Twas the day before Sunday and all is well. The whole house was stirring, except in the bed, Jada dwells. Me on my laptop and bobby on his Dell, settled in to work on my blog for a spell. Me with the creativity and bobby with the techs, we had that blog of mine looking slick. It’s been a good day working together on my site, so goodnight to all, and to all a goodnight.
29
Dec
Take time to say thank you
I’ve been meaning to do something for awhile and just hadnt got around to it. I would think about it and the next thing you know days had passed and I hadn’t done it. You know what I mean? We all have a lot of good intentions. But most of the time those good intentions is about as far as it gets. We mean well, we think its a good idea, but we never carry through on it. Maybe its time we quit just thinking about doing good and “DO” good. OUCH! I challenge you, if there’s something you’ve been meaning to do, take the time and do it. Guess what I’m trying to say is, don’t wait untill it’s too late. Don’t put off until tomorrow, what you can do today. Take the time to say “thank you”
That’s what I did today. I sat down and wrote a letter of gratitude to my former pastor and his wife. I thanked them for the role they played in me coming to know the Lord. Is there someone out there you’re grateful for? Why not let them know how much you appreciate them today!
27
Dec
How God transformed me
My Testimony
written 11-29-09
shared with my life group 12-20-09
1 Peter 3:15 says.. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you , with meekness and fear.
When Bro. Mike mentioned us taking some time and giving our testimonies, I cringed. Not because I didn’t have one, but because this scares me to death. You see, I have to get Michelle out of the way. But no matter how nervous I was I couldn’t say no. I promised my Lord not long after He saved me that if He gave me the opportunity to share what He has done in my life, I would always do it, even if I had to do it scared. I begin thinking back in my life and remembering how God has worked and I thought, ” I cant share all of this, I’d be up here for hours.” So I began praying for God to show me what He wanted me to share.
What is a testimony? A testimony is an account of how God transforms lives no matter where the person comes from or what circumstances the person has experienced. My testimony probably won’t “wow” you, or leave you in tears. It’s not one of those testimonies you hear someone share about how they were a crack addicted prostitute whose whole life was turned around when they came to know the Lord. It’s not one where they tell you they were saved when they were a child and they just walked with the Lord from that day forward. My story is a little different but probably not that uncommon. I was a good girl. I did a lot of good things. I was at church every time the doors were open. I was the first one there and the last one to leave. I taught Sunday school. I worked in the nursery. I attended bible studies. I even led someone to the Lord. I, I, I, I, I. I was going to bust hell wide open. It burdens my heart so much because I know there are others in the same boat I was who wont let go of that pride and run to Jesus. And I believe it almost makes it harder to surrender to the Lord because you tell yourself you’re doing all the right things. But I had to come to the point where I knew in my heart it was nothing I could do to save me, it is all about Him!
I grew up going to church. My mother always took us. When I got older we went less and less. Then when I graduated and moved out I quit going all together. I got married in 1988, had my daughter Jada in 1989. In 1995 started going back to church. It was during an invitation that I seen others going up to be saved and I can remember thinking “I don’t wont to go to hell, so I went up too. It was a no brainer, who wants to go to hell? I thought that was all there was to it… walk an isle, say a prayer, get baptized, and go to church. I could do this! So this is where the masquerade party begins. The only thing is I don’t realize just yet that I’m playing a part. That comes later. We go to this church for a while but it got to where I heard more about the pastors kids than I did about the Lord. The next church we attended seemed pretty good. Nice country folk. This time I heard if you do this you’ll go to hell. If you don’t do this you’ll go to hell. If you eat at burger king you’ll go to hell. I was miserable. I knew this wasn’t right. So we left there. We didn’t stay out of church though. The next Sunday we went to Blackburn Road Baptist church. I felt at home immediately. We joined and not long after, the pastor resigned. Talk about getting disgusted with pastors. This is just one of the ways I know the Lord has His hand on me, cause it’s a wonder I didn’t just throw my hands up and say forget it .But I didn’t. The Lord led Bro. Greg Patrick and his family to the church. And for the first time in my life I heard Bro. Greg talk about having a relationship with the Lord. I heard about being spiritually transformed. I heard good people don’t go to heaven, forgiven ones do. I had never heard any of this before. I begin to read the Word more, study more, and pray more. I still was doing all the right things, but something still wasn’t right. I started having doubts about my salvation and I would just blow it off. I’d tell myself, ” I know I’m saved, I walked an isle, said the prayer, I’m doing all the right things…” This continued for awhile. The doubts would come and go. I’ve always been a people watcher, and I begin to see a difference in a few people who were in my life. One of them was Jammie Patrick, my pastor’s wife. Was she perfect? NO Did she always have it all together? NO Did she always do the right thing? NO But she had this presence of God around her. You could tell there was something different about her. There was this peace and this joy she had. And I couldn’t understand it. But I soon would. In Feb. 2001 on a Sunday morning, I got up as usual and begin getting ready for church. But I was miserable, it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other. I knew that day, those doubts I had been having were for real. I called another friend of mine and ask her would she and Jammie pray with me when we got to church. They met me there and all I can remember was telling Jammie “I don’t know if I’m saved” and she said, “Michelle, I cant tell you whether or not you’re saved. You have to pray and ask God and He will tell you.” So I begin praying, and it was like the floodgates of heaven opened up. I told the Lord I knew I wasn’t His child, but I wanted to be. I wanted Him to be the Lord of my life. I knew it was all about Him and what He did and NOTHING about me or what I did. Right then and there I knew what that peace and joy felt like. I knew Philippians 4:7 and the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. I knew I was His child. I wish I could tell you that after I got saved it was all rosy and great but it wasn’t. My world came crashing down around me. The only difference was I wasn’t alone, the Lord was there holding me. I found out my husband was having an affair with a woman he worked with. To make a long story short, I told him I would forgive him, we could make it work. He said okay. Only problem he didn’t stop seeing her. I don’t believe divorce is the answer but I couldn’t be with a man who continued to lie and cheat. My Lord wouldn’t want me too. I told him he had to leave but I wasn’t filing for divorce , he would have too. He left our home and went straight to her. I found out later, he had been seeing her for 3 years before I found out. He finally went and filed and our divorce was final in 2004. I was scared, no job and no insurance, and a daughter to support. II Corinthians 12:9 says, And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. He was my strength. He was my Jehovah-jireh, my provider. He was my healer. The whole 7 years I was without health insurance, I never once needed it. He was my El Shaddai, He was all I needed. In the back of my bible this is wrote and its so true, You’ll never know that God is all you need until God is all you got. The road I’ve traveled hasn’t always been easy but that road has got me to where I am today. So I wouldn’t change a thing. The Lord watches over His own, He never left me. He was watching over me before I was His child. He knew I couldn’t make it without him and He didn’t give up on me. My prayer is that those people who may be in that same boat as I was wake up before it is too late. I know in my heart that if I hadn’t surrendered to him that day, I wouldn’t have got another opportunity. Don’t let the devil win. He’s a liar. He told me, what would people think of me teaching their kids and not even being saved. Those people didn’t think or say anything of the such. They loved on me, told me they loved me, said they be praying for me, and even had some tell me the same thing had happened to them. If your one of them don’t let pride get in your way. Take that step of faith. The Christian life is not hard, it doesn’t drag you down, its not a list of dos and don’ts. Its about a relationship with the One who created you….
26
Dec
Memphis & John Mayer here we come
I have the best husband in the world! We decided not to exchange gifts this Christmas and save the money for a trip later on. Bobby loves planning trips so i turned him loose to plan our getaway. He had been working on it awhile and told me he would give me the details later. Christmas arrives and we exchange our sappy lovey-dovey Christmas cards and after i read mine he hands me another envelope. In the envelope is a bunch of coupons he’s made showing everything were doing on our trip. One has a trip to memphis in march. Another is a coupon to watch the “dueling pianos” after the concert. I ask him, “what concert?” He says read the next one. The next one is to see Michael Franti & Spearhead in concert @ the FedEx Forum in memphis. I thought to myself, i dont know these people but what the heck, it will be fun. Then bobby says, i’ve even already printed out the tickets. He hands me the tickets and i glance at them and all of the sudden the name “john mayer” jumps out at me. OH! My Gosh! Were going to see john mayer in memphis March 19, 2010. The others guys are the opening act, lol. Im super excited to say the least. Actually when i realized we were going to see j.m. i screamed at the top of my lungs. You see, i’ve been wanted to see john mayer in concert for the longest. My Bobby d is so cool like that. He surprises me all the time. He tells everyone i’m the selfless one, but i think he’s the selfless one. I love him so freakin’ much. He Rocks! love you baby
26
Dec
life resolution
Bobby and i agreed it was time to get healthy. Doesnt seem that long ago I was watching what i ate and exercising everyday. Then for some reason, i just stopped. Or should i say, ” just started”. Just started eating whatever i wanted too and quit exercising. Recently, i woke up to the reality that i had put all the weight back on. I dont know why it took me so long to realize it. You would think i would know it by how fast i was out growing my clothes or when i looked in the mirror everyday. Guess i was in denial. Perhaps i loved the food more than i loved myself. I dont want to be a size 6, i just want to be healthy again. I want to live a long life with the man i love. So no this isnt a new years resolution, its our life resolution. We committed our lives to the Lord years ago. Its time now for us to committ our bodies to the Lord. Our prayer is that He helps us to make healthy lifestyle choices everyday. We know with His strength all things are possible.
*weight update- as of 12/21/09 bobbys lost 7 lbs. and i’ve lost 9 lbs. yay!
24
Nov
I wanna talk about sex
No, you haven’t hit upon a porn site. Just wondering why Christians won’t talk about sex or have a hard time talking about it? We don’t talk about “sex” in the home. We don’t talk about “sex” at church. Parents aren’t even talking to their kids about sex. But they’re hearing about it somewhere. And those somewheres are the wrong wheres. There talking about it at school. They’re talking about it on T.V. There talking about it on the Internet. Then we wonder why girls are pregnant at 13. Kids grow up hearing “just say no”. That’s not the answer cause they are “just saying yes”. You take anything and make it taboo, hush-hush, forbidden and that’s exactly what we’ll want to do. It’s called the flesh. God has given us this beautiful way to express our love to each other (His design is a man married to a woman). Not only for procreation but also for our pleasure. And the only discussion we want to have (if you want to call it a discussion) is just say no, or wait until your married. These things are true but its not what they want to hear. I truly believe with all my heart that we should be talking about sex. Big Sex! Rev. Ed Young did a sermon on Big sex. He was talking about how the world wants us to have sex. They sell sex. They glamorize it. You see it everywhere. Little sex here, little sex there, little sex with this one, little sex with that one. And what has it got us? No where! People are empty, lonely and trying to fill a void. But our God wants us to have big sex. He designed it so perfectly. If our kids grew up in homes with a mom and dad that loved the Lord and loved each other and openly talked about God’s plan for sex, I believe it would make a huge difference. Do they just hear you say you love your spouse or do they see you love your spouse? Do they see the devotion and respect you have for one another? Or do they see disrespect and unhappiness? Do they see a playful pat on the behind or do they see a slap across the face? Do they hear loving edifying words or do they hear nasty hurtful words? Are they seeing something they want for their life in you or they seeing what they don’t want for their life in you. Our kids are watching, they are listening. It’s almost as if we’re the commercial they’re watching. Do they want to buy what we’re selling? We should be telling them that God has the most amazing plan for their lives and they should never settle for anything less. Our words and actions should be louder than the worlds.
23
Nov
My Life Verse
In the middle of a very bad time in my life the Lord gave me this verse:
Philippians 4:7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
I don’t claim to understand it. But that is exactly what He does. All hell can be breaking loose and we can have that wonderful peace of God. He’s our calm in the storms of life. He has each of His children in the palm of His hands and nothing can touch us that has not been filtered through His fingers. And since I know and believe that He only wants for my best, I can trust Him to handle everything in my life (every detail). I can trust Him through bad times, trust Him with my finances, trust Him in sickness, trust Him in death. Isaiah 26:3 says You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
That kind of peace under pressure is supernatural. The world can’t give it to you. No amount of money can buy it. It’s a gift of God’s grace. So who or what are you trusting in today?
14
Sep
not what every woman wants to hear, but needs too…
This has been on my heart for awhile. The Lord impressed upon me to share this with others. What you read here, comes from experience. First, from doing things the wrong way. Second, from doing things God’s way.You see, I really screwed up the first go around. But my merciful gracious God seen fit to give me another chance. He sent me the love of my life, Bobby Davis. He is such a wonderful man. He treats me like a queen. I want for nothing. (the Lord changed my wants).What you read today will go against everything the world tells you. It will go against everything the world shows you. But if you take a real good look at the world or should I say marriages today, you will see loveless marriages, divorces on the rise, unhappy men and women looking to fill a void they’re not getting at home. You will see women wearing the pants in the home. They do what they want to do, when they want to do it. They spend money without asking their husband. (OUCH!) They’re more interested in their needs and wants than their husbands. They put everyone else in front of their husbands, even the kids are treated better than their husbands. They make time for everyone else, but are usually to tired when it comes to meeting their husbands needs. You hear them putting their husbands down, especially in front of others. Most men feel like they’re inadequate and cant do anything right because of what they hear all the time. Instead of being lifted up, they’re put down. Instead of being the head of the home, they’re told what to do. Instead of being encouraged, they’re discouraged. Instead of being fulfilled sexually, sex is denied or used as a bargaining tool. These attitudes and actions will bring you nothing but misery and heartache. If you want to be happy, if you want real joy, if you want to be appreciated, if you want romance, if you want to be treated like a queen, if you want to be satisfied in all areas, if you want to be encouraged, you must say goodbye to SELF. I challenge you to try it for just one week. Do these things even when you don’t feel like it. Do them even when you don’t understand or you think he is wrong. Do these and all your needs & wants will be met. You will be his queen. 1.Be submissive. (Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.) 2.Uplift, edify, encourage your husband. 3.Pray for him. 4.Adore him. 5.Treat him like a king. 6.Build up his ego. 7.Satisfy him. (fulfill all his needs) Let me linger here for a minute. So you know, Im talking here about a man and woman married to each other. God gave us this wonderful way to express even more our love for one another and its called SEX. Women I’ve heard it all… I’m tired, I’ve got a headache, it just doesn’t do anything for me, I’d rather be doing anything else, and so on. Let me tell you, sex is not an option. It says in 1 Corinthians 7:5 Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. If your husband has a need, you fill that need. Even if its 2:oo in the morning, even if you don’t feel like it. You submit to him and let him know you find him sexy. Tell him he turns you on. (tell him or somebody else will) Initiate “sex” every once in awhile. Not only will your attitude toward sex change, but heaven forbid, you might just learn to enjoy it! The Lord made men and women different in that area. Men want it, need it, they got to have it. It probably wouldn’t matter to a lot of women if they never had to do it again. However, the Lord put man and woman together. So its got to work. It’s got to work good. And it does! Try it! Number 8. Listen to him. Let him tell you about his day. 9.Send him text messages that say ilu, i want u, i miss u. 10.Brag on your husband. Do it in front of others. Let the kids hear you. I’m going to stop with these ten things. I could go on & on. Basically, if you would like it done for you, do it for him first. The world tells us to look out for self. It tells us to be independent. It tells us to do it our way. It says the grass is always greener over there. Where as all of this kind of thinking got us? No where, that’s where.The divorce rate is probably higher than its ever been. Or the opposite is taking place, you have two people in a marriage who are miserable. They get up everyday and go through the motions. They smile on the outside, but they’re dying on the inside. God never intended for our marriages to be this way. He has a plan for each one of our lives. What He wants for each of us is so good we cant even comprehend it. But it will go against everything the world tells you. I encourage you to give God and your marriage a chance. See how His ways are so much sweeter. It may be hard at first, but I promise you it will be worth it. You will be giving more, but in return you will be given more. Before long, you will be thinking of ways to make your husband happy. He will be on your mind all the time and you will be on his. Its never too late to fall in love all over again. Love is not a feeling, but a choice. It’s as simple as choosing today to put his needs in front of your own. One step at a time. This verse sums up love: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.