Month: October 2013

dare to believe.

dare to believe.

by Kathleen Moulton

What if around the corner, everything will change?’

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What if you could step into another dimension and see life very differently than you do right now?

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Life is more than what you see.

Today may be grim with heartache and discouragement. You may be lonely and really believe no one cares.

Things are not always as they appear.

God has figured our sadness into the equation and knows you will smile again.

What if God has your concerns taken care of? And you just are not aware of it?

~~~

Photo Credit:

WanderingtheWorld (www.LostManProject.com) / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

christianyves / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

 

expectation.

expectation.

by Kathleen Moulton

Always live with expectation.

You never know what you will find.

nest

The autumn leaves fall. But look what is revealed!

Simple pleasures make us smile.

scripture friday.

scripture friday.

by Kathleen Moulton

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121

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Photo credit: blmiers2 / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

read.

read.

by Kathleen Moulton

Pain is everywhere. We can’t eradicate it. We can only live with it.

But how we live with it is what matters.

Sometimes, I just want to give into it. I want it to do it’s work and be done with it. Those are the times when I can’t … or I refuse … to take another breath. Just let me die.

It’s then when we see God. Not because he always reaches down and pulls us out of the despair, but because he gets down in it with us, and breathes that next breath into us. It comes in many ways. When we least expect it, something catches our eye, makes us smile, and we know God is really there.

 

book

“Ann Voskamp’s story is not happily ever after.  As a child, her sister was crushed under a truck in front of her and her mother.  Consequently, her mother checked herself into a psychiatric hospital and her father couldn’t find God.  As an adult, she stood beside her brother-in-law as he buried his first two sons.  Voskamp is a wife and mother who does not grin through the pain but battles to believe that in God is joy, and that there are as many gifts amid the grittiness of life as in the moments of celebration.”

http://www.onethousandgifts.com

the hand of God.

the hand of God.

by Kathleen Moulton

It’s easier not to see God’s hand in your life. When things go wrong (and they will), there is a tendency to only see how bad things are.

I had several days like this. You know how it is – everything accumulates. And even though I’ve known God’s hand (his presence) in my life in the past, do you think I would remember it now? Intellectually, yes. Emotionally, no. I was hurting. And often, emotion clouds thinking.

While sitting in my car at the park, waiting for my son, I noticed the piles of pine needles between the abandoned picnic tables under the pavilion.

But wait! I have been wanting pine needles (or straw) for my newly planted strawberry bed. In a week, the pleasant fall days will come to a close and the temperatures will drop.  I had spent 2 weeks thinking about the need to winterize them, along with being dismayed at 2 farm supply stores not having straw.

I opened the trunk and grabbed two re-usable grocery bags and scooped up the pine needles that were “raked” by the wind. This simple find reminded me of God’s presence in my life. And it’s always the small things, isn’t it?

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The Bible says God’s ways are not our ways. We tend to “see” God in the big things. He wants us to see him in the small things. Because these are the things that are very personal to us. He wants that kind of relationship with us.

See the hand of God in your life. If you can’t, just wait for it. He will show up. I promise.

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

I Kings 19

~~~

Photo credit: MRGT / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

 

guilt.

guilt.

by Kathleen Moulton

Guilt hurts.

Sometimes we feel guilt when we know we did something wrong.

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It’s painful until you face it. And when you do, God forgives.

But then there are times when the guilt comes from other people. They make you feel guilty by blaming, accusing, and manipulating.

I used to allow that kind of guilt in my life.

No more.

You can be free from it when you do not allow that poison in your life.

~~~

 

 

Photo credit:

KellyB. / Foter / CC BY

 

 

still.

still.

by Kathleen Moulton

 

Farewell…

All is still…

And lifeless…

But nearby, new life…

When something is leaving, something is arriving.

Wait for it.

Be still, and know that I am God.

Psalm 46:10

color!

color!

by Kathleen Moulton

Even in our darkest hour, it’s amazing how God’s creation can make us smile.

This truth makes life worth living – even with all the problems we face.

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We have to see the color, even through the gray clouds of pain.

 

perseverance.

perseverance.

by Kathleen Moulton

Ugh. Perseverance. A word that will conjure up the thought of work.

But did you ever think of it as waiting?

Waiting is work, too. But not in the sense of using too much emotional, physical, or mental energy. It’s deciding not to give up and so you will wait as long as it takes. You never know what is just around the corner. Things change in a moment, a day, a week, or a year.

So why not take the attitude of being optimistic?

It’s a choice. It has nothing to do with how you feel. Once you make the choice to persevere – not give up – watch how you will feel.

No matter how bitterly cold and snowy the winter is, the forsythia blooms, the robins make their nests, and the meadows are dotted with cheery buttercups and happy daisies.

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This is the promise of hope.

Don’t give up.

discover.

discover.

by Kathleen Moulton

When you’re having a difficult time, do you just want to pull down the shades, lock the door, and turn off the phone?

I know the feeling.

But I’ve discovered something.

If you do something that you don’t feel like doing, you may be surprised what it does for you.

See, our emotions can play tricks on us. In fact, they can make us feel things are worse than they really are. Don’t get me wrong. Emotions are good. It’s just that we can be led by them instead of us leading them.

I know there’s some really bad stuff that can happen. I’ve experienced betrayal, hatred, abuse, rejection, abandonment, and the death of my son.

I have not been raped, beaten, or mugged. I have not suffered hunger, addiction, homelessness, eating disorders, or severe poverty. But others have. And I know some of those people. They have moved through their struggle or are still dealing with it. Yet, they have found life still brings pleasure and happiness. And usually it’s with the simple things – making time for a movie or coffee with a friend, sitting in the park, or whatever it is they would enjoy.

Life goes on – with you or without you.

You just have to find it. It’s there if you look.

But all too often, some of us wallow in the discouragement by putting all our eggs in one basket! If it doesn’t go the way we planned, we think there are no other options.

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There are. And many have found that to be true.

Will you?

~~~

Photo credit: B Tal / Foter / CC BY-NC