I met a man recently who said he interviewed a woman for a sales position within his business.  They drove through the territory and he said to her, “Are you sure you can really see yourself in the position?  You don’t seem very excited.”  She responded, “Actually, all I want to do is be married & have a family.” Well, she didn’t get the job, but …they’ve been married 29 years!
 
I remember I used to feel that exact same way when I was age 18 – 21. All I wanted to do was get married to an amazing man, raise children, be a stay-home mom & be loved, be loved & be loved.
 
While waiting for that to happen, I was introduced to Jesus & gave my heart to Him FIRST!  I never ever thought it would be Jesus that would be that man to have a relationship with!  I never thought I’d turn out to be a Jesus, church kind of girl! Never ever! But He was waiting for me all the time to choose Him & receive a new life from & live a new life with Him!  And for SURE…He has always loved me!
The Bible also says that Christ is our spiritual husband after we’ve become His. He is over us…over the church… the head of the body of born-again people He calls His church.  (Revelation 19:7-9 and Colossians 1:18)
 
I did choose to marry a man, but not by the Word, wisdom or having a peace about it. After returning to singleness & some years later, I can still get frustrated at times without an earthly husband.  BUT… I have a blessed life & I live holy, as called to; I offer my body as a living sacrifice to Him. (1 Peter 1:14-16)

In the midst of singleness, let me tell you the devil will parade some stuff in front of you to frustrate you & wear you down! Like he did with Hanna in 1st Samuel 1 & 2.
 
You may have men & women around you having sleepovers or living together unmarried, playing house. And parts of their life may even look attractive!  The man mows the lawn, takes in the groceries, fixes her car, it looks like they have double the finances than you…they go on vacations together & have companionship on all the holidays.  And it’s difficult with this in your face sometimes when you’re holding out for God’s best for you & living holy. But I would rather go without flustery feelings of ungodly romance or living outside of God’s will. I don’t want to sin against God, my body and another person!
 
If the enemy is flaunting things before your eyes to bring you down, you should laugh in the devil’s face! Ha ha ha ha ha!! You should spin around & worship Jesus with some Hallelujahs!! You should run through your house with your hands up & shout “You are Holy Lord!  You are worthy!  You are amazing & NO ONE COMPARES TO YOU! You favor me! I live in Your world, not this other world! (John 17:15-18). THANK YOU, I’ve been called out & set apart to You & You will do great things with me!  (Eph 2:10) “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
 
If you’re off the righteous path entangled with sin, the lust of the flesh…the for-the-minute, feisty hot fun, get off that path! Turn away from that path!  You are mis-using your body which is to be committed to Him who saved you! Don’t forget that if you are born-again, a daughter or son of the Lord, He is with you...and with me!  Whatever I do, He is with me!  Whatever I am in the midst of, He is with me! And with You! Where are you taking Him to? What are you taking Him through?
 
ROMANS 6 says:
Vs 1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Vs 6  For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
 
God is worthy & He is our hope! (1 Tim 1:1)
Ask God for forgiveness & repent. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  (1st John 1:9)
And take authority over those spirits that are trying to taunt you & bring you down in the name of Jesus & rejoice in the Lord who withholds no good thing from those who diligently seek Him!
 
Read the entire Psalm 84! It’s awesome!  Here’s a portion of it.

Vs 10:  Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
Vs 11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor;
No good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
Vs 12 O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trust in you!
 
I pray you’ll pray & be set free so you can have the peace & blessings of God.
God has promises for you, the obedient child of God. Don’t stop living for God & don’t lose faith in Him that He can bring these blessings about. 

I’m back from my 6 WEEK FLORIDA TRIP!  I traveled there & back by myself, by car & what I first off have to say is I DID IT!! I did it with God!!  It happened!!  What I said repeated times to others happened & even better than I planned!

How to Navigate Change is one point from my traveling experience! 

Florida is FILLED with majorly TALL & long bridges! My experience with them began while traveling to Florida & a friend suggested driving through & enjoying Savannah, Georgia rather than the crazy traffic of Atlanta! I said, “Sounds great!” as I envisioned Scarlett O’Hara in her fanciful gown with Rhett Butler in his fine, formal stud suit from Gone with The Wind strolling about the grounds of columned homes.  I pictured people of Southern hospitality serving me home-made peach pie with ice tea on platters.  Everything was going well in route there until the approach to downtown Savannah where my eyes enlarged like saucers & my heart skipped beats!! Ahead of me on the road stood a HUGE…HUGE bridge to get to Savannah! Suddenly, peaches didn’t matter…I only cared about my LIFE!
 
In those very moments, I was forced to decide. Was I going to turn around & forfeit seeing Savannah? What route would I take after backing out of this situation?  Or would I SOMEHOW go over it & survive? I was tired from driving a full day & my eyes were desperately searching for a spot to pull off & turn around. But at a certain point, I passed the chance to do so & headed up that bridge!

I drove up & over that bridge whispering, “Look at Jesus.  Look at Jesus” all the way up & over. I thought how are they gonna’ get me outta’ this place afterward, cuz’ I am NOT gonna’ wanna’ come back over THIS! They’ll have to helicopter me out!  Of course, that wouldn’t happen. No one would care; I’d just be stuck there while everyone else’s life proceeded on. Thankfully the way out Ft. Lauderdale afterward had a different route. Thank you, Jesus…I escaped.

Then, there were southeast Florida’s freeway transitions & big bridges. I saw Freeways up ahead that looked like they were driving up into the sky. Sometimes I didn’t have to go on them. Sometimes I looked ahead & thought Thank Heaven GPS isn’t taking me that way! And then GPS certainly did direct me onto that curving ramp up into the sky! The freeway transitions had inclines so steep & were so curved like a chocolate curl on top of a cake! I had anxiety of driving off the outer edge! I had to PUSH on my gas pedal the road was so angled! I felt like I was on a roller coaster slowly creeping up to the top of the first hill where all you see is empty sky ahead, ready to plummet down the other side at 90 mph!

 I had to decide, was I going to avoid these bridges & highways or take them on & have victory over them. What would I be willing to miss out on if I allowed them to be superior to the strength God is within me? I planned to do this trip for a year, was I going to miss seeing cities because of fear? Was it real fear? Would I feel shameful for avoiding them?

People were telling me there was a bridge I’d have to go over if I wanted to get to Tampa called the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Nothin’ sunny about this bridge in my opinion. Sadly, it is the #4 bridge in the country that people give up their life from.  I didn’t understand where it was going to come up in my travels, but it did.  I went out with friend one night from the area & thankfully she fearlessly drove us over it like a pro…in the rain! 

But there came the day when I had to conquer this 4.14-mile-long monster myself.  I took it on…I said, “If Jodie can do it, I can too!  And I hauled my car over that bridge declaring “Fear not for I am with you” & some other techniques too.
 
So, how do we navigate change in life…getting over the tall bridges or mountains to where we have to go for better & fulfillment?  For one thing, there can be illusions. You’re not going to drive off the edge during your travels or in your problems. There is pavement coming down the other side of that hill or tall problem. Sometimes we have the option to take the change slowly, but not always. 
 
I found these things helpful to overcome:

• Look at Jesus“ those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” (Isaiah 26:3)
• Pray in the Spirit
• Deep breathing
• Look at the immediate pavement before you, not so far ahead at all the possible difficulties & empty sky you’ll think you’ll fall off into.

Maybe you need a sister who has already crossed over the bridges you’re facing right now.  Maybe you need someone to drive over those bridges with you the first time while you build your confidence to do it again next time.  Maybe you need a Coach on this journey with you?
 
Part of my Life & Relationship coaching is for people who are in places feeling afraid, tired or uncertain of what to do next. They can’t see to the other side of the bridge that will land them safely onto land again.  They face such a high road ahead & don’t know how or can’t go up it.

• Has change came upon you?
• Are you completely out of your known element & don’t know what to do?
• Are you so bored or hopeless you want to create change, but can’t believe there’s anything positive ahead or know how to improve things?
  

That’s where I can come in.  I am here to coach you over & through situations.  I am a helper & a hope helper to help you get to the other side of problems…go over the bridges.  Navigate the bridges…navigate change to good land.
I’m so glad I went over all the bridges, conquered them & ENJOYED MY FULL VACATION & DID ALL GOD WANTED ME TO DO IN FLORIDA!
“But encourage one another daily” (Hebrews 3:13).

Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org

 I LOVE a good coffee mug even more than the flavorful coffee in it—a mug that says something so cool on it or one that a special friend has given me.  My son gave me a purple (favorite color) mug a few Mother’s days ago that says “Believe” on one side and “With God all things are possible” on the other.  I LOVE this mug, and I especially grab and use it when I’m up against something and I’ve really gotta’ press in for the change either in myself, the situation or both.              
      To my disappointment, I recently noticed that the “Believe” word is rubbing off of the mug (apparently from the dishwasher)! 
I’m heart-struck!  I realized though that this is also a visual to what I’ve been battling inside of me.  Not enough books sold; an  incredible offer falling though; seemingly perfect opportunities not coming to pass.  But I’m fighting and still moving forward in taking my ground, not despising the day of small beginnings and establishment in how ever many ways God knows I need.  
       Is your belief wearing off?  Don’t let it.  Don’t entertain people who may brush up against you and wear off the word “Believe” or dreams or promises on your heart.  It’s good for you to positively wear off on others, but do not let the unseeing others wear your belief off.  
        Usually devotions or blogs have one scripture verse accompanying them, but under this condition, I bolster you with several.  Keep your faith; keep your hope in God.  He shall not disappoint.  He may maneuver you differently than anticipated. 
The road may be longer than the distance you thought your shoes would have to travel to arrive at the destiny.  Appreciate and enjoy the journey as well.  For in these cases, the end result is still the same…greatness.  For no lesser purpose has He made you.  Don’t let your belief wear off.  I hand wash my mug now.
 
“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’”  Luke 17:5

 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” 
Ephesians 3:20

 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  Hebrews 11:1

 “Fight the good fight of the faith”   1 Timothy 6:12

 “Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev.  Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.  Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.”  Psalm 126:4-6

 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”   Galatians 6:9

"When you can't trace His hand, trust His heart."  A friend shared this saying with me recently.  I had never heard of it, and love it.  It's actually a song title I've included below.  The lyrics say “our father knows what’s best for us.  His ways are not our own.”  I tend to often think of the word “best” as meaning I’m going to get vegetables with no butter or salt instead of a savory burger or dessert all the time.  And who wants that.  But Noah Webster says this about the word “best”: 

1.   Most good; having good qualities in the highest degree;
2.   Most advanced; most accurate;
3.   Most correct or complete;
4.   The best. … the utmost power; the strongest endeavor; the most, the highest perfection; 
5.   In the highest degree; beyond all other

      I see “best” is also “good” to me.  “According to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord” (Psalm  25:7).  That’s His heart, His character.  So "when you can't see or trace His hand in your life and what He is doing, trust His heart.  That according to His character and His heart, He is preparing something that is best and wonderful for you.

My first bike I can recall in the early 70’s was a magenta (hot pink) girls bike called a Dragster.  It had a white with black pinstripe long, banana seat and high, upright handlebars that seem to be as high as a mountain now days.  After years of childhood fun and running the green lights and stopping at the stop signs I drew with chalk in front of my home in St. Clair Shores, it was retired to the family garage.  This  was the bike I even rode in the funeral procession of the deceased butterfly.

      That magenta bike from my loving parents birthed in me my favorite color of magenta, otherwise known as fuchsia.  Years later, I did not have a little girl to give it to.  My son would in no way ride a
magenta bike.  The feminine Dragster gathered rust.
 
      My father recently cleaned his garage and said, “Hey Dee!  You’ve got a bike in here.  It’s red.”  (Many men don’t know color).  “Maybe Cameron would like it.”  My father had been so busy through the
years; he didn’t realize it was in there (with all that other stuff).  But I knew.  My heart knew.  My first bike, my magenta bike, from my parents was in that garage.  I was waiting for something to do with it,
though I didn’t know what.  What did I ever have the time to do with it?  Was it really redeemable by anyone? Would this be considered a gift to anyone? Would anyone even be seen on a banana seat bike?  Could I really hoist it up on my upper living room walls like they do at Applebee’s?
 
     So I brought the bike home to free up my father’s garage.  While taking it out of my vehicle, my neighbor who restores things said someone would really go for something like that antique.  So off to Craigslist I sent my son to list it (he would receive 10% of the selling price).
 
      ‘Ryan’ contacted me with interest.  He regularly buys old bikes.  For several months we could not connect, but I was persistent.  At last, we met today.  Ryan pulled up in his gold, 1969 Mercury Monterey, which he restored.  He was the perfect person.  Then out came the dignified, pretty Dragster.  Pleasantly in his checkered shirt Ryan said, “I restore bikes like this all the time.  Ninety?”  “I’ll take it” I said.  “You’ll have to take a photo with me on it first.”  My heart really didn’t want to let that beautiful bike go.  But I consoled myself that I could let that part of me go and use the money to pay for the editor to work with me on my book.  “There is a time for everything”  (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
 
      Whatever you are holding onto, let it go.  God can give you something else in return.  What was, was for then.  Enjoy it for what it offered then.  Now allow another the blessing of having it.  Pass
it on.  Leave a heritage of any sort.  Make room for something else good God has for your life.  He is not done with you.

     I just got an email four hours past the time of the ‘changing of the bike’.  Ryan said the bike will probably be finished tomorrow, and I get pictures!  And my son gets $9!  How cool.
 
The banana seat bike…Can’t wait to call and tell my father. 
 4/29/10

If you would believe in yourself like God believes in you, you will prosper and cause others to prosper.  Believe that He has chosen you for good works because He entrusted you to carry something this world needs so that they may also increase.  Believe that He has blessed you with skills, talents, wisdom and spiritual gifts to increase others.  He believes in you because He believes in Himself in you.  It is impossible that He did not chose you for something!  God doesn’t create for nothing nor does He save and make us new creations for nothing!  Discover your identity in Christ, know who you are and do what He has given you plans, authority and trust to do. This is where greater fulfillment is.
#discoverwhoyouareinHim #believe #castoutdoubt #sabotagefearnotyourself #carryitout

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do"  (Ephesians 2:10).

Waking up one morning in a very broken state of life, I heard God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit agreeing over me saying, “We can rebuild her.  We have the tools.”  If you grew up when I did, you’d know those are the words to the intro of the weekly sci-fi show “The Six Million Dollar Man” airing 1974-78’.  Astronaut Steve Austin was in a spaceship crash and scientists rebuilt him with bionics in surgery, costing six million dollars.  I had to pull up the video below.  Listen to the words and insert your own name in it.   

“Denise Flynn…we can rebuild her…We have the tools…We have the capability…  Denise Flynn will be that woman.  Better than she was before.  Better…Stronger…Faster.”  
  
Don’t you love it!  No matter what's going on right now, no matter how broken you are, if you go through it right with God, you will come out healed and better.  Lean into God.  Use Him for His healing love and power. Know that He wants to love on you and help you.  Keep your attitudes toward him and not turning away or  lacking trust and hope.  Don't become bitter.  Be obedient. In doing so, we can count on His promises to rebuild us.

 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (Psalm 147:3).

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces
perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope.   And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”  Romans 5:3-5 
 
     Yeah, these promises can be yours at the cost and sacrifice of Jesus.  Look out for YOU…future Six Million Dollar Man and Woman in process of being rebuilt right now!