If all you can pray is Jesus, this one's for you!

Sometimes it just doesn't seem like prayers are being answered. Sometimes we are reduced to uttering, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!" Sometimes we are reduced to moaning, "Jesus, Jesus! Jesus!" Sometimes we can only cry out, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus," in the middle of the night, the night of deep sorrow of the soul. The night that breaks in to an unknown day.

Jesus, do what's best for our loved ones. All of them. Jesus send them home to You again, Jesus.

 Jesus seal up ungodly entrances that they've allowed into their lives, Jesus.

Hedge them in, Jesus. Show a way where there seems to be no way, Jesus. 

Sin is sweet for a season and then the sour sets in. The utter nausea of regret comes, the "How could I do this?

 "How could I sink so low?"

"How could I break my Savior's heart?"

"How could I turn away from my family?"

Show us how to live, today and live well. Show us how to love today and love well. 

Thank you, dear Lord for this promise: "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:" Romans 5:20.Show us how to live, today and live well. Show us how to love today and love well. May Your grace forever win in our lives, today.

 Grace Wins

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=grace+wins+Matthew+west+lyrics

When I speak of sin for a season it is not from the point of view of someone who was never in that position. It's from the point of view of a woman who has many regrets and would like to spare others from that.

 

Studying about sin for a season here today: http://www.scionofzion.com/proverbs_9_13_18.htm

 

Those who live for the pleasures of this world may think they have all wisdom but the reality is that they are naïve and they lack understanding not realizing that they are literally playing with fire. They are willing to sacrifice their eternal future for a few years of wanton pleasure. To sacrifice the eternal for the temporary does not show true wisdom but shows the spirit of folly of one who has no understanding. Every person in this world attends the funeral of someone we know and it is at that time that it should get us to think of our own mortality. Unfortunately, the spiritually dead do not think upon eternal things, only the things of this transitory life.

Prov 9:17 (KJB)

Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

Those who live for the pleasures of this world will turn into the harlot because she claims that stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. There is pleasure in sin for a season. (Heb 11:25 KJV) Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Moses knew that it was better to suffer in this world and live eternally with the Lord than live in all the sensual pleasures of Egypt for a short season. The enticement of sin is that it always claims no consequences. The enticement is that there will be pleasure and enjoyment. This is the call of sin to every human being but it is the wise person who can hear beyond the call and see beyond the present picture. (Heb 4:13 KJV) Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

 God sees everything and nothing is hidden from His eyes. There is no such thing as secret sin. (Isa 29:15 KJV) Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?

From The Dance to The Legacy, it doesn't get better than this!

 

I have always said that Dan Walsh really knows how to end a book and in this case a series of books. He and Gary Smalley still make me wish that they would continue this series as the characters are so compelling. I was gripped and became a fan from the very first book and actually feel that The Legacy is a book that I can give to the younger generation as a stand-alone book; a book most college age people can really relate to. Using examples of social media that is so popular among the young was something new for this series but it fit real well.

I really had no idea where they would go with a book whose main character was Doug as he seemed to be a minor character in the previous books.  I was very satisfied with exploring his journey and also Christina's. The side stories and the drama was all very emotional and kept me reading when I didn't even have time to read. But that is always the case with the books in this series.

From the back cover:
One young man is about to discover the true cost of independence!"For years, Doug Anderson has been drifting slowly but steadily away from both his family and his faith. His parents have been trying to reach him before he falls too far."

This scenario is happening to families every day and many parents are finding support groups and their small group studies at church as a way to cope.

I would've liked for Uncle Henry's character to be in the book more, as he reminds me of a wonderful dad, the kind I wish I had growing up. His advice to the family to basically "let go and let God," isn't always easy to do but wins in the end. Uncle Henry in my mind is Gary Smalley and as always Dan's interview at the end of the book with Gary gives a lot of wisdom. I've always bought some of Gary's nonfiction books as companions to this series and have really learned a lot.

I was given a copy of this novel by Dan Walsh and also a complimentary copy of the book through Revell as I am on their book review team. In return I was delighted to give an honest review of the book.

I give The Legacy five stars and hope that this isn't the end of a beautiful partnership between two gifted and compelling writers.

The Cup of the Lord

It's funny how something you wrote several years ago rings true on the very date it is featured in a devotional book:)
Here is an old Christmas devotional for the day:

The Cup of the Lord
“Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?" John 18:11 NLT

With the Christmas holidays approaching many will be serving different brews. There are many new designer teas, hot cinnamon apple cider and more coffees around than Juan Ortiz ever dreamed of when Starbucks opened. My personal favorite is a hot steaming cup of Columbian coffee. With the theme of cups I think of my growing collection of them: my best friend forever brought one to me from Greece, I have a beautiful gold-trimmed teacup my sister-in-law gave me from her own collection, a cup from Cracker Barrel that my husband bought me and assorted collections of china cups. One favorite is a mug that my mother gave me when I gave birth to my second child (twenty-one years after my first child) that said, “I’m a new Mom!” At age thirty-six, I felt pretty old to be new but now that Mama is gone, I treasure it.
What is the cup the Lord has given you this year? Has the brew been warm and sweet as the coffee that is handed to children, filled with milk and sugar and only a hint of the brew inside? Was your year fragrant as peppermint tea? Was it spicy as the hot chili my Mama used to make? Was it bitter as a hot medicine that you knew you must choke down to relieve the symptoms of a sore throat?
I still remember the year we had one of the best Christmas’ ever; it was nearly picture perfect. I thank the Lord for that gift.
But lives are not always picture perfect and the reality of life is that only Jesus satisfies. The cup that He has allowed in my life this year is bittersweet. But I still believe that He can bring our lives full-circle to His will.

“Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" Job 2:10 NL
I choose to accept the cup that the Lord offers me as His gift in my life. It may not come in the gift-wrapping that I would choose or fit my picture perfect plans. But the brew He bestows will help me to grow to His image of a child of God. And His touch will stay on my life as I yield to His hand.
Donna Collins Tinsley

This was included in the compilation book:

A Cup of Comfort Book of Christmas Prayer: Prayers and Stories that Bring You Closer to God During the Holiday [Hardcover] Susan B. Townsend (Editor)

http://www.amazon.com/Cup-Comfort-Book-Christmas-Prayer/dp/1440500517/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292760503&sr=1-2

Treasures of Darkness

Does anyone need a word about finding the treasures of the Lord in the darkness of family pain and truama, today?
The Word of the Lord says:
And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness—
(Secret riches.)
I will do this so you may know that I am the LORD,
The God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.
Isaiah 45:3 (New Living Translation)

Look for the treasure and you will find it and Him!

Musings on being A Sister Among You

A Sister Among You
Recently, I have started writing at times using a pseudonym. It is not really because I want to be an invisible writer but that I want to spare my very private family more pain. Because of family traumas, it seems they feel shame if there is any mention that we might be a somewhat dysfunctional, real family like many others on this planet. Although my husband and I grew up watching the Cleavers, Father Knows Best, and Happy Days we aren’t those kind of families. We might be more like someone on a Law and Order segment. So I will either have to resort to fiction or maybe I will just use the pseudonym of a Sister Among You. I would truly be invisible then, because we are a sisterhood of women.

You don’t know my name, you don’t have to; I am a sister among you. Sometimes I’m quiet and you may think I’m aloof, but you are wrong. I carry pain, for myself and for others; I am a sister among you. I was sexually abused as a child and went on at age 15 to marry a pedophile. He turned our daughter onto drugs and started the life-long battle she is just now overcoming at age 43.

I have been abused, used and tormented. I love, I hurt, and I dream dreams that turn into nightmares. I am a sister among you. Maybe I think if I open up to you and tell you about my life you will turn away.

Yes, my life would make you cringe; it would not fit into your tidy world. Once after I spoke at a retreat about “Making Peace with Your Past,” a woman came up to me later and apologized for walking out during the talk; she had to go throw up. My mama always said, “You have to laugh to keep from crying.” And I do, especially at times like that.

There are many among you, though, sisters, such as I. You may recognize yourself in some of these descriptions.

I may be your friend but you don’t really know me. How can you if you don’t share my pain, don’t drink from my cup? My cup is too horrible to taste and it would cause you to hurt also, which I would never want. Because I have seen and lived through perverseness in the eyes of men, and the hearts of women.

I am just a sister among you, I smile at you, but it only masks the pain. Daily I give myself and control of my life over to God who alone can heal the hurt. But sometimes He leaves the pain and the memories. Maybe so I won’t pass you by, another sister, lost in pain, needing a Savior, needing a friend; another sister among us.
In The Good Book it is said that what you have done for the least of these, you have done for Me. This sister may be dying emotionally, feeling hopeless as a wife, mother or woman in this world. She may be masking the pain with drugs, alcohol or even the goodness of church or volunteer work. She is trying to fill a void only God Himself can fill.

She may use men or women to fill this insatiable need to feel loved and whole. She may have endured losses such as the death of a family member, maybe even her own child: the grief seems unbearable and she wonders if she can live with this void in her life. She may be a prostitute, in danger each time she goes out. She may be trying to cover the pain of losing her children through the system.

She is somebody’s daughter.

She is a sister among you. Is she invisible to you? Will she stay that way?

Donna Collins Tinsley