I was chatting with a friend and she shared how she had an old cut on her finger and accidentally scrapped it and it caused it to re-open and start bleeding again. It just so happened that it coincided with a relationship challenge that caused an old wound to resurface for the both of us as well.  You know what I’m talking about.  You’ve been abandoned and someone forgets about you—yet again.  You’re divorced and now you’re in a relationship, things were going great and you caught him doing the same thing your x-husband did.  Your childhood was filled with unfulfilled expectations and disappointments and as hard as you try to move on, you end up disappointed yet again. What will it take to finally heal? 

In the same way a cut on our finger needs time and protection our soul needs time and needs protected.  God brings people into our lives that “get it”.  They understand us and love us regardless of our bleeding.  They are people that know how it feels to keep getting scrapped where they were once cut.  Jesus “gets it”.

Isaiah 53:5 (KJV) “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
​
Action Step: The next time you notice that an old hurt is re-opened remind yourself of His open arms. He wants us to know His arms were wide open on that cross and we can run in to them at any time.  He understands and He is our Healer.

Life really is a vapor.  I remember the day I found out I was pregnant.  I truly thought I had the flu. I remember the day I brought her home. So tiny nothing fit, then T-ball, ballet and pre-school.  Days passed into years and years into decades.  I was told time flies but to me it seemed to creep until I found out they were right. Where did the time go? They told me I was living the best years of my life but all I could see was dishes, laundry, a dirty house and sleepless nights after long days, but they were right.

So as a gift to my child I write this message doubtless that she will read it because she doesn’t know yet that time flies.  Her days are turning into years and her years are turning…  She is living her best years.  So to all the children of the world here is my advice:

• Listen to those that are older and wiser, not just older.
• Time really does fly by believe it now and enjoy the moments as they seem to creep by.
• You are not fat, stupid or poor—you have just not become all that you are to be yet, keep learning and growing.
• Make wise choices because they will determine who you spend your life with, where you work and where you live which are 3 of the most important decisions you will ever make besides what God you will serve.
• Make room in your life for people.  Marry, have children, take care of others children, make and keep good friends…for life, and stay close to family even if you have to do it by electronics.
• Be a part of a church family. You will benefit far more than it will cost you. Serve in that family and stay connected—it matters.

Happy birthday to my beautiful child. I used to think the greatest gifts that I could give you came from a department store or a Sears catalog.  Now I realize the greatest gift that I could have given you was more of me but I didn’t know time would go so fast.

Love, 
​Mother

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV) “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:”

James 4:14 (NKJV) 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

Today is day three of my sharing with you my upcoming trip to Brescia Italy.  Looking forward to hearing from you with any suggestions.  We are considering flying into Venice and then driving to Milan.  That would take us right through Brescia, then flying home from Milan.  That would give us two days in Venice, three days in Brescia (to find family) and two days in Milan before flying home. What do you think?  Has anyone been there?

When I get back I will write a week on the trip and include some photos. 

Family is important.  God wanted family so much he gave His only son so He could have many sons.  Jesus was the ultimate seed. That perfect seed is still producing sons and daughters today.

John 3:16 (NIV) “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
​
One day we will all be together as family again.  We won’t have to look for our family—we will all be family.  I pray you are looking forward to going to heaven to meet family you’ve never met.  Looking forward to heaven helps keep us on the right track and focused on the purpose for which Christ gave His life for us.

Yesterday I started blogging on an upcoming trip to the home town of the only grandfather I ever knew. He wanted to take me in 1965 but my parents thought he might lose me—seriously.  So ever since then I have wanted to go to Italy. I truly wanted to take my Dad before he passed away but we didn’t make it.  I will make this one for all 3 of us.  So here is what I continue to learn:

Brescia has 3 Railway Stations. From Brescia, high speed trains connect to Milan, Rome, Turin, Bologna, Florence and Venice; one can reach Milan in 46 min, Venice in 1h and 35 min, Florence in 2 hours and 15 min and Rome in 3 hours and 35 min.

Brescia is connected with the rest of Northern Italy by three motorways:

• A4, that is the main axis connecting the city with the east and the west of the country, to cities such as Milan, Turin, Venice and Trieste;
• A21, which connects Brescia to Turin with a more southern route than A4;
• A35, which connects Brescia to Milan and the Linate Airport with a faster route than A4.

At least it looks like it might be easy to drive around. Which I am praying it is since we will be doing just that…driving around.  We plan to rent a car and just wing it.  I’d be nervous but I’m not because I know God is in this and when He is in something it turns out.
​
What have you gotten into lately that turned out? Please share on FB or here.

Sure we all know people that have gone on a trip. Many of you have gone on one yourself. But this one is different. I have no idea what I will find. I know I want to find relatives but who knows if they will want to be found. Are there family problems I am unaware of? Relatives at war? I don’t know.  This however is what I do know. I want to find my roots. I want to see where my Grandfather grew up. If there are any relatives that want to meet me I want to meet them.

So soon I will be off to Brescia, Italy. Home of my grandfather Frank (Francisco Pirlo).  Home of Andre Pirlo world soccer player. Home of family I have never met.

This is what I found on Wikipedia:
Brescia is considered the industrial capital of Italy. Founded over 3,200 years ago, Brescia has been an important regional centre since pre-Roman times. The metallurgy and the production of machine tools and firearms are of particular economic significance, along with mechanical and automotive engineering. Nicknamed the ("Lioness of Italy"), Brescia is the homeland of Italian caviar, and is known for being the original production area of the Franciacorta wine and for the prestigious Mille Miglia car race that starts and ends in this city. Brescia has had a major role in the history of the violin. Brescia is one of the most cosmopolitan and multicultural cities in Italy.

• One of the places I would like to see is Castle of Brescia: also known as Falcone d'Italia ("falcon of Italy"), locate atop Cidneo Hill at the northeast angle of the town. Built between the 13th and the 16th century and among the largest castles in Italy. Besides commanding a fine view of the city and a large part of the surrounding area, and being a local favorite recreational area, it hosts the Arms Museum, with a fine collection of weapons from the Middle Ages onwards; the Risorgimento Museum, dedicated to the Italian independence wars of the 19th century; an exhibition of model railroads; and an astronomical observatory.

Brescia is close to important tourist destinations (Milan can be directly reached in 45 minutes by train, Venice and Florence in about 2 hours) and is one of the cheapest cities in Italy in terms of hotel stays. For these reasons, tourists often use Brescia as a base to explore the surrounding places.
 
So soon I will be off. Follow me this week and please comment on what you know, who you know or where we should go. I truly need all the help I can get.

If you never try anything different you will never learn anything. Paul traveled in a time where there was no GPS and no cell phones yet he found his Timothy's and founded churches. God will lead. I will trust.

“The vessel the potter was making of clay was marred (spoiled), (messed up) in the potter’s hand, and the potter reworked (remolded) it into another vessel, as seemed good to the potter.”

Isaiah 64:8 (ESV) “But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

No one says, ”Oh I want someone to work on me—smash me up and pound on me because I have so much wrong with me I can’t be fixed—I literally have to be remade. The Maker has to start over with me.

Yet this is what our loving Father wants to do with us when we are messed up.  Father is so different from us here on fallen earth. We don’t have His patience nor do we have His investment. When you think about God He gave His son so He could redeem us.  God has no desire to throw us in the trash.

I don’t know about you but that gives me hope. Hope that none of us are on the heap pile with the match to our feet. This verse gives us some important information to note. First the vessel was a work in progress, it was not complete. Secondly, the vessel was in the potter’s hand, although spoiled it was in the potters hand. And third it was remade into a vessel that the potter was pleased with.
​
Action step for us today: We are a work in progress…and so is everyone else. Let’s all be patient with ourselves and others.

In reading 2 Peter Chapter One I was given the word picture of swimming against the tide.  Seems like every commercial wants to fill our empty hole with empty promises. Living in the world without a passion for the word of God and things of God is like treading water.  If we're not going against the flow we are still losing ground.  It's tough to go in the opposite direction of the world.  However, if you think about it we are not of this world, we are sojourners here and heaven is our home.  In Heaven they are not going the way of the world.

The idea of working in heaven is foreign to many people. Yet Scripture clearly teaches it. When God created Adam, he "took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it" (Genesis 2:15). Work was part of the original Eden. It was part of a perfect human life.

God Himself is a worker. He didn't create the world and then retire. Jesus said, "My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working" (John 5:17). Jesus found great satisfaction in His work. "‘My food,' Jesus said, ‘is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work'" (John 4:34).

So life is not supposed to be a breeze so keep on swimming. Sure it requires work and yes work is a four letter word but that’s what we were created for. We were created to praise Him and again let’s face it sometimes that’s work. I mean some days I don’t feel like praising God but when I do it anyway—I feel like praising after all.

If you’re feeling weary in well doing read 2 Peter. Get in the word and let it get in you. Peter was facing death and this is what he wanted us to know so we could be successful in the days we have left on earth. 

Advice for the day? Just keep swimming.

So I have never written a Blog like this one. I mean who writes a Blog about a movie they went to see anyway? Are we even allowed to do that? Can we get in trouble by advertising something we believe in? Maybe?  Will I have critics? Probably? Do I care if that happens? Nope. 

Miracles from Heaven--go see it!  It is a great movie.  The Dad is not made out to be some wet washcloth that doesn’t do anything and folds under the slightest pressure.  He stands up for what he believes and does the best he can at being a great dad while his wife takes care of their sick daughter. 

The mom—well she doesn’t have it all together and the “Church” friends she has are the kind of friends you could do without. To make that more of a true life kinda story a lady who is a waitress that has a beat up car and a less than desirable demeanor is the kind of friend she ends up needing.

Let’s face it, “Life happens”.  It doesn’t always smell good; look good and fit into the nice little suburbanite family life we all think everyone else has. 

The best thing about the movie is a little girl shares her faith with another little girl and it changes things but not the way you’d think.  We all need to share our faith.  Our age doesn’t matter.  We need to be teaching our children from a very early age about God and the life of faith.  We may never know when they are going to need it or when others are going to need it more.

Do yourself a favor.  Go see the movie.  I did. And I am glad I did.

We all want to feel special. We all want to feel wanted.  Many of us take for granted family.  We can go days without calling our children or our parents or even longer for our siblings.  Why?  Because we don’t really think it matters because if we thought it mattered we would act differently.
 
I remember once after a visit to my mother’s thinking this same thought. I was a grown woman with children of my own and without a second thought my mother came in to check on me before going to bed herself. She came over, kissed me goodnight, and fixed my covers. She said, “Goodnight sweetheart, sleep well.” She turned out the light and left the room. I thought to myself how sweet that was and even as a grown woman it felt great to be loved like that.
 
Recently I’ve been thinking about Grandparents Day. How did it all get started? I found out Marian McQuade and her husband Joe were residents of Fayette County, West Virginia. They were the parents of 15 children, grandparents of 40 and great grandparents of 8.  In 1973, after a 5-year campaign, 
Mrs. McQuade pushed legislation that Congress passed proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day 
as National Grandparents Day. September was chosen to honor Grandparents because it symbolized the "autumn years" of life. President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation. 
 
I’m enjoying this season of my life. I have two handsome foster grandsons and a beautiful spiritual granddaughter. Legacy matters.  The greatest thing we can give those we love is the gift of ourselves, our time.  Everyone else can get them all the other things but only we can give them us.
 
Action Step for today: Show someone you care today by giving the gift of yourself.  Give the gift of time. Be there. You may be surprised how much you enjoy yourself…and it wasn’t even about you.  God designed this thing called “Life” and when we live it His way—it just works better.
 
Psalm 127:3 (NLT) “3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.”

As I write this it is Sunday evening and this will post in the morning.  We had a guest speaker at our church and her message was enlightening.  I’ve preached a lot of messages on the donkey that Jesus asked His disciples to go untie and bring to Him. However, I never thought about it from the angle she preached.  What if that donkey had broken free from his post?  What if he had wondered off? What if he had not been there when the Master called for him?  The presence and person of Jesus Christ would never have been able to come upon him. 
 
How about you?  What’s drawling you away from your post?  Is it the lust of the world or the cares of life?  Perhaps you have grown weary of the wait?  We know that in the world its location, location, location. But in the Kingdom of God over and over we see that location was of the utmost importance.  Pitching your tent in the wrong direction could prove deadly.  Finding oneself on the wrong side of Red Sea will cost you your life.  Leaving your post can cost you the presence of God.
 
Don’t be a stupid donkey.  Stay at your post. Jesus knows where you are and at the right moment He is going to call for you because He has a particular job for you to do that is going to require you to be untied and He is going to put His presence upon you and you and Him are going places.

Exodus 33:14 "And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest."
 
The sermon was great and if you want a copy call our ministry at 304-292-7283 and ask to be sent a CD of today's message.  It will minister to you and challenge you to stay at your post.