Living Fearlessly – God’s Faithfulness

First I like to thank you joining me in the journey of living fearlessly in 2010 (and beyond). Second I want to announce the winner of the books “Fearless” and “Fear Not Promise Book” written by Max Lucado. Drum-roll…the winner is: Kim (comment # 5 on the original post from 01.01.2010) – Congrats Kim — I will contact you to get your snail-mail address 🙂

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” ~ Romans 8:28 (ESV)

How can you tell a father who is facing lay-offs; a wife who’s husband left her for another woman; parents facing the death of a child, families loosing their home, chemotherapy …that everything is working out for the good? I often have a hard time comprehending what is happening. Do I question God because not everything is working out the way I think things should work out?

We all have our fears. I my personal opinion, fear in itself is not a sin, but how we handle it can send us in the wrong direction. Fear can consume us to the point that we are afraid of stepping out into life; or even worse…gambling, lying, stealing…But we don’t have to have fear consume us.

I think that we sometimes loose focus because of fear. We only see our current circumstance and don’t look at the bigger picture — the eternal picture. Take my past as an example. I feared coming to the US, leaving family and friends behind with an uncertain future (would I find work? what support would I have). Looking back though — leaving Germany was the best that could have happened to me. Removed from family and friends, God had my attention. He was waiting for me with arms wide open to put my trust in Him, not myself.

Over the next week, I would like you to look back at your past. What was the biggest step you have taken? What was your greatest fear about taken this particular step? Failure, insecurity, rejection? I would love to hear about your past fear(s) and how you have overcome it. What brought you through?

If you have a blog, please share your past with us (link below). If you don’t blog — journal and share part of your thoughts in the comment section. You can journal/blog at your own leisure; there is no deadline to answer the above questions.

Today I leave you with a quote by Max Lucado you may want to ponder:

“When fear shapes our live, safety becomes our god. When safety becomes our god, we worship the risk-free life. Can the safety-lover do anything great?…For God? For others?” ~ Source: Fearless

Living fearlessly — trusting Him with my future…

Testing the Market – Bookmarks

I got a little creative — again. Last night I was working on some bookmarks. These bookmarks are a little larger than the ones you can usually buy in bookstores. I have used my photography and added Scriptures passages from the ESV Bible.

The first one is my personal favorite bookmark. The Scripture passage is Isaiah 41:10 – ‘my’ passage for 2010 (the passage also adorns my desktop at the moment). The photo is a shot of the Superstition Mountains (our ‘backyard’ mountain)…

The second bookmark I am sharing with you has 2 Corinthians 4:7. The pots I photographed at a local gift shop. I think the Scripture passage works very well with the clay-pots…

Tomorrow I will share the last two I made for this set of 4. I am wondering if someone would buy these bookmarks. What do you think?

At any rate, tomorrow I will giveaway 2 sets of 4. So stop by to sign up for the giveaway.

Also, I am working on a new series that will start January 11th. I will post every other Monday and I pray that you will join in. The topic? Living fearlessly in 2010! Yes, this topic is based on Max Lucado’s book “Fearless“, and I will giveaway a copy of the book in the first week of January. BUT you do not have to read the book to join in on the discussion or take away some encouragement from this series.

Thanks for stopping by today. May our Lord give you courage and peace today and always…

Thankful from the bottom of my Heart

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” ~ Colossians 3:16 (ESV)

I am inching myself back into the blogging world. Yes, I have been absent for a while — I needed to regroup and figure out what is truly important in life and to me…

So, why I am I writing a thankful post today? I have two wonderful things to share with the blogging community (although one thing is bitter-sweet)…

  • Some of you know that I had a ‘Silent Auction‘ last week on this blog. Although I didn’t get many bids for the print, the ‘winning’ bid is extra special (and bitter-sweet). I want to thank Marsha and CWO for bidding on the print. The ‘winning’ bid was submitted by CWO.
    Here is the very cool part: Darlene placed the bid in the name of all Christian Women around the globe — so in essence – you placed the bid too 🙂 . Since the bid was from the community of Christian women, Darlene requested that the print is not shipped to Canada, but to sweet little Gentry Rose.
    This is the bitter part: July is the last month that CWO is being published. I have known CWO (and Darlene) from the beginning. I truly believe that I would have not made that many connections around the world if it had not been for Darlene following His lead…Darlene, you always will have a special place in my heart…I thank God for you and your commitment over the past 4 years ~ I love you, girl…
  • The other thing that I am truly thankful for is: God gave me a dream and is making it in little pieces reality. I only have shared this with a few of my closest friends, but now I am ready to share with you all. I am trying to build a portrait business. The only part that is hard to have the energy after an 8 hour work day to take portraits and promote my business. But I know that I can dream big with God…If you have time, check out my ‘business’ website: Iris Nelson Portraits…Let me know what you think 😛 …

Thank you for taking time to stop by today. Remember: No dream is to outrages if God is leading the way 🙂 …

Visit my dear friend Lynn at Spiritually Unequal Marriage, to visit other Thankful Thursday participants.
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Final Desitation…

CWO Tuesday Meme

“We are urgent about the body; He is about the soul. We call for present comforts; He considers our everlasting rest. And therefore when He sends not the very things we ask, He hears us by sending greater than we can ask or think.”
~ Richard Cecil ~

Do you sometimes dream about Heaven? I do…I am looking forward to my final destination–where I can just worship Him 24/7 and chat with the saints that have gone before me. No more pain, no more tears, no more heart-breaks…Sounds much better than running through life…

Sometimes I wonder if God allows difficulties in my life so that I don’t get too comfortable with my life this side of heaven. I get sometimes so burned out that I think I can’t take another step. When I feel that way, I turn to Scripture and start dreaming…

That brings me back to my post from last week…What will Heaven be like? Will I dance before Jesus? Will I not be able to speak? Will there be still waters where I can lay my weary body? I think there will be…

“He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters…” ~ Psalm 23:3 (NIV)

Will I have a room in my Father’s house?….

“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” ~ John 14:2 (NIV)

Dreaming of Heaven, dreaming of peace and worship gets me through the day. Knowing that I can trust Jesus to see me through the hard times gives me comfort…

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” ~ Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

Final Destination

Lord of Heaven and Earth. I thank you for difficulties in my life. They remind me that I am not yet at my final destination. Lord, when I get weary and discouraged, show me the room You are preparing for me. I trust that You will see me through until the end. I pray in the precious name of my Lord and Savior, I pray in Jesus’ precious name. Amen…

Are your dreaming of your final destination too?

Blessings on your day and as always…

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To read the thoughts of other Christian women on this week’s IOW quote, please visit Loni at Finding Joy in the Morning. Hope to see you there.