Tag-Archive for » Hope «

Thankful Thursday ~ Always Something New

24 Feb 2010 | By Iris

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” ~ Psalm 28:7 (ESV)

As I had mentioned yesterday in my post “Fear of Change” God has been working on my heart — I don’t seem to mind changes as much as I used to…One thing I know for sure though, just like David pointed out in the above Psalm “The Lord is my strength…”.

In going with my theme for this year, the changes that happening currently in my life, I face fearlessly (most days). We are having changes again at my work, but this time I am thrilled!!!! We are getting a wonderful, knowledgeable supervisor in our region. I am really excited to work with her; she has taught me so much when I went through training 2 1/2 years ago. Also God answered my prayer for help with my work-load. We were able to hire another person who has worked previously for the company and knows all the ins-and-outs. The best part – she is a believer (God you are marvelous!!!!!)…

The second change that is happening I am thankful for this week has to do with LWG. My sweet friend Lori from Lori’s Reflections redesigned out devotional blog. The launch is on March 1st!!! I am so excited about the new design. Lori did an awesome job. I hope that you will take some time next week to explore our redesigned team blog. There will also be a drawing of a neat little price. But you have to stop by to find out what…Lori, thank you from the bottom of my heart to make the change happen — it was time after 3 1/2 years :) …

One other change that I am making (something I wanted to do for a long time), I will have on the first of every month a guest blogger at “Grace Alone…”. This upcoming Monday, Kathy Howard will stop by to introduce her new book “God’s Truth Revealed“. I am excited about the opportunity to have Kathy share her ministry with my readers.

So, what are you thankful for this week? Please do share with us by leaving your link below.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: Even thought life can change, God never changes!!!

Thankful Thursday Participants

1. Debbie @The Way We Are
2. Nancie@MoreThanConquerors
3. Pia
4. Melanie
5. MageeMommy
6. The Pondering Princess
7. bp
8. Rita @Following 31
9. Jocelyn
10. Karen @ Living Life
11. Laurie@Nana’s House
12. jo.attalife
13. LeAnn @ See Great Things
14. It Feels Like Chaos
15. Laurie @ Women Taking a Stand
16. Denise
17. Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads
18. Chris		 19. Debbie @ Heart Choices
20. Bernice@ My Journey ” simply THANK YOU LORD”
21. gemini
22. Joan @ Reflections
23. Janet @ Wildflower Thinking
24. Dana
25. Mary
26. Amazing Grace, Philippines
27. Sandy @ The Tablet of My Heart
28. John the Beloved
29. Arlene – Accepting Change
30. The Journaling Gina
31. Alicia @Making Time For Mommy- Thankful for my family
32. Kristi-Kikis Corner
33. Blessed Mom of 9
34. annies home –
35. K @ In The Lord’s Path
36. Noreen		 37. SusanD
38. Wendy @ Faith’s Firm Foundation
39. Rocks@ Made to Worship
40. Cora
41. Erica
42. Yoli ~ Apron Senorita
43. Heather @ A Day In My Life
44. Holly @ Broken for God
45. Heather @ Becoming A Titus 2 Woman
46. Nancy @ Homemade Blessings
47. Cindy @ *She Sparkles*
48. julie @ mom by faith
49. Claudia
50. By Grace Alone
51. Marsha
52. Saint Shellie

Learn more about Thankful Thursday here.

Get The Code

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

Current Mood:Blessed † emoticon Blessed † & Thankful emoticon Thankful

Category: Blogging, Friends, Thankful Thursday  Tags: , , ,  24 Comments

Living Fearlessly in 2010 – Part 3 or “Do I Matter?”

08 Feb 2010 | By Iris

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” ~ Matthew 10:29-31 (ESV ~ emphasis mine)

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” ~ Psalm 139:14 (ESV)

Did you ever wanted to be famous? I did. When I was a teenager I wanted to be a backup singer for T.Rex; I even learned all the lyrics to all their hit songs… Me, a backup singer to tour with a famous 70’s British band? Thinking back makes me giggle, because I was only 13 years old at their height of fame.

Max Lucado writes in his book “Fearless“:

“Ah, There it is. There is the question. The Amazon River out of which a thousand fears flow: do we matter? We fear we don’t. We fear nothingness, insignificance. We fear evaporation. We fear that in the last tabulation we make no contribution to the final sum. We fear coming and going and non one knowing” and “Connect to someone special and become someone special, right?”

Yes, there it is “connect to someone special…” and maybe, just maybe I can catch a little ray of their lime-light that I too would matter…

That was me when I started blogging some 5 years ago. If you look way back into my archives, I tried so hard to matter. I connected to famous woman so I too would matter in bloggy-ville. I wanted to change the world just like they did. I wanted to be heard – loud and clear. How can I archive that? Link up, hook up…

Well, God had a lesson for me on that…I truly believe that we have to be humbled before He can truly use our gifts. The word “discouragement” was often on my mind; as much so that I wanted to just quit blogging all together — “I didn’t matter”…

But God kept after me; to stay with it. I mattered to Him and His message. He reminded me that we all have different gifts. Not all can be a Beth Moore, Lysa TerKeurst, or Lisa McKay. He gives even ’small’ people like me a voice – to share about His incredible love, devotion and grace with others.

Sweet one, you too matter to Him. Would’ve sent His only Son into a cruel world to die our death? Would Jesus go all the way up Calvary to be nailed to the cross if we would not matter? I don’t think so!

Today I link up/hook up because men and women are an inspiration to me. I no longer need their lime-light to matter – I matter to Him, and that is enough for me.

Where there times when you linked up so you could catch a lime-light ray? Please do share – it does not have to be connected with blogging; maybe in your immediate surroundings? Did you ever wish you could be like ________?

Over the next week I would like you to ponder the Cross. What does the Cross say about how much you matter to God? Come back here to share either in the comment section or write about it on your blog.

Also, if you have not read Karon’s guest blog last Monday, I would like to encourage you to read it. Karon has a marvelous message about “Fear of Change“. I will be sharing my own thoughts on change next Monday.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: not matter how small you think you are, you matter to Him who wonderfully created you.

Current Mood:Blessed † emoticon Blessed †

Category: Faith, Fearless, Women  Tags: , ,  8 Comments

Living Fearlessly in 2010 – Part 2 or The ‘What Ifs…’

25 Jan 2010 | By Iris

“And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” ~ Matthew 8:23-26 (ESV)

‘Imagine your life wholly untouched by angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? If you could hover a fear magnet over your heart and extract every last shaving of dread, insecurity, and doubt, what would remain? Envision a day, just one day, absent the dread of failure, rejection, and calamity. Can you imagine a life with no fear?’ ~ Max Lucado

Can I imagine a life without fear? Can you? Oh how I pray that my head would follow my heart at all times. Let me share something with you that I never shared publicly on my blog…

You do know that my marriage was rocky about 5 years ago. It was so rocky that I wanted to get out – out of the boat because I didn’t wanted to get soaked. I was ready to walk out — twice. You see, I always battled insecurity (some days I still do – just not to that extend).

I guess when women reach a certain age, they believe some lies that the enemy likes to put into our head…

Our son was close to the end of his studies at that time. What if my husband and I grew too much apart? What if my beloved would no longer desire me as his wife? What if my husband finds a younger, more beautiful woman…

Oh, all the what ifs that came to mind and made me fearful of the future. I was so fearful my husband would leave that I truly entertained the idea of moving back to Germany — after 22 years of marriage. The storm was the worst in our marriage. After tearful months and inner turmoil, I could only hold on to the One who could calm the storms — Jesus. I had faith that He could see us through this really, really rough spot. And He did!

Are you battling any “what ifs…” right now? Would you be open to share them with us on your blog or here in the comments? You see, the enemy likes to use those “what ifs…” to make us fearful of the future. Yes, these “what ifs…” make us do things that are not very rational — we panic (I did — almost ending my marriage). Remember: cast your ‘what ifs…” on Him — He is with you in every storm and has the power to calm it.

Current Mood:Okay emoticon Okay

Category: Fearless, Marriage, Women  Tags: , , , ,  8 Comments

Moving Forward?!?

24 Jan 2010 | By Iris

“Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.”
~ Psalm 37:4-5 (ESV)

Patience is not one of my strong sides. Little by little the Lord is teaching me to wait on Him, to turn everything over to Him.

Over the last year I have been praying about what to do and how to share my passion of photography. I do not want to be famous, but at some point I would like to leave corporate America behind; make my living through photography. Am I too old to start a new thing? No, because if God is part of the equation, all things are possible (look what God did through Moses at the age of 80).

No, I am not there yet, but the Lord opened a door for me to step through. Kristen Schiffman, editor/founder of Exemplify Online Magazine invited me to become part of the magazine as their photographer. I am giddy about this opportunity. I believe that this was orchestrated by God through my dear friend Debbie from Heart Choices.

Yesterday I shared a photo that I took a week ago, on Facebook. A friend commented on the photo with this: “Good photographers see the same things we all see. They have the gift to present those visions in ways we never imagine. . .and therein lies the art. Iris, you have the gift. I have a camera, but I do not have the gift. You are blessed.” (thank you Hilton – your comment made me tear up)…

Lord of Heaven and Earth. I want to thank You for the opportunity You have given me to be part of Exemplify. Thank You for the gift You have given me. Lord, may I always use it to Your glory and never forget that the gift comes from You. May I always commit may way to You, even if it means to be patient. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Thank you for stopping by today. Don’t forget to stop by on Monday for part 2 of “Living Fearlessly in 2010.

Current Mood:Blessed † emoticon Blessed †

Category: Dream, Life, Photography  Tags: , , ,  8 Comments