Greetings to all my precious friends! My name is Suzanne, but I am also called Mrs. Pichon by many children on a daily basis. It is always a delight to hear my first name after a long day at school. I was born in the Sunshine State, Florida, and attended the amazing Florida State University where I earned a degree in Elementary Education. After graduating from Florida State, I went on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ at Louisiana State University for three years. It was while working there that I met my wonderful husband, Kalon Pichon. Some of you may know him as the keyboard player in the band at Northshore Church who always seems to be talking into a microphone. Sorry … you only get the special privilege of hearing him if you are in the band. After getting married in 1996, we moved to Slidell, and I actually began using my degree in Elementary Education. I began my calling as a teacher at Bonne Ecole Elementary in 1997. I have mostly taught in the gifted program during my time at BEE. I have taught every grade and every subject at some point or another. In the year 2000, my life was forever changed with the birth of my beautiful daughter, Kaley Grace. She has been such a huge blessing in my life. Watching her grow into a beautiful young woman has been amazing. In the year 2007, we had another amazing addition to our lives, Camden Jacob. I love watching him and Kaley read together, wrestle together, and just love on one another. I became a part of Total Woman U in January of 2010. I am a part of the Advisory Board, co-head of the SHINE Club, as well as one of the teachers at many of the TWU events. My heart in being a part of Total Woman U is to see women set free to be the women Christ intends for them to be. I want them to become all He wants for them to be as they allow Him to live His life in and through them. One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” The word workmanship translates to “Poiema” in the Greek which means that we are God’s poem. Wow! What an amazing thought that we are His poem, and He just wants us to walk each day as His living and breathing poem! As a teacher, my goal is to communicate truth in any way I can. If you have ever been to a Bible Study I have led, a session I have taught, to a SHINE meeting, or in my classroom, you have probably seen a movie clip. I am such a visual learner that I tend to use that as a way to communicate truth. Stories mean so much to me because I feel as though Father speaks to me through stories. In high school, my English teacher taught us about cathartic moments in literature, where the reader actually experiences the emotions of the character without going through the experience which allows us to work through an issue in our lives. Hearing the stories of others and where Father has brought them is so powerful to me. It lets me know that I am not alone on this journey called life and encourages me to keep walking. Last January, the SHINE Club began at Bonne Ecole Elementary. I have to say by far this has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Getting the opportunity to teach kids about serving, honoring, inspiring, nurturing, and encouraging has been a joy. Since January, we have been talking about hope. I love that we are able to take what seem like such abstract concepts and make them real and tangible for the students. Dancing has always been a huge part of my life, and I never ever thought that Father would allow me to still have the opportunity to dance. Being able to dance with my daughter three times at church has been such an amazing experience. I am thankful that I have been able to share Father’s heart through such a beautiful art form. Music also speaks to me in powerful ways as well. It never ceases to amaze me when I listen to a song that perfectly expresses how I feel. It is like a gift from Father. As I look at our TWU team, it is so wonderful to see all the different ways we connect to Father and connect to one another. Our differences are what draw us together. I hope and pray that as you get to know all of us that you will see our hearts for all of you. We love you, and we are journeying with you. Becoming Who My Father Sees in Me, Suzanne
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Hi there! I'm Tiffany - a girl from Kansas, then Atlanta, who has now called Slidell home for five years. I'm married to a true to life "rocket scientist" (err...rocket engineer). We have a precious two and a half year old son and three large dogs. Our house is rarely quiet! No matter how hard I try - I am the woman who is always a bit frazzled, running late, and never fully put together. I can't really blame that on having kids now, because that's been my personality as long as I can remember. I'm still learning to embrace who I am in God's eyes. My day to day right now involves being a stay at home mom to our little guy. It is honestly the best/most challenging job I've ever had. I get to play with cars, dinosaurs and crayons, help our little one learn new things, and create memories every day! It's also a huge responsibility and pretty exhausting. I know how blessed we are that I can be home during this time. Before becoming a SAHM, I worked for an international honor society for college students. It was a great job! I traveled all over the country (with a chance trip to Australia), got to work with super intelligent and awesome students, along with their supportive and motivating advisors. It was a great learning experience, and I know God used that job to help shape my desires for where I am now. In my spare time (ha?!), I am involved in a few organizations: P.E.O. - a philanthropic educational woman's organization and Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS). I also love to listen to all genres of music. I love to read, be outside in the spring and fall, and I'm always trying to learn new things. I keep trying to become a "crafty" person, and I'm actually getting much better at creating little projects! (Thank you Pinterest). I just got involved with TWU this year, although I've attended a few conferences in the past. Those conferences were absolutely amazing, and I was honored to be asked to step on board. I'm going to be using my passion for logistics and details to help spread the message of God's love! How awesome is that! I'm looking forward to blogging a bit this year. I can't wait to get to know you all! XOXO, Tiff Hi, I’m Claire. But really, who am I? That question is not answered as easily as it seems. I am a wife, a mom, a daughter, a friend, an educator. But that list seems to not really define me fully. To me, life is all about being connected to others. Relationships are a top priority in my life. Nurturing relationships takes time, and I try to purposely spend as much time as possible on that. I’m more likely to be coloring with my four year old daughter than cleaning the kitchen. The time with her is more valuable than a clean house. I’ll go shopping with my mom rather than get work done, even with a deadline looming. She’s more important. If my husband wants to do a project together, we’ll do it – no matter what my plans were for the day. He deserves the best of me and my time. Being connected to others is a vital part of my makeup and something I choose to be intentional about. This sense of connectedness is also central to my spiritual life and my ministry in TWU. I am really passionate about discipleship – not just going to church, but truly knowing God, being connected to Him, and having a relationship with Him. Really digging deep into God’s Word is the best way I have found to nurture that relationship. I did my first “real” Bible study the summer after my 6th grade year. My mom and I, along with some of my friends and their mothers, did a mother/daughter study of Genesis by Kay Arthur. It was life-changing for me, and I was hooked! Ever since then I have searched for ways to learn more and help others learn more about how to connect with God. This desire brought me into TWU. I serve as the Marketing & Advertising Director, but I also have taught at many events, and teach Bible Studies throughout the year with my friend, Suzanne Pichon. Seeing other women learn how to truly know God in a more personal way brings me great joy and excitement. I love spending time with my family. My mom, my husband Danny, and our daughter Riley are very close, and they are definitely my very top priority. We love to go camping, bike riding, and work in our garden. It’s not really about what we do together, but that we are together. I feel the same way about my friends. With busy lives, we have to be intentional about nurturing those relationships. Simple moments with those I love are key to me – they are what life is all about! Professionally, my life is all about connections, too. For the past ten years, I have taught at Bonne Ecole Elementary. I love working with kids – not just helping them make academic connections, but also helping to mold and shape their character. This year, I am the school librarian, which means I will likely be headed back to school soon to pursue a Masters in Library Science. I love the chance this has given me to use a good story to get the kids thinking about a social/moral issue. Through literature, we have so many discussions about good vs. evil, empathy, making good choices, and what justice really is. Hearing their thoughts and seeing their character unfold is an awesome privilege. At Bonne Ecole, I chair the Sunshine Committee, which works to basically encourage staff members in a variety of ways throughout the year. I have also worked with Suzanne Pichon to start the SHINE Club (Serve, Honor, Inspire, Nurture, Encourage). It has been so cool to have that opportunity to intentionally model and teach character traits to a group of kids. Seeing them search for ways to serve, to want to make the world a better place, brings such a sense of accomplishment and hope. Right now, I am working to organize ways for our school and SHINE to be involved in Relay for Life. Relay For Life means a lot to me, because I have lost my father, my sister, and my father-in-law to cancer in the last 5 years. It gives us a chance to honor those who are no longer with us, but also the fighters and survivors. Seeing so many walk the survivor lap every year is an amazing thing – and it is amazing to cheer them on! I am really drawn to find ways to help those who are sick, to bring encouragement, and to find little ways to overcome a disease that to so many seems insurmountable. For me, it is fighting back, connecting to and honoring those we have loved and lost. It helps me see a purpose through the pain and know that Hope is still there. And now, I am excited about this opportunity to connect with others – to share a bit of my life and what God is teaching me, and to hopefully help you connect to Him a bit better. God has big plans for you, me, this blog, and TWU! Stay connected, Claire Hello, my friends! My name is Amy. And … this is my JOURNEY. I’m a homegrown MISSISSIPPI girl who uprooted to Slidell, Louisiana, 7 years ago with my husband, Blaine, and daughter, Sarah. I have been married to my Prince Charming for almost 15 years. Our birthdays are six days apart, and for five days a year I get the opportunity to brag about being younger! However, I think he quite enjoys that. My beautiful daughter, Sarah, is 10 years old and in 5th grade. She's my little fish in the sea that loves to swim and draw mermaids. My husband and daughter are God-given treasures whom I cherish. But there is a greater treasure I love even more. You might be thinking, "What treasure could be greater than her family?" Well, I’m glad you asked! That treasure is my salvation in Christ Jesus, my Lord and Savior. I received His gracious gift back in 1992 and have cherished it ever since. You may have noticed some of my words are in different colors and fonts. That’s because one of the talents the Lord has given me is CREATIVITY! Yes, I actually took the time to make each of those letters a different color! That's the quirky, detail-oriented side of being blessed with a creative mind. I have several different hobbies I like to indulge in which include scrapbooking, making pottery pieces, making jewelry, and making hair accessories. I am always looking for ideas, and I confess that Pinterest has become my new best friend. I also love being a SERVANT. For the past 6 years, I have served as Creative Arts Coordinator for Northshore Church where I attend with my family. I have the privilege of working alongside our Worship Leader and the Creative Arts Team in creating stage designs for each sermon series. This position of service has been most rewarding because it allows me to use the gifts God has given me to serve Him and my fellow sisters and brothers in Christ. It can't get any more rewarding than that, right? Well, another opportunity to serve in creative ways came my way also! That opportunity was Total Woman U. I have been blessed to be on faculty of TWU for two years now. I decided to join this organization because I needed to be a part of it. For most of my life, I tried to conform to the standards of others so that they would be pleased with me. I was a pleaser, not a believer -- that is, a believer in myself. I had such a lack of confidence that I was always worried about what others thought of me. Since joining TWU, I have learned SO much about the “Amy” that Christ designed and the purpose for which He created me. I have learned that I am a UNIQUE creation and that I am BECOMING more and more in His image as I strive to live for Him till the end. The good news is It’s not the end! There’s work to be done! So will you join me? Let’s journey together, shall we? Keep Calm and Journey On, Amy Hello! My name is Kasia. It looks like a more confusing name than it is (Thanks, mom!), but it's just Asia with a K. I'm originally from Mississippi, but I lived in New Orleans/Slidell for four years, which is where I met the lovely ladies of Total Woman U. I moved back to Mississippi three years ago and now consider myself a loyal resident of the happy, brick street laden town of Clinton, Mississippi. By day I have been a Resident Director (modern day dorm mom) at Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi for 3 years. I'll be starting a new unknown job in the area this summer! During my free time, I am a [mostly] food blogger (kasiaskitchen.com) and a very part time, mostly for fun, free lance baking caterer. I'm single, never married, and have no kiddos (though I kinda feel like I have 176 rowdy college aged ones sometimes). I believe one day God will bring that special man into my life, but until then I patiently(ish) wait, and am now accepting applications/recommendations. Feel free to send any eligible Jesus-loving men my way! I am very involved with Arise Church in Clinton, Mississippi. I am also on the Mainstreet Clinton Promotions Committee (we plan events like outdoor movie nights and markets on our Olde Towne brick streets) and the Mainstreet Clinton Fresh at Five Farmer's Market Committee. I collect aprons, owls, nail polish (I have 200+ bottles -- it's a problem), dresses, cookbooks, scarves, cardigans, and kitchen things. I'm obsessed with organizing things, meal planning, Harry Potter, painting my nails, blogs, owls, Hunger Games, instagramming, glitter, the Food Network, recipes, baking, cooking, autumn, Starbucks, ballet flats, all things pink, fashion, and more. I'm a highly passionate person and when I love something, I REALLY love it, hence the many collections/obsessions above. My all time favorite show is Gilmore Girls, and I'm currently loving Downton Abbey, Once Upon a Time, and Parenthood a whole lot. I just generally love an ongoing multiple season TV series. My current favorite movie is Frozen, but I also always love Sleepless in Seattle, The Dead Poet's Society, Good Will Hunting, and Remember the Titans. I like to think I'm a little quirky. For most of my life I've been aware that I've often been an exception to the rule. My mom, dad, and brother had perfectly straight teeth and 20/20 vision. I've worn glasses since third grade and had braces. My family of origin is a bit crazy and characterized by many chaotic things like substance abuse, and statistically I should have followed in their footsteps, but I didn't. I was the first person in my family to graduate from college. So, from an early age I've been a different kind of rule breaker, the exception to the rule kind. Therefore, I fully believe in making your own rules! I have weird rules, and fun rules. I love all things pumpkin flavored, but I only eat pumpkin from August to November. I drink hot beverages when it's cold and cold beverages when it's hot, and will not waiver! I don't eat soup when it's hot outside or watermelon when it's cold. I only bake mint chocolate things in the Christmas season. See? Weird rules. But I also "rule" that if you wish you could pull something off that someone else does, you can and should! Leopard print in every way shape and form for curvy girls too and not just skinny ones? Yes, please! Bright red lipstick when you don't have a stitch of other makeup on? Done. Painted nails every day when all you can grow are stubs? Why not?! Skin tone/hair color rules tell me I shouldn't wear pink, but as I type this I'm wearing a hot pink blazer and loving it. I have been connected to Total Woman U since October of 2009. I serve as the Communications Director, which means I manage the blog and social media. I love TWU and want to be involved with it for many reasons, but one of the main ones is that it saved me in a way. At a time in my life when I really believed God could never use me in ministry again, it gently brought me back and helped God smash those lies from Satan. At our TWU retreat in January, we were challenged to come up with a personal purpose statement. I believe my mission in life could be summed up as the following: "I seek to live a transparent, gospel-centered life -- on a mission to love people genuinely and uniquely; remembering, living in, and declaring redemption and freedom from shame; living vulnerably and pushing women to discover and love their true selves and make their own rules." Until next time friends! Let's make our own rules, Kasia Connect with me! {instagram / facebook / twitter / pinterest} Hello lovely reader on the other side of the computer/smartphone/tablet/some other form of technology I'm not in the know about. You've possibly been here before, or maybe you're new. Either way, welcome! This isn't a new blog; we've been doing this for a couple of years. You might know about our organization, and you might not. Regardless, whatever brought you here, we're sure glad it did! It's a new year (February still counts as "new year" season right??), and we're full of inspired ideas and personal renewal. We hope the new year has brought renewal, rest, and inspiration for you as well. In January, our TWU faculty team met for our second annual retreat. Many great ideas and plans came from this retreat, but the ones we want to share with you right now regard this blogging space! We have MANY wonderful ladies on our team that are gifted in many ways. One of the things we focused on during our retreat was our individual strengths so we can all flourish in serving together as we operate out of our strengths. As a result of this, we built and added to several focused teams, one of them being a blogger team! We now have a team of 8 women who will be regularly blogging here. Many of them blogged before, so you will of course recognize them, but we have some new faces (and typing fingers) joining us. Having a team will also bring more energy and creativity here, and we're excited and hope you will be too! For some of our first posts of this new year, we want to take some time to allow you, our readers and friends, to get to know the women behind the words. We'll also be introducing a new blog design and talking on new topics, but first and foremost, we want to connect with you! We want to engage you, serve you, speak and share encouraging words of truth with you, be honest and real with you, we want to be real friends (as opposed to the surface level kind of friends who don't experience the ups and downs of life together)! And not just real friends, but real spiritual, gospel friends. Tim Keller says, "Spiritual friendship is eagerly helping one another know, serve, love, and resemble God in deeper and deeper ways." We want to know you. We want you to know us. But more than that, we want to help each other know more about Jesus, His truth, and serving. We want to push each other to resemble God in deeper and deeper ways! So join us back here in a few days and enjoy meeting our lovely writers. We'll be back soon! -Your TWU Bloggers Hello wonderful ladies! I know - it's been TOO long since our last post! We had an absolutely AMAZING event this past September for the women and an equally AMAZING event (in slightly different ways) for the Teenage girls this past August. I'm so super excited about all that God seems to be doing with and thru TWU. I have experienced a whole new level of being wow'd by God over the last few months. I can't wait to share it all with you! Thank you so much for your patience. I'm posting a great message from Suzanne. She wrote it a few months ago, but I think you will enjoy starting your year with it. (Sorry I didn't post it sooner.) Thank you for your patience as we are growing and focusing our efforts with TWU. Looking forward to our year together! blessings! jenny From Suzanne Pichon: Dear Sisters, It is hard to believe that it has been a month since we spent time together at the Dare to Believe conference. Since that time, my life has been a whirlwind. As usual, everything I spoke about has been road-tested in my life. That seems to be the usual routine after a SHE Event for me. I know the struggles and battles I have faced have been for my good because it has allowed me to clear away the cobwebs of untruth and lies and replace them with HIS truth. When Claire and I began speaking, we posed the following questions to you. 1. Who do you think you are? 2. What do you think God thinks about when He thinks of you? We then asked: Is Scripture your basis or is the world your basis?? I spent a very miserable, LONG week basing my answers on what the world thinks. I worried about my performance and gaining the approval of others. It was not a pretty picture. I am so thankful for friends who got my perspective back on track. Looking back on that time a few weeks ago, it reminded me of a few quotes: “Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent.” Neurotic Notebook I heard this quote this summer while listening to a sermon from 1 Peter. Wow, that is what Father wants us to know when we are in the midst of a struggle…..HE WILL HAVE THE VICTORY. We still have HOPE!! “Challenges can define you, destroy you, or strengthen you.” Tricia Edmundson (Senior Executive Director with Thirty One Gifts) Wow, this is so true too. In the midst of my challenges, I believed they would destroy me. I can tell you that they did not, and I am now strengthened in a way I was not before. You see I was leaning on my own strength and not His; therefore my perspective was skewed. At the end of the conference, I asked you to consider your spheres of influence . To the right is the diagram for you to think about and possibly draw or print out yourself. In the inner circle, write Jesus and your name. (You are not in this alone….He is living through you.)In the next circle write the names of your immediate family members and people you are in contact with on a pretty consistent basis (people at work, neighbors….etc.) Then, in the outer circle think about people who could be impacted by those in the second circle.
I will give you an example from my life. AS YOU READ THIS DO NOT MAKE COMPARISIONS……REMEMBER, Jesus is the one doing ALL of this in and through those in this example. One of my main goals as a parent is to make sure that my two precious children know that they are children of God who are deeply loved by their parents and their God. I want them to know that even when they mess up or make a mistake that they are not bad kids….they are children of God who made a mistake. Ok….now that you know that…..here is the example. I hope and pray that people will see Jesus in my kiddos. I want them to SHINE His light to those around them. I am a public school teacher, and my children attend public schools. It can be EXTREMELY difficult to SHINE in that environment. Well, last week I had other school employees coming up and telling me stories about my son and his special friend in class. Camden had been interacting with a little girl at school who has some challenges with communication. He had been her buddy out at recess and in the classroom. Other people saw it and were blown away. I had no idea this way going on because I do not encourage my son to do that, it is just a natural overflow of Christ’s love flowing out of him onto others. Then, I received an email from an administrator at my daughter’s school telling me that, “She was beautiful inside and out.” My daughter struggles constantly at school dealing with people who treat her poorly, but she still SHINES His light to all those around her. Are my kids perfect….of course not….they struggle just like all of us. On the days they remember whose they are and are grounded in that truth, it overflows to all they interact with as they walk through life. My hope and prayer is that I will do the same thing. The people who were impacted by my kids are in that outer circle. I pray those people will go out and impact the lives of this around them. When you think about the lives you impact around you, do not use this as an exercise to condemn yourself. Use it as an opportunity for Father to show you the lives HE wants to influence and impact all around you. WOW….what a blessing to be used in that way! Next time, I will share more about the SHE Reads Truth devotional and Jeff Henderson. I love you my sisters and I DARE to BELIEVE that He can make a difference through us in the lives He allows us to touch around us!! Suzanne Why is it so hard to be obedient? When I was a child, it was easier. I was either obedient or I would be in trouble. Something was either right or it was wrong. Not much gray area there. But as I got older, the temptations were stronger, the gray area between right and wrong got bigger and obedience was a little bit tougher. I wonder why…maybe it was because I wanted to fit in. Maybe it was because it was easier to go with the crowd than to take a stand. Whatever the reasons were, the decisions were not based on biblical standards and they led to guilt and regret. I do know this, when we choose to be obedient, we save ourselves from lots of heartache and set ourselves up to succeed and receive God’s blessings. At the last workshop, I shared a personal story about learning to be obedient. My husband and I had bought a house that was priced at the very top of our budget. It was a foreclosure and the bank wouldn’t budge on the price. We bought the house, moved in and a month later Kevin lost his job. The house literally became a noose around our necks. We talked about selling the house, but pride kept us from doing so. We struggled for 4 ½ years to keep that house. When we listed the house last September, I thought we would have time to look at houses, pack everything up and move at a leisurely pace. Boy, did God have other plans! Our house sold in 3 days, we had 1 week to find a new place and had to be out before the holidays. We lost money on the house, but that was a small price to pay to be able to walk away. As Paul Harvey says, Now, for the rest of the story…We moved out of our house (with a little lot of help from our friends), put stuff in storage and waited to close on our new, less expensive but oh-so-much-better house. We waited. Celebrated Thanksgiving. And waited. Celebrated Christmas with our version of a Charlie Brown tree. Waited some more. Rang in 2013. Waited 2 more weeks. Finally on January 15, 2 months after closing on our old house we were given the keys to our new home. The wait was finally over! We felt like we had finally reached the Promised Land. God had blessed our obedience. The new house was only the beginning. Our desire as a family, has been to simplify: our lifestyle, our schedule, our clutter. Simplifying for us meant to be able to spend more time together as a family. It is hard to do, when Kevin works in Belle Chasse and our move added 25 more minutes to his commute. We have been praying for a while for a new job closer to home or at least this side of the Crescent City Connection. God has answered our prayers. Kevin has a new job that he recently started. Not only is this new job this side of the CCC, it is only 10 minutes from our driveway. So many blessings and all because we chose to be obedient. Is God asking you to do something that you don’t want to do? Don’t let pride or fear of failure hold you back. If God is asking, then you can trust that he will be faithful. He will provide. Give Him control. It will be worth it and will be better than you ever imagined! Blessings, Stefaney During the Expect a Challenge Lab, Suzanne and I shared many people who were amazing examples of how we all hope to face challenges: my precious sister Leslie who allowed God to use her challenge to show His grace and love, sweet Henry and his mother Jessie who clung to the hope of Jesus and heaven in the face of a crisis, and Michelle, who chose to praise God on her flute even though she was suffering from immense loss and grief. It is so easy to hear those stories and be moved to tears, and maybe even be inspired to want to face challenges with that much grace. But how did they do it? How did their faith get to that point? What did they do to get past the anger, grief, fear, or frustration? Though I cannot speak for them, nor do I know the exact details of their faith-walks, I can share a few things I have observed as I watch them and others face challenges . The principles I see are simple, but living them has to be intentional. 1. Remind yourself of Who God IS: the Lover of Your Soul, Protector, Redeemer, All-Sufficient One, God Most High (in control of ALL), the Beginning and End, Shepherd, Companion, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Creator, Provider, God Who Sees, and Immanuel, God With Us. Reminding yourself of the hugeness of God can often help counteract the hugeness of circumstances. 2. Remind yourself of who you are: God’s Beloved Child, a child of the King, Servant of the Master (Jesus), heir to a Heavenly Inheritance, an Amabassador of Christ, a Representation of the Savior, Holy, Set Apart for Good Works, In the Palm of His Hand. Remembering how precious you are to God can bring comfort and peace. 3. Remind yourself of your purpose: set apart, with a purpose for good works, God has plans for you – for good, hope, and a future, for HIS glory, to bring HIM praise. God has a purpose and plan for you IN THE MIDDLE of this challenge. 4. Intentionally Choose Trust. Trust Him with your future, with your life, with your plans, your hopes and dreams. Trust Him when things appear hopeless and bleak. Trust Him when everyone else fails. Then, ACT OUT that trust in responses (after all, our actions are what really show our beliefs). Live your life based on that trust. At first this can be scary, but the more you truly trust, the easier and more freely that trust comes. 5. Remember Who Has Won!! Jesus said it best: “In this world, you will have troubles, but take heart! I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33). The battle is won, victory has come, and nothing can change that. In your challenge, claim God’s victory, and set your mind on how he overcame. He overcame through suffering, forgiving those who hurt him, and living solely for others. In the most unexpected, most marvelous way, He overcame. And you can too. As you read this, I hope that you will be reminded of the amazing power we have when we choose to follow Jesus. I pray that you will choose Him when all else fails, when life is hard, when no one else does. I pray that you will be grounded in the knowledge of our Savior so that the storms of life cannot move you. I pray that through your challenges, He will shine bright, and that you will be blessed by peace even in the midst of life’s messes. Live With Purpose! Claire So, have you ever walked into your house after a long day, looked around, and thought, “How in the world did this BIG mess get in MY house??” I had this thought just the other day, and it made me began to think of the connections to my spiritual life. Have you ever gotten to a point in your own life and thought “How did MY life become such a BIG mess??” In my house, the messes come when one person leaves something out instead of putting it in its place. Then, someone else does, and then someone else. You get the idea. After a while, these little compromises become an avalanche of clutter that needs to absolutely be cleaned. I think to myself, “You know if you just cleaned it up as you go, this would not happen…..” Messes in our lives are exactly the same way. Some challenges that come into our lives are completely out of our control and catch us completely by surprise. We feel like we have been blindsided, spun around, flipped over upside down and inside out. Yet, other times, these challenges come from the little messes that become medium messes, that become large messes, that then become an out of control mega mess. How do I stop this pattern and learn to clean as I go in MY life? The scripture that keeps running through my mind is from Psalm 139. The key verbs are search, know, try, know (again), see, and lead. It starts with searching and ends with leading. Isn’t that what we want Father to do….search us, know us, and ultimately lead us?? Psalm 139:23-24 (NAS) 23Search me, O God, and know my heart ; Try me and know my anxious thoughts ; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. When translated in Hebrew, “hurtful” means: pain, sorrow, idol, and “way” means road, path, journey, course of life, or direction.” I want Father to look and see if there is pain or sorrow that may come from a choice I am making, or an idol that I am worshipping and putting before Him that will bring sorrow or pain. When choices I make lead me in a direction or on a journey that will take me to a place I never intended to be, I want Father to show me. Yes, it may be painful. Yes, it may require that I make changes in MY plans for MY life, but oh the pain and sorrow that I will not experience makes it all worthwhile. My prayer for each and every one of you reading this is that when these challenges or messes enter into our lives that they will never turn into a MEGA mess. I pray each day that your mind is showered with truth and full of His grace. Ask Him each day to search you and to know you. When that anxiety begins to rise, ask Him to show you why it is there. Let Him lead you and guide you. Letting go of our plans can be hard, but in the end it will bring joy and peace we could have never imagined of dreamed of. During our Unglued Bible Study, Lysa Terkeurst had us reflect on others who are affected by our decisions. That made me think about how my decisions not only affect my children and husband but my children’s children will be impacted as well. It is amazing that when I am asking Father to search me that ultimately it will impact my children and their children. I want them to walk in truth and to lean on Him. I know you want that too. Remember dear sisters that you are loved!! Suzanne |
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June 2015
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