​How many times have you come to the end of yourself and recognized you really aren’t in
control?

Thanks for joining us for Monday’s Message with Abigail Rice and Trench Classes United.
Today’s message is a great reminder that while it’s okay to make plans, set goals and dream
dreams, it is our Creator who is in control

There has to be a fine line
Between surrendering to God
and putting up a fight

Because when I think about control
I think about how much He wants me to let go
Because all is in His hands
and all is a part of His plan

So then, where is the fine line
Drawn in the sand?
Because the more I let go
The more I don’t know
If I’m doing this right?
Am I even still in the fight?
Or have I given up
Because I know I'm not enough?

My mind begins to race
As confusion takes its place
and as I anticipate
Another lost battle
I don't take the blame
and a chain on my heart
Begins to slowly break

As I hear the morning coo
A dove reminding me
Of all God’s promised
the abundance of His love
That never runs out
and never gives up
Because nothing can compare
to the peace from above

For our God is not a God of confusion
But of peace, {mercy, and love} -1 Cor. 14:33a

and if I can remember
When i surrender
My body as a vessel
I no longer have to wrestle
Because I have let go
My God is in control

​Every affliction
Every trauma,
Every long sleepless night
They are worth the fight
To shape and renew
to discern
and to know
When to surrender
and when to grow

​Love,
Abigail

​Have you ever shied away from mingling because they didn’t believe as you do?
Thanks for joining us for Faith-Filled Friday with Debra Dolce and Trench Classes
United. Today’s blog is a great reminder that we our mingling can be a form of
ministering.

~Love Letter~

My dear one, be cheerful! Repair whatever is broken among you, as your hearts are
being knit together in perfect unity. Live continually in peace, and I, the Lord God, the
source of love and peace, will mingle with you. This is wonderful and fills My heart. So
many of My children are hurting and are so broken. Be open to love on these hurting
ones. Have compassion and be there for them. Be willing to sit and listen to their story,
then pray for them and help them to overcome. Some you'll have to teach them a daily
routine of prayer and reading My Word. Stress the importance of Scripture reading
because that produces healing in itself.

Watch for the transformation in their life, watch for the transformation in your own life as
you give of yourself to direct others to healing. Some you'll only get a short time to love
them well. Remember they are Mine. Send them off with a generous portion of care.
Some will bounce in and out of your life, love them and care for them always.

Beloved, be there for others ministering to them and I will mingle among you. 
~DebraDolce

One of the toughest questions to answer is why do bad things happen to good people?
There’s really not a simple answer…well, maybe there are just two words that sum up
the why: FREE WILL.

A few weeks ago, I was talking with our server at the clubhouse where I live and she
shared a personal situation of taking care of her sister who has a rare cancer with very
little hope of full recovery. I listened to her frustration and assured her that I’d be praying
for her and her sister. I was shocked at her response and tried not to react to it “If there
is a God, then why did He give her the effing cancer.”

She really didn’t give me a chance to respond, so I didn’t. But I did pray.

Two weeks ago, when I saw her again, I asked how her sister was. I wasn’t prepared for
her answer: “She’s in remission!”
My mouth dropped.
“Yup, the trial medication she’s been on finally started working.”
“Praise God!” I exclaimed.

She very matter-of-factly said: I love science!
Well, in my mind, God is the author of science for science does prove the reality of God
and confirms that while bad things happen to good people, it’s what the good people do
with the bad that makes them better, or bitter!
​
Humbled,
Kim-Evinda

She smiled with satisfaction at the words of revenge that jumped out at her, not her own
revenge but her Father’s.

Thanks for joining us for Wednesday’s Word with Kim-Evinda and Trench Classes
United. Have you ever pondered acts of revenge to pay for hurt that was heaped upon
you? Today’s blog gives a whole new perspective on revenge and the freedom from the
need of it.

She re-read the already underlined portion of scripture from Proverbs 5, all of it. The
handwritten note written in November of 2019 caught her attention: “After finding out
she moved out, my senses are on high alert. Grant me wisdom and knowledge. Bring to
light the dark that is still not revealed.”

Well, God had revealed the ugly truth, and she was still recovering from it. Her life
would never be the same but at least she was no longer in the dark, fooled by their
schemes, or scheming a revenge.

A feeling of sadness flooded her soul as she read the words of warning about the “Peril
of Adultery” in Proverbs 5. As she continued to read in verses 4-6, sorrow was replaced
with a sense of validation. “Her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of hell. Lest
you ponder her path of life, her ways are unstable; you do not know them.”

She continued to read the warnings and she couldn’t help but put those who had
betrayed her in what she was reading. “Lest you give your honor to others, (in other
words lose credibility), and your years to the cruel one”; (obeying flesh steals life)
The verses basically confirmed that one day, some day they would regret what they did.
Her notes from the past reminded her that God had been in this entire journey and was
still with her. She continued to read:

Verses 11-15: “You mourn at last when your flesh and your body are consumed and say
‘How I have hated instruction and my heart despised correction! I have not obeyed the
voice of my teachers, not inclined my ear to those who instructed me….” Yes, drink
water from your own cistern and running water from your own well.”

She sat in both satisfaction and sorrow, marveling that these emotions could co-exist.
This portion of scripture confirmed that someday, one day, they would regret what they
had done, and she prayed it would be before it was too late. And because she believed
His Word, trusted Him for His promises, satisfaction overcame her sorrow.

Friend, if you’ve ever been betrayed before, especially with the peril of adultery, I pray
you realize that while others leave us, betray us, God never will, and He will be the one
to right what’s been done wrong.

Thoughtfully,
Kim-Evinda

If we have distanced ourselves from God, then our anger is directed at God. When we
are in relationship with God, and we don’t understand something that’s happened to us
or about us, we are angry with Him.

Steve Atkinson describes the difference in this way:

“This distinction is critical in order to realize the effect our earlier relationships
have on our connection with God. To be angry with someone, the assumption is
that there is a connection of trust. I am vulnerable, but open with that person
because I know when all the dust clears there is still a ‘secure connection.’ I’d
know this because I would have learned they could be angry with me and still
love me the next day. There is no lingering distance or fear. When I don’t feel
trust or connection, I feel resentment but am unable to express it because I’m
afraid. There is no resolve, just a repetitious anger at them.”

Oh, to be a mirror of His love, the way He sees us.

Surrendered to serenity
Kim-Evinda

To reflect means to look inward, not outward. Thanks for joining us for Monday’s
Message with Abigail Rice and Trench Classes United. Today’s message is a great
reminder that when we truly reflect, it is easier to grasp the gift of grace for grace makes
Reflection without hesitation possible.

Look in the mirror
Look deep
Open your eyes
Now what do you see?
I see beauty
I see grace
I see a perfectly formed
body and face

​Now look deeper
Sit up taller
Jaw out
Stronger

Open your mouth
and speak
Words of life
Laced with generosity
Because you are everything
Repeat after me:

I am everything
I am everything You created me to be

I am meek
I am mild
I am humble
and a little wild

I am fun
I am loving
I am kind
Gentle like a bunny
With strength to fight

I am brave
and I don’t hide
From the darkness that still lurks inside
Because I am light

And when I shine
All is well
Because all is Yours
All is mine

I am everything
and I deserve this time

Because all is Yours
All is mine
and For You, Lord, I will continue to shine.

When days are tough
You feel as though you aren’t enough
Remember you don’t have to be
Because the Lord died for you and me

He died because He loves
And He is always there to fill you up
So wake up
This life is short
Time goes quick
Blink and you might miss
The queen behind the mirror
The warrior with tears on her pillow

She may be barely hanging on
But say these words out loud
Stand tall
Stand strong

Because you were created for this world
And your life must go on
Soon you will be home
But for now stand firm
Root deep
and grow

“All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those
who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness.” - Hebrews 12:11

When you think about the word “suffering,” what comes to mind?
Thanks for joining us for Faith-Filled Friday with Debra Dolce and Trench Classes
United. If we’re honest with ourselves, we don’t want to think of this word. But what if we
were to think of it differently? Today’s Love Letter offers a different perspective on this
truth of a sojourner in this life and suffering.

~Love Letter~
My love, be convinced that any suffering you endure is less than nothing compared to
the magnitude of glory that is about to be unveiled within you. This is an encouraging
Word and a promise of the move of My Spirit within you.

This is why I continually call for you to come and spend time with Me, to be open to the
move of My Spirit. Let My glory work within you and let that beauty shine out of you so
that others will recognize it and ask you questions.

Always be ready to show and share My love and to share how your life has been
changed. Life changes can draw you closer or you can choose to move further away,
wanting your own way. You see, everybody has a choice in their relationship with Me.
You can move as close to Me as you desire. It all depends on what you're willing to let
go of. Some are still trying to hold onto the treasures this world has to offer, but they all
fade away, even beauty.

​Beloved, remember that only what you do for Me, for the Kingdom will last. 

~DebraDolce

I remember when I finally came face to face with the reality of my own answer. It was
right after I had been taken off of work and placed on workers’ comp. I was like a lost
person wandering in an isolated foreign country wondering where I was going to land!

I was actually in counseling at the time, trying to gain coping skills for my son’s
addictions, and my therapist was Steve. He led me to a study called “Victim no More” by
Beth Moore and I’ll never forget what happened at the beginning of it; it was incredibly
pivotal in my relationship with God. As the words of the study pierced my heart and
began to peel back some layers, I broke down and I literally yelled at God, “Why did
You allow the abuse to happen? Why didn’t You make it stop?”

I received an answer, a very profound answer: “I wept every time it happened”!
We all have free will, and God will never make us love him; nor does He make bad
things happen to good people.

When we allow these truths to sink into our soul, we begin to surrender to serenity and
that anger loses its power.

Surrendered to our Loving Father,
Kim-Evinda

Dang it! She had lost in Triple Tile again. She waited for the game to reload, determined
to succeed this time.

In a cell-phone kind of world, games are becoming more and more consuming as they
become readily available. Is there a favorite game you play on your phone? Thanks for
joining us for Wednesday’s Word with Kim-Evinda and Trench Classes United for
today’s word which ties a very simple spiritual truth into it.

“This is like my tenth time trying this” she said to herself. “There has to be a way to get
it,” she concluded, desperate and determined to get to the next level.
Something caught her eye at the bottom of the screen, and she noticed she had several
re-dos in her game bank, and even more free matches. “Why haven’t I noticed this
before?”

She clicked on a freebie and instantly three tiles disappeared uncovering others that
she was able to match. Within seconds, she completed the level, marveling at how easy
that hard level had become simply by using what was in her game bank for help.
As the next level loaded, she heard a whisper: “My Spirit is like that.” The profound yet
simple truth wrapped itself around her, bringing conviction, comfort, and joy
simultaneously: Often we limp through life without calling on His Sprit to help us which is
in each of us who accept His gift and believe.

Why do we struggle through life without withdrawing from the banks of our hearts and
asking for provision, protection, guidance, wisdom or whatever it is that we are needing
to reach a solution from The Helper? Why do we complicate our lives by not reaching
for The One who can uncomplicate things by one simple invitation into it?
“But the Helper, The Holy Spirit, whom My Father will send in My name, He will teach
you all things and bring to remembrance these things I have said.”

Friend, can I encourage you to allow the truth that Greater is He who is in you than
anything happening outside of you. Invite Him in.

​Love,
Kim-Evinda