Welcome to Write Your Vision!

Deep down, most people have dreams - they may be forgotten, unspoken, or unrealized - but they are there. I want to help you remember and believe in them again...

Monday, December 28, 2015

Shalom

I read this devotional today and it helped me. I pray for Shalom: "may our lives become all they should be so we may experience perfect peace."  

Shalom

We know that the world’s original harmony was wrecked by sin. Like a Molotov cocktail thrown into a backyard garden, sin exploded the world that God had made, fracturing and dividing it. Instead of wholeness, brokenness; instead of health, illness; instead of friendship with God, alienation; instead of peace, strife.

Because we live in this fallen world that is yet to be fully redeemed, we can only glimpse the fullness of God’s peace. Scripture tells us, however, about God’s original intentions for the world he made. Consider the Hebrew word shalom, which is often translated “peace” in English translations of the Bible. While such a translation is accurate, comparing the word peace to the word shalom is like comparing a twig to a log or a boy to a man. When we think of peace, we tend to think of an inner sense of calm or an absence of conflict.

Shalom, however, means these things and more. It means “wellness,” “completeness,” “perfection,” “safety,” “soundness,” “success,” “wholeness,” “health,” and good relationships between people and nations. When there is shalom, everything is as it should be, our lives are as God meant them to be, our world is in the order he intended. To experience such peace in its fullness is to experience healing, satisfaction, prosperity. To be at peace is to be happy, fulfilled. It is a sign of the blessed life of the new creation. Peace has a whiff of paradise about it. It offers us a taste of the world to come.

Sometimes we sense this kind of peace as we worship with others, or as we pray quietly, or when forgiveness is asked for and received. Bent things are straightened. Hurt things are healed.

The Bible locates shalom in only one place — in God himself. We find such peace by living in harmony with him. As we do, our divisions, both external and internal, start to heal. We become fulfilled, complete. The harmony we have with him in turn produces harmony with others and harmony within ourselves. This is peace beyond our circumstances or feelings. 

This is shalom—life as it should be.

THINK. WRITE. BELIEVE. ACT.

I'm reading the @YouVersion plan 'The Peace God Promises'. Check it out here: http://bible.com/r/Wy

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Reflecting On the Past

Thank you Lord, I needed this direction today... You always know exactly what I need to hear and I am grateful, humbled, and blessed.

Thanks Riverbend Church Austin for your faithfulness.

REFLECTING ON PAST 
Sermon by Pastor Dave Haney

Pt 1) THINGS TO FORGET
Forget 'the good old days" & its insidious soft lens, which anchors us to the past.

1. Embellished accomplishments - always better in our memories than reality (threw TD pass but on bench).

2. Exaggerated expectations (root cause marriage - not what you expected, fantasy not reality, unrealistic expectations that you've attached to these to people) often cause separation -- prisoner of past, Spouse fell short of 'supposed to be' then one leaves for greener pastures bc they are unwilling to see you're best days are ahead of you together.

One thing @ life that will never change is that it will always change!

3. Endless grievances (real wounds), some scars remain, like divorce, abandonment, rejection etc are visible lessons; never get over it but now need to free ourselves. Others for example, kid borrowed $0.15 for lunch in 3rd grade. Get over it!! ;) that's not to say that there are Grievances that mean you're never good enough! You Exceed your quota but then your boss, your spouse, etc add more, keep raising bar so you're never good enough. They finally set a bar that you cannot attain no matter how hard you try... So now you Can't move forward bc you're stuck in this pain.  Result -- Attach ourselves to past bc think our best days are over... Future holds less bc you remember when bar was lower and you felt loved by that person, felt good enough... Let this go! Release yourself from those words, wounds...

Pt 2) THINGS WE SHOULD REMEMBER WELL
1. Fingerprints of God -- catastrophic moments that show you God's intervention again and again making you who you are. God moved according to a plan God had better for us, to use those painful circumstances to teach us and mold us. How God has seen us thru. He's done it before and will do it again! Be encouraged and press on. Trust He will see us thru again, better....when it seemed hopeless, God moved. He Knows and He is at work for us behind the scenes changing our circumstances in ways we cannot imagine (secret desires of our hearts we don't dare breathe or speak).

2. The Ones That Made Us Better -- people who make us stronger or better; circumstances they influence that make us better. Never forget the cost (on you or others) of what it took to get us where we are - never want to go thru the heartache and darkness again. But don't forget... Remember the Angels along the way. People who believe in us! Who encourage us...who loved us. Remember the people who loved us so well and were so good to us even when we didn't deserve it. Remember well those angels in disguise in our lives. They mattered...

3. The Difference You Make -- (legacy) -- our impact. A difference was made by you. Question: did your lesson, your choices damage another? If yes, repent and seek real forgiveness. If not rejoice in how God used you to make a difference in someone else's life.

There are things we must let go of to move on to our higher calling and there are things worth holding onto to build on. Time to build something new, release the old yes, but learn to remember well. 

Champion 2nd Chances and believe your best days are before you not behind you!! Allow for your 2nd chance with someone you dearly love or loved. Don't let your pride or anger keep you from your future.

Remember Well.

Remember with thankfulness and gratitude; remember well for the opportunities that lay ahead and leave a legacy of love...

Express the Truth - say I miss you. I love you.  He told jokes in midst of circumstances - Dr Gerald Mann: today he would still say: 

"You're Not Done Yet! PRESS ON!"

For more please go to www.riverbend.com 


            Think. Write. Believe. Act.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Learning through Pain

Being human is okay... No one is perfect. Keep trying. Keep believing. Keep trusting regardless of the circumstances.

I am learning.

Thanks @MaxLucado for the wisdom in your words!

"Joseph couldn’t make up his mind! He welcomed them, wept over them, ate with them, and then played a trick on them. He was at war with himself. These brothers had peeled the scab off his oldest and deepest wound. And he would be hanged before he’d let them do it again. On the other hand, these were his brothers, and he would be hanged before he lost them again.

Forgiveness vacillates like this. It has fits and starts, good days and bad. Anger intermingled with love. Irregular mercy. We make progress only to make a wrong turn. Step forward and fall back. But this is okay. When it comes to forgiveness, all of us are beginners. No one owns a secret formula. As long as you are trying to forgive, you are forgiving. It’s when you no longer try that bitterness sets in.

Stay the course. You’ll spend less time in the spite house and more in the grace house”

Excerpt From: Lucado, Max. “You'll Get Through This.” Thomas Nelson, 2013-06-01. iBooks. 
This material may be protected by copyright.

Check out this book on the iBooks Store: https://itun.es/us/VpgML.l


Day 3
Week 2

Sunday, June 14, 2015

I believe and declare...

All of us suffer loss, endure injustices, face setbacks, even forks in the road designed to test our faith, challenge our beliefs, and try our patience and peace. Today again I am grateful for the lessons.

The Word tells us His ways are higher than our ways. I've never known this to be more true than this moment.

I have always believed in praying specifically so God could receive the glory for His work rather than victories being chalked up to chance. Part of me though was deceived into believing free will was greater than God's power and plan. That slight misunderstanding caused me such sorrow and suffering.

Today I rebuke those thoughts and words spoken...and ask forgiveness for my failings and shortsightedness. I was resisting being thrown into the furnace, praying fervently against it and wondering why my prayers seemed to be unanswered. Now I know God's plan was not to save me from the fire as I asked but to bring me through the fire with my bonds burned free... Bringing me through the wilderness, across the Red Sea into a NEW and better place.

Our God is the Alpha AND the Omega - He has already declared the day of my release - the end date for this weeping. It is coming. And when He brings me out, ALL will see His glory in the abundance of blessings and double portion of favor bestowed on me. He doesn't allow the pain, the test, the furnace without a plan for freedom on the other side twice as good as anything you had before.

As the tears flow, the Word says He gathers those to create pools of blessings.

Thank you Lord for the furnace. In it I am blessed to stand with You, see You and be closer to you... the flames cannot touch me. Those chains, the bonds tying my hands, blinding my vision, and burdening my soul are the only things melting away. 

I didn't understand it; now my heart sees it. I look forward with joy for the day of my release and restoration. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. Thank You Lord for teaching me to Count IT All JOY!

I believe and declare my day of release, healing, restoration and abundance is on the horizon. Not my will but Thine be done, always. Your timing, not mine.

I love You Lord Jesus.
Thank You for the leap, this test of faith and lesson in Trust. Keep me in perfect peace in the furnace in the meantime...while You make a way where there seems to be No way.

I believe. I trust You.
Amen.


Thursday, June 11, 2015

Where to begin?

Today is a day unlike any I've known in some time. It's a day of loss (6/11/15). It's a day of learning to trust the path wherever it leads.

Despite my heart's pain, I still believe...
Despite my mind's battle, I still trust...
Despite my body's fatigue, I still move forward...

The God of all, the Alpha and the Omega still bends down to hear my cry and catch my tears. The hairs on my head are numbered as are my days on this earth. 

The Lord remains my shepherd...


...I shall not want.

Deliver me from me, Lord. Forgive my weaknesses and light momentary afflictions that cause me such angst.

Help me see with Your eyes.
Always.

Your grace is sufficient for me today...

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Destiny

"For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed you will be strong in character and ready for anything." (James 1:3-4 NLT)

Choose this day whom you will serve.

Have a willing spirit, an open heart and watch what God will do.

No one else's choices can rob you of your destiny.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

I lived...

There's a reason music is the universal language.

How many times have you heard a particular song or lyric that moves you? makes you feel, truly feel the depth of an emotion? elicits a memory? causes you to daydream?

I've often thought music is one of the ways God speaks to us.  I know it's one of the mechanisms He uses to get my attention or to remind me or prod me.  These past several months I've experienced such a broad range of emotions and events I found that I needed time to absorb it all.

I've been marinating for months and slowly cooking for the past several weeks.

BING

Yes, my timer went off today.  Not that I'm a completed project by any means... No, but I did have an awakening earlier today.  I realized something about myself that was profoundly provocative and wholly unexpected.  Apparently, I am told, that happens when you allow yourself the time and space to do some emotional work.  Hmmm...

2014 was a year of significant change for many people.  I've heard countless stories of upheaval, loss, life-altering experiences, and movement in multiple ways.  This was true for me as well.  Surprisingly, despite being what I thought was a well-rounded, healthy human, in the midst of all this change, I fell into some familiar patterns that caused me to then make less than positive choices.  As a result, I've been working on myself in an effort to understand it all and work to continually become a better, wiser person.  I've been reading, writing, talking, hiking, changing my food habits, sleep habits, tv habits... overall habits, etc.

Despite a lot of new insights I still kept asking "but why?"  "Why?"

And try as I might, the lens was always just slightly out of focus, which I have to say is maddening for a Type A personality.  I couldn't quite see...

About a week ago, after receiving more sage advice about 'Letting Go' and relaxing in this wilderness I'd been in, I finally quit resisting and rebelling mentally.  No more mental tantrums or explanations, justifications, and whining.  I finally reached a point where I said "okay, enough.  I surrender."

From that point on, I felt the fatigue in my neck and shoulders start to give way and I really did begin to relax.  The fact that my physical body responded so quickly to my declaration made me laugh out loud at times.  I literally said, out loud to myself in the car "it cannot possibly be THAT simple."

But it was... and has been.

I allowed myself to go away to the mountains for the weekend to relax.  I began listening to music more and started to refocus on activities that made me happy.

And today, without any drama or significant effort on my part, I got one of my "Why-answers."  The answer and it's impact came to me... and I saw it so clearly for the first time that I felt the earth actually shifted.  I started shaking all over at the reality of it.

I was finally at a point where I could HEAR it.  It wasn't anything that someone could have told me.  It wouldn't be mind-blowing to anyone else but me... but it was something I needed to know and learn on my own.

There really is truth in hearing that still, small voice... to learning what it means to 'surrender.'

As I began to absorb this information shaping a new reality and awareness for me, I chose to start listening to music to resettle my mind and heart.  The song that came on was by *One Republic called "I lived."  It spoke to my soul,  made me smile fully and sing out with all my heart.

I realized that so far, I swear I've lived... just as the lyrics in the song suggest.

And that is a beautiful thing.

I hope you take time today to FEEL and to allow yourself to surrender into whatever you've been resisting or rejecting... and I hope you'll listen to some music that brings you as much joy and release as I felt earlier.

Music really is a universal language...and making the choice to surrender really does allow you to fully 'live.'

THINK.     WRITE.     BELIEVE.     ACT.


*Click on the Link above to view YouTube video of "I Lived" by One Republic.