To be or not to be?

Some of my friends have said, "Wouldn't it be nice if you knew exactly what the Lord wants you to do, or who he wants you to be with?" I go, what are you talking about?! He does tell you, just not the way you want him to, or the way you would expect! You expect some quiet wonderful voice to say, "Yes, this is who your where meant to be with, or Yes this is what I want you to do?"
Well Christian, how long are we going to play blind? God always answers our prayers, but his answers are different! It could be Yes, no, wait a while, not yet, maybe, or just be patient!
We must always be willing to except the Lord's will for our life, and be prepared that our plan may not be God's plan! Be assured Christian, God's plan is better!
Don't let your imagination tell you that the Lord told you yes! Wait upon the Lord for a true answer that comes from him! But you ask, "Rachel how will I know its the Lord?" You will know because the Lord will give you understanding in your heart, but don't look too hard! Just wait, and have a willing heart, and open eyes, and the Lord will not lead you astray!
Be willing to look to the Lord and say, "I believe you want me to go here, so Lord...to be or not to be? I believe you want me to be with this person, so....to be or not to be?" Don't say in your heart that its where the Lord wants you without waiting for the Lord's confirmation that this is indeed his plan! So many hearts will break for every time they assume that they know!
It often happens that because we are willing to let the Lord have his hands on our future, that what we desire is given us, but again, it probably won't be the way you expect it, but it will be far better than you imagined! I hope and pray for everyone of you, that you would be willing to wait for the Lord's answer, and follow his instructions, and not your own!
God loves you, so give him a chance to show it through his blessing which he will bestow because of your loving obedience to him! Like I have said many times, the Lord desires to bless us, because he loves us like a father! Christian, be willing to wait upon the Lord, and stop and say, To be or not to be? God bless you all and thanks for reading!

I give my heart, my life, my all to you my God!

 Is it human nature, or selfish impulses that cause us to grip what we want with all our might, and never desire to let go for fear of losing it? Nothing can compare in fear than when we face losing what we fought so hard to keep! Not matter what it is, whether it be your life, your family, your lover, or a possession of great worth! Christian, whether we face up to it now or later, there will come a time in your life, where you will need to give up everything you have to the protection of God! God desires our trust, our hearts, and our loving devotion! When we lose what we fought to protect and keep, we finally see how futile our efforts to control things really are!

I will confess here and now I worry.....too much! Ask anyone in my family or friends, and it will be confirmed! I am weak, and a coward! When you get down to it, whenever I post on this blog, the reason I post anything is because I am reminding myself about what I have learned with each and every one of my weaknesses or short comings! I don't say anything to claim I have reached Christian maturity! Are you kidding me?! I know teen girls and young women more mature in their spiritual walk than I am, and I am older!

God hits the nail on the head when he says that pride is our downfall! Its pride that causes us to blind ourselves to the truth until either its almost too late to turn back, or it is too late! God loves us, he doesn't want to punish us, he wants to bless us! But how can he bless us when we won't even let him show his loving mercy, by not giving everything we care about into his strong unyielding protection?! Any mother will tell you your attempts at order will always fall apart! So why try right? Wrong! So why do it alone? would be the better question! With God all things are possible!

Do you think you could do a better job than the creator of the universe, who can bring people back from the grave, heal the sick, and feed thousands?! If you do, I really would wonder where you truly stand! I have seen so many things in my life that prove there is a God, and yet here I stand, once more being awakened that the only one I can really turn too is the Lord almighty! Must I be constantly reminded?! Or can I for once turn to God IMMEDIATELY?!

It proves how truly powerless we are! This week watching the ones I love so much go through struggles and illness, I worried myself into a frazzle, wishing I could do something, but I saw nothing! Then I turned to the Lord, and my prayer warriors in Christ, leaving my loved ones at God's feet! But Christian, that was my LAST resort, and not my first! How ashamed I am to say I still need to give everything back to the Lord daily! But Christian if we didn't need to mentally give everything to the Lord everyday, we wouldn't need the Lord! If we could fix every problem, we wouldn't need the Lord! If we could save every soul, we wouldn't need the Lord!! Then what need have we of God's sacrifice for our sin? We wouldn't have any! No one can say honestly that they have given everything to the Lord, there will always be something that we mentally have to give into God's hands, which is why we need to turn to the Lord daily, and if necessary, hourly as to be assured of where everything we hold dear is! And at the end of the day Christian, everything you love and cherish will be in the hand of our almighty God!

Christian, I put this challenge toward you, like God did to Abraham centuries before! Give up what you love most, what you cherish most, what you want most, all of it, into the hand of God! Cry to the Lord, " I give my heart, my life, my all to you my God! And with his strength, they will stay there for the rest of your days! Don't be discouraged when you find yourself giving things back again and again! That's human nature if I know anything at all! Ha ha! Christian, a lesson learned hard, is a lesson not easily forgotten, but if we could teach each other, and the world, instead of waiting for everyone to learn the "hard way" how many broken heart could we prevent with God's help?

Christian, God is a loving father, and he teaches us the same way! Thank you all so much for reading, God bless you all!

What am I getting into?!

 I think every girl has this kind of a thought when she is getting ready to marry the man of her dreams! Because like it or not ladies, our men aren't perfect, and neither are we!

Of course before marriage, we are smitten, and can't imagine getting angry at this wonderful person who loves us more than we deserve! But only when we continue to keep our minds and hearts stayed upon the Lord, will our love for each other continue to grow, and blossom into something wonderful!

I sit here, 6 weeks to the day away from getting married to my man Daniel! I love him so much, and the thought of living life without him is unthinkable! I need him so much, and I am so grateful to the Lord for bringing him into my life! I see myself so much more as someone not fit to be a wife and future mother, my past is ugly with sin, yet the Lord forgave me, and blessed my life more than I deserved!

As young women and young men, we need to ask, "Lord, what is it that you desire me to do with my life? What is your will, what is my calling?" Until we show that we are willing to except whatever the Lord has for us, we will continue to hit ruts in the road as it were! Cause the Lord knows better than us what we need, and what we still have to learn!

The most important thing we need to do when we face large responsibilities is ask ourselves, "What are we getting into? And strive to do these things the way the Lord would have us do! Life never gets easier, but the Lord can make our burdens lighter! Look to the Lord Christian, and I assure you, you will not go astray with the Lord leading your every step! Thank you for reading and God bless!

The world won't understand

Have you ever had an unsaved coworker or friend ask you about your beliefs, your family, or relationship choices?
If so, how did your explanation go? If you experience was anything like mine, it didn't go real well! It is understandable that unsaved people will not understand why you do the things you do...how could they? They don't know the Lord or what he asks of us as Christians! It saddens my heart when they ask me questions like, "Why haven't you tried to kiss your fiance yet, what if he is a bad kisser?" Or, "Why in the world did your parents have that many kids? They should have stuck with just you and your brother."
I have an answer for both questions, first I have never kissed anyone else before so how am I supposed to know what a bad kiss is? I love my fiance with my whole heart, and the Lord is at the center of our relationship, and that is what is important! And, God tells us that children are a blessing, and happy is the man that has his quiver full of them! But will the world understand even with these answers?! No, I am sad to say, because again, they don't not know our Lord!
I have witnessed to several of my coworkers, but in the end, they make a decision on whether or not the believe in our Lord! And many have chosen not too! You see fellow Christians, the world won't understand until they have come to a knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ! Until they do, our attempts to explain our lives will fall on deaf ears!
But we should look at this as yet another reason to spread God's word! For if we desire to be understood, we must bring more to Christ, that they may understand! We can't save every soul, without our Lord, and the converts for Him that we reap! God saves, and we are the tools that he uses! I have a desire to be able to say, that the world can understand, because the Lord used us to bring them back to the knowledge of right and wrong, and the law of the Lord!
Every time we lead someone to Christ, the Lord will make another understanding ear toward the things of God! And the more who understand, the more we will be understood! Christians, the world won't understand, but God can make them understand! God bless you and thanks for reading!

Agape Love!

If there is one thing that everyone longs for, then I would have to say that it is love! Whether or not it is admitted, every heart longs to know that they are loved!
That is probably one thing about our Lord Jesus that causes the heart of the hardened to soften, they long for something they thought couldn't happen for them, agape, or unconditional love! God loves us with this kind of love!
I found God's agape love and long time ago, but I desired more, I desired agape love from another on earth! How little I knew in God's plan for life, that an unexpected and gradual love would grow and deepen in the heart of another, so much so that they desired to spend the rest of their life with me! And yet his agape love only gives me a glimpse of the love the Lord has for me!
My love for Daniel grew so quietly I didn't know what it was until it was too late for my heart, I was stuck on him! I had been so afraid of another heartbreak in my life, and kept it to myself, never questioning his motives of being just friends! I still remember the night I asked him finally, because my heart was heavy in continuing! "Do you care about me?" How amazed I was to learn that this man loved me, and how much I praise God for his unfailing, unconditional love!
My dear follow bloggers, my quest for unconditional love has only just begun! As me and my beloved continue to grow in our love, I believe the Lord will show us even more the true meaning of the word agape!
But as my beloved fondly states, we love because He first loved us! God is the true example of agape love, He made us out of love, He gave the definition of love when He died for us, selflessly on the cross! No second thoughts, no doubts, He went to die for us out of love!
Do you love someone so much you are willing to die for them?! A fool fights to have what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose! Dieing for a friend is something I would like to say I would do without second thought, but I know in my heart that I would hesitate!
Maybe you to desire to search for agape love, but you don't know where to start! Don't start with man, for man will fail you, go to the one that died an innocent death to save your very soul! Is that not both wonderful and heartbreaking? Who are we that the son of God should die in our place? We rightly deserve the fate that would await us if Jesus had not stepped in, yet He chose to be merciful, and forgiving!
We had no idea what true love was, until God came! And for that, I am ever so grateful! I don't deserve the love of my family, friends, or fiance, and especially not the love of my Lord and saviour Jesus Christ! Love with agape, like Christ did! Thank you for reading, and God bless you!

Going the distance

I believe there is a time in every Christians life where they fear going where the Lord wants them to go, because of the things they are leaving behind! Family, familiar comforts, and friends, leaving them all behind for something new and strange!

But it is often when we do what the Lord wills, that we will be blessed for our faith and trust in Him! I know that I am both excited and afraid about what lay ahead with my future with my husband to be! But at the same time, its a comfort to know that the Lord is the one who brought Daniel into my life, and that he has had the center the whole time! True, none of us are perfect, and we will make mistakes, but that is why the Lord is with us every step of the way!

Going the distance is about doing whatever it takes to complete the task assigned to you, but in this post I am speaking mainly about doing what the Lord wills, even when you want to do the exact opposite! I believe we all will come to a point in our lives when we don't want to do what the Lord tells us, but its what we do when that happens that tells the people around you if you truly trust your Lord or not! When we struggle, its a perfect time put legs to your words, the things you profess to believe, and who you profess to follow!

Christian, I encourage you to go the distance for the Lord! It is a wonderful thing to suffer for the Lords things, and the Lord blesses us for the sufferings we go through in his name!

We will never stop learning Christian, we will always be learning something new! I am going the distance for my Lord, are you? God bless you all and thanks for reading!

Two weeks of painful, wonderful time spent before the Lord!

My dear fellow bloggers, I have been very tardy, and beg your forgiveness! I have been very distracted with God's newest blessing in my life! Since our engagement, the Lord has kept both me and my beloved Daniel very busy, but just these past two weeks, the Lord made it possible for me to go visit my fiance! This was the first time I had seen him since he asked me to court him back on August 8th 2010! Let me tell you my fellow girl bloggers, it wasn't easy being with the love of my life, and not give him a hug or just hold his hand! It was an emotionally draining experience, and I would do it all over again in a heart beat! The Lord has blessed us as we continue to wait until marriage to truly hold each other, which is our hearts desire toward each other! We have 3 and a half more months before we see each other again, which will be the day before we get married, on April 30th 2011!

The only thing that would be better than marrying Daniel, would be the Lord's coming! Other than that, nothing compares! I am sure alot of young people know what I mean when I say how hard it is to wait for that right person! I was young, and yet I felt the Lord had left me out of the love and happiness plans! But it was when I truly gave everything over to the Lord did I truly understand what the Lord desires from us as singles, and as couples! He desires our trust, and our humble loving submission, to let him have control in our lives! He says, "Step back, and see what I can do with your life!" And you know what Christian? He will give you over and above what you prayed for! Daniel is living proof of that! I prayed for a godly man who loved the Lord with his whole heart, and who had never shared a kiss with a woman before! And the Lord brought me Daniel, who is the most loving tender hearted man I know, and who reminds me so much of my father! I fall in love with my Lord, and my fiance over and over again everyday! The Lord is so good!

I hope this is only ever an encouragement for you my fellow bloggers! Please let the Lord have control, and stop trying to control your life by yourself! The sooner you give everything over to the Lord, and listen to him, the sooner he can bless you, like he desires to do! We will only ever make mistakes, and the Lord will only make the right choice, in his perfect holiness! I pray my fellow bloggers that you will consider where you are as a Christian, and pray to the Lord for guidance as you seek his will for your life! I love you all so much, my brothers and sister in Christ, and I pray you learn from my mistakes, and go the easy way, letting the Lord have control, and your burdens will be lighter! I speak from experience! :) God bless you all, and thank you for reading!

5 months of eternity, and the patience to face it!

When I was younger, I used to think that after engagement, the time till the wedding would fly because of how excited and swept away I would be! But now here I am, 5 and a half months from me and my fiance's wedding, and its torture!
Everyday is a test of patience and faith! I find myself saying, it'll come sooner than I think, and then again it won't, but then again it will! Ha Ha!
My mind keeps going over, "Stand still, and wait upon the Lord." We both have waited so long for the one person we were meant to spend the rest of our lives with, so why now, when we have finally found them, do our patience fail us?! But I think I have found that the Lord is showing me personally, that I have yet more time to dedicate to patience! I couldn't be more thankful that the Lord has brought Daniel to me, but I am not yet patient enough! Sometimes the time needed to dedicate to practicing true patience is given to us in a time and place that seems unnecessary! But what better time to practice patience then before marriage?!
Every day, the Lord shows me how he knows best, and to just trust him, and wait! I am so thankful the Lord hasn't given up on me, and that he still stands by me, leading me and teaching me as his child! In the end it comes down to, "Are you going to trust God? Or are you going to take your life into your own hands again, and speed things up?!" Christian, we must also remember that the Lord's timing is perfect, I know that from past experience! Trying to speed up God's plan is like ordering a three course meal all blended together into a food smoothie! The end result in both pictures are messy and unappetizing!
The Lord wasn't kidding when he labeled patience as being a virtue! It is one fruit of the spirit that comes slowly for me! But I want so much to be a patient person, and in the end, the only way I will succeed is to pray, and give it to God, and he will do the rest!
Remember Christian, the Lord has all the patience you will ever need, plus a million times over! Be thankful that he is patient, cause had he given us what we deserved, we are eternally lost! But for some reason, he chooses to be merciful! He loves us more than any spouse, friend, or family member! We are his cherished creation, and through his grace do we thrive! Live your life day to day at the feet of God! I post this under the knowledge, I have yet to be truly patient! I have no desire to be a big talker, little doer! But I pray that through my sinful mistakes, you might catch on before you pay the consequences! Thanks for reading my fellow bloggers! Take care and God bless!

Rachel, will you marry me?

Thursday evening, the unexpected happened! I got a call from my courting mate Daniel, and he sounded like he had something heavy on his heart! But no amount of preparing could have caused my heart to be ready for what he did say in the end!
He asked me what was on my heart, and that he really needed to know! So I told him everything that had been on my heart for the past several weeks, not leaving anything out, hoping it would put his mind to rest! I heard him sigh when I was finished, and he said, "Rachel, can I call you back in a few minutes?" I said sure, and he hung up! I sat there wondering what I had said to upset him, sure I had just caused him to struggle with all I had said! For 20 minutes, I wondered and worried, so unaware that he was using that 20 minutes to call his parents, and my parents!
After what seemed like forever he finally called back, and he sounded humbled and excited! I didn't have any idea what I was about to hear! He took a deep breath and said, " I sent you an email, you can open it now." As I opened the email, the picture which I have attached to this post popped up! I was speechless, but Daniel wasn't! Because as I looked at the picture, he said in a voice so tender,"Rachel, will you marry me?" I am pretty sure my heart stopped beating for a split second! As soon as I could breath again, I said, "What else can I say, YES YES!" Right after that, I heard my parents laugh outside the door! Then I knew what had gone on during that 20 minutes! The rest of our conversation consisted of telling each other how much we love each other, and how thankful we are that we are finally engaged! It is the strangest thing to think that in a few months, I will be married, and start a new life with the man who the Lord brought to me! I also thought of the title of this blog, and how underneath it says, "My search for my true love." I have truly found my earthly true love! I am so thankful, and my heart is so full of rejoicing and gladness!
I love Daniel so much, and the best part about it is, I had nothing to do with his coming into my life, it was all of the Lord! Now I just look forward to being the help meet God created me to be, and learning to be a loving wife with the Lord's help! You fellow bloggers have been such a blessing and support, and its my great joy to share my happy news with you! God bless you all and thanks for reading!

Music....it was God's idea!

Music is a powerful tool, and can be used for either a good or bad message! Today, we can say that most music has become corrupt, and people like music for all the wrong reasons!

Music was made to be enjoyed! And it was God's idea! The Bible tells us to sing to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, Singing and making melody in our hearts! The Lord loves music, evident by his creation, even the birds have song! We were made to serve and praise the Lord! We praise the Lord through music!

So how heartbreaking to think we no longer sing for our God, but just for ourselves!

I love to sing, it lifts my spirits, and makes me smile when I am having a ruff day! But how much better is it to sing from the heart for our Lord? Make a joyful noise unto the Lord! I want the music I listen to to praise God, and to honor him! It is so important to present the Lord in every aspect of our lives! If we claim to be a Christian, and yet listen to demonic music, what kind of a message are we sending to the unsaved souls of this world?! Search your heart, and your music Christian, are you presenting a good message for the Lord? Just remember, music was God's idea! Thanks for reading and God bless you!

Simple life, not of situation, but of belief!

The choices we make in life often dictate our situation! And depending on whether or not our situation is good or bad, we are happy or sad. That is an ordinary life style! And we make choices every day of our lives, all day long! Sometimes the simplest choices we make can affect us in a bad way! There is one choice I made several years ago, that doesn't dictate my situation, but sets me up for the future, whatever that may be! Accepting Christ into my life, and giving him my heart was a hard struggle against my sinful pride and Independence, but the Lord knew that my heart would break easily, and that I needed him more than anything in this world, so he sent trials my way, and set me up to go back to him!

Every choice you make dictates who you are, whether your responsible, immature, irresponsible, or mature! The choice to follow Christ says this, I am a child of God, and under his protection I will live for the rest of my life! And no matter what, I will never leave my heavenly Father!

I live a happy life, not because its easy, my family struggles everyday, but we are happy, because our hearts belong to God, and he provides everyday for our needs, and is the fulfilment of our lives!

What shall I fear, with God on my side, walking with me every step of the way? Shall I run and hide when he protects me from the wicked one? No Christian, with God, I am complete! He alone awakens the needs and desires that I truly need! He recently presented the fact that I need a help mate, and I am anxiously awaiting the day we will be joined together, but for now, the Lord is my comfort, my father, my match maker! And I will never doubt him, even when I don't understand, because he does, and that is all I need to know, until the Lord sees fit to reveal his plan to me! Just believe in him Christian, simply believe! God bless you all and thanks for reading!

Beautiful Change, Wonderful Joy, Unbelievable Blessing!

With as much as I love to express my life lessons and joys, you would think I would have written alot more than I have! Its been over 2 months since I have written! Not good! So I will try to fill my bloggers in as good as I can!

The Lord has shown me, that the way I dress and act really tells the story of my heart! Before giving my life over to the Lord, the way I acted and dressed was spiritually and physically not modest! I am so thankful that the Lord walked with me every step of the way, even when my heart was far from him, he protected me!

In March of this year, I gave everything to the Lord! It was a true struggle to give up any control I thought I had over my life, and turn my future, and my hopes all over into the Lord's perfect care! How silly you might say, that it would be such a struggle! But every one of us wish to have control over our life, but in reality, the Lord has control! But if we willing submit to him our lives, he carries our burdens, and makes it lighter! Sure, life will never be easy, but with the knowledge that the Lord is in control, we will be greeting our struggles in life with a smile, and a joy that is unlike anything you have ever experienced! Sure right now you say you are happy, and life is not all that bad, but when all your worries and cares are finally passed over to the one who so longs and desires for you to trust HIM, you will find a new joy!

And my God has blessed me with my beloved Daniel! Today is our 2 month courting anniversary! We have grown to love eachother very deeply, and I thank the Lord daily for this unexpected blessing in my life! Whenever I talk with him, my heart beats fast with praise and love for the Lord, and love for Daniel! And everytime I stop and pray, thanks and heart felt gratitude are on my lips! The Lord just recently blessed me with a working car for a great deal, right in our time of need when cars is something our family is short on! And then the Lord blesses me with extra hours at work when money is something I need to help my family! We serve an amazing God! And none of these blessings are because of me, they are because the Lord has chosen to bless me! But these blessings didn't happen until I gave over my needs to the Lord! And he provided 3 wonderful blessings! What an amazing God we serve!

My dear fellow bloggers, God loves you so much he isn't satisfied until he has our whole heart, until he has our full attention! Change of the heart doesn't happen until the Lord is the one filling our hearts! I love you all so much, your prayers for me and Daniel and my family are greatly appreciated! God bless you all and thanks for reading!