Jobless...

So today our family finds ourselves jobless....with no prospects on the horizon.  So what are we gonna do?  We are going to trust Our Heavenly Father.  We are going to proclaim that He is GOOD even when our circumstances are not.  We are going to stand on the comforting fact that He is Sovereign and His plans are to prosper and not to harm us.  We are going to keep our eyes fixed on Him and know that He gives good gifts to His children.  We are going stand on His promise of protection and provision for His children who are seeking Him the best way we know how.  We are going to continually thank Him for the abundant blessings He has so graciously poured out on our family.  We will not falter.  We will not doubt.  We will not question.   We will not ask why us.  We will not let the enemy steal our joy. We are going to smile and laugh like never before as a family.  We are going to enjoy peanut butter and jelly like never before.  I will stand by and be more proud than ever of the precious man the Lord has given to me as a gift to share this life with.  We will allow the Lord to burn off whatever layers of the world are still on us.We are going to tell our children (in a very age appropriate, non threatening and non-scary way) about the situation so that we can allow Him to build their faith even at 3yr, 5yr, and 6yr. and they can see how He is good and faithful and even at their age, see His hand on our family.  They can have the opportunity to know that He hears their prayers and is attentive to them.  We will praise Him with every fiber of our being.  These are the things we will do in our strong moments.

And when we are in our weak moments...we will pour out our hearts to the One who can be trusted with our deepest, hardest, and most tender emotions...who can take when we are weak.  We will ask for fresh strength and He will freely give it.  When the very real feelings set in of "what is our next step?" and working on crunching numbers....we will bow our knees once again and ask for patience and the reassurance that He has the master plan and everything happens in His perfect timing.  We will ask for wisdom and He will give it.

I love this song by Hillsong...check it out on youtube...it's called The Time has Come.  It is one of my favorites right now because it is so true of where our family is...the time has come for us to stand for all we believe in....where it's not just head knowledge but it's also deep heart knowledge...not just statements that come out of our mouths, but proclomations that we have lived.  Below are some of the lyrics..

The time has come
To stand for all we believe in
So I for one am gonna
Give my praise to You

Today today its all or nothing
All the way
The praise goes out to You
Yeah all the praise goes out to You
Today today I live for one thing
To give You praise
In everything I do
Yeah all the praise goes out to You

All we are is Yours
All we’re living for
Is all You are
Is all that You are Lord

He is so very good, and faithful, and trustworthy.  Praises to Him!!!!
And Blessings to you~
Hollie

That Ain't Yo' Daddy...

No, I am not going to tell you about the latest episode of a raunchy talk show:)  I want to share one of the biggest realizations for me that has absolutely changed.my.life. and my relationship with God.  Almost 5 years ago we moved to Columbus, Ga.  A year or so after moving here and finding our present church home, I heard the most wonderful, but at the time suspect, statement.

"Condemnation is never from your Heavenly Father. Conviction, yes....Condemnation...NO."

I had never heard such a statement, but my mind was reeling so I knew that I had to sit with this and find out if this was really truth.  I never even realized that I did believe this and how very far from the truth I was.  Wasn't His job to tell us when we've done something wrong?  To reprimand? To point out our wrongs?  This is were the second part of the quote comes in....the word "conviction."  To explain all this a little more clearly I'll give you some practical examples of what is and what is not of the Lord. 

NOT the voice of the Lord (Condemnation)...."Hollie, that was awful.  You always fall short in this area.  I wish you could get it together.
What WOULD be the voice of the Lord (Conviction)...Hollie, I love you and this is not My best for you.  I have given you all you need for life and godliness.  I love you too much to leave you where you are, there is so much more life in Me to be had, just follow my direction.

NOT the voice of the Lord....You always lose your patience.  What a terrible mother.  Do better.
IS the voice of the Lord....Hollie, I am for you.  When you lose your patience I know you see the effects on your family; it brings division.  Ask me for forgiveness and move on. I do.  I have an abundance of patience for you, just ask...and my mercies are new EVERY morning.

Those are just a few examples.  I hope they are helpful and that you can see the enemies tactics.  The enemy's full time occupation is to steal, kill, and destroy.  He does not want you to be built up.  He doesn't want you to see or feel hope.  He wants you to feel like there is no use in even trying.  The Lord however wants you to see the hope that He offers.  He wants you to know how much you are loved by Him...and that He loves you NO MATTER WHAT.  His love is unconditional.  His voice towards you is never hateful or unkind.  He will speak things that are hard to hear, but will never demean you or beat you up.  His word tells us in Zephaniah 3:17 that He takes great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, and He rejoices over you with singing.  Wow. That's pretty awesome.  His word also tells us that we are the apple of His eye.  I also love, love, love the story in Luke 15 where a son goes out and squanders all the wealth his father has given to him.  When he "came to his senses" ,as my Bible says, and went home...while HE WAS STILL A LONG WAY OFF, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.  What a wonderful picture of our Father.  It is so very true.  He loves us on days when we think we are doing good, he loves us when we think we have blown it, and when we are far away....He longs for us to be home.
Yes, this quote has redone some wiring in my brain as to how I see and experience sweet Jesus.  To know that He is for me and not against me.  He is not waiting at my first wrong move to zap me.  He IS gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love (Psalm 145).  Below is ole' websters definition of condemn....

con·demn verb (used with object)

1. to express an unfavorable or adverse judgment on; indicate strong disapproval of; censure.

2. to pronounce to be guilty; sentence to punishment: to condemn a murderer to life imprisonment.

3. to give grounds or reason for convicting or censuring: His acts condemn him.

4. to judge or pronounce to be unfit for use or service: to condemn an old building.

5. U.S. Law . to acquire ownership of for a public purpose, under the right of eminent domain: The city condemned the property.

6. to force into a specific state or activity: His lack of education condemned him to a life of menial Jobs.

7. to declare incurable.

If the voices you are hearing sound more like this definition....It ain't yo' Daddy.  Your Daddy is tender, merciful, gracious, kind, loving, and giver of life.  Pray that He would help you recognize the voice of the enemy...tell them to go away in Jesus' name....and then allow the Lord to fill you with His truth about who you are and what He thinks of you.  Write them down.  Post them where you can see them.  Email me if you have questions.  I'd love to share more if you need it. 
Blessings sweet friends and family-
Hollie

Well, I did it...

So, I am not big into jumping on the bandwagon when it comes to "trendy" type things.  In fact, most of the time I feel quite resistant to said things.  This whole blog thing would definitely fit into that category.  I LOVE reading other people's blogs, and never really thought about or was interested in having my own.  In fact, I can't tell you how many times I've said..."Yep, love other people's blogs but I just don't feel like I have to have my own or feel a need to start one."  In fact, it would be one of those things I would most likely start, post once or twice, and then never keep up.  Then enters that wonderful, still, small voice of the Lord...."start a blog"  Me- Ha! That's funny!  Several times more comes the voice I know and love..."start a blog"  Me-That's funny cause I really don't think that's for me....BUT if that is You Lord asking me to do this, then give me a name 'cause I knows lots and lots of people who really stress over just the name of their blog and I'm am so not willing to stress or give too much thought to that, with all the other real opportunities for stress in my life:)  Then...immediately...Extraordinary family, Extraordinary God.  How's that for a name, and for easy? (It is also a combination of recent titles from church and a quote from a friend...which I will share in another post)  Sooo, here I go....and am not even gonna really allow myself to "go there" about what if I do it and nobody ever reads it?  I know that obedience is worth it...even if I am the only person to ever read it!  At least I will have a journal of sorts.  The really cool thing is I am not really doing this to show you how cool my family is or all the cool stuff we do (though those are fun too!)...I just feel like the Lord has blessed me with some amazing people in my life...which help me tremendously in my own walk with the Lord....and many of my thoughts/revelations are directly related to "doing life" with those people...which I think are worth sharing about.  I also love, love, love how the Lord works and moves and speaks and delivers and encourages...and I think this is a cool way to get some of those thoughts out of my head and into a logical, documented format:)  So, if someone reads it and is encouraged in some way, great, or if no one reads it and it's only for my benefit, great.  I just love life in Him...there's nothing like it...no greater sweetness...no greater peace...and I LOVE sharing the practical ways that He helps me experience these conclusions.  So welcome to my blog.  May the Lord be glorified.