"Wherefore I say unto her, which sins are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little". Luke 7:47

He loves me and longs for me in ways no one has, nor ever will.
This passage of scripture came to me in the wee hours, as much as I wanted to ignore His power in these verses, I couldn't. Instantly compelled to remeber all the ways I have screwed up. Haunted by my most recent shortcomings, He reminded me of this woman with her oil, tears, hair and kisses. Compelled by his love and her deep regrets, she honored the Master. She gave Him her all.  She loved Him much because she recognized she needed to be forgiven for much.
Today, He asked me " How deep is your love for me"? "Have you recognized you have been forgiven of many sins"?He reminded me of His love and challenged me to look at the way I love Him. The power of His love removes all guilt and shame and invites us to live freely and love freely. Give others the same gift of love and forgivness you are given by God daily. Put that "In Quotations"

Often in life we are thrown curve balls.  When that happens, it can feel like we are alone, crazy and unloved.  These emotions are expressed in negative actions, words or in our silence.  Silence that haunts us at night.  Silence that causes us to retreat. Silence that leads us to believe we are not loved. 
No matter how off track we may get in life, we are loved. Even when everything that could be wrong is wrong, YOU are loved. Next time you find yourself lost in silence, trapped without words to express your pain, give yourself voice by saying these three words, "God loves me." and you can put that "In Quotations"

"Worrying is negative meditation" Creflo Dollar

How often have you lost sleep thinking about past due bills?  Or, maybe it wasn't sleep lost due to bills but thoughts about a loved one.  Whatever the case, when we worry we are meditating on things we can't control, people we can't control. 
I encourage you as we blossom into spring, to re-route your meditations.  Instead of centering your attention and energy on the negative, become positive.  Paul encourages us in Philipians Chp. 4 to think on whatever is true, worthy of reverence, just, pure, lovely, gracious, of virtue, excellent and praise worthy. Once you begin to positive meditations, those problems that appeared huge will, shrink. Peace will become apart of your daily life instead of worry and stress.
 Rember God can handle everything you can't. So, stop losing sleep, God's got it. Put that "In Quotations"

"But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19 KJV

To ponder means to focus one's thoughts on something so as to understand it deeply( Merriam-Webster).  To ponder means to weigh in the mind(Merriam-Webster).  To ponder means that sometimes you just have to sit, be still and reflect (Rhonda Hill).

Mary was a wise woman.  She took note of all that was happening around her and within her and pondered.  She was not quick to speak but thought on those things that were happening for her and around her.   We learn from Mary that silence truly is golden.  A golden time to observe, to focus our thoughts, and apply mental weight to things that are happening in our own lives.  In the midst of our pondering, we give God time to answer. Put that "In Quotations"

This month is Women's History Month.  This is a time for us to reflect upon and celebrate the contributions women have made to the world.  As we recognize those heroines, we can feel a sense of accomplishment and pride as women.  Would it not be nice to feel this way all year long?  Well, women, we can. " Is there no queen inside of you?"  Are you not worth celebrating each and everyday?  Are there not women around you doing great things daily?  Let us not limit ourselves to celebrating others that we have never me before and will probably never meet, but let us celebrate ourselves.  Remeber where God has brought you from and where He is taking you.  He has done great things in your life.  Do not wait to celebrate the historic moments others have created, but celebrate the ones you are creating now.  Put that "In Quotations."

"We are all engaged in the task of peeling off the false selves, the programmed selves, the selves created by our families, our culture, our religions. It is an enormous task because the history of women has been as incompletely told as the history of blacks."Anais Nin (1903 - 1977)
I facilitate many groups for both men and women, teens and adults. I allow each participant to tell their story, to share their experiences. There are some that are ready to share and the rest are content to listen.  With this being the case,most of the discussion is informed by a small percentage of the group. Thirsty to hear the rest of the voices, I begin to probe and direct questions to the silent.  I want to have a full discussion and have a more complete story.
Unfortunately, this world does not have a fair facilitator. There isn't one fairly assigned to hear the voice of all people.  With this being the case we as women must work to make sure the whole story is known. Where the story of women has spaces to be filled, we must be ready to fill it. We must be ready to share the truth of who we are in order to begin to "peel off the false selves" we have been assigned.
The next time someone asks you if you have something to say, say it. Say it with dignity knowing that you are helping to make our story more complete.  Join in the quilting of stories that bring voice to so many voices that had no chance to be heard. Your story does matter. Put that "In Quotations"

"Women have to be strong" said by mommas everywhere.
Ladies at some point in our lives we have heard that statement, be it spoken to you directly or indirectly, it is a message that has been stained in many of our memories.  We see the message displayed in the amount of responsibility given in order to make us strong.  We experience the message in the way we often work our jobs and others.  We see it implied through the amount of grace given to the male slackers in the family versus the tight rope we often have had to walk. 
In our quest to be strong for everyone else, we have rendered ourselves to be weak.  Weak when we are alone and haunted by the pain of bearing this pseudo strength. We must allow the veil to be lifted from our eyes and discover the strength that comes from God when we acknowledge our weakness.
We don't have to wear our burdens.  We just have to be the unique person God has created and gifted. As we allow His strength to empower us, others will be lifted. Realize sisters that you are strong in Christ. Once you accept that you'll never have to strive to be strong again, because you'll know that you have already been made strong.
Put That"In Quotations"