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Thank you to Brei and our friends at Manor Care for inviting Zoe's Bakery of Hope to participate in your bake sale. What a great day! Find out how you can support Zoe's Bakery of Hope and our efforts to help end child slavery and human trafficking by clicking on the button below!
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 Check out our new article, "The Power of Positivity", and find out how every child of God is inherently a positive person, and thereby a change agent with the power and ability to impact atmospheres, climates, and environments! Click the button below. "This is the day the Eternal God has made; let us celebrate and be happy today."--Psalm 118:24(VOICE)   Grief, mourning, sadness, and loss are as real for a child as they are for an adult. Find out how you can help your child or children walk through the stages of grief and mourning. Check out a new article, "Helping Children Process Grief" by clicking on the link below.  "There is a season (a time appointed) for everything and a time for every delight and event or purpose under heaven..." --Ecclesiastes 3:1(AMP) It's been really cold here in New Jersey; over the weekend, we were in the grips of the dreaded "Polar Vortex". Record low temperatures, unseasonable for this time of year (per meteorologists' reports), were downright bone-chilling! Dark over cast skies, howling winds, and ground so frozen it feels like you are walking on concrete, prompts one to wonder, "When is spring coming?" Is this you today? Are you experiencing a winter season emotionally? I have good news for you! Winter does not last forever. Spring is coming--although it may seem like nothing is growing, nothing is thriving, there is no progress, or there is no hope. Even in the winter, things are happening. There is movement, and there are indicators in nature that suggest the season is about to change. Take for example, the crocus flower. This beautiful, seemingly delicate flower erupts from cold, hardened winter soil because its flowers and leaves are protected from cold, snow, and frost by a waxy cuticle. Even when snow is on the ground, it is not unusual to see a flowering crocus. Something good is happening in a realm we cannot see. God, in his infinite love and wisdom, protects our hearts and enables us to survive and thrive through hard times and harsh conditions. If you are feeling like you are in an emotional "Polar Vortex", may I encourage you to continue to trust in the seasons and timing of God? So often we just want to get through distress, challenges, and adversity. But every season is purposeful--even the winters. What can you take from your winter season as you transition to a new season? Perhaps a life lesson, a nugget of wisdom, greater faith, and a deeper, or closer relationship with the God who knows what you need to get through your winter seasons--just as he cares for the crocus. When we trust God during, and through, our winter seasons, we do not have to walk in bitterness, hopelessness, fear, depression, or offense. We can emerge with the strength, grace, and beauty of the crocus. This is what others will see, which in turn will afford us the opportunity to share our winter story, encourage, and instill hope.  Sharing your story can help someone else.  “I’ve never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love!"--Jeremiah 31:3(The Message) I recall walking through a store a few days before Christmas, and Valentine's Day items where already on the shelves! In mild annoyance, thought to myself, "Can the last minute shoppers--like myself--finish Christmas shopping? Can we celebrate Christmas first?" I'm just speaking for myself. I'm sure no one else feels this way... I was recently in another store that was inundated with Valentine's Day paraphernalia--balloons, candy, plush toys, roses, etc. when I overheard a young woman talking to her friend. Bitterly she said, "All of this Valentine's stuff is an eye-sore!!!" Needless to say, there is a big commercial push for Valentine's Day that may invariably create pressure on us no matter where we find ourselves on the relationship spectrum--single, married, dating, divorced, separated, or widowed. But, did you know wherever you find yourself this Valentine's Day, you have The "Forever Valentine"? There is someone who is pursuing you with abandon, committed to a lasting and eternal relationship, and whose love for you is pure, genuine, unconditional, and limitless. It is God himself. Take time to receive the gift of love that He is giving. Click the button link below to read the article, "Love"  Prayer
Father, in the name of Yeshua, I thank you for the promise of Romans 8:28. I believe that you are able to orchestrate everything in my life toward something good and beautiful. No matter what things look like now, I decree and declare that things are coming into order, beautifully as I place my trust in you and live according to your plan! I confess my love for You, Abba. You are a good Father, who takes care of his beloved children. I believe your word. I believe that good is coming to my family, finances, relationships, children, grandchildren, health, work/employment, etc. I receive your promise now. Amen. It is so according to the word of God!  "O Eternal One, You have explored my heart and know exactly who I am; You even know the small details like when I take a seat and when I stand up again. Even when I am far away, You know what I’m thinking. You observe my wanderings and my sleeping, my waking and my dreaming, and You know everything I do in more detail than even I know. You know what I’m going to say long before I say it. It is true, Eternal One, that You know everything and everyone."
--Psalm 139:1-4(VOICE) One of the keys to emotional health and spiritual well-being is emotional honesty--with God! When we are honest about our pain, brokenness, disappointment, frustration, indifference, hurt, etc., we position ourselves to receive healing and deliverance from whatever is bringing distress to our souls. Many of us walk through life in silent emotional pain, bleeding internally in our souls, because are not taking our pain to our Creator and Healer, Jehovah-Rapha (Exodus 15:26) There may be many reasons for not being emotionally honest with the Lord--denial, blame-shifting, avoidance, rationalizing, or indifference--to name a few; but God already knows. In Psalm 139:1-4, David points out that God has explored are hearts and knows exactly who we are. He knows what we are thinking and feeling. He is in every detail of our lives. He even knows our dreams as well our thoughts before we think them! Nothing concerning our lives is ever hidden from him. You may be asking, Well, if he already knows--what's the sense in talking about it? I'm glad you asked because that is a great question! It all comes down to relationship. God is a God of relationship. As we share our hearts with him, relationship is cultivated, trust is established, and faith is developed. What secret hurts are you carrying today? What silent emotional pain are you in? Have an honest conversation/prayer with God, in so doing He will bring healing to your soul. Prayer Father, in the name of Jesus, I confess that I am hurting and broken. I am in silent emotional pain. I desire healing and wholeness. I give you the pain of ______________. This bruised me deeply. I feel____________ as a result. I pray that you would heal my heart. Replace the pain with your joy and peace. I thank you now for healing and deliverance in my soul. In Jesus' name, Amen and so be it according to your word! If you would like prayer or supportive Christian counseling, please email me at: lauri@abrokenheartsgps.org or call 1.866.460.8976 |
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AuthorI am a wife, mother, and Christian counselor who believes that God can heal and restore our broken hearts and put us on the road to wholeness, purpose, and productivity in our lives when we follow and trust his "GPS". |
