In the stillness of the night, I am writing to you. Lights are dimmed...and all that surrounds me; is the presence of God. These are the moments, when our hearts easily connect with His...with a deep connection that cannot be severed.
When God's presence enters the room...peace is felt, even in the midst of pain and deep heartache...for His presence alone; is what instantly calms the troubled moments of despair; that attempts to take us deep beneath the waves of circumstance. 
When we are standing in the presence of God; we find that we are no longer vulnerable to evils ways or the open territory that can cause us to be direct prey, for the enemy to feast on. In God's presence; His almighty wings of love surrounds us and creates a safe haven, where we are sheltered from other destructive blows that can wound us deeply. God's presence alone becomes the light that illuminates the works of darkness, while allowing the truth of Satan's deceptive ways, to be made known.
No other One can be what God longs to be for us; but first, we must walk the path with our hearts; that will lead us into His presence...and that path is found, when we are first willing to turn around and walk away from the paths of circumstance, who only aim is to keep us distant from God, while drawing us closer to other paths of despair. Once we choose the right path; that focuses on where the presence of God can be felt...while walking in footsteps of faith; then we will be led into the presence of One, who can truly become everything, for everything we need...Amen!!

As the wind blows outside my window; shadows dance across the yard...displaying life from trees that will soon lose their leaves and become dormant, for another season. During this time of dormancy, they will sleep deep, until a new season of springtime awakens them.
As they stand lifeless, during the harsh and cold winter months, they rest from the long hot months of summer, while preparing for moments of new growth. They don't know exactly when this time will come; but they wait expectantly, for the first bud to appear...out of once was a lifeless tree.
Many times in our lives; we too experience a time of dormancy; where once sprung life within us. We sit and wonder when another season will enter our lives and bring about something new; but until then, we must wait for that first new bud of growth to appear.
It's not always easy to sit and wait, during this season of dormancy, while life passes us by; but yet we know that with time and patience, we will come to see what our Maker longs to show us.
As we rest and wait on God, we may experience the harsh and bitter cold winds of circumstance. These moments may seem unbearable at times, while giving us the feeling; that we may never awaken to newness of life again; but as we continue to wait...there's a break in these moments, as the warmth of a sunshiny day takes hold of us...to give us the hope we need to keep waiting...so we wait and continue to stand strong in our faith.
With time, we begin to feel something take place, as the harsh and bitter times of dormancy reach their end. Life is now opening up to new growth, as a new strength takes hold...for now we have grown and have become stronger through this time of dormancy, as we are now becoming something; that will keep us standing strong through time...Amen!!

"You oh Lord, are the One who controls every beat of my heart...and it's your very breath that keeps me alive...for you oh Lord, have me suspended in Your control...and it's that control
that keeps me lifted up and above every pit of despair; that Satan  once dug, 
to lead me into total destruction." (Written the night before this writing.)

Sometimes there are days that don't seem to come together. As one moment is headed in the right direction; it seems as if the next moment takes us to places of struggle and challenges beyond belief. Even though these days can seem out of sort...and even make us wonder if another one of these days will follow; God has a way of gathering the thoughts that seem so scattered...to bring us back to the place, where we belong.
It's God, who not only creates us; but controls every part of our being...the One who once breathed life within us...and to this day...controls every beat of the heart. He is the One that decides between life and death and what path to walk down...and what paths we should avoid. He is the One who speaks words through our thoughts, in a way that will help us daily with life...and He is the One who opens the right doors, for us to walk through, while closing the doors before us; that may only lead us to other moments of difficulties. 
God has control; but in some unknowing way, have we taken that control away from Him, while trying to control everything within our own lives? Are we the ones who decide between life and death, when life spirals out of control? Do we choose our own path to walk down, while forcing a door to open; that was meant to remain shut and locked? If so; then we will only find ourselves in the hands of evil; where evil will end up having control over our lives.
If we want someone to untwist the moments that attempt to get twisted by evil...and if we want to be brought safely back to the path, where once we became sidetracked in life; then we also need to keep the reigns of our lives...always in the hands of God; where He can have control over the moments that can seem so out of control...Amen!!

In a shower of autumn leaves...I truly came to experience something that I had never known before. After walking across a barren field, while enjoying each bite of a cool crisp apple, I became drawn to the edge of a forest...a beautiful place, where all the trees around me, were adorned in colors of barn red...pumpkin orange and pear yellow. As I looked around me, it was as if I hadn't ever enjoyed such beauty, as I was seeing with my eyes that day.
As I stood in the midst of all this beauty...a strong wind came up and out of nowhere...and within a moments time...all of these beautiful colors were swirling around me. 
It was only recently; that my thoughts were taken back to this time in my life, as a young girl.  The more I thought on this memory of the past...the more I wondered, if this was a time in my life, when I was truly experiencing the presence of God.
It was years later...that God began to speak deep within my spirit...as His thoughts became the words that I would write, to help and encourage others in need. One afternoon, while taking a quiet break...to stretch my legs and look over the deck rail; I began to see a cloud formation in the sky...and as I stood there and continued to view what was right before me...I began to see these clouds, as if they were curtains; that could be pulled apart...to a place, where I could step into heaven. The more I viewed this beautiful cloud formation...the more I longed to walk through the clouds and enter a place, where there would never be anymore pain or suffering in my life again.
After standing there for a while...in all of this beauty, I began to turn around and go back to my writing...and just as I did...a powerful wind came out of nowhere and practically knocked me over. As I made my way carefully back to the lounger, where I had been writing...a new poem was born, which reads... "Breathe on me, oh Spirit...to heal every hurting part; to make my life in tune with You; so You can speak to my heart. So nothing is there but You and me...to have Your perfect peace; as the dark places in my heart, pull away in sweet release. Then as Your breath pulls away, the darkness shall with it go...and my heart shall be made new, with more love then I could ever know."
How often do we slow down in life, to experience and draw from a presence; that can speak peace to us, during what seems to be the most difficult times of our lives. Oh, how we always seem to find the time, to draw from a problem, whose only aim is to make life more miserable than what it already is; but just think on what we could experience, if we would only taste and see...the goodness of a God, whose presence truly surrounds us each day...and in many different ways. 
One thing I know for sure; is that when we look for God in our lives; we do find Him...and we do find that He is truly there for all of us...no matter what life may bring our way...so look for Him, in your life today!

How we struggle with the moments of affliction that attempts to convince us that we have been forgotten by God. It seems as if each day of sorrow overspills into one more day of pain and endless heartache, until we can barely stand to exist in this world of ourselves and the affliction. We continually wonder how long these moments will drag out, as the enemy appears to be winning the battle before us. 
Oh Lord...I'm coming to You...to lay my heart before You. Take it Lord and empty it, of all that is keeping me low; for now, I long to make room for You to work. I thank You Lord; that You are there to listen to me...as every thought and feeling is poured out before You.
For every thought and feeling that is laid before Your feet; I find that there is not only room for You to work Lord; but the load that once weighed so heavily upon me, has now become lighter.
As my thoughts have now become open to the past moments of Your faithfulness; my mind goes back to times, when You were there for me in a similar situation. I remember each moment, when You untwisted a circumstance; that I thought could never be untwisted. Lord, I guess that my mind has been so weighed down with this problem; that there was no room for me to clearly think on these moments, when You had stood on Your promises to me...and brought me to where I am today. 
Lord, just as You taught me to trust You then; I will choose to trust You once more...for what I have now laid before You. I may not see the way out; but I never saw the way out before...but yet You did deliver me and set me free from despair.
Oh how my soul rejoices in You Lord; for the load has not only become lighter; but I have now found hope...a hope that has drawn me back to the One, who can once more save me from this despair...just as You once did before.

Oh how my heart aches, for relief from these moments that continually attempt to bring me low. There was a time, when the problems of the past had come to a halt...thinking that these moments would never more be; but I have come to see that they were only the beginning of what was yet to come. That doesn't mean that I serve a weak God...that only means that I am fighting a battle with the enemy...one who is attempting to bring me down and away, from the One that I've chosen to serve.
​Even though these battles can be fierce at times...and even seem unending; they do find their end, as a great and mighty warrior stands before me. As the fiery darts come my way; His shield protects me from the hard blows; that could otherwise bring me down to total destruction.
Some say that Christians shouldn't have battles to fight...after all, they now belong to God; but I say differently because the more I seek to serve this God who reigns within me...the more it seems that these battles rage on, as the enemy works harder and harder to steal my soul away from this God I serve. Nothing is ever going to be easy, when we choose to follow God; but the one who chooses to press on through it all, will be saved in the end. Even though the passageways ahead can seem narrow and almost impossible to get through; somehow I survive...and that is because of a God who is greater than these weak moments I walk through.
If only, I can keep my thoughts away from the "thorn" that once pierced my side...and if only I can gain a strength that is not of myself; then I will be able to focus more on the journey that God has set before me to follow. Pain can be distracting...and tiredness can weigh me down; but one thing I know...my God is there for me...and He will be my focus and the everlasting arms of strength that will keep me lifted up.
So now, I continue to press on, until this journey finds its end in Heaven...where these steps will lead me out of despair, for all of eternity... "for I have fought a good fight...I have finished my course...I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me at that day...and not to me only; but unto all them also that love his appearing."
​Do you love Christ enough, to walk through the narrow passageways of life?