Assurance

Assurance

May Jesus assure you that as you follow Him—

You will never meet a fear He cannot conquer;

You will never face an enemy He cannot defeat;

You will never enter a battle He cannot win;

You will never have a need He cannot meet;

You will never face a temptation He cannot overcome;

You will never have a burden He cannot lift;

You will never face a problem He cannot solve;

You will never have a bondage He cannot break;

You will never have a moment when He does not care;

You will never have a time when He is not there.

"I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency]." Philippians 4:13 AMP

~Roy Lessin,  Co-Founder of Dayspring

What a great reminder that we are not alone, and don't have to 'do it all' in our own strength. In fact, God doesn't want us to! He wants us to depend on Him. Imagine the life we could have if we would simply let go and allow His strength to 'infuse' us! 

And take a look at the definition of assurance:
 

1. a positive declaration intended to give confidence

2. promise or pledge; guaranty; surety 

3. full confidence; freedom from doubt; certainty 

4. freedom from timidity; self-confidence; belief in one's abilities 

5. presumptuous boldness

 
WOW.  God can give me all of this!  He declares promises to take care of me and my needs if I call on Him. And if I will trust with a certainty and surety of who He is, He can instill a confidence in me that I could never muster on my own.  This, in turn, can release my timidity, and then allow me the freedom of 'presumptuous boldness' to serve Him and live the life He's called me to!  Oh, what BLESSED ASSURANCE!

Wordless Wednesday

Sing A Song

I found this quote today via the Tweet of a fellow blogger (who is, incidentally, my church Campus Pastor!):

"A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song." ~Maya Angelou

This reminded me of a favorite song that I love by Third Day, that usually leaves me raisin' the roof (of my car, usually) and always cheers me up...ENJOY!

Legacy

My husband's grandmother passed away two weeks ago.  She was a dear, sweet woman who epitomized Christian love and charity.  I was inspired at her funeral by words of her many acts of encouragement and support she generously offered to others in her lifetime.  Sending cards, phone calls, visiting people, serving her church.  These things reminded me of my own grandmother who passed a few years ago - they were a lot alike. Though both were often limited later in life by their physical limitations, their spirits were lively.  I was also reminded of my own 'call' to be an encourager...which is partially why you're reading this now.  A faithful servant's heart, encouraging attitude, a strong sense and love of family...this was their legacy.  A legacy I aim to uphold and pass on to my own family.

Bless You, Granny Mc!

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised."  Proverbs 31:30

The Conclusion

Well, since it's now been a month since I left the multitudes of you hanging on the eve of my 40th birthday,  I'm finally back to offer the conclusion to the cliffhanger:  I survived!

You can breathe now! Yes, oddly enough I felt the same the day after turning forty as the day before!  Such a strange phenomenon, but it's true.  A whole new chapter of my life has begun, and yet I feel no differently than I did at 39.  Hmmm...what gives?  :-)

I like something Raquel Welch (she's 69!) said recently on Oprah regarding women aging, similar to what I said in my last post: 

"The lesson for every aging woman is to embrace it.  I want them to stop being scared of it, because it's just another chapter in life.  It's not time for you to give up. You don't need to repeat what you did already. Don't keep comparing yourself."

A new chapter!  Don't revisit the old ones!  Yes, tuck them away to use as tools of wisdom and knowledge that support your story of today, but don't dwell there!  Keep moving forward!

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OK, anyway...I had a very nice birthday.  My sweet hubby threw me a surprise party -actually a week early, and boy, was I  surprised.  It was at a Mexican restaurant, where I thought I was meeting some girlfriends for a girl's nite out.  But, lo and behold - SURPRISE! - there were family and friends waiting for me.  At the Mexican restaurant...did I mention that?  *NOTE: I don't like Mexican food.*  (Had some REALLY YUMMY birthday cake, though!) That's where the surprise worked.  Boy Scout had the girls had rope me into going there with some ruse about 'craving Mexican' and 'buy one get one free coupons' or something.  Uh-huh.  Good one, guys!  There was much more that went into pulling off that party, but that's the gist...

Then, the day before my birthday I won a LeCreuset French oven from The Pioneer Woman!  That was pretty thrilling...considering I had entered just about every bi-weekly-or-so 'contests' of hers since last July with no results!  Yippee!  Then enjoyed a relaxing mani/pedi and a yummy dinner out with the hubs on 'the big day', complete with uber-yummy Krispy Kremes for dessert, as my birthday cake. (Chocolate covered creme filled - to die for, OMG!) And the week following (this was on a Saturday) was Spring Break and Boy Scout was on vacation, so quality family time spent together!    

That was a good two weeks.  The week after that I started walking again, which has really helped me feel better!  I'm not terribly consistent with it yet, but it's something!  That's half the battle, right - the starting?!  At least it was for me...for YEARS!  Cheer me on - I need to keep my 40-yr-old booty in gear and on the 'active' path!

Well, this was 'birthday month in review', concluding the 40th Birthday series.  Thanks so much for joining me.  I'll now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...