Rest in Him: Guest Blogger: Stephanie

Job 39:11
"He's hugely strong, yes, but could you trust him, would you dare turn the job over to him?" In this new season that I am entering I am finding out that it is very exhausting and demanding. There really isn't a thing called "rest" in my week. Well not the rest that most people consider rest. With my M/W
nights spent at school and Tuesday cell, my nights are pretty jammed
pack. Midnight is becoming a very common hour to me now. Last night
was the first night my daughter really has seen me all week and I was
sooo tired that the attention I was giving her I know isn't what she
wanted or needed at that time. Soo much is going on that my brain
never wants to shut down.

The fear of not being a good student is creeping in...and the fear of
that Cali is thinking that I am rejecting her because Mommy is always
at work and school. I told her the other day that the reason why Mommy
is going to school is because I am becoming a teacher. And she smiled
at me and said, "I want to hold the stick Mommy and I'll point to the
numbers and you say them out loud." It was the cutest thing...she went
on saying who was going to be in our class and sit in the desks. As I
listen to her say all of this, I wish she could REALLY know why Mommy
is going to school and works at a good job...I want the best for Cali
and I want to be a good role model that she can look up to and say
someday, "Hey my Mom did this, so can I." or "Thank you Mom for
keeping me when you knew you were going to be a Single parent." As I
sit in my classes at night wishing I could be home with her I look at
my phone with a pic of her on it and I have to remind myself that I am
doing this for not only my future but for hers too. So many thoughts
race through my mind if I'm really doing the right thing. It's soo
easy to give up and say I can't do school. But like the verse says,
"Do you dare to turn the job over to HIM? Do you trust HIM??" Do I
trust God in this season?? Am I putting limitations on what God is
capable of doing??

Oh Lord please help me rely on your strength and not my own. Teach me
how to be excellent in this new season. I break off all these fears in
Jesus name. I am NEW in you!! I am an Excellent student, worker,
leader and Mother! Jesus protect Cali in this season and help me think
of creative "special" dates to have with her, so she knows that she is
my pride and joy always. I cast my burdens on you Lord and leave them
at your feet Jesus. You are bigger than this season Lord!!! Teach me
what you want me to learn through all of this Lord. Help me not to
complain. Give me strength when I am weary Lord. I love you Lord!!!

Can we imagine??? Guest Blogger: SuperPurple Alison

2 Corinthians 5:5-6 (The Message)
We've been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we'll never settle for less. That's why we live with such good cheer. You won't see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don't get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead.

I LOVE this translation of this passage! God has given us the Holy
Spirit as a promise to us of what we have to look forward to, and to
show us why we should want to live by His standards, not the world's,
by giving us a small sample of heaven.

As I was reading this passage, I was reminded of the song by Mercy Me,
"I Can Only Imagine." Now I'm going to have it stuck in my head all
afternoon! :)

This passage is incredibly inspiring to me, especially the part about
not being willing to settle for less. This applies to not only my
longing for eternal life in heaven, but also to all of my hopes and
dreams while on earth. I am my Father's daughter and He wants only the best for me. Why should I settle for less than what I want? The world may try to discourage me but the world is not my authority. I
have the Holy Spirit to help guide me on my journey, and though I may
face disappointments and failures, I have faith that better days lie ahead because this is what He has promised me and God always fulfills what He promises.

Faith, the Sixth sense: Radiate it! Blogger: SuperPurple Mama Freedom

I have been reading a book lately by a Pastor from Columbia, Caesar Castillanos called "Touching the Father's Heart." It has been full of insight and tidbits and revelations. Really good stuff!
The one thing that really stood out to me today was this:
He says... "Through our senses, we make contact with the world around us. Through our faith in Jesus, we make contact with the Kingdom of God."

This makes perfect sense to me.
God gave us five tactile senses (sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste) to be able to perceive, make contact, and an impact on this planet. Likewise, he gave us spiritual senses also to perceive, make contact, and an impact in the Kingdom of Heaven, the spiritual kingdom in which we belong here on this earth.

We often hear of people who have ESP, as having a 6th sense. I do believe this exists, but not in the way that so-called Psychics talk about it.

One of our spiritual senses is : Faith
This "sense" is just as accurate and powerful as any of the other tactile senses. This is how we can just know things even though we haven't seen it, tasted it, touched it, smelled it, or heard it with our natural senses. And we can react and set courses based on the information we have received by our faith sense.

This is the sense that activates the hand of God to move in our lives.

DO you see it?

Isaiah 60:5a says
"Then you shall see, and become radiant..."
What does "radiant" mean?

ra⋅di⋅ant

–adjective

1.	emitting rays of light; shining; bright: the radiant sun; radiant colors.

2.	bright with joy, hope, etc.: radiant smiles; a radiant future.

May you all SEE in 2009, and become RADIANT with vision! and radiate the love you have within you- to all you meet!