay I got a little long-winded with this one folks but I just want to share with you what I got from out of that one section of the book...ENJOY IT!!! :)))

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This is my overall summary of the book...

The first couple of chapters, as she talks about her teenage years in high school. And I never needed a guy to make me feel loved. But I could understand when she was saying that she was longing for affections due to lack of a close relationship to her father!

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Another thing that I like is that she takes a strong stand about divorce. She was at one point talking to a man that she found out had been divorced. She says that she didn't know what all the Bible had to say on this subject so she began researching it and after searching the Bible she concluded that she could not continue to date this man according what she had found in reading God's word. It was GOOD to see in the world we're living in today, that someone was taking a STRONG stand on the matter.

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One thing I couldn't quite relate to was the fact that she struggled with feeling beautiful, by having a boyfriend.  I've never struggled with A GUY needing to make me feel beautiful to know that I am...I'm jus sayin! LOL So one time towards the end of the book, she's been single for years now and she talks about a guy she was talking to on and off, they were just friends and he was praying about it and this dude is like totally up and down about her and finally he tells her sometimes I feel sparks and sometimes I don't? So she asks him, do you mean attraction? And he basically says, Yeah, I mean I know every girl WANTS to be beautiful, buuuut..." I was lke reading that and was like, OH NO!!! UH UH!!! If a guy ever said that to me...Psh!!! Out the door...LOLOL!!! Anywayz, she talks about how after that she once again began to struggle with her looks until God finally showed her something...if  you want to find out...GET THE BOOK!!!

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She goes through story after story talking about how she thought this guy was for her and how he was just THE ONE and how every time it always failed. And how every time she thought it was going to happen and it never did. and then she talks about how her friends got married and her still being single and who ended up with who and when she ends her book, she's in her early 30's I and shes  talking about how God showed her that all she really needs is him. Is it OK for her to still want to get married? Is it ok for her to still PRAY for a husband? Absolutely as long as she is seeking him and finding her fulfillment in him.

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Btw: My good friend Jen Lord and I searched the internet about the author of this book and we found out that right now, about two years after writing this book, SHE IS ENGAGED!!! Woooooohoooooo!!! Congrats our single sista!!! Go GIRRRRRRL!!!

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She met this man through trying to find bloggers with a lot or readers to do book reviews of her book on their blog to help promote and sell it!!! Soooooooooooo really what I got from this book is that I JUST NEED TO WRITE A BOOK FOR ALL US SINGLES, annnnnnnnnnnnnnd THEN i'll get married!!! ;)  AHAHAHAHA!!! Juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust KIDDDDDING!!! What I got from this book was that I just NEED to trust in GOD  and wait on HIM!!!

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Find out about buying this book HERE!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

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The veiw from above

I LOVE being on the airplane and just looking at the clouds...it just totally awwws ME!!! Like they are just like right there...sooo close to you that you just want to reach out and touch the fluffy things!!!

 

And then as you fly higher and higher, its the weirdest thing, when you have flown up SOOOOO high in the sky that when you look out the airplane window and your looking DOWN now to see the clouds!!! Its soooo cRaZy!!! To think, that these things, the clouds, that are normally are normally so high up and out of your reach...

5th grader wisdom!!!

I heard on the radio recently that a group of 5th graders were asked to share ONE THING they've learned about God. One boy summed it up by saying that God just tells him,

"Dude, I've got this!"

Annnnnnd I thought, what at GREAT thing to have learned about God!!! He's got it all taken care of and everything is under control! Your job? He's got it! Your children? He's got it! Your home?  He's got it! Your finances? He's got it! How you gonna pay the bills? He's got it! Your relationships? He's got it! Lost loved ones? He's got it! Who you gonna marry? He's got it!!!

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Not that I'm saying we don't need to be doing anything for ourselves!!! Of course we need to do as much as we humanly, possibley can, without breaking any laws of God, buuuuuuuuut at a certain point, its out of your control. You've done everything you possibly can annnnnd NOW you've gotta let God do the rest!!!

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We worry, worry, worry, how is it going happen? We examine! We analyze! We critique the situation! When will it happen? What IF this happens? What IF that happens? What if I lose my job? What if I can't find a job?  What if I don't pass my tests to graduate?  WHAT IF THERE REALLY ISN'T ANYONE FOR ME??? Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!

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Annnnnnnd I imagine in my mind God just shaking his head saying,

"Dude, I've got this!"

Whatever it is your needing, stop worrying, God's got it!!!

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5)

 

♥Mary Frances :)

Single and Miserable???

I recently heard a preacher preaching and he was talking to the young ladies about waiting on God for their spouse! And he was telling them, Oh I know that you think that if your not married by a certain age that your going to be SO MISERABLE!!! He said, BUUUUUUT its just better to wait!!!Annnnnnd I just wanted to tell something to all the young ladies out there...

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE MISERABLE!!!

The age I thought I would be married at THE LATEST 26, has come and gone!!! Now here I am, almost 6 years AFTER the time I thought I was supposed to get married, annnnnnnnd I'm STILL SINGLE!!! BUUUUUUUUT...

 I'm NOT MISERABLE!!!

Yes, I still want to get married...like DUH...I think we've established that!!! ;) Buuuuuuut despite not having what I really, really want, I am still sooooo HAPPY!!! When you've got the joy of the Lord in you, there is NO ROOM FOR MISERY!!! (Besides, "Ain't nobody got time for that!";) Annnnnnd I just wanted to take a moment to tell all you young ladies(Men) that you DO NOT have to be miserable if you don't get married by the time you thought you would!!! Just stay close to Jesus and you'll learn to be HAPPY despite the fact that you don't have everything you want!!!

"Delight thyself also in the Lord..."

  (Psalm 37:4)

♥Mary Frances :) 

 

Bumble bee!!!

Sooooooooooo I wore this outfit to church a couple of weeks ago and someone said I looked like a bumble bee!!!! You know, black and yellow...BZZZZZ...AHA...Without even thinking about it, I was like, I KNOW RIGHT???? Annnnnnnd i'm looking ...

WAITING for my...

HONEY!!!

AHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!! Good one Mar Bear, GOOD ONE!!!

 Hey i'm NOT REALLY a BEE, im a BEAR, waiting for her honey!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

A weed OR a flower???

Usually when you hear the word WEEDS, you think of nasty, ugly looking plants that fill your yard, HOWEVERRRR, I've seen some BEAUTIFUL weeds before!!!I remember growing up that I would see what I considered these beautiful flowers growing in peoples front yards...I always wanted those flowers seeds to blow over into our yard so we could have them as well. However, my mom told me that people were very annoyed by them being in their yard. She said that they didn't plant them there and they didn't want them in their yards.

Perhaps you are wondering...

What's the difference
between a Flower and a Weed?

Flowers are generally those we plant intentionally in our garden.  Weeds, however, are the uninvited plants that steal water, nutrients and sunlight from the flowers. Generally, however, a weed is a plant that grows where it is not wanted.

This got me to thinking about the garden of life. Sometimes there are beautiful weeds that LOOK like flowers. We can easily mistake a weed in our heart for a flower!!! Often times there are things that come into our life that we did not intentionally plant there or that God did not intentionally plant there, buuuuuut it seems sooooo good that you think, THIS MUST BE A FLOWER!!!

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Now i'm NOT a gardner, however I did try my hand at it for a little while... If you've ever planted a seed and waited for it to grow, you KNOW that it takes PATIENCE!!! You can plant a seed and wait and wait and WAIT for it to start to bloom, and then when you FINALLY see something, you want to dance around and shout its HERE, my flower is blossoming buuuuuut then you find out that its JUST A WEED that has sprouted up. What disappointment you feel!!! Then you start to think, buuuuuuuuuuuut it LOOKS like a flower...that MUST be it!!! This must be what I've been waiting for.

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"...And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit." (Mark 4:8)
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Buuuuuuuuuut NO, its JUST A WEED!!! You can't let it stay there in garden of your heart. Don't let that beautiful weed fool you, Its NOT supposed to be there. Its UNINVITED!!! its going to steal from the other flowers in your garden that you've been working so hard and faithfully at cultivating!!! 

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Perhaps your wondering, HOW DO I KNOW, when something in my life is just a WEED and not a flower??? The Bible says, "For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes." (Luke 6:44)

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The Bible says that a plant is KNOWN by its  fruit. The real way to know if something is an intentional flower blossomed in your life, is to look at what it is producing in your life!!! Is it drawing you closer TOO God or is it pulling you FURTHER AWAY from God??? Is it lifting you up or is it dragging you down??? Does it reinforce the things you've been taught or has it caused you to reconsider? Does it strengthen your convictions or does it weaken them?

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If you can stop and look and see what its really doing to you, to your heart, to your soul, that is how you will know if it is a flower or a weed!!! Has it changed you for the good, or is it changing you for the worse? It doesn't matter HOW LONG you have waited, if its a WEED you need to pluck it out of your life COMPLETELY!!!

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"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (Colossans 2:8) Don't let people's wisdom deceive you, you MUST look at what THE WORD OF GOD SAYS!!! It doesn't matter WHO says its good, If the Bible says its a weed, its A WEED!!!

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"I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down..." Perhaps your thinking HOW can I possibly get rid of this weed??? I want to, buuuuuut I don't have the strength! Its grown so much! Its no longer just a little thing that I can even handle on my own. Its gotten out of control as if its overtaking your whole entire life.

 "... Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction." (Proverbs 24:30-34)

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Receive INSTRUCTION!!! Stop trying to do it on your own. The best gardener, for the you garden of your life, is the PASTOR that GOD GAVE TO YOU!!! Listen to what the man of God has to say. Heed his advice. Obey his wisdom. Submit yourself and you'll be protected from the weeds.

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 Don't let the weed substitute for the flower that's still waiting to blossom. IF you except the weed it will steal from the seed you planted and you'll never get to know the true beauty of the flower you cultivated in your heart..  Don't be deceived by a weed, its only there to steal from and DESTROY the other flowers growing in your life!

BEWARE OF THE WEEDS THAT LOOK LIKE FLOWERS!!!

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Where are my flowers? Does it seem like every time something big you've been waiting for is about to take place it turns out to just be another disappointment? You thought it was your flower, buuuuut its just ANOTHER WEED!!! Don't give up and just except the weed!!! WAIT FOR YOUR FLOWER!!! Its still growing, its still waiting to blossom. It may seem like there is NOTHING going on in your garden, but you have NO IDEA what is going on below the surface. You can't see what all God IS doing, you have NO CLUE what is going on below.

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 Underground its growing, you cant see the roots, the longer you wait, the deeper the roots and the STRONGER your flower will be when it FINALLY breaks the surface and blossoms. God IS doing a work! Its ok to hurt, to cry, if you'll just keep onto what is RIGHT and God will take your tears and use them to water your seed. HOLD ON TIGHT and TRUST IN GOD!!!

"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way..."

 (Psalm 37:7)

♥Mary Frances :)