God Misses You!

Relationships are so important aren't they? As humans, we sometimes tend to measure our existance by them. We are sisters, daughters, friends, co-workers, wives, girlfriends, best friends, cousins and aunts. We wear so many hats with so many different relationship labels on them, and each have their

special place in our lives; each require a certain measure of investment. In order to preserve or to create a relationship, it requires our time, attention and a portion of vulnerablility an openness on our part. We can't expect to maintain friendships if we never share personal thoughts or feelings. We can't 

claim to be close to our siblings and families if we never communicate with them or extend ourselves to them on a regular basis. Our boyfriends and spouses would not feel close to us if we never trusted them with our secrets and co-workers would retreat from us if we operated in distance on our 9-to-5's. Yes, Relationships require openness and availability. Think about the one person in your life that you simply cannot live without! Are they in your mind? Great...Now, think about how you might feel if

that one person never called you, never accepted an invitation from you, never extended an invitation to spend time with you, always had other plans, promised to hang out with you, then always cancelled or worse, came by to see you in a rush to leave. How would that make you feel? 

In our Christian lives, as unbelievable as it might seem, we tend to treat someone very special in that exact same way: We rush our visits and conversations; we make promises to spend time and then cancel; we ignore His calling or make excuses as to why now is not a good time and we even consider Him to be an option and not a priority. For those of us who are married, if our spouses treated us in such a way, or if our BFF did any of those things on a consistent basis, we would be irate!!! We would be so upset and hurt and let down... yet we often treat our Savior in this way throughout our day, our weeks and even throughout the course of our lives. We do not always give Him the quality time that He deserves. 

As Believers, it is our privilege to spend time with God- knowing that it is time spent with His spirit that makes a difference in our lives and moves upon our hearts to please the Father, through Jesus! Yet, our hectic lives and demand from this world can consume our every second of our time, if we let it. So then, what are we to do? Should we just accept the fact that we do not have time for God- the God who invented time for us? Should we make excuses and hope that He will understand? I think we all know the answer to that is, "no". Of course not! Our God is more precious than that and should take precedence in our lives, inspire of the schedules, the dates, the careers and the "me" time. He deserve our very best in each day that He offers to us because each and every day, He has blessed us with His best!

"My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him."
~Psalm 62:5

This scripture gives me peace in my soul and helps me to separate the truth from the demands of life. I want my continued desire to be for my God; not just His blessings, but also His presence in my life. Yes, God has given us a life to live, but He's also given us time to spend with Him. Each day, there are moments that we can set aside to share with our Lord, yet we do not always take advantage of them. We thank Him for our days, yet He might not receive an invitation from us to be apart of it. We ask Him for more things, yet His true desire is that we just want more of Him! He promises to never leave us or forsake us, but have we given Him that same promise in return?

Our God misses us! Let's remember to spend time with Him, every day. He's done so much for us already, what more could we ever need outside of His blessings of life and Jesus? This week, let's all commit to daily prayer and scripture meditation. Let's remember to thank the Lord for our job and not complain about it. Let's lift up a friend, instead of gossiping about them. Let's be joyful in giving, instead of grudgingly holding on. Let's tell our savior "Good Morning" each new day, and share His love with someone who needs the reminder!
Jobs are important, but our Lord is more so. Hanging out with friends is essential, but our Lord is more so. Planning our next move, our next vacation, our next party or our next date is dire, but giving our hearts and our time to God is even more so. Let's stop letting things get in the way of the most important relationship we could ever have. Lets open our hearts to anticipate spending time with our Savior who loves us so much! He is waiting for an invitation from us to become a regular part of our existence, not just our moment-by-moment or day-to-day.

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person (spend time), and they with me." -Revelation 3:20

Time is precious and cannot be replaced. I want to spend mine on pleasing Jesus, don't you? Let's take this challenge together! Let's live a life that shows the Lord how much we love Him and include Him, every step of the way!

~Pearls

Like Her Father

Today marks one month since my daughter has been born. It's honestly taken me these past 31 days to analyze, understand and put into words my feelings regarding this amazing miracle. It's incredible to me that, for 268 days, I carried a human being in my body. Oh... how I remember those heavy feelings of discomfort, how my food used to taste like spoons, how putting on a pair of pants was a true accomplishment and all the tears I cried over ice cream and the Disney movie, Mulan! (I could not get enough of that movie!!!)

All in all, my pregnancy was smooth sailing. I didn't get one single stretch mark, I only gained 29 pounds, my husband treated me like a dream and I was able to celebrate with all my dear ones. My hair did not fall out, I didn't get any acne and I can still fit into my original jeans and shoe size! It was a wonderful pregnancy... but a ferocious delivery.
The day she came, it was like a vengeance and during it all, I had to remind myself that my child had purpose and that God would not abandon us now; which He didn't. So, on September 4, 2015, my lovely little lady emerged into the world, with a cry that sounded more like a song; and in that moment of her arrival, I was reminded of all my prayers and hopes for her. My husband kissed me and we gave thanks!

Since that time, I have watched my darling daughter grow. I have entertained countless family and friends who have "oohed" and "awed" over her, and most times, I felt super proud; but I must admit, for the sake of this article and for my efforts of being vulnerable with you all, there were times where a certain comment really got on my nerves: "Oh, she looks just like her Daddy".
"Oh, Katrina, you had nothing to do with this baby did you?"
"Oh, that little girl looks nothing like you!"
"Maybe the next baby will look like, Mommy, cuz this little baby looks just like her Daddy".

Can I vent?.....

Ok, I carried her for 9 months!!!!! My body got big and uncomfortable. I had to go on medication for minor complications that were scary, no less... I was hospitalized. I had to endure an emergency C-section... where is my recognition... WHY Doesn't MY BABY LOOK LIKE ME?????

I remember one afternoon, while she was finally asleep for her nap, I cried out of exhaustion and asked God, "why"? I really did. Imagine... my pride was so large and my ego and vanity so high in the clouds that I actually had the nerve to question God regarding her looks. Never mind her health or her existence, right? I was so wrong in being so upset about her looks, but like the loving Father our God truly is, He gently taught me a lesson in that moment.

"Katrina", the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart, "she looks like her father, because that is how she is suppose to look". And like a light, the profoundness of that truth overwhelmed me and I thanked the Lord for loving me enough to teach me such an impeccable lesson.
See, we are all children of God. Our purpose is to please Him, love like Him and reach others for His

kingdom. In so doing, we begin to look like our Heavenly Father. When I operate in the fullness of my Faith, I look like my Father. When I love, despite being hurt, and live in obedience, no matter how difficult... I look like my Father. When I forgive and pray, when I encourage others and stand up for what is right, I look more and more like my Father. That is the goal and the purpose of each of our individual lives... to look like our Heavenly Father!

Regardless of what we are facing or what we are going through, we must all resolve in our heart of hearts that, if we are to live a life of true meaning, we must choose to reflect the Lord and His goodness, His holiness and His justice towards others. We should all aspire to love like Jesus, live like Jesus and immitate Jesus; by doing so, we begin to resemble the Father and all glory will go to Him, because He has brought us all a mighty long way and wants to use us to reach others of whom He wants to bless as well.
It's easy to recognize this in our prosperous moments, when things are going our way, we naturally want to operate like Jesus and reflect the Father. But, I am realizing that in our storms, in our surgeries, in our dissapointments  and in our discomfort... these are the moments where He wants us to look like Him even more! It seems impossible, but in our weakness He is strong, and has anointed us all, though Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to be the lights in this dark world, reflecting His image and proclaiming His love to everyone we meet and in any situation we may find ourselves in.

In a split second, the Lord convicted my heart and taught me the importance of looking like my Father. Now, when people gasp at how much my baby looks like my husband, I smile and say thank you. Yes, she looks just like her Daddy and one day, through prayer and our commitment to raise her
in the grace of God, she will begin to live a life that will reflect Christ and cause her to look just like her Heavenly Father as well. I pray that I look like the Father , too! I pray that all of our lives will begin to be lived out in efforts to reflect His unfailing love, His beautiful nature and His faithfulness.

When we look like the Father, we look Beautiful!
~Pearls

The Conditions of Our Hearts

We are inundated with choosing one thing over the other. In an average day, choices need to be made and I believe it's our truest character that truly wants to put a good foot forward; to treat others the way we want to be treated and to show goodness and kindness towards everyone. These are the intentions that we begin our days with...But, what happens when the chaos of the day takes its toll on us and we no longer want to treat others fairly? What are we to do when turning the other cheek only feels good in theory? Or when you'd rather pamper yourself instead of offering kindness to others? What happens when you don't want to read your Bible or drive 20 minutes for another Church event? What about when you don't want to pray anymore or when you are sick of Christian platitudes? What happens when your gut feeling tells you to do the exact opposite of everything you know is pleasing to the Lord or when you the thought of giving one more hug or making one more apology leaves you irritated and annoyed? Believe, there comes a time in each of our days when we'd rather just take care of us. We don't always feel like taking the high road and our hearts are often satisfied with "doing good unto me". It's human. It's natural. But, I'll tell you what should happen, instead... in those moments when we are exhausted of doing the right thing, there we find the life changing opportunity to live out obedience and faith, as a result of abiding in Christ.

See, in our mistaken culture, we are taught to go with what we feel. Music tells us to follow our

hearts and live in the moment.  Books and articles tell us to lean into our intuition or intellects and our friends and co-workers advise us to do whatever it is that makes us happy. We have been conditioned to consider "us" first and to please ourselves. This is contrary to scripture, yet, to our own defense, it all makes a lot of sense to live life that way!  It is the nature of man... to put us first; however, that will never fulfill our Spirits. Being self-centered is selfish and blocks others out, including the Lord. When we are lead by the flesh (that natural instinct that we innately respond to) our decisions will reflect the flesh. We will lie to help ourselves, give in to immoral desires to feed our cravings, we will fall prey to greed and self satisfaction, abandon the need to practice patience or cheat to get ahead. These are the natural responses to our humanity and the condition of our true hearts. The reality is that, without Christ, the compass of our hearts are a little broken and we cannot trust its direction 100% of the time.

When we are faced with those moments where decisions need to be made and action needs to take place- basically every moment of our day- whatever is in us will come out of us. Scripture says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Essentially, this scripture is explaining to us that we as humans are capable of doing any deed when placed in certain circumstances or situations. No one's heart is above any sin or crime. This is why, as a true and humble Christian, we must have compassion on everyone who wrestles or struggles with any sin, because no one's heart is above any mistake. I am just as prone to murder as the murderer; I am just as prone to adultery as the adulterer and I am just as prone to addiction as the addict. All that is required is the right situation, circumstances and opportunities, and if not rooted in Christ and filled with Him, then we will all fall, over and over again.

Whatever we pour into our hearts is what will come out. If I pour natural wisdom into my heart, if I fill myself with understandings of this world, popular culture and it's opinions, invest in the entertainment that challenges the standards of Christ or if I lean too heavily on my own way and prioritize my personal freedoms, then the actions of my heart will reflect such. But if I am filling my heart with God's word, surrounding myself in environments and activities that are pleasing to Him- if I am filling my life with worship and consuming the wisdom of Christ, then my actions and choices will be reflecting of Him. The key to living a victorious life is abiding in Jesus! I'm not saying that living for the Lord is "easy" or that making spiritual and effective decisions for Jesus comes without a struggle, but what I am saying is that too many of us are putting up a harder fight in our faith because we are not using the appropriate tools. Following our hearts is a 50/50 chance, that we cannot put total trust in. Looking inward, and not upward results in us losing our way and mistakenly making choices that we never intended to make. We are not praying, we are gossiping. We are not reading our Word, we are watching compromising TV dramas and listening to music that is less than glorifying. We are reading magazines that support our flesh, instead of searching the scripture for ourselves. We are entertaining relationships that are pulling us away from the Lord, instead of encouraging us to pursue Him more. So, when it comes time to stand in the fire or when it comes time to make a choice for Jesus, whatever we are putting in us will always be what comes out.

Instead of following our hearts, that may or may not lead us astray, the more successful strategy is to follow Christ- who will never steer us wrong! Living for us only limits us. Our purpose is above mini-skirts and TV dramas. Our lives are beloved by God and His calling over us is intended to flash His glory and overcome the powers of evil in every area of our lives! Sisters, hear me out: You are precious in His sight! Your existence supersedes that of the label that this culture is trying to place on you or the mindset that our world is trying to produce in you! Stand tall in the light of the Love of our Savior! You have been chosen to be a beacon in this dark world! You have been called to live a life that is called out. When others are tripping in the dark, Christ has blessed you with His salvation to offer a lamp to those who are falling! But in order to be effective Christians for Christ, we have to live out our faith, not just talk about it. We have to prove it everyday, with the way we live, the conversations we partake in and the relationships and activities we invest in. If we truly belong to Christ, we must constantly abide in Him and put our faith in him, and not ourselves. In so doing, we are better equipped to set the example for those who are watching us, proving our faith is legitimate and true!
This is a call to remind us all that we are living for something and Someone greater! Our hearts suggest only temporary resolutions, providing minimal satisfaction that we may or may not regret afterwards. Abiding in Christ and living for the Lord is a guaranteed measure for peace and confidence on a daily basis. If we keep our eyes and heart on Him, then He will fill us and use us for His glory! He will prove to the world, through us, that He is all that they need!

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
-John 15:4-5

Let's live a life of Faith that Proves the Love of Christ!

~Pearls