Have you ever been involved in a self-made pity party and God showed up?
Thanks for joining us for Wednesday’s Word with Trench Classes United. Come on in for a relatable experience.
I was knee-deep in my self-made pity party, overwhelmed by hills of situations that suddenly looked like mountains. I began looking at reasons why I should just throw in the towel, not bother to climb yet another mountain and I started to voice those reasons in the form of questions, crying out, Lord, what am I missing? Why, oh why is this taking so long? Why, Lord, is so and so getting recognized like that? Why is that organization receiving funding? Why does this person and that person have so many followers? Why does ministry have to be so hard?
Suddenly my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and was shocked, to say the least, because in the back of my mind I kept hearing this prompting to call her and ask for prayer.
Without boring you with the details of the conversation, let me just say that it definitely lifted my countenance and encouraged my soul by reminding me that I was not in this alone.  It was like a splash of water on a fire self-started with my playing with pity. In other words, the fire wasn’t completely out; there were still embers burning in my heart, but at least it wasn’t raging and threatening to destroy what God has done in me and through me. Within an hour there was another huge piece of encouragement, a much-needed and unexpected donation.
I got another splash of water a few hours later through another phone call from someone who offered to step up and help with a real sad situation, someone who isn’t even on our team! I knew these were God-incidents and not just a coincidence. The embers of doubt and self-pity were slowly fading.
As I was driving to my deposition the next day, the traffic slowed me down quite a bit and another prompting tugged on my heart. I pulled a handful of scriptures on 3x5 cards out of my console to feast upon. Don’t worry, I was paying attention to the road while testing my memory. This is a great way to distract your frustration in traffic, by the way. 😉 
Surprise, surprise! God showed up again. 😊  What do you think was the first one that I read? Do not grow weary in doing good for in due time you shall reap if you do not lose heart! Gal 6:9
What a life preserver! And still yet, He hands me another: The Lord God is my strength; He makes my feet like deer’s feet; He makes me walk on my high hills. HAB. 3:19
Oh, how faithful He is to love me in my most unlovable moments, to show compassion and  mercy as an answer to all my questions.
If you’ve ever participated in a pity party, would you pray this prayer with me for yourself: “Oh, Abba, help me look to Your principles and promises to lift me up and out of my pity parties, to make my feet like deer’s feet that I would walk on the hills You placed before me and not grow weary of doing good, trusting You will bring the harvest forward in Your time.”
Love,
Kim-Evinda

John 8:32-33 And Jesus said to those Jews who believed, if you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
Have you ever gotten lost on your way home? I realize that in today’s era, with all of our technology available, any sort of directions at our fingertips just by asking Google or Navigation or our factory-installed GPS equipment in our cars, it’s a little more difficult to get lost. And yet, I have found myself lost a time or two as I don’t always remember to rely on technology! I’ve even been known to go to the wrong law office for a deposition before, having put in the wrong number or even worse, getting the wrong information! Wow, is that ever embarrassing! 
Welcome to Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and faith-filled Friday with Trench Classes United.
Getting lost is a horrible feeling, and I don’t just mean physically lost. I run into so many hurting people who are not lost, per say, overwhelmed with suffering of some sort. The waves of life have tossed them to and fro, and they have lost their way, their hope.
Talk to the wife who has just discovered her husband’s having an affair…either with another woman or with an addiction of some sort, and then there’s the parent(s) hurting over the choices their child is making, choices that surely are going to cause so many unfavorable consequences. It’s like being lost in a sea of hopelessness for there is nothing to do but watch the unfortunate consequences come and do whatever they’re going to do. And what about the one just given a life sentence via a medical diagnosis with a prognosis revealing the end is around the corner?
Friends, life is happening all around us and if it’s not happening to us, it’s happening to those close to us. What are we doing for them? What kind of directions are we giving when they reach out for help? Where do we send them or do we even stop to notice they’re a bit lost in their sea of life and the circumstances swimming around them threatening to overwhelm them, toss them to and fro that they may lose their way?
See, no matter the circumstance, there is a place to abide where we will never get lost, a place that will shed new light, a fresh perspective, a location that is filled with peace and hope, a foundation built with grace, a place that if we would only turn to, land in, abide in, we would find freedom from all that has us overwhelmed: His Love Letters to you and me!
It’s time to stop being one of those who don’t ask for directions and abide in that place that we will be found, never to get lost again because when we abide in His Word, and invite others to join us there, it is there we are found, and freed!
Abiding in His promises and principles,
Kim-Evinda

Have you ever received a message that you know that you know it was from God? Did you know He talks to you in your own language?
Thanks for joining me for Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Wednesday’s Word with Trench Classes United.
Last week I shared some unexpected news I received after a 3D mammogram and another very specific mammogram to reveal the need for a biopsy but what I didn’t share with you is a very specific message I received in the most unexpected place and time.
We were making our way back to the boating dock after a great day on the lake. For the most part, I had left my news at home, but every now and then, it would weigh in on my thoughts like an anchor holding a boat in one place while bouncing up and down, side to side in response to the passing boaters. 
I was up front with one of my friends, and I remember sharing my fears about the biopsy, still in disbelief that I have to have it done but then again, I didn’t linger there long.
I relaxed in the bow of the boat, listening to the steady sound of the engine on the water, the music of the waves splashing as we crashed over them, and Pandora blaring Country music which had been playing the entire time…until all of a sudden, I’m singing the words to a Christian song, and at the same time, sort of puzzled by the change in genre but nevertheless I kept singing.
When the solid ground is falling out from underneath my feet
Between the black skies, and my red eyes, I can barely see
When I realize I've been sold out by my friends and my family
I can feel the rain reminding me
In the eye of the storm, You remain in control
In the middle of the war, You guard my soul
You alone are the anchor, when my sails are torn
Your love surrounds me 
In the eye of the storm
As the words came out of my mouth, their meaning warmed my soul and tears ran down my face, the wind drying them almost as fast as they fell.
I continued to sing along to this song I hadn’t heard in a very long time
When my hopes and dreams are far from me
And I'm runnin' out of faith
I see the future I picture slowly fade away
And when the tears of pain and heartache 
Are pouring…
 
In the eye of the storm, You remain in control
In the middle of the war, You guard my soul
You alone are the anchor, when my sails are torn
Your love surrounds me 
In the eye of the storm
As soon as the song finished, Pandora returned to the Country genre and my girlfriend looked at me, I looked at her, and I’ll never, ever forget her affirmation: If that wasn’t God talking to you, girl, I don’t know what was!
My hope is that I’ll have only one more blog to write about this storm, sharing how I get thru the biopsy and thereafter receive positive results…but only He knows when my next storm will come and He promises to be there with me.
I pray that you take time to listen to God speaking to you, for you and about you
Love,
Kim-Evinda 

Just two days away is the day we celebrate our individual freedom as well as that of our nation lest we never forget the cost. And while this freedom does include freedom of speech, I can’t help but wonder if we’ve become imprisoned by our political prattling. And no, this isn’t going to be any sort of political blog, so please, come on in and stay for a few minutes as I share from my heart to yours.
You can’t turn the T.V. on, or even do a Google search without some words of anger and conflict dancing across our eyes and into our mind, the seat of our soul. There is a fire of rage building in our country inflamed with opinions on every level. When did it stop being okay to agree to disagree without becoming so full of anger and hatred? Why do we have to try and force our opinions onto others and blast them for theirs? Why are we so inclined to return evil for evil?
I was talking just the other day with someone and he was sharing his frustration about all the compromising that’s happening around us, politically and otherwise, and he kept sharing, and sharing and I mean, the more he talked about it, the more frustrated he became.
When I felt it was appropriate to do so, I quietly said, it’s great to be concerned about our world, but are you concerned or consumed?
We know who wins, so what if we were to just live, and not speak, our convictions lest we become guilty of the compromising we see around us?
Thanks so much for joining me for Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Monday’s Mantra with Trench Classes United. May you find freedom from engaging in the opinions of the world and risking compromising your convictions, and remember, when concerned turns into consumed, that can be the beginning of compromise.
Love,
Kim-Evinda