Month: December 2009

A Time for Change

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Christmas is a time for reflecting on the blessings of God’s love…a time for thankfulness and prayer…a time to be happy in the joy He has given us through the birth of His son Jesus Christ.  As I sit here and reflect, I am truly ready to say good bye to 2009.  It was a year full of hardships sprinkled with blessings.  I want share with you a great book that has changed my life.  I hope you will be open to the idea of reading it. 

The book I have been reading is Gary Chapman’s Anger-Handling a Powerful Emotion in a Healthy Way  Throughout this book, he teaches us how to recognize the difference between “bad” and “good” anger and how to drive anger into a positive change. He described anger as “a light flashing on the car’s dash; it indicates that something needs attention”.


I don’t know about you, but there have been times where I have ignored the warnings from the dash. Not a smart choice on my part. The intentional neglect (whether due to laziness or money) has led to bigger more costly headaches down the road.


This is how I tend to handle anger and confrontation. I back away from confrontation any chance I can get. I’m not technically backing away, I am supressing. Supressing issues and wrongs that have been committed which ususally ends in an explosion of some kind.   This book has allowed me to take inventory of all the wrongs in my life and a chance to find healing.

Maya Angelou once said, “I can be changed by what happens to me. I refuse to be reduced by it.  Anger should spark a change, a positive one, but it should not diminish you into a bitter and joyless individual.  You can make a change without diminishing in heart.

Love in Christ,
Nichole






























































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The Blue Prints

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I have always enjoyed watching home improvement shows such as Flip this House, Design Star, and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition just to name a few. It completely amazes me how these designers can take outdated and condemned homes and turn them into something beautiful. I’ve always wondered how they have ‘an eye” for such visions.

Humans are in desperate need of extreme makeovers from the inside out. We put up interior walls for protection so no one gets in and hurts us. Insecurities serve as a decor of our battered emotions. Our hearts are hardened from each disappointment, failure, and loss. Our minds are constantly waging war and leaves us full of doubts, not able to trust, and always waiting for the next opportunity for someone to hurt us.

We are simply broken.

God created us in the image of Him. For what we know of Him, He is flawless, He is radiant, pure, love, and good. Ezekiel 1:26-28 describes Him as such, “Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.”

As I sit here and write, my heart is sad and I am disappointed in myself. I let insecurities control what direction I am currently going at the moment. I take out past hurts and disappointment on those currently in my life. The original blue prints that the ultimate Designer created have been destroyed and my house is in desperate need of repair. My mind simply needs to be gutted so the past is no longer the foundation on which I stand. My walls need to be torn down and replaced with those that will trust and lean on others and will let love in.

I want to be more like Him.

I want an aura (energy) that displays joy, connection, freedom, peace, and a light for others to see. Just as the ocean is breathtaking, beautiful, inviting, relaxing, that is who I choose to be. I want to be a place of refuge and strength just as my Father had intended me to be.

If you find yourself in need of a makeover, just call out to the Master Designer. He is waiting to fully restore you.

Love in Christ,
Nichole

Better is one day…

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in Your presence; better is one day in Your courts. Psalm 84:10 of the Message says, “One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship, beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.” Joyce Meyer took it a bit further when she said,”Your worst day with Christ is better than your best day without Him.” I, to be a bit honest, struggle with this. Until I have lived through it or walked it out, I simply cannot believe. Pain has always been my faithful companion on this journey, and I began to question if MY days with Him were actually better.

Without fail, God has risen to the occasion and brought resolution to my doubts in some form or fashion. I can now see first hand why it is truly better to have Him in my life than not. I see it when I look into the eyes of a friend who is completely broken desperately trying to find some form of relief, comfort, and peace. I see it when she needs antidepressants or some other substance to combat the war that is raging in her mind. My eyes are NOT looking in judgment and I hate to see her suffer when I have the anwer in my very own hand. We all have our ways of getting through rough times and everyone processes things in their own way. However, in looking, I can now see the very reason that God has to be ever present in my life. When I am in trouble, He is my relief, my comfort, and my peace. He is my ANSWER to it all!

He has broken many chains in my life, He has put my broken heart back together over and over again, and He has put my mind at rest (with His word) when my emotions are in complete chaos.

So, if you find yourself in the very same spot as myself and you wonder if ‘better is one day in His presence’, think about what He has delivered you from. Do the benefits of choosing to have a relationship with God outweigh what you had without Him?

Love in Christ,
Nichole