Psalm 139:13-15 ESV, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.”
Photo by: Andrea Piacquadio of Hungary 🇭🇺
We are each uniquely made. The Lord knew us before we were even formed in the womb of our mother’s. He has a purpose and a plan for each of us. As Christians we hear those words a lot, that God has a purpose and a plan for us. But choosing to believe what we hear and read, while putting it into action is what will mature us in the Lord.
Photo by: Andrea Piacquadio of Hungary 🇭🇺
There is no need to compete with others. There is only one you, and the Lord desires to use you to make a difference and touch lives. His power working in you and through you will give you the strength you need. If you feel insufficient for the task at hand, than you are in the perfect position to be used by the Lord. In our insufficiency, His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9)
I enjoyed this post by Jeanne @ Garden Faith: Power of God: Ephesians 3:20-21, reminding us about God’s power working in our lives. Thanks Jeanne! 🌺
This month marks one year ago that my daughter graduated from college (May 1, 2019). I always loved my visits to the college campus, which was located right in the heart of Miami. Seeing the young adults around the campus as I drove to my daughter’s dorm, was a joyful experience for me. I felt excited for them. There was something about the atmosphere on the campus that seemed so fresh and promising.
Campus Main Entrance
During my daughter’s four years at the university, she was a resident in almost every dorm on campus. Moving her in and out of dorms became a part of our normal routine. Her favorite dwelling were the campus studio apartments that she stayed in during her final semester of her senior year. It was her first time being in her own personal space, without roommates or suite mates.
Campus Studio Apartments
I learned from watching and listening to her that dorm life is certainly not without challenges. However I’m thankful she was able to endure the ups and downs. She did amazing! I told her Panther Hall (the freshman dorm) would always be my favorite one because that is where her journey began. During her junior year (if I remember correctly), she lived in Everglades Hall. Everglades Hall always gave me a sense of sadness. The year before she moved in there, a young man was found in his room, he passed away from a drug overdose. He was a junior with one more year to go. My heart went out to his parents who lived out of state in North Carolina. Can you imagine getting that call?
Everglades Hall
I will always have fond memories of my college mom days. Especially our time together on the weekends, when she was able to come home for visits. Or those beautiful sunny Saturday afternoons I’d make my way to Miami (about an hour drive) to spend the day with her. Miami has many great restaurants, and we enjoyed visiting them!
The best vegan pizza I ever had!
As a college mom, prayer for my daughter was always of utmost importance. I knew that she was now a young adult who had to start making her own decisions and experience life for herself. That’s never an easy transition for a parent, and it’s prayer that helps us through. We have to trust God that the lessons we taught them will resonate. We have to trust that He has a good plan for their lives.
Photo by: Nguyễn Lâm
College students need our prayers. College is a tough time for a young adult. Many of them are out on their own for the first time. Not only do they have a whole lot of school work, but they also have peer pressure, pressure from society to follow a certain path, big decisions to make about their futures, and many other trials they are trying to work through. They need our support. So please join me in praying for our young adult college students. Thank you for your prayers!
Colossians 4:2 ESV, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
It’s beautiful how Jesus makes us beautiful. When we submit ourselves to Him, it’s a wonder how He works in our lives. The closer we draw to Him, the more our hearts change, so we can reflect His glory. We just have to remember that it’s His timing and not our own. If you’re like me, you may have days when you become frustrated because your progress seems slow. Or perhaps you sometimes find yourself struggling to overcome a certain sin. As long as we’re diligently seeking Him, we are moving forward. We can see how far He’s brought us when we think about how we used to be. We are becoming beautiful as we dwell in the presence of our Savior and saturate our hearts with His Word.
Viewing our lives from an eternal perspective as God does, causes us to bubble over with joy and hope. For we know that where we are now is certainly not the end. On the other side of our earthly life, is more than we can even begin to imagine.
Purpose of the Award This award was created by Beverley @ Becomingtheoilandwine blog to support our fellow bloggers who have written and published books or who are in the process of writing a book. You are free to write as much as possible about your book and the reasons why you have decided to write a book. Remember, we are all winners in the Kingdom of God, and God wants the best for us.
Rules of the Award • Create a new post on your blog using the above picture logo or create one of your own. • Copy and paste the Purpose of the Award and the Rules of the Award on your post. • Thank the person who nominated you and post a link to their blog. • Include the links to the creator of the Award and the inspirational post: Celebrating and Supporting our fellow Authors. • Write a brief description of the books you have written or the book that you are currently writing. • Include a link to your published books or the potential date of publishing. • Nominate at least five bloggers who have published a book or who are currently writing or thinking about writing a book. • Support at least one of the bloggers you have nominated by either purchasing one of their books or sharing the links to their books. • If a nominee has not written a book, share one of their blog posts.
My 3 Books: Below are the links to my 3 books. You can click on the links for a description. My hope and prayer is that the words of these books would be an extension to the love of Jesus Christ and cause those who read it to draw closer to Him. He is always faithful! ❤️
To My Nominees: Thank you for your contributions! I look forward to hearing more about your books, if you choose to participate. Even if you have not written a book, thanks for the beautiful writings you share here on the blog. Hopefully you will publish your writings one day soon! ✍🏼 🌟
To anyone reading this: If you are an author please feel free to accept this award and tell us more about your book(s). Thanks for sharing! 🤗
Well here are the final two parts in this series, part 5 by Robert, and part 6 by Lydia. It’s been a blessing reading everyone’s insight on this topic. Hope you’ve enjoyed it too! ☀️
Back in April, around Easter time, Matt from Jesusluvsall started doing Saturday Blogger Chats over Zoom with bloggers. I’ve had the pleasure of …
Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
I’ve learned and still learning that I don’t have to worry, because the things I spend time worrying about, God has already worked out on my behalf. I may not always see it right away, but that doesn’t change the fact that He has worked things out. He has a good plan.
Photo by: Sharefaith of Medford, Oregon USA 🇺🇸
When fear and discouragement try to creep in, we can remind ourselves of God’s continuous presence with us. He personally goes before us and paves the way. We just have to walk the path He has already laid out for us. Knowing that God has already gone where we are going is a comfort. It also gives us the confidence we need to move forward in faith. After all, we’re called to live by faith and not by sight, which of course is an amazing privilege (2 Corinthians 5:7). We’re blessed that there is so much more than what we see with our natural eyes. Living by faith draws us closer to the heart of God as we learn to trust in His faithfulness and wisdom.
Take heart! God will never fail you or abandon you. He is with you every step of the way, so remain faithful and obedient. He rewards us as we diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
As I was reflecting on Mother’s Day, some very valuable advice that was given to me by my cousin Sandra came to mind. She said, “Always pray for your daughter, because there is something special about a mother’s prayer.” My daughter who is now 23, was about 11 years old when Sandra spoke those words. Her words of wisdom have always stayed close to my heart.
I know my mother has diligently prayed for me throughout my life. Her prayers for me have made a difference, and they continue to do so. As mother’s, we are so blessed to have the gift of prayer. We can’t be everywhere, we can’t know everything, and we definitely can’t fix everything (although we may sometimes try), but our Lord can. Knowing that He is always present, and that He is never without answers, is what gives us peace as Mom’s.
God’s love covers everything, all the joys and the pains of motherhood. I’m so thankful for His love, because no matter what changes in our lives or the lives of our children, His love will never change. I pray you find never ending strength and hope as you continue to trust God for His best in the lives of your children. He hears your prayers and always has a plan, so never cease to pray for your children.
Happy Mother’s Day! 🌷💛🌷
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJB), “Pray without ceasing.”
Drawing Closer to Christ 