Miracles and a Giveaway

It is over 70 degress and sunny in Michigan today!!! After the longest, roughest winter in history (exaggeration) I am so excited to see nice weather.

Head over here to my other blog for a giveaway.

And...the weather is not the only miracle in my life that I want to share with you.

*I drove the soccer carpool last night
*I mowed the backyard today

WHOOP!!

Walking in Freedom

Here we go...

Nothing in my brain but fingers are itching to "write". Kind of tired of everyone being attacked by satan. Feeling pretty sick of him. There is a victorious life for us all to live but he keeps trying to trip us up. For me - I am letting him. He uses the same things, he is not very creative. So, why do I keep falling for it??

I asked a group of friends to "get real" yesterday and you would not believe the things that people are dealing with. Well, sure you would, because you all are dealing with them too. But for some reason most people keep those things to themselves. Like if they don't talk about them then maybe they'll just go away. That is exactly what satan wants. Secrets, things in the dark...we need to expose them to The Light!! Just because we struggle and have issues does not make us less than. We are not "worse Christians". We are not a burden to our friends. We are not alone!!

It has been a burning desire of mine to see others walk in freedom. I've tasted what that freedom walk feels like and it is GOOD! I want it back. I want to love the Lord more. I want to "want Him" in my life. Does that make sense?

God is giving me more physical healing and that is wonderful!! But...I want my heart to be healed. Not from the divorce, not from the heartache of the kids, not from fear (although all that healing would be great). I want my heart to be healed - I want it to be a heart that is sold out for Jesus. That is not so easily swayed by the lame tactics of the devil. I just want to be in love with the Lord Jesus.

Are you struggling? Are your burdens heavy? If you don't feel like you want to share them here (you can always be anonymous), please find someone to "get real" with. Freedom is ours. HE has already purchased it with His own blood. Let's live in it!!

If You Ask Him, Be Ready for the Answer

The Lord and I have been having an ongoing conversation lately. Now that I am divorced. Single. A single mom. A single, sick mom. I've been asking God what should I be doing to earn money. Would He bring me something that I could do from home? I keep asking and do you know what He keeps saying?

Give.

Huh?

Hold on a second, Lord...You aren't even letting me get through my whole sentence and You keep telling me to GIVE??? Is that really what you're saying?

Yep! (ok, I know the Lord probably doesn't say YEP, but He does in my mind)

It has been the strangest thing. I do not hear God audibly but in my heart, my spirit, I just know it's Him. And truly each time I ask about earning money He tells me to give. So I have begun to do that. I am not relaying this story to you to boast about giving but to have a record of how God is working in my life.

Honestly there has never been a time in my life where I really NEEDED God to meet all of my needs. Sure there would be weeks where money was tight but this "new life" of mine is completely out of my hands. Completely!! I need Him in a way I've never needed Him before. I have no way to earn extra money. I have no way of healing myself. I have no way of protecting my kids from heartache.

But HE does. His ways are higher than my ways. (ok, as you know I write these things on the fly, I don't plan them out...I have to tell you what JUST happened) I was in the middle of that last sentence when my dad came into my house. He had taken my car to the shop because it's "acting up". He just told me that it will be ready tomorrow and it will be $800!!!! Okay I just cracked up.

Good thing I have decided that God is control and I am trusting HIM alone. I've been wondering what my next memory verse should be and I think it should be something about God supplying my needs but I'm led now to believe it's even more than that. I am going to memorize Malachi 3:10 (and no, I don't just know these verses, I googled verses that speak about supplying needs). Here is the verse:

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

What is God saying to you that seems ridiculous? Where do you need to trust Him?

Finding Shelter

Loving memorizing scripture this year! It really is life to me. The verse I am meditating on for this two weeks is Psalm 91:1 "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty".

Love that! Love it!!

Dwells in the shelter of the Most High. Not comes and goes. Not on an as needed basis. But dwelling there. I want to dwell there. Live there. And it's not just any old place, it is in the shelter of the Most High.

What will I find there, what will you find there? We will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. He covers us. Everywhere we turn we will see His shadow going out around us. That scripture holds truth for each one of us. No matter our circumstances. No matter how hard life is or how wonderful life is. We need to dwell in His shelter. I don't want to just learn a verse and think "how cool" I want to claim it for my life. I want to know the truth of it, believe it and live it.

Praying that I will start dwelling with the Lord more. He desires to give me rest. He is still bringing beauty from ashes in my life. I would love to hear how you have seen Him bring beauty from ashes in your life, if you have something to share.

Let's start dwelling in the shelter of the MOST HIGH!!

New Beginnings

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life". That quote has always been so silly to me. DUH? We all know that! Why is it a quote? However, today I am seeing it in a whole new way. My life as I knew it before is over. So, this really is the first day of my NEW LIFE! Divorce papers are signed. They just need to be filed at the courthouse, but it's over. Very surreal to sign your name a couple of times and end something that has been a part of who you are for 19 years. I am no longer someone's wife. I am no longer married. WOW!!

BUT...I am still Sheryl. Still a believer in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Still a mom. Still a daughter. Still a sister and a friend. Still a lover of shoes & bags! Still one who loves to laugh & cry. Still the funniest person I know (and the most modest) You get the point. I may have lost a descriptor of who/what I am, but I have not lost myself.

God has big things in store for me. I know it. It's scary and it's exciting. The healing begins today. I choose to walk into that healing, begging for the ability to forgive, willing to do whatever it takes to come out of this a better person. A stronger person. One who loves deeper. And one who is not afraid!!

Fun news? Yes, there is some fun news. At least I think so. You see that little button over there on the right that says "Go Ask Sadie"? Well...that is a new blog I am starting. I will NEVER leave The Perch, this is my baby. But, I wanted to try something new. I've loved being help to others with questions and issues that they have emailed me. Someone suggested that I start a blog just for those questions. Fun, deep, trivial, serious...whatever!! Just a place for us to gather and ask things and help each other!

Thanks for all your support. I know I say it a lot, but I really could not have done this without you. God is so incredibly good to give us things (people) that we didn't even know to ask for. Love you all and I hope you'll visit Sadie sometime soon.