Category: Abide – Spiritual Journey – John 15

By the winter of 2012, my life was a complete mess. I’d been raped, lost my friends, and was trying to get out of another abusive relationship. My business was on the rocks and I was drinking too much. Everything I thought I could keep together wasn’t working. It had always worked before, but this time, nothing I seemed to do pulled this vast mess into shape.

I had nowhere else to go so I went to church. After all, don’t we usually turn to God when the chips are down? I felt like a hypocrite though—an interloper. I’d told God years earlier, about 2005, that I didn’t need Him. In fact, on one drunken night, sitting in my dining room, I’d called Him out. Yes, I challenged God, “If you are there…if you really can help me, then talk to me. Just say or do something.”

Nothing, of course. Thinking back now, I imagine God in heaven, looking down at angry little me and thinking, “Dear one, this will not end well, but I love you enough to let you go.”

When I consider my ultimatum, I know I turned from God because I wanted to do it my way. I’ve always felt a strong Spiritual connection and I’d always felt guilt when doing the “wrong” thing. I simply could not stay committed to God or even really acknowledge Him in my life and then do the things I knew He would not want me to do so I left Him that day in my dining room.

Coming back in 2012 was a big deal. No matter the stage in my life, I always held integrity and I am not a half-measure person. I was either in or out. That February day, I picked in and my life has been a whirlwind ever since. There’s so much change, so much adventure, so many blessings—new rewards and perspective. It’s simply been amazing. It’s been a beautiful little miracle. I’ve created this blog to share some of it with you and to maybe make your journey a little brighter.

I now believe, without any doubt or reservation, that God brought me through all that craziness to bless me with greater compassion and understanding. I see now that He plucked me out of that mess I’d created so I could walk with Him in the utmost confidence that this is where I belong, and if you are reading this, at this exact moment, then this is where you belong too.  Come rest with us…

 
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To the Weary and Burdened Matthew 11:26-30

Praying over the City in Saint Paul, Minnesota. July 28, 2018 · I just created a whole FB post about this picture and today’s prayer…and POOF! Gone. (It may be somewhere…it was four paragraphs, but I can’t find it so here is the abbreviated version. This is an important one!) This isRead More

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In Need of Healing Venice Italy

B&b Ca. Barbaria. August 4, 2017 · Venice, Italy · I am packing in Venice. In a few hours, I’ll be on a train to Naples. Yesterday I was blessed to meet a young girl on a train, Benedetta, who gave me travel tips and told me of the Naples Underground. I’ll share thatRead More

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Welcome to Naples! (Napoli)

Live  at Hotel Zara Napoli – Hotels Naples. August 5, 2017 · Naples, Italy · Welcome to Naples! (Napoli) PS My room smells like dog. Bluck! At least you have AC…at least you have AC…at least you have AC…(the chant so I stop smelling DOG)!

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Jewish Ghetto of Venice Italy

Jewish Ghetto of Venice. August 3, 2017 · Venice, Italy · Today I found a doorway just my size–and I’m NOT kidding. The frame is just inches from my head topping around 5′ 2″. Y’all are gonna need to duck near there! I found lots of doors that size in the Jewish GhettoRead More

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Your Personal Gondola Ride Venice Italy

August 2, 2017 · Venice, Italy · Anytime I am traveling any part of the world, even my own neighborhood, I love to take it in the sights and sounds. Here is your personal gondola ride with a special serenade…enjoy! This one is only truly found here.

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Step 1: Paul Explains Powerlessness: Romans 7

STEP 1: We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. RomansRead More

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Step 2: Paul’s Call to Humility: Philippians 2

STEP 2: We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Philippians 2:13 Philippians is a letter from Paul to the followers of Christ in PhilippiRead More

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Step 3: A Commitment to God’s Will: Romans 12

STEP 3: We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1Read More

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Step 4: Examine Our Ways: Lamentations

STEP 4: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40 Lamentations, the book of the Bible that the Biblical comparison for Step 4 is found, was written by the prophet JeremiahRead More

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Step 5: Confessions of Wrongs to Another: James

STEP 5: We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5:16 James, the author of the book where the Biblical comparison forRead More