by Tracy | Inspirational, Practical, Tuesdays With Tracy
A picture of Michael & me celebrating 8 years of marriage!
“Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many against me.” Psalm 55:17-18, New King James Version
Is there a place everyday where God knows He can find you? Maybe it’s in your living room as the sunrises or in the evening just before bed. But where can God find you? I know that our lives are hectic and having a dedicated time to spend with God each day can be difficult. But, if we do not have a designated time to spend with God, life circumstances often get in the way. Personally, I love to wake up each morning before my daughter gets up (around 6:30 am). God can find me sitting on my sofa with a cup of coffee in my hand. I usually begin my time just talking and thanking God for His goodness. I lift up the various tasks of my day and I read my Bible and pray. This is my FAVORITE part of the day! There are mornings when Alyssa wakes up early and I have to re-arrange my quiet time. But just having this set time each day helps keep me on track and full of faith.
Depending on your personality type- you are either a morning person (like me) or a night owl. It is never a good idea for a morning person to try and read the Bible just before bed (trust me on this one – you will just find drool marks on your pages) and a night owls should never try and get up at 5:00 am (I have heard that this will put you in a very bad mood)! It is important to find the right time and place for YOU. You do not need to feel that you have to spend your time with God just like “Sister-Suzie-Q!” You may need to try out a few different times and places to discover what works best for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to help show you the best time and place to spend time with Him. Trust me, He will show you – He LOVES spending time with you!
Prayer:
“Lord, I want to spend time with each today. Help me to not let life circumstances get in the way. I need You desperately each day and ask that You fill me with Your grace and mercy. Holy Spirit, show me the best time and place to fellowship with You. Open my heart to the Word of God and teach me how to pray and enjoy getting to know You more. I am so thankful that You love spending time with me! You are an amazing God!” Amen.
by Tracy | Bad Day Blues, Practical, Tuesdays With Tracy
(A Girls Night Out with my friend, Angela)
“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” James 1:19, New International Version
Three simple words can change a person’s entire day. Three simple words can communicate that you care. I think we all have been guilty of talking “on and on” about ourselves and failing to ask the person on the other end, “How are you?” Truthfully, we can become all consumed with “self” and forget that a living, breathing person is on the other end of our conversation. Who knows, maybe they are hurting or in need of encouragement. If we do get past our self-focus and actually ask the question, we then face another dilemma of getting the “AUTOMATIC RESPONSE.” I can’t tell you how many times I have asked, “How are you?” only to here the quick response, “Oh, I’m fine.” Yet, if we were honest that “automatic response” is not always the truth! Why do we insist on pretending that we have it all together when God knows that we are about to fall apart?
So let me be the first one to ask you today:
“How are you?”
“No REALLY, How are you?”
“How can I pray for you?”
“How can I minister to your needs?”
Take just a minute and answer these questions – Go ahead, I’ll wait right here until you are finished. Okay, now that you have shared you heart with me: “How do you feel?” Some of you may have tears in your eyes and others of you may be smiling. But, no matter the response – know that I genuinely care. I want to know how you are doing today. If you need a listening hear, please feel free to click on my contact page and send me an email. I would love to hear from you and I will agree with you in prayer.
My genuine care is my gift to you this day. Now it is up to you to pass it on!
Prayer:
Lord, please forgive me for being self-centered and failing to see the needs of others around me. Help me to pour into someone’s life today. I commit to tell You everything I am feeling and thinking deep within my heart. Thank you for always being available to me. And by the way Jesus, How are you today? How can I pray for the concerns on your heart and mind? Jesus, You are always there for me and I want to be here for You today. I give you permission to use my life to be a blessing.” Amen.
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord; point out the right road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.” Psalm 25:5, The New Living Translation
Several months ago, I began diligently seeking God on a matter close to my heart. I began meditating on The Word of God and Psalm 25 was the passage that seemed to continually give me peace as I sought God’s perfect will. It was the scripture above that gave me confidence God would show me the right path for my family. After a few weeks of building my faith, I was expectant to receive God’s leading. God spoke to me very clearly about three steps I needed to follow in order to receive wisdom from Heaven. Today I would like to share with you what God revealed to me:
1.First, we have to WANT God’s direction for our life. When we rely on human intellect or feelings to determine our choices we are in for a rollercoaster ride! I know this from personal experience:) It is only when we seek God’s plan that we can have peace as we work through various issues in our lives. Wanting God’s wisdom is the first step to receiving it.
2. Second, we have to WAIT on God. After we begin asking and seeking, it is then time to wait for God to speak. God is an on time God. I know that it may “feel” as if He is late in answering our prayers, but God is faithful and always on time. I have learned that whenever it appears that God is with-holding something good from me, He is only setting me up to be blessed! He loves us so much that he lets the “good” pass us by in order to give us His best. During the waiting period we need to know that God is faithful and therefore we can wait in expectation. It’s kind of like when we visit a doctor. Due to the fact that we made an appointment and WANTED to seek medical counsel – it is just a matter of time before our name is called and we get the doctor’s wisdom. When you WANT God’s wisdom, it is just a matter of time before it is revealed!
3. Third, we need to be ready to WITNESS a miracle. This is the best part! After we WANT God’s wisdom and we WAIT for Him to speak concerning the matter, we will then WITNESS God’s miracle working power in our life! I am currently walking out this final step and I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that God has done a miracle on my behalf. If you are currently in the waiting step – hold on and look each day for God to move on your behalf! Your miracle is on the way! No matter what you need from God this day – know that He is faithful! Do not give up. Do not get impatient and move ahead of God. All you need to do is: Want, Wait and Witness – God does all the rest!
Prayer:
Lord, I need direction in my life. Teach me Your ways and show me the right path. I WANT your wisdom. I choose to WAIT for You to make my path clear and I expect to WITNESS a miracle concerning this issue! Forgive me for getting in Your way. I completely surrender my life once again to you this day. Open my eyes that I may see You working on my behalf. Open my ears that I may hear Your voice. I let go of disappointment and frustration and I grab hold of the Word of God. I choose to believe The Word concerning all things in my life. Thank you for always giving me Your best Jesus! I love you! Amen.
Photo Above is from: www.freefoto.com
by Tracy | Inspirational, Life With Alyssa, Tuesdays With Tracy
“As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” Isaiah 62:5
It is hard for me to believe that just a year ago, I was as huge as a house and waiting for my precious daughter to arrive! She was as snug as a bug in my womb. Without the help of my doctor and medication, who knows when Alyssa would have decided to enter this world? Needless to say, Alyssa is here and more wonderful than we could have imagined. We recently celebrated her first birthday and watched with wonder as she dug into her very first “smash cake.” Although she was in a pretty pink dress, we encouraged Alyssa to eat her cake and ice cream with her hands – It was a hoot! Truthfully, we could not get enough pictures. We could not keep our eyes off of our precious daughter. And we are so thankful to be her parents. Today, I rejoice over my sweet Alyssa Lyn.
Although today may not be your birthday, I have some great news to share with you! According to the verse above, God is rejoicing over you this day. He can’t get enough glimpses of you. He can’t imagine this world without you. He is honored to be your Heavenly Father. And He is so in love with you!
While most of us only celebrate those we love once a year, God rejoices over us every single day. So go ahead and grab a sweet treat and know that while you are enjoying your scrumptious dessert God is rejoicing over you this day!
Prayer:
“Lord, thank you for loving me. I am amazed that You rejoice over me each day! Help me to drink in this truth deep within my spirit. Open my ears to hear what You want to tell me today. Please silence the voice of the world and everyone around me. I want to only hear Your voice, Jesus. Just knowing that you love me and rejoice over me is going to make this a wonderful day.” Amen.
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.” Galatians 5:25-26, The Message Translation
Before you were created in our mother’s womb, God thought about you (Psalm 139). He dreamed up in His mind your color of hair, personality and the talents that He would entrust to you while here on earth. Did you know that God uniquely placed forty thousand pieces of hair just in your inner ear alone? If God put this much thought into the creation of your inner ear, how much thought and creativity did He put in all aspects of your life? God is The Artist and you are His glorious creation.
The problem is that instead of focusing on how God uniquely created us, we fall into the trap of spending countless hours trying to be someone else! This type of behavior keeps us from fulfilling our personal destiny in Christ. The truth is, there is always going to be someone thinner, smarter, wealthier or more gifted in different areas, but there is only one you! God made you to be an original work of art. Stop trying to copy the brushstrokes God has placed in someone else’s life!
I once told a client of mine who loved the game of tennis, to “get out of everyone else’s court and begin to play her own game!” She struggled with comparing herself to others and this type of thinking led her to continual defeat every time. My client finally realized that she had her own game to play. With this revelation, she took control of her inner thoughts and she is now successfully enjoying her life! She grabbed onto this truth and she is free! Let’s join her, shall we?
Lord,
“Help me to see myself as You see me. You had such joy creating me and I have robbed Your joy by not appreciating my uniqueness. I will no longer compare myself to others. I will no longer speak negative words about my body, personality or the way you have made me. I choose to love myself as Your beautiful masterpiece. I release others to be who God created them to be and I release myself to enjoy how God uniquely made me. There is no one else like me on earth and I celebrate my life!” Amen.
I dedicate this post to my fun-loving Aunt Shelia, who taught me to just be myself and embrace my uniqueness. Aunt She-She:- You are God’s beautiful creation and I love you!
Photo above is from: www.freefoto.com
by Tracy | Inspirational, Practical, Tuesdays With Tracy
I found this in the archives and I thought it was fitting to share this once again with you as we celebrate the gift of Motherhood this Sunday! Blessings to all the Moms!!
In honor of Mother’s Day, I have asked “My Moms” to share some words of wisdom with us. Their messages are timeless and great reminders to us all. Whether you are single, married, divorced, with or without children – these pearls shared below are priceless! So sit back and enjoy hearing from these Godly women.
A Message from my Mom, Penny Kenton:
As funny as it may sound, my daughter, son and I all have fond memories of a vacation-on-a shoestring we shared when they were young. I was a single mother at the time and did not have extra money for a vacation, but as my mother had taught me, you can have fun on a shoestring budget!
Instead of eating meals out, we went to the grocery store and bought food. For breakfast we would eat cereal out of little boxes. For lunch we ate peanut butter, bananas and honey on pitas. As we munched our lunch on the beach, a sandstorm came along and our gourmet delights now included a crunch of sand with
every bite. In the evening as we watched movies on TV and ate snacks in our motel room, we laughed and talked and just shared time being together.
It’s hard to believe but that was 16 years ago. Even though in subsequent years the three of us shared more extravagant vacations, I think we all agree, the shoestring trip holds precious memories.
My message to mothers is this – don’t be afraid to be creative and adventurous. It’s not about how much you spend or how luxurious things are when you do things with your child or children, it’s all about creating precious memories. You may be surprised how some of them can be created on a shoestring budget.
A Message from my Mother-in-Law, Linda Hurst:
When I was a young mother with three small children I asked the Lord, “What special things do I need to do in raising my children?” The answer came softly in my mind – “Just be.”
“Just be” – That seems so simple, I thought. Looking back I realize that to “just be” is not as simple as it sounded. The world we live in does not encourage one to “just be.” The world is constantly telling us we need to do this, we must have that and we should never be satisfied with the status quo – whatever that means. Many voices call us to get involved in various activities that take our time away from our families. Being involved in activities is important and beneficial, but should not be a priority over our family. As a mother, I feel that it is very important that we are there for our children and to always be in prayer for every aspect of their lives.
A Message from one of my Spiritual Moms, Ann Platz:
I am glad that I’m now sixty years old. So much of life is trial and error. Rearing two daughters alone for seven years taught me a lot. That I needed
the Lord in my life! I also learned that His love is stronger than anything else. That in time God will restore everything that you allow Him to.
My ambition as a child was to be a wife and mother. That was it! When my first marriage ended it was catastrophic for me. What I did not see at that
time was that God was unfolding a plan for me that would supercede my wildest imagination! What He did was bring my husband John into my life.
Along with John came a new stability in the home. I was able to come back to my early desire to be a mother and a wife. A miracle? Yes!
Celebrate being a mother! And to every single mother, I pray for hope, grace and love.
A Message from my Step-Mother, Rosemary Randell:
“TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO; AND WHEN HE IS OLD, HE WILL NOT DEPART FROM IT” – PROVERBS 22:6
As I was watching my young adult child walk away from the Lord, this verse was going through my mind often. I felt guilt as only a mother can.
What could I have done differently? This was a child that had loved Jesus so much when she was a young, but now she was saying that she didn’t think God’s Word was true.
After a couple years of tearful prayers and continuous feelings of false guilt, the Lord gave me peace. One morning as I was making breakfast, not really thinking about anything in particular, the Lord said to me, “ Rosie, you take care of others and I will take care of her.” I just sat down and cried a peaceful and grateful cry. I didn’t understand what the Lord completely meant, but I knew that He was in charge, not me, and that she would eventually be alright. One year later, as I looked over and watched her singing to the Lord on a Sunday morning, my heart was full of love for my Lord. Thank you Jesus!
Happy Mother’s Day and may the blessings of the Lord chase you and overtake you this day!
Love,
Tracy
