Dealing with Conflict God’s Way, Don’t Be Deceived

Ok, so I will first start with an update on my weight!  I lost 2 lbs last week and stayed the same this week! Yay!  I didn’t gain!  Yippie!  Doin the dance of joy!  🙂  I do know why I stayed this week instead of losing…I ate salty snacky things, then slipped in the tub and couldn’t work out because I couldn’t breathe deeply due to my ribs hurting from this slip, mixed with eating salty stuff that I knew would make me bloat!  I so get on my own nerves sometimes! lol

Now, on to the subject of the title.  I had someone on facebook this week talk about leaving their local church because of the people there and refuses to go to any church because of people in general.  In reading all of her posts, it appears that what is really behind this, is that she was the church secretary, a new pastor came in and took away the privileges she had under the last pastor.  Instead of being a faithful servant of the Lord, she continued to do the things the old pastor had her doing, and she was fired for “trying to take over for the new pastor.”

I would imagine, like any person, she was mad, but it appears that her gossiping and venting of this situation, had many people coming to her and quoting Bible verses at her in an effort to make her stop.  Being the defiant one she seems to now be, she didn’t take the advise of the many who approached her, but instead used their attempts to keep her on the straight path, as an excuse to leave the church.

Now, let me tell you what happens to someone who is defiant and leaves the church blaming others… it leads to downfall.  It leads to thinking you need to fit into places and with people who talk down about people of faith.  It leads to not watching what you say.  It leads to not caring what you do that is not lined up with your past faith.  It leads to destruction of your life to the point of either dying in depression or anxiety or being the prodigal child (meaning going to excess on not being like you were while in the faith), and losing everything, then having to crawl back to the Lord in shame and repentance. 

How do I know this?  Because I was just like that person!  You see, when you decide to sin and not care about it, you do things that you never would have thought you’d ever do.  You don’t have the voice of God leading you daily through studying the Word of God or going to Bible studies or going to services to kick you back into shape.  And the most common thing you say to not feel guilty is, “I can be a believer without attending a church!”  A lie from the pit of hell by the way!  You do things that you would never have considered when you were going to church.

Now, what a person has to realize in this temptation to leave the church (and yes, this is a temptation lead by Satan himself), is that Satan never gives you the full picture!  He doesn’t tell you that he was just at the throne of God, accusing you as a believer and telling God, “If I do this…then they will not follow you” (Job 1:9-11).  Then he goes down and whispers the temptation into your ear over and over and over and over again and continues until you do what he is suggesting, or you tell him “I am a child of God and you are not welcome here!  Get Out!” Then you turn to the Lord and admit your wrongs and repent of them and continue to serve him with an open and faithful heart. 

Satan doesn’t tell you that if you do what he is whispering, you will lose your family, your children will learn ungodly ways of doing things, your children may some day despise you and want nothing to do with you, your children may become so depressed that they attempt suicide or that you may lose everything you have and be left standing alone with no one there to love you and to help you. 

It is then, when you are at the lowest of lows, that you may listen to more lies from Satan who is saying, “See there is no hope, God doesn’t love you!  You should just end it!”  It is hopefully at that time when you lay on your face before the God of mercy and grace and repent of your wrongs instead of listening to the enemy of your soul and taking your own life, or drinking, or taking drugs, or losing all hope.  You see, what Satan doesn’t tell you is that when you do what he suggests, he then goes before God and mocks you and accuses you of being fake and useless!  He tells you how awesome the sin will be, but will never tell you the consequences to your life here on earth or to your eternal life.  If you die before repentance, you will spend eternity in the place God prepared only for Satan and his demons, of which, Satan decided to take with him as many of God’s people he can to get back at God for banning him from heaven when he was the defiant one trying to dethrone God.

I myself fell for his lies.  I was delivered from destructive feelings and thoughts due to an abusive past, I was redeemed!   Then, instead of seeking out the Lord the way I should have, I didn’t go to Bible studies, read God’s word daily, pray, seek God’s will for my life.  I played the church game, did the things I should do, got involved in things, and was constantly ignored and overlooked, which fed my feelings of not fitting in, being worthless and a mistake.  If I would have sought the Lord with all I was, He would have shown me the way.  Instead, I got lost in my own lustful thought, imagining a world where I would be appreciated, people would tell me how good I was, imagining men would want me and cherish me.  This led to having an open marriage, divorce, scarring my kids so deeply that I rarely see them now, living in poverty, being desperate every day.  Following Satan’s temptations lead to destruction, not my fantasy…his whispered fantasy. 

Then, when my husband left me for a woman he was with in the open marriage, and rejecting my kids, so they lived with me on $547 per month, I still didn’t get it!  I sought out worldly men to date, then swore off men for life because of how terrible they were!  It was then that I met my husband of today and God led us both into a dark place of medical issues, me almost dying, which is what caused my short-term memory loss.  It was then that the Lord began to lead me back and brought my husband with me.  Two years after having Encephalitis and losing my memory, God led us to our church where we both accepted the Lord, me returning, my husband for the first time.  It was then that I could see the truth of the past.  It was then that I could see how I had listened to the enemy’s prompting and had lost everything I had.  I made a commitment with God that this time, I would not play games, but that I would be completely honest in all things, even if people didn’t want to hear it and mocked me, that I would tell the honest truth and seek God daily.  I would not listen to those in church who were degrading and condemning.  I would only turn to God for my direction and not allow the opinions of man/woman to lead my mind, heart, feelings, future, soul, spirit!  It was then that I committed to seeking out godly direction, especially if I was having lustful thoughts.  I now have four support people who mince no words when I’m in the wrong, whom I go to and listen to what they say, because they back all up in the Word of God.  What you see on this blog is what you will get standing face-to-face with me.  I play no games!  I only allow the truth in the Bible (66 books), because then I will keep myself on the narrow path.

So, does my church have all truthful people dedicated to doing the will of God in it?  I do have to say that there are MANY who walk into church doors every week, who walk out with no regard for the Word of God, they go for appearance sake, so they can look holy…you know, the hypocrites.  What these people don’t realize is this, every thought they have, every action they take, every intention they have, every nasty talk they participate in or nasty thoughts that they think about others, every person they hurt or help, every lustful thought they think, say, do or act on, is seen and recorded by God.  So a person going to church and acting like they are believers, then walking out the door and acting like they are resident of hell, will some day be revealed to all the world and rejected entrance to God’s kingdom.  It talks of this multitudes of times in Scripture.  Sneaking around is only good to our human friends and family, but God sees it all!  That’s why we have to be on our knees constantly repenting for being so defiant…at least that’s what I have to do!

So that leads me to this, there are many hypocrites in church!  What a surprise!  If you are not one of them, its your job (mine too) to be praying for these people who think they are fooling everyone else.  If needed, they do have to be approached and talked to about their behaviors and shown how they aren’t lining up with the Word of God.  If they don’t listen, then you take someone else with you to confront that person again.  If that doesn’t work, you take them before the church.  If they refuse to change, they are to be (for a lack of a better term) kicked out or backs turned on, but if they realize their wrongs and come back and confess their wrongs, they are to be forgiven and let back in.  Is this me saying this?  Nope!  Not me!  It is actually instructed by Jesus Himself in Matthew 18:15-17, “¹⁵ “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ ¹⁷ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector” (biblegateway.com, NIV).  These verses are in red, which represents anything that Jesus says in the Bible.

So, those who did approach this woman, did it the way they were supposed to do it, and the pastor firing her was the appropriate action for someone being defiant.  So here’s the problem.  Some who are defiant are type A’s who think their way is the only way to do things and if it wasn’t for them, nothing would get done!  Then  you have a new pastor walk in and change how everything is done, and this causes a major breakdown in a type A personality!  The one who is following God’s ways, does what the new pastor requests, even if it opposite of how the old pastor does things!  We aren’t to control others to get them to do things our way, we are to be servants as Christ was, and serve with a quiet and gentle spirit (1 Peter 3:4).

My conclusion here is this, if you are hearing whispering or have sudden thoughts of anything that is against God and His ways, reject it and get into the Word of God and become stronger in Him, and don’t allow the evil one who “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8), to fool you into sinning, or even worse, harden your heart against God.  There will always be conflict in the church, but if we do as the Word says, we are being faithful servants of God.  Don’t give up your own salvation by walking away from the church family, because there are hypocrites or judgmental people among them.  Instead, pray for those people, approach them and talk of what God’s word says in what you saw them or heard them do.  Then follow the steps in Matthew 18: 15-17 if they don’t respond with repentance.  Satan knows that if he can get you away from the church family, he has a much better chance of deceiving you, but if you do what the Bible says, you will become stronger, one who can’t be fooled into lies!  “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6: 10-18).  Have a blessed day all!

Sincerely Me,

LuAnn Marie

Amazing How God Speaks to You When You Listen!

I have been struggling with what direction to take in my work life.  I have short-term memory loss, that seems to limit what I can learn in a conventional job.  Don’t get me wrong, I can learn pretty much everything, it just takes about eight months for me to begin to have my first memory of my training, so that is not something that I feel is fair for local employers.

So I’ve been toying with the idea of focusing harder on my blogging as well as creating classes to help people with issues they are struggling with including spiritual issues.  I love teaching and I love sharing things with people, to help them find victory in their lives and take stress off the table.  So my question with this is, “What is it that people need help with?”  If you have ideas, I would absolutely LOVE to hear what they are!  Here are a few I have thought of, let me know if this interests you or not and you can rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being – I totally want it and 1 being – forget it!  And add your own ideas!

1. Overcoming Past Issues God’s Way
2. Renewing Your Mind Spiritually
3. Assertiveness Training
4. Help! I’m now a parent! Now What?
5. What Are My Spiritual Gifts-God Gives Them to All Believers
6. Organization?  What in the World Does That Mean?
7. Becoming the Me God Created Me to Be
8. Anger Management-Learning to Not Lose Control
9. Ways to Overcome the Stress Factor in Life

All my courses will be spiritually based and by that I mean we will be exploring what the Bible has to say on the issues.  I look forward to hearing from all of you!

So I said it was amazing how God speaks to us when we actually listen!  I love Bible study and can’t seem to get enough of it!  I started two new studies in the past two weeks, one being on the book in the Bible of Revelation and the other is a Beth Moore study called Entrusted.  You see, when you take Bible studies, the Lord will speak to you through them and that is what happened this week.

I missed the first Entrusted class this week because of having some pretty hefty hip pain and the lack of ability to actually walk to get to the class!  I know, minor details, that walking thing!  So I rented the video that was shown with the first class and it was eye-opening!  You see, for someone with short-term memory loss, changing careers is pretty close to impossible!  When training to do what I want to do, I realized I am totally NOT a business person!  I don’t know how to do market research or see if my plan is a good one by doing research online, because I can’t remember what I found!  I also don’t know the industry online, so not a clue how to check out if this is even a good idea!  But Beth Moore, in her introduction to the course, in the first five minutes of the video, told how she decided to just get answers from those who read her blog, as to what it was they wanted!  That was HUGE to me, because I had just talked to my husband about how I don’t even know what people would want me to teach them and I should just give up! AKA, my first answer to prayer!

As I went through the first video, she talked of how God calls people to do things that literally, they don’t know how to do, because it is the Holy Spirit who does things through them!  In her class today, she gave the story of a man who had been disabled from birth, never walking, who was healed just by Paul speaking the words “Stand Up!” and the man stood.  She said that we are called to walk through walls we can’t penetrate and to move mountains that we cannot move!  It is the Spirit of the Living God who enables us to do what we are called to do, and is never up to us to figure out.

You see, before this class, I was ready to just give up on the teaching classes, blogging and writing parts of my new endeavor, and instead, just focus on the arts and crafts and selling them online.  But God has a different plan for me, and that is to be a mentor to those who have been wounded and are unable to move forward to a place of victory.  That is a place I have been and believe me, giving up is something I am quite good at!  I don’t want to teach you that, I want to teach you all how to overcome those nasties in the past or even in the present now, to find joy, hope and victory in the overcoming of those things!  What God told me this morning is, “Don’t quit! I have a plan for you and I will even do the work for you if  you have faith and trust in me!”

So here I am after listening!  And I’m hoping to find some direction from all of you as to what it is that you would like help with and what questions you need answered in your lives!  I hope you’re in the mood to share!  Please comment and be honest with me as to what it is you would like to see!

Sincerely Me,

LuAnn Marie

I Saw Evil Today!

Today was the day that I saw evil.  You see, evil was an ex-senator and his wife and his son and his brother and whoever else wants to suck up to him to look important.  Evil throws a disabled woman out a day before the deadline that was previously given.  Evil says one thing, then changes the rules to show his power.  Evil makes his own laws and weaklings carry out what he says because they are too weak to stand up to what the actual law says.  Evil punishes someone because he is mad at what someone else did in this disabled woman’s defense.  Evil thinks he has ultimate power…but evil is wrong.

You see, evil is nothing!  Evil is weak!  Evil is worthless!  And some day, maybe not today, but someday, evil will be punished!  You see, evil will be punished if he doesn’t bow to the Savior Jesus Christ.  Evil will be punished for an eternity.  Not just probation.  Not just 2 years.  Not just 5 years.  If this woman he is throwing out into the cold dies, not just a lifetime sentence.  Evil will be punished for eternity.  Eternity doesn’t end, it is forever and ever.

So evil thinks it won tonight.  Evil laughs and says, “Look at me!  I won!  I’m more powerful and you are nothing!”  But I say, “I am a child of God!  I have accepted His Son as my Messiah and Savior!  I win!”  God is far more powerful than you and He will reside over you forever and ever and He will remind you of what you did and you will pay!  I may not win today, but I win for eternity…a time when you will beg for a drop of water because you’re thirsty!  You will see me living in paradise, but you won’t be allowed in.  I will be filled with joy and be praising my Lord forever.  But you will be wailing, weeping, gnashing your teeth!  Unless you repent and turn from your evil ways, you will regret what you did tonight for eternity!

Now I pray that the Holy Spirit will nag at you every moment of every day, over and over and over and over and over again, then start over at night and continue in your dreams.  Because evil such as you has very little hope of ever being saved…but I pray that somehow, you will see the light and repent, because if you don’t, your life here will be to your liking…but seriously, eternity will be the most horrid thing you have ever experienced and what’s sad is, you are the one who set it up and put it in place.  You will have no one to blame!  God is all powerful over evil!

I am horrified that I met evil today…and yesterday.  Evil’s wife threatened me yesterday, then evil came and pumped his power today.  But my God is far more powerful than you and He wins!  Lord, please let me not see evil like this ever again!  Today I saw evil.  Tonight, I pray that he will find salvation.

Sincerely Me,

LuAnn Marie

There are Days!

Somehow I keep forgetting that no matter what happens before my eyes, that I serve a risen Savior who died for me and walks before me…all things that happen are seen before I see them…all things that happen have been seen since before the creation of the world began.  How long is it going to take for me to trust that all’s good and He’s got my back?  He is my Hope!  If I’m scared, stop! Because He is my Hope!  I  need to learn to trust!

Recently, my Mom had thyroid surgery and the surgeon said that Mom’s memory issues are most likely thyroid related and not Alzheimer’s related.  There’s hope!  She had the surgery and her memory became so bad… just so bad!  But her thyroid hormone levels were close to zero!  Now the meds have been upped and her memory should improve!  There’s hope!

Now I have a growth on my thyroid!  Going for an MRI tomorrow!  I got scared!  Why?  I forgot to trust in my Hope!  Why we always ask!  If you are a believer as I, there are many reasons!  First, someone has sinned and done something against God & I got in the way.  Second, God is training me and trying to teach me something and has to walk me through it, for me to learn it.  Three, I’m sinning and He is making me aware of Him and the fact that I’ve failed to follow His ways.  Four, He is bringing me to a place where He wants me to testify about Him and possibly lead someone out of the trauma of their lives into the Hope that lives in mine.  Fifth, I am not doing something He has asked me to do, so He is getting my attention and giving me the chance to be faithful to Him (does Noah sound familiar anyone? lol).  I’m sure there are more reasons, but those are the one’s the Lord put in my head for today.

So Lord, I will go where you lead me.  I will speak when you ask me to speak.  I will write the book I’ve been avoiding, thinking no one will read it anyway.  I will trust in your ways and the reason for my trials and learn where I need to be taught, witness where You want me to witness, and trust in You, my Hope!  Thank you Lord for being faithful to me even when I fail you most!  Thank you Lord for leading me back to you when I had walked away and sinned in ways that I never thought I would ever sin…yet Your love is so perfect, that You brought me back to You, giving me opportunity to be forgiven and now You remember not one of those sins I confessed to you, even though some here on earth still hold them against me and treat me in mean ways or avoid me because they are judging me for something You have no memory of!  Thank You for teaching me about how perfect Your forgiveness is, by taking my memory away.  Without that type of memory loss, I could never understand how You have no memory of my sins because You wipe them out, never to be brought up again!  You are so perfect, so faithful, so merciful, so forgetful and so loving!  Thank You for loving me!

Sincerely Me,

LuAnn Marie

Living in the Future Tense (Philippians 3:17–21)

Thank you so much Pastor Joe!!!! Had to share this!

Joe Quatrone, Jr.

Having set forth his life ambition to be more Christ-like, Paul does not hesitate to tell the Philippians to follow his example. He wants them to imitate him. Surely, he does not mean they should imitate every single area of his life, for he had just stated he is not sinlessly perfect. But in the matter of relentlessly pursuing after Christ-likeness, he does call on his readers to follow his own example.

Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our…

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Boredom! Nothing Looks Good!

Do you ever have those days (ok, sometimes it extends for weeks), when you look for something to take out of the freezer for dinner and say, “I am so sick of everything”? Then either you make something really bad for you or you go out to eat. Well, that is happening to me right now!

So when this happens, I have to come up with a plan that counteracts this so I don’t blow my eating plan. This is what I’ve begun to do. I collect recipes and put them on Pinterest so I can go get ideas for the meats I have and make new dishes. With this severe fatigue I’ve been experiencing, I’ve also started collecting slow-cooker recipes so I don’t have to do the work, the slow-cooker does it for me. My Pinterest is also under LuAnn Marie, so if you want to go check it out, feel free.

I need variety in my eating plan because I get bored easily. So when I go to Pinterest, I go as if I’m looking at a menu in a restaurant, and that’s how I find recipes. I then convert the recipe if needed, so the sodium content isn’t so high (Can’t really do this for baking btw, because sodium is a catalyst for the rising process I’m told, so eat less of it to deal with sodium content).

Also, if you crave foods, don’t altogether cut them out, just have them once a month (or if you can’t stand it, once a week), but make up for it within the meal. If I am going to have dessert, I either have no carb-based food with the meal, or eat very little of it. So let’s say I decide to have slow-cooked chicken with a mushroom sauce and I make a combination of 1/2 white rice and 1/2 brown/wild rice (I mix brown and wild rice for expense sake). I will then have a couple of tablespoons of rice with my chicken by putting it under the chicken on my plate and having a bite of it with each bite of chicken, then I’ve made room for the piece of something yummy for dessert.

Now, with having a piece of something yummy, don’t cut your cake, brownies, lemon bars, pies, etc at a regular slice size, but cut them in smaller portions. I cut our brownies into bite size pieces and may have one to four, but it feels like I get more because they are bite size, or bake them in mini muffin tins for bite size brownies, cakes, etc. So give yourself the treats, but play a bit with your mind to fool it into thinking you get what your not supposed to have. Then, wrap up the leftovers and freeze them in individual portions, so if you snitch, you are snitching the right amount, not gorging yourself on it.

I am working on seeing my body as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and is something the apostle Paul had to work on as well, so I am putting in it what is healthy and bringing my weight down to honor the Lord. I have to say this out loud many days because there are days that I just don’t want to be good with my diet! hahaha! But the Lord honors our efforts! So pray about this when you are going through it and read a little of the Word of God and it becomes easier to honor Him when you see the price He paid for our very souls to be free from God’s wrath!  How amazing is that?

Have a beautiful day all!

Sincerely Me,

LuAnn Marie

Patience and Seek God’s Intent

It is going on week 4 of fatigue right now. So, what does this mean? You see, the old me would have thought I must have done something terribly wrong for God to want me down this long. The old me would have freaked out about what people would think of me being laid up for so long! I would have been hiding my fatigue and hoping no one would notice. I would have been continuing to do all the things I normally do so people didn’t think I was lazy, then end up worse off than before with more intense fatigue.

Folks, the person I’ve become trusts completely in the Lord who saved me! I have been studying His word, praying for believers all over the world, and resting in His loving care. I have not been able to do the food pantry this month that we run or go to Bible studies that I normally attend, or go to meetings I was scheduled to attend and I was honest with people as to why. What I’ve learned while walking with the Lord, is that I don’t have to make up excuses as to why I get so fatigued when I travel, I just have to rest in the Lord and He will make me better. If people want to judge me as lazy or using this for an excuse to not have to do work, that’s not mine to hold, that is the Lord’s to hold. So, this fatigue I’ve been experiencing has brought me closer to the Lord. I don’t question “why” it is happening or try to predict when I’ll be better, I just am, in Him.

So many times, instead of going to the Lord with our insecurities or our earthly issues, we try to perform or we try to deceive to keep people from thinking negatively about us. We don’t have to do this! The Lord knew I was going to be fatigued these past weeks, before I was even born. He planned every day of my life before He breathed breath into me. I don’t need to know why or fear what people will say…I just need to trust in God’s plan for me and rest in Him, no matter what I see in front of me.

Today is a day of hope and joy in Him for me. I studied things that made me stronger in Him, and things that showed me how to trust in Him, even though that was not on my mind today. He will strengthen you, if you go to Him each day. He will show you His will for your life, if you take the time to sit at His feet and listen to what He has to say. My hope for all of you who read this, is to rest in the safety of the Father’s arms today and to not allow doubt to ever enter your mind! He’s got you’re back! He sees the big picture and what we see in front of us is a small segment of that picture. Trust that He is doing what is best for His plan and never worry about the results because He knows what is best for this and all situations! Follow Him in faith, and your eyes will be open to the most wonderful joys you would have never imagined that you could see!

Today I choose to trust in my Savior, my Father in Heaven, and the Holy Spirit to lead me! What a wonderful day that is for me!
Sincerely Me,
LuAnn Marie

Recovery

Hi folks!

Well, I’m laid up from my trip to ND. I did lose weight on that trip! Probably because I began to get fatigued after the first day. My uncle passed and we had a memorial service for him, so off to ND we went. We took two days to get out to ND from WI, but probably should have taken three to get out there and three back because of the fatigue I’m experiencing right now. I pretty much don’t remember the last week due to being laid up.

Now, what do I do for this fatigue? First, I have to rest. It has been a week now since we got back, so starting in the next few days, I will begin to do a short walk, 10 minutes at a time inside of the house. I don’t dare go out of the house because I may not make it back. On opposite days of the walk, I will do light weights, sitting in a chair. That will be the beginning. I have to be careful not to overdo that and not to underdo it. To deal with fatigue, you have to slowly enter into exercise or the fatigue will take you down permanently. So I’m still pretty severe with this fatigue, but hope to have it lighten up a little in the next few days, so that is my sign to start the little walks alternating with the weights. I’ve been through this many times, and that is the regime given to me from my doctor after this fibromyalgia developed in 1999 after a serious car accident. I thought he was crazy! But it works! hahaha!

That’s the update on me! And I’ve reached my limit for the day! Have a blessed day!

Sincerely Me,
LuAnn Marie

Dealing with Grief

I have posted a couple of posts on FaceBook today because I’m dealing with some grief over the loss of a few people in my family who have passed and one who is still here, but is slowly slipping away into the land of Alzheimer’s.  So I will share these with you all as well.

Posting 1:  Sitting silently, talking with the Lord. Life is so short & losing people you love whether in death or Alzheimer’s or medical issues, gives us the opportunity to lay our hearts in the hands of God. This life is only a tiny picture of eternity, so I choose to grieve at the feet of my Lord & look forward to spending eternity with all who chose Him…I mean, wow, eternity! “There’ll be no crying there, no more burdens to bear. No more sickness no more pain, no more sorrow over there. (Next guessing words here cuz forgot all this is an old hymn). For a day there will be when my Jesus I’ll see! What a day, glorious day that will be!” Life here is to find the Lord & learn to be faithful to Him, eternity is either a reward or the unthinkable…I choose hope! I choose the 3-in-1 & may suffer here at times but be filled with joy forever sitting at the feet of the One who saved me! Find Him today, laugh with Him, weep with Him & rejoice that He made a way for you to come to Him! Come soon Lord I pray! Have a beautiful day in spite of your trials!

Posting 2: Not sleeping right now due to the pain and fatigue of traveling so far. My heart is still weeping inside for the losses, but I continue to be filled with joy at the Hope that fills me. Thank you Lord for allowing me a time to feel loss, because I believe loss is a tiny taste of the grief you feel when someone turns away from You. I know I have failed You so many times and I have laid myself at Your feet to ask forgiveness of the past and things of the present and I pray Holy Spirit that You will guide my eyes and my heart toward You, allow me to see things, situations, people as You do instead of through my own judgmental eyes…so that I will not grieve You anymore. Let me be a source of joy for You instead of a source of tears. I read in Your Word that You cried…I so want to make You smile! Heal not only my heart Lord, but those who are closest to the ones who I am grieving. Give comfort, hold each of us and dry each of our tears. Oh Lord God how I love You! Thank You for loving me first and allowing me to come to You, such a filthy wretch that I was! Thank you for making my soul white as snow in Your eyes, and seeing me through Your Son’s blood and for never remembering my sins once I confess them sincerely. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it many more times before I leave this earth…an eternity is just NOT enough time to thank You for all You have done for me! Sincerely me, LuAnn Marie, in Jesus Christ my Lord

End of postings

As we traveled with the one who has Alzheimer’s, to have services for an Uncle I have lost and hug the Aunt of the other Uncle I lost, I began to grieve inside for the loss of that wonderful woman who used to help me through everything.  Such a ray of beauty she once was and now a ray of cuteness!  She was such a hard worker, such a picture of strength!  Now, she’s quite child-like and quite stubborn! haha!  But Mom, it is my turn now to be that pillar of strength for you!  I will love you continually even though you continually ask me the same question over and over again…I will love you continually even though you are confused about things…I will love you continually even though you go through all my things and take things that you like or want to eat..I will continually do that for you, because you did that for me and continued to love me and pray for me!

I had to eat out a lot while traveling to North Dakota and then back to Wisconsin.  I saw cousins I hadn’t seen since I was 15 years old and ate with them, laughed with them, hugged them and hold them dear in my heart after seeing them.  But that restaurant food has my stomach quite upset and I’m bloated like a giant blimp because of the sodium in that food!  So, even though I’m grieving, and have been made ill by the food I had cut out of my life, I choose to get back on track when I get home!  I’m at my son’s and daughter-in-law’s house and we have to take my Mom to the doctor because she has an infection in her toe that she didn’t remember was there, but thought it was a bunion giving her pain.  Please pray for my wonderful Mom, she loves the Lord so much!  Thank you Lord that you allow her mind to continue to turn to you in this disease.  Please never let her lose you in her thoughts, no matter what thoughts and memories she may no longer see or even not remembering me some day.  She’s a good godly woman…please allow her to go out with dignity when it’s time!  She is the woman who brought me before you Lord in prayer, asking you to bring me to you.  Please honor her for that in eternity with a crown! 

Hope you all will love those who brought you into this world, even if they are stuck in sin. or are frustrating, or don’t do things the way you do them…don’t make fun of them.  There is hope for those stuck in sin to come to the Lord, just like there was hope for you.  Pray for them continuously so they may find Him!

Sincerely Me,

LuAnn Marie

Another Happy Monday! :)

Happy Monday everyone!  So, first, I have to tell you…I didn’t lose weight this week!  Yep, a blizzard from DQ, a brat and Doritos got in my way!  I gained .9 lbs!  The last two make me swell like crazy and the first has to be a once in a long time thing because it can be addicting!  But I will not allow that small weight gain defeat me! The trick to weight loss is continuing on the path, even in the midst of small defeats.  Today I’m back on track!

Second, I was going to post this yesterday, but kinda sorta forgot!  So here is my Sunday for you all to share in!  Since writing this yesterday, I am feeling much better today!  Yay!  So enjoy my Sunday!

My Sunday:  “Today, at the beginning of the day, was a huge high pain day due to plastering and painting the bathroom. I had a hard time getting up, hard time bending, hard time sitting down. I was reminded why I’m not supposed to do these things with my spine being so bad…oops! So after service in church today, our pastor invited us to come up for prayer if we had a need. So I went up! Since then, the pain is reduced greatly and then I opened up my biblegateway.com tab on my browser and this verse was on it:

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

I have to be reminded of what the Lord has brought me out of, and how He sustains me day by day. He has been teaching me for the last 4 years to be thankful no matter what I see in front of me, and know that He is always in control of things to which I will receive the whole picture some day in eternity! For the Apostle Paul, the Lord kept him in pain to remind him to come to him and to be thankful in all in his life. For me, I may be healed completely from this prayer this morning or I may just be returned to the normal amount of pain I have daily…but no matter what the outcome is, I trust fully in Jesus Christ…reminds of me a song we used to sing back in the 80s/90s in church: “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” He is my hope! He is who delivered me from emotional scars and a massively low self-esteem. I choose to trust in Him, no matter what I see in front of me, even if it is a picture of hopeless circumstances, I know He is in control…and He is waiting for me to come to Him with honesty about what I am feeling and ask for Him to take care of it. He already knows what I’m thinking, He just wants me to communicate it to Him out of choice. So that is my Sunday! How wonderful is a day with hope in Him!”

So with that, I bid you an awesome day!

Sincerely me,

LuAnn Marie