How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you...Psalms 139:17-18

all things lovely

blowing bubbles

ballons

dancing

running free

love



Jesus



Whenever I think about Heaven, this is often what I think it will be like. Freedom, dancing, love, Jesus......they are all intertwined somehow. When I was younger I thought heaven was really going to be a boring place with a bunch of chairs where we all sat around and sang church songs.  One day my son was laughing in the backseat. He was smiling from ear to ear and laughing a very real and pure laugh...Jesus spoke to me and said, Rachelle, that is what Heaven is like......

laughter, purity, wonderment, ...........

I've learned enough of Jesus to know that He is the source of all things good. He is freedom, love, innocence, and purity. He is beautiful. His love endures forever. As I take time to get to know Him, he unfolds the most amazing and dazzling mysteries. He is shrouded in beauty and clothed in lovliness.

Philippians 4:8

New International Version (NIV)

 ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

supernaturally wonderful night

Last night's church service was amazing. Do you ever have those moments when you are truly amazed by God? All I can say is that if you are truly pursuing Him, then those moments will inudate your life....Your life will begin to look less ordinary and you will stand in wonder.

Some of the things that happen the way they do are almost uncanny. Well, uncanny is a word I would use if my faith wasn't strong...

I guess the word I'm looking for is supernaturally miraculous. When we truly pursue God, our lives begin to enter the realm of the spiritual world of the miraculous..

One thing that I have learned is that God longs to speak to each of us.....Reader, He longs to speak to you.
He speaks to me because I ask Him...In between the fighing and the warfare, He speaks. And His voice makes the fight worth it.

Let me tell you a little bit about what happened last night.

I'm working on a blog post about spiritual warfare. I often feel as if I continually fight.. Don't get me wrong, fighting is our job, as Christians...The Bible tells us that we do not fight the natural ...we fight the unseen.....And I have experienced enough of the unseen to know that it is, indeed, there.

Ok..... without even being aware of it, I have felt like I have to continually earn God's love. He tells us the path is narrow so I try to work and work....and continually do things.  I actually make to do lists in order to please God. Yesterday, I was beginning to get a little depressed during the latter part of the day. I felt as if God was asking me to give something up....something I worked hard for....and it was causing me distress.

The thing is...I don't want to be tied to "things." I have seen how the love of things can ruin people. I have seen how things can shift one's focus away from Christ. I"m sad that there is so much waste in the world and I'm sad that some Christians have way more than they need while the person next to them is struggling to put shoes on their kids feet. It hurts to watch sometimes.

I have often condemned myself for "not doing enough for Christ", but in reality I run around busy trying to change things and attempting to work and work and work to make life better for people. It's harrowing and, at times, exhausting.

Last night, when I felt the need to give away something that I worked so hard for...I just slipped into depression.
I prayed. Dear God, is this what you want? You know that I love you. You know that I would give anything to you. If this is what you want God, speak to me? Speak to me, Jesus, I need to hear your voice.

I went to church with the faith and the expectaion that Jesus was going to speak to me.
And He did. He always does. We only need to have the faith that His voice will come at the time when we need it most. Press on. Push forward. Don't give up.

Last night was one of those nights that I am thankful for obedient children of God. I am thankful for people that sacrifice so much of thier time pursuing God. God can speak through His children.  He tells us, "My sheep Hear My Voice."

Last night, a very spirit filled man began telling people in our church things only God could've known. He didn't condemn anyone. He reached out with the love of Christ and encouraged.

This man told me very specific things that only God could've known...

He answered my question.

This is what he said: Keep in mind that I don't know this man...He knows NOTHING about me. He doesn't know my name, even. He was a guest preacher from another city in another state. I'm inserting my name for reading purposes.

"Rachelle, you do not have to earn God's love. It is already there. You are the type of person who runs around trying to please God...You are like a wife who is so busy that sometimes she just forgets to rest at His feet." You are the one who makes "TO DO" Lists...!!!!!    Slow down, rest at His feet.
Rachelle, I can see how much you love Him. You are a pleaser. He longs to be closer to you. You don't have to earn His love. Jesus  is showing me how you have been hurt by the people that you thought loved you. He is healing you. He is not only healing you, He is giving you a new heart..... He says, ENJOY ME, Rachelle... Remember, he said, that you can't change things....You try to change things..but God is working...let God do the work. Be still and know that He is God.
He also said that God had a ministry in store for me and not to give up on it.

He is the third person to tell me about a ministry that God has for me...that is another story altogether...

SO reader, today....Rest in Him, Lean on Him..

Enjoy Him...

God hears you...

Come to church with me. God is moving there. God longs to heal you and speak to you. Come expecting.

Please know that I don't want to take you away from your church or your religion, I am just very in awe of some of the things that have transpired lately ....I want you to be a part of it....

Reader, I love you and I want the best for your life.  I want us all to make it across the finish line and to help as many others across as we possibly can.

Seek the face of Jesus today,

Sometimes we fight by simply resting.....

The Lord is my shepherd

I shall not want

He leads me beside the still waters

He leads me beside green pastures

He restores my soul.

He leads me into paths of righteousness for His names sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Death,

I will fear no evil

For He is with me

His rod and HIs staff, they comfort me..

He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies

My cup runs over

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the House of the Lord

FOREVER.

Big Brothers, Big Sisters,

The other day, I had good news from my Big Brother/Big Sister case worker. She had scheduled an interview for meet a parent for a potential match.... I have been waiting for quite a while to be matched to a little sister....
 I signed up for the program in hopes of giving time, hope, and love to a child who needs attention and a little TLC.

The case worker asked me if I would mind being matched with a black child.  "Of course I don't mind, I replied."

To me, love sees no color. I could love a black child just as easily as a white child.

Love sees no color.

So I met with a mother yesterday. I thought everything went fine. I told her that I am a very caring person. I calmed her fears and let her know that I would do everything I could to make her child feel comfortable around me. I told her that I love both indoor and outdoor activities and that I am very laid back and easy to get along with.....

Today, I got a call from the BBBS caseworker. Apparently, the mother I met with has decided that she would like her child matched with someone "younger" and without any other children...

I couldn't help but wonder if my race was an issue for her.... And I don't know what she means by "younger"

I guess my feelings were slightly hurt. Apparently she had a visual image of the kind of person she wanted to be her daughter's big sister...someone "young" and "without child"

How often do we fail to learn from others because someone looks different than we do? How often do we put people in boxes and let our expecations destroy opportunities?

There is a small part of me that wonders if my race was an issue for her. I don't want to play the "race card" but it made me sad that racism still exists.  I felt sad because I felt as if I understood how black people have felt all those years when they were unable to get jobs because of thier race.

.....When will we learn that love comes in all kinds of packages...black packages..white packages...fat packages, skinny packages... "old" packages....( i guess that would be me..lol) and young packages...

My initial reaction when I heard the news was one of hurt and disappointment. My first instinct was simpy to give up...to quit Big Brothers/Big Sisters altoghether...

I thought of all of the people who have quit God because they were hurt. 

So, instead of feeling hurt....I have gleaned from the lesson....Sometimes life throws us punches. We pick ourselves up, we dust ourselves off, and we keep going.

We simply learn to let it go.

There is a still a child out there who really needs a Big Sister and I know for a fact that I will be a good one.
We don't quit. We just keep going.

I meet with another mom tomorrow. If God wills it, then it will be...and if not,,,then, we try again.

7 days of Heaven, Day 5

One day I was driving through a neighborhood and Jesus impressed something upon my heart... I imagined myself knocking on doors, visiting people.....

My initail reaction was, "Jesus, who does that anymore?"   Most people these days don't even know their own neighbors.

Lately, God has really put many people on my heart. Lately, I've found myself praying for people in my neighborhood that I haven't seen in years.

The other day I felt the need to go pay a visit to an elderly man that I haven't seen in years. It was very refreshing and already I am looking forward to going back.

I remember the first time Jesus asked me to pray with a lady that I hardly knew. She lives close by...At first I thought,,,how intimidating....but I prayed with her anyway...She began to open up to me...I learned many things about her life. She shared many of the tragedies that she has faced and opened up about God for the first time in a long while. We need that kind of dialogue with the people around us. We need to be the healing, loving hands of Christ. We need to listen to people's stories and help them in this race of life. We need to set aside differences, put down our gavels of judgement, and simply take the time.. We need to obey the voice of God.

I follow a blog written by a lady from a very beautiful family. In one of her posts she spoke of how she made chocolate chip cookies and went around her very hurting neighborhood. She introduced herself and she loved on strangers that she doesn't even know. During this time, she met widows and hurting people.

I know that we should all exercise caution in some areas, but I was deeply inspired by this kind of love...

The kind of love that actually gets to know the people in the neighborhood....

The other day I read something that made sense...Today we see so many problems in society. Drugs, Suicide, Child Abuse, and the list goes on and on....

The problem with many churches is thier outlook. Many churches limit the movement of God. Churches are set up to where they beckon the lost to come to them.,,,,... Many of the lost will never step foot inside of a church...

In the Bible, the church actually went out into the world. Not the other way around. The disciples went out two by two....into people's homes....The disciples sought out the lost of the world. They didn't build an epicenter and wait..."Build it and they will come.."

They simply just went. They put on the boots of peace and they went.

I like the idea of getting to know the neighbors. I like the idea of bringing cookies to someone's home. It's a romantic notion that seems to have died. I say we bring it back to life.

Today, go visit someone that you haven't seen in years. Walk over to the neighbors house and introduce yourself. Spread a little light and a little bit of Heaven to this dark earth.

7 Days of Heaven, Day 4

The other day I was at a family member's house. When I walked inside, I saw a lady and her son were visiting. I don't know the lady too well, but I have talked with her on a few occassions....


Sometimes, I can feel God's great love for specific people. Today, I felt his love for this lady and her son. I have no idea what thier life looks like. I have no idea if they know God...or if they have faith.....

Every now and then I can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.....It comes as a sense of overwhelming "rightness"...
I knew that I was supposed to tell this lady just how much God loved her and her son....

I imagined myself walking up to her and saying, Mrs. _____, God loves you so much. I don't know what your life looks like, but He is telling me that soon the dark clouds of your life will fall away...He is showing me His great love for you and your son....

I imagined myself speaking to her without hesitation and without fear......There were other people in the room and I'm not accustomed to speaking in this way...so I wrote it down...

I have a stack of journals in my car. Lately, I have given these journals to women in women's shelters, along with an encouraging message...

I chose a journal because a journal is place for thought....and I wanted to remind these women that thier thoughts are important. No matter how much abuse they have suffered, no matter what thier lives look like...thier thoughts matter...

I told the lady how much God loved her and her son. I told her that her thoughts matter....

But I was disappointed that I didn't speak it........

The Bible tells us that in order to be saved we are to believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths....
We speak our faith.....To confess with our mouths is an action. It is something that we are to do.....

We speak. I don't know if writing qualifies as speaking, but I am praying that God will give me greater confidence to speak.  Beliving simply is not enough...we are to speak...

Let's shout it from the hilltops....Jesus Christ is Lord..

" If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9

When we confess our faith..when we speak..when we obey the voice of the Holy Spirit, we bring a little bit of Heaven to this dark earth......


I started thinking about our comfort zones.  God moves when we allow ourselves to move out of our places of safety. Some of the most amazing times in my Christian walk have been the times when I listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit. I have always considered myself shy...but I have learned that God gives confidence..all we have to do is ask.......Speak! We need to learn to speak!
There have been times when I truly felt like God was asking me to do something specific, like pray with someone. I always imagined the worst possible scenario...I always imagined that the person would look at me strange and tell me to go away... but that has not happened...I have found that the people that He has asked me to pray for have been grateful. He has led me into love and He showed me that there is nothing scary about love.
Love is the tie that binds together. God is love.  He has shown me that relationships on earth are meant to be meaningful and deep. They are meant to be more than what we have made them. Only God can ever truly lead us into love. His love is the love that loves us no matter where we are or what we have done. His Love hopes all things, endures all things, believes all things...His love believes in us, even when no one else will....
Love is not scary. Speaking love is not scary. Next time, I speak!

the ugly rock

the other day, while at work, I needed an ink pen....I was outside and realized that I had left my pen inside the building. That's no surprise since I am always deficient in this area...

I didn't have anything complicated to write..I simply needed to check some items off of a sheet of paper...so I reached for a rock...

The ground is littered with rocks...rocks of all shapes and sizes..rocks of all colors and textures...

I happened to pick up the ugliest rock I could find...

I knew that the ugly rock would be able to complete the specific task in the best possible way...

As I was checking off items with the ugly rock, I noticed the smooth lines it made across the page.

None of the smooth, prettier rocks could have done that...the smooth, pretty rocks would not have been able to leave the same mark as the ugly rock...

Leaving our mark on the world...

sometimes, don't we think we have to be beautiful or look a certain way to leave

our mark on the world..

I used to strive very hard to obtain an image. I never felt like I matched the standards of what is considered beautiful in this day and age.

Today beauty is often associated with thick, shiny hair, certain body types,

the best clothes....

I often wanted to change myself to conform to this image.  I thought that love was a shallow thing that depended upon whatever level of  beauty one possessed.

Of course, I was grossly wrong. Even the most beautiful girls get hurt and trampled underfoot.

I have since learned that true beauty is of the heart...

Since, my walk in Christ, He is making me into the woman that I am supposed to be.

He is giving me confidence in who I am..

I now see that life is necessarily about how much I am loved,

but measured in His eyes by how much I love others..

So, today, if you are feeling ugly..

You can still leave your mark on the world.

God loves you so much and He longs to transform you

into the person He wants you to be.