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.

A Wild Ride

This past Monday I found out that Don is going through with the divorce after all. It came as quite a shock to me as I thought we had agreed to remain "legally separated". My attorney informed me. To say I was stunned would be an understatement. Actually when I got off the phone with the attorney, I said very loudly "you've got to be kidding me"!! Yes, I believe I was directing that straight to the Lord.

Good thing HE wasn't surprised. Was I angry? Yes. Was I scared? Yes. Was I about ready to let a really long stream of cuss words fly? (I am not answering that) It's odd how I was taken so by surprise. It's not that I thought we would get back together but all of a sudden the road I thought I was on just took a quick turn. What about my health insurance? What about support? Why is he changing his mind?

So, on Thursday we had a court hearing. It was already scheduled so we kept the appointment. I showed up at the court house (with a friend that I made stay with me the entire time) and I could not look at Don. I could not speak to him. I think it was okay to feel that way for that day. But I will not stay in that place of anger and bitterness! It's ugly there. It's dark. It's joyless. It's prison.

Sometime in the next 7 days my marriage of 18 years will be officially over. I will be divorced. We will be divorced. Our family will be changed forever, but it won't be destroyed! David and Ellie and I will perservere. We will cling to each other and to the Lord. One of these days we will have hearts that want to pray for Don. But for now we are going to grieve the loss, be thankful for our blessings, share our experience with others and keep believing!

I love the Lord more today than ever in my life! I've asked Him for years to give me a heart that loves Him and He has. We repeat vows at our wedding ceremonies that sometimes as humans we cannot fully keep. However, God can say that He will be with us for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death! He is the promise maker and keeper. Never do we need to doubt.

This week will be a tough one. It will mark both my anniversary and my divorce. But it will also mark the beginning of a new path with my God. Bittnerness? No thanks! I am moving on wherever God leads. Think it's gonna be a great ride!!

Hope Endures

Would you pray with me today? Our hope does indeed endure!!

What Really Matters Anyway?

What really matters is a question that's been swirling around in my head the past 24 hours. Just so you know - I do not have an answer, but I am just gonna come here and get out some of what I've been thinking.

Yesterday I woke up with symptoms and was frustrated. I started my conversation with the Lord asking him "why". Why won't He take this illness away? Why is He leaving me this way? Why isn't He intervening in all the other life circumstances I am facing? Why? Why? Why?

In my head I KNOW that He allows it because through it there will be greater glory. He will be glorified. But my heart cries out - ENOUGH!! I want my life back. I want to do things with my kids. I want to be able to run to the grocery store if we're out of something. I want. I want. I want.

After I was certain that God understood where I was coming from, I proceeded to open my emails. Shocked to find so many comments from my last post. That post had been written 5 days before. Usually I will get a few stragglers, not that many. Hmmm...God was up to something. He was encouraging me. Letting me know that for this time He is still using me. I may not like it, but HE KNOWS WHY HE IS ALLOWING IT!!! Maybe if I had my life back, I would not spend any time here with all of you. Maybe I do not fully understand the calling on my life and I need to remain home bound for now.

It is such a privilege to talk with many of you. Either through the blogs, emails, facebook, messenger...God is up to something in our lives. And here is what I am thinking. It's not about the "right now". Am I willing to pour my life out for the sake of others? There are many who are struggling with what they believe. Do they even believe at all. Is the church worth it. Can God be trusted. Huge things that others are grappling with. I am by no means saying that I am here to be THE ONE who brings healing to them. But I would love to be a part of pointing them to Jesus.

This world will come to pass. This is not all there is. If I live the rest of my life with some heartache, with physical limitations but I have somehow done a small part in helping others - it really will be worth it. My life is getting more and more challenging each day right now. I am being knocked around from every direction. Guess that means satan is scared of me. Pray that I will continue to fight the good fight. That I will live my life with integrity. That my eyes will be fixed on the victory and not on the battles.

What really matters? In the end all that matters is Jesus. Do we know Him? Do you know Him? He is real!! He is worth it!! Trust me - I know!

Destiny

Hey friends! Just checking in. Feel like I owe you a "hello" at least. Don't really have much to say tonight but thought I shouldn't go an entire week without contact. I've still been getting around and visiting most of you but I know some of you check in here and are wondering how we are doing.

That's a loaded question with no simple answer. Probably how most everyone feels if they are completely honest. My life is difficult but so are lots of yours. My life can be really great and so can yours. That's what is so great about doing this thing together. Hopefully we can be honest, transparent and real with each other.

God and I have been doing a lot of talking lately. I've been trying to keep my mouth shut (and my mind from wandering) and just listen to Him. We've been distant. I've been distant. You know what? I've been angry.

That's it. Angry. With God? Yep, with God.

Brings tears to my eyes to even write that. Here is the verse that I am memorizing for the next two weeks. It is from Isaiah. (I know can you believe it? Not like I love that book or anything) Anyway....it is Isaiah 30:18 and these are the words:

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a god of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him.

Do you see that? He LONGS to be gracious to me (to you). He rises to show compassion. Think of something you long for. That is how God longs to be gracious to you. It is a deep desire of His. The end of the verse is the hard part for me.

Wait for him. Wait for him. Wait for him.

He has not forgotten. Not about me. Not about you. He rises from His throne to show us compassion. What a picture is that. Oh, how I love Him.

I am finishing my "Esther" study. Thought there would be some lightening bolt moment for me. There was not. But what I did learn. God is in control. His plan will never be thwarted. Providence. He has a plan for my life. A destiny that only I can fulfill. I can spend my time being angry and questioning. Or spend my time waiting. Waiting for Him to rise up and tell me...."This is it Sheryl. The time has come for you to walk into your destiny. I am so proud! I long to be gracious to you."

Find me faithful, Lord!