Really Small but Meaningful Prayer

         I just prayed this prayer and thought it was a good one to share and keep on here. It's one everyone can pray for anything. It goes like this:

Dear Daddy,

          You and I know there are feelings and words in my heart I can't write down or say yet. Please listen and then answer them too. Let Your Will be done.

In Christ's name,

Amen

Really Romantic vs. Really Simple

           Like every other little girl, especially during the big Disney princess times, grew up with the wrong motives for dating and marriage. I'm learning that really fast while watching Disney movies with my boyfriend. Now at the age of 31, I am very disappointed in Disney. For those of you who know me, you might never thought I would have said that, especially since Beauty and the Beast is my all time favorite movie in my life. I'm not against any of them but we need to be careful with them.
              Life can come true like in the movies. It could be a happily ever after but not everything is that easy or romantic like in the movies. I was watching Beauty and the Beast with my boyfriend and I saw a lot of things that are happening to me now while with him and they are so simple but for some reason when I was a little girl I thought they had to be more romantic to be meaningful. They don't. This is where the title "Really Romantic vs. Really Simple" comes in.
             "Really Romantic" is just really in the mind of a women or was for me. I am all for a romantic first date that is candle lit or every date being romantic. A date at a romantic and really nice restaurant. A romantic first Valentine's Day with that special someone. That romantic first kiss with the foot popping up and then everyone after that one. What I am also learning while those dreams are great and all. They are not the only dreams out there and sometimes they are impossible to reach. Guys don't want to be put through that much pressure. It is even better when they do it on their own with you telling then how and what to do. Probably the most romantic thing is a wedding and yes I have high, romantic hopes for that but again I can see where it also can be simple too.
           "Really Simple" is what I really love and what's really romantic to me. I say all the time that I am a simple, country girl and I am especially now. I could care less about those fancy eating out dates or any fancy dates, fancy gifts, don't need flowers all the time, holidays don't have to be fancy at all, and so forth. Now don't get me wrong I still like those really romantic things because they show I am a girl but simple things are just the same. An evening on the couch watching a Disney movie or a night of a cooked in meal, doing part of a puzzle, and watching a movie or just walking a trail or window shopping and smelling candles. Letting him see me without make up most of the time and not having to worry about what he thinks about me without it on.
           Little kisses on the cheek and forehead. Just spending time with the one you love is or should be romantic. I could go on and on about the simple things that mean so much like holding hands. When you know the one you love will do anything for you and try anything for you, that's romance for me now. I am just seeing more and more of how simple I really am. I don't even care whose house as long as we are together. I am that simple, country girl and I love it. There is nothing at all wrong with that when you find the guy that loves you for it.

             The lesson here is not to get so caught up in the really romantic. While it might be nice to think about it while you are single, don't let that stop you from dating or finding the right one for you. Give it time and you will hopefully get use to it and see that the simpler it is, the better it really is. I am a simple girl and there is nothing wrong with that at all. 

Trust in Your Unfailing Love

Psalm 143:8 New International Version (NIV)

8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
    for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
    for to you I entrust my life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

           I thought since there are a lot of churches that are closed today that I would have time to do a little devo myself. It is neat because my church put this verse on their Facebook page and when I saw it I thought, "Hmmm, a lot can be said about this verse". I am going to tell you what it means to me. It has been awhile since I have had time to write a devo in my blog and I miss that. Hopefully, this will be read by a lot of people and they will like it enough to share it.
            I love to think of the first sentence in this way. It says, "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love". That could be taken two ways.
           First, it could be talking about a person getting up and doing their Bible study in the morning before the day gets started and you just feel His Love surround you from His Word.
           Second, if you are outdoor lover like me, it could be that the sunrise reminds you of God's unfailing Love for you. That sunrise reminds you of all the good things that He has done for you because how can anyone but God paint a sunrise that beautiful. He loves you enough to make each sunrise different then the last one so you would have something new to wake up to every morning.
          With those two things being said, we go onto the next line where it says, "for I have put my trust in You". That means that we trust God in whatever we are going to be doing that day whether it is something we got from His Word that will remind us or just the beautiful of the sunrise. We can trust that He knows our needs and wants and that He will provide for us each and every day for He knows what is ahead of us.
          And because of that trust we put in Him, He will show us the way in which we need to go. We can entrust on life in and to Him. That is really what trusting Him is all about. Trusting that He will guide our life to the best that it can be for Him and His Glory because isn't that what it is all about in the first place. God gave us our life so no matter what we are going through, we know that it can be used for the ministry of God.
         As I am writing this, I am thinking about how I would paint the verse out on a canvas. It would look something like this: It would have a sunrise up top. then a country looking road going away from or towards the sunrise, don't have that part figured out yet. Then there would be green as the grass all around the road and a person sitting on the grass reading a book (aka the Bible). I might even paint an angel in the sunrise somewhere as a sign of God's Love is there or I could put a heart of some sort. I could even put a road that is split in two and have signs on each one. Signs that say, "God's Way" and "The Other Way".
          It is a thought in process for sure. Maybe that picture helps some people see what the verse is about too in an artistic way. I know some people are visual learners so that is why I wrote my painting idea out. Anyways, I hope that you got something from this little devo of mine on this cold, little (when I say little, I mean very little) snowy Sunday. :)

Major Car Problems

          This past weekend my car just decides to quit on me. I was hanging out with my boyfriend after church because we had somewhere to go at 4:00 in town and oddly enough it was to a church class. The devil got us there but that is the only place he got us and espically me. It was funny because my pastor was talking about how we should give our blessings back to God instead of giving to other earthly things. Well, I was thinking how I was doing pretty good now with things settled and better then it had been in the past year.
              Thinking about how I should use my money for God. Should I give to my church or sponsor another child from Compassion? Right as I was thinking it my car stopped. Found out yesterday it was a costly repair. In a way, the devil won there too because my extra money is going to pay for that in payments probably. I did get my car battery free though. That's a whole other story. The devil didn't win at what was the most important thing to me. If you know me at all, you know when things happen with my car or something I cannot fix, I go into my anxiety attack and just cry and yell non stop. Well, I didn't on Sunday, which is a surprise for me!
               Yet it wasn't. Some of you might be reading this and are like what she didn't cry or yell and no I didn't. Thank you very much. I wasn't by myself. Like I said my boyfriend was with me, I had to be calm. Lol! Ok, not really but I wanted to be calm plus I had someone to talk to and work it out with. I was amazed at myself. I didn't let the devil get to me or us. What is more amazing is my boyfriend knew exactly what to do to calm me down and we have only been going out for 3 months.
                I write about the experience because it was a really different feeling. It was the feeling that I needed someone by my side all along and I have that. Someone who understands and understood me. I pray and hope we keep this experience in mind and go back to it if we ever need too. That's also another reason that I am writing it on my blog. As I think back too, this is our 2nd biggest thing in this relationship. We have each had one thing wrong and we saw how the other acted through it all.
               I would say we are doing pretty good especially when we are still learning about each other. Yet both of these situations have helped me better understand what a true relationship really is. It really is a friendship that builds over time, not something that will happen really fast and be over just like that. It really does take time. You never will understand the other person fully. It is an adventure everyday. Might I also say I am writing this on the date we become offical in our 3rd month if you look at it that way.

Love Doesn't Have to Be Perfect-A Poem

Love Doesn't Have to Be
Perfect

Love doesn't have to
Be perfect. When I
Was younger, I actually had
That thought but now I am
Thinking differently after
Being in a relationship. Love
Is never perfect but that's
Because it is always true
Or that's the way it should be.
That's the way I want it for sure
Too.

Love is perfect is a lesson that
Has been taught to me and what
We teach kids most of the time but
That's so wrong. Love is anything
But perfect. That's the lesson we
Should be teaching kids these days.
Yet it might feel and be
Perfect but it doesn't happen the
Way you thought it should. That's
Okay.

Love just has to be real and true.
It has to be honest. It also has to 

Be able to talk to each
Other. It doesn't have be these pretty,
Romantic, or cost a lot of money. It
Doesn't have to be a dinner and movie 

type date every single time. It doesn't
Have to be eating at an costly
Restaurant every time you eat out.
Who cares about presents or flowers?

Yes, those things would be nice.
They do add points for the guy every
Now and then but it isn't needed. It is the 

true feeling that is needed. That feeling
Of being anywhere with the one you love
And not care where it is. That feeling
That you don't need them to prove their
Love for you. A place where you feel
Comfortable and love being.

Dare, I say it. That feeling where you
Don't need presents. Where you feel
Comfortable talking about and doing 

Anything. That moment where you find
Out that your hands fit perfectly
Together and you never want to let go. 

Where you can just be laying
With them and watching a movie and
That brings you peace and helps you
Sleep at night.

That first kiss that feels so right. On the forehead 

and then after some time the lips. That is what True

 Love is. Love doesn't have

 to be perfect. It just needs to be true.

Written By: Tiffney Wilson

Written On: January 4th, 2019

Hello, 2019!

"I want to say, the coolest thing about 2018......is watching you grow as a young adult....from Class 101 to now.....total change ….you are the beautiful butterfly."

Tiffney

"You project happiness and contentment....God has been working in your life and he’s showing you and rewarding you for being faithful and trusting him."

A friend of mine told me all this in January. All these things really mean a lot to me. If you know me, you would know why too. I only took the Class 101 during February and March of last year. Sorry for just getting it officially posted as a blog now.

The Process Before the Promise

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The Process Before the Promise LYSA TERKEURST

November 1, 2018

“I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.” Psalm 40:1 (ESV) Are there any deep disappointments in your life that seem to be lingering on and on? Do you feel like you’ve prayed the same prayers over and over, with little to no change? I understand how hard that is. Over the last few years, I’ve walked through some of the most heartbreaking seasons in my family, marriage and health. And although the circumstances of your life may be different, you probably have middle-of-the-night moments wrestling through your own tears. You, too, have memories that still hurt. Realities that make you swallow back tears. Sufferings that seem forever long. And you’re disappointed that today you aren’t living the promises of God you’ve begged to come to pass. In your most private moments, you want to scream words you don’t use around your Bible friends at the unfairness of it all. But then there are more hopeful moments … when you want to turn up the praise music, lift up honest prayers, and declare God is good even when the situation doesn’t seem good. That’s what it is like to be so very human — hurting but still hoping. And that is where we find David in Psalm 40. In the first 10 verses, David praises God for delivering him, but then in verses 11-17, he’s crying out for God to deliver him again. David is hurting but still hoping. Hoping doesn’t mean we ignore reality. No, hoping means we acknowledge reality in the very same breath that we acknowledge God’s sovereignty. Our hope can’t be tied to whether or not a circumstance or another person changes. Our hope must be tied to the unchanging promises of God. We hope for the good we know God will ultimately bring from our situation, whether the good turns out to match our desires or not. And sometimes that takes a while. The process often requires us to be persevering. Patient. Maybe even long suffering. Honestly, I know that can feel a little overwhelming. I want the promised blessing of Psalm 40:4: “Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust” (ESV). I forget that this kind of trusting in God is often forged in the crucible of long suffering. God isn’t picking on me. God is picking me to personally live out one of His promises. It’s a high honor. But it doesn’t always feel that way. I’ve got to walk through the low places of the process before I’m perfectly equipped to live the promise. We read about some of the low places of the process in verses 1-3 of Psalm 40: “I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.” (ESV) The idea of waiting patiently in verse 1 is incredibly important in this psalm. The Hebrew word indicates the waiting is ongoing, and it holds a sense of eager expectancy and hope. So while I want the solid rock on which to stand, first I have to wait patiently for the Lord to lift me out of the slime and mud and set my feet. That word set in the original Hebrew is qum, which means to “arise or take a stand.” God has to take me through the process of getting unstuck from what’s been holding me captive before I can take a stand. I also want that new song promised here. Did you notice, though, what comes before the psalm’s promise of a new song? It’s the many cries to the Lord for help. The most powerful praise songs are often guttural cries of pain that got turned into beautiful melodies. I know this is hard. But let me be the one to lean in and whisper, “God is working things out. He’s not far away. He is right here with us. We need to cling to this hope. Believe this hope. Live out this hope. Right here and right now. Even if our prayers aren’t answered in the way and the timing we want. Even when this process feels messy. We will trust that God is good.” Keep crying out to Him, friend. Keep hoping in Him. And know that God will take every cry you’ve uttered and arrange those sounds into a glorious song. Lord God, we know You often work in ways we don’t understand. Help us feel close to You in the middle of the process You’re taking us through. Help us trust You are at work, even when You seem silent and far off. Help us believe You are good in every way — every day. Thank You for Your loving and watchful care of us, Your children. We’re thankful today and always. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY Psalm 116:1-2, “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.” (NIV)