by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
Melony Brown from www.melonybrown.com recently interviewed me for her blog. She has a heart to share stories of women who have OVERCOME life’s tough challenges, and my life…well… has had it’s share of challenges, yet these challenges and God’s amazing grace has shaped me into the woman I am today. And I can honestly tell you that I love telling my story because it GLORIFIES Jesus and His ability to RESCUE. This article is just a glimpse of our Amazing God and I hope it encourages you today. Please check out Melony’s website and read the other inspirational stories while you are there, and If my story touches you in anyway, please leave a comment on her website, thanks!
To read this article, click here:
http://www.melonybrown.com/2018/10/fresh-start/
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give praise to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Most of you know our guest writer, Carol Abersold (center), as the Bestselling Author of “Elf On The Shelf” which is #3 on the USA Best Seller List. But what you may not know is that Carol is wife, mother, Bible teacher, mentor and woman of God who longs to glorify God. Please check out her wonderful website at:www.elfontheshelf.com. My daughter goes onto her website often to create cookies, color, and play games.
I know you will be blessed by Carol’s devotional today and it’s timeless message to let your light shine everyday of the year. Enjoy!
Although I had tried to faithfully serve the Lord for more than fifty years, my light, for all intents and purposes, was out. I found myself in the blackest of pits mentally, physically and spiritually. I had been physically suffering with three herniated discs in my neck, my husband’s business was failing, and my in-laws let me know how much they disliked me after thirty-four years of pretense. I found myself curled up in a ball weeping and crying out to God for help, healing and deliverance. All hope seemed gone.Why was I, a Sunday school teacher, amateur Bible scholar, a word believing, walking, talking Christian suffering from hopelessness?!! My usually strong husband was suffering from his own worries ( I was one of them), and I “turned to God” but He seemed to be on vacation. What was the deal!
My oldest daughter came over to pray for me. She took action and made an appointment for me to get professional Christian counseling, and she encouraged me to start writing. My Eeyore-like reply was, “I have nothing to say.” Determined child (adult) that she is, she looked up on a shelf in my kitchen where my little pixie elf from childhood still remained even though the holidays were past. “Why don’t we write a book about the elf tradition?” she said. My reply was, “Oh, Chanda, nobody would want to read that……Okay.”
And so we began writing what turned out to be The Elf On The Shelf: A Christmas Tradition. While we were in the process of writing the story, I received the professional help I needed from Tracy Hurst. These two women, Chanda and Tracy, let the Lord use them to shine His light upon me. He graciously healed me from my pain, the source of our financial drain was revealed to us, and most importantly… I got my light back.
The point is this: a Christian woman’s light never completely goes out, but it can grow extremely dim. Perhaps, you, like I, need someone to shine their light on you until you can get your “batteries recharged.” Don’t be afraid, just receive it. In turn, when darkness seems present in another’s life do not hesitate to shine your God-given light.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, let me be equally as willing to be set alight, as to shed light. Let the Holy Spirit remind me not to lose heart, because I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Let me not be ashamed to seek proper help when my light seems to dim, and let me be a beacon shedding Your light on everyone I meet today. Amen.
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.” Romans 5:1-2, The Message
For years I feared that if I surrendered my life to God, He would call me to live in a tent in a tropical forest, marry a man that I was not attracted to and birth twenty plus children – all of which are not wrong by an means – but I had no desire for any of these things. The problem was that I did not know the character of God at that time. I believed the lie that if I gave my life over to God that He would ask me to do things that I was not equipped for nor would I like, but this could not be farther from the truth!
You see, when I threw open the doors of my heart to God, I discovered that God had already thrown open His doors of grace to me through His Beloved Son, Jesus, when He died on the cross. God had been patiently, lovingly, waiting for me to give up. Even through hard times, God has been with me and I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. It was God who blessed me with a wonderful, good-looking husband. It was God who blessed me to be a mother and it was God who knew that I was not called to live in the jungle, but instead He gifted me to help His people through Counseling. Many marvel that I enjoy being a Counselor, but it was God who put this desire within my heart and I experience great joy when I Counsel.
Before Christ, I struggled with depression, suicidal thoughts, low self-esteem, rejection, people pleasing, worthlessness, and much more. Yet, when I came to the end of myself and cried out to God, He filled me with His life, joy and peace. Over time I began to see who God really was – a loving, giving, compassionate Father who placed talents and abilities within me to glorify Him. I cannot boast of anything in my life, for it is God and God alone who blesses me.
Now, there are circumstances in each of our lives that we would never willingly choose to go through, but with God we can be confident that He will lead us to victory in every place . We can stand firm that God will work all things out for His good when we are called according to His purpose. God does not waste anything. He will not waste our pain, trials, talents, abilities, desires or anything in life.
I want to encourage you to surrender everything to God today. It is only through surrender that we can find peace and joy. One of my favorite sayings is, “I can’t, but God can.” God is longing to lead us into wide, open places in our workplace, marriage, ministry, parenthood and in everything we do. Today is the day we can throw open the doors of our lives and discover ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand – out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shout out praise to God….will you join me?
Prayer: “Lord, I give my life and I declare that You are good and gracious and will lead me to wide open spaces as I surrender to You. You have amazing plans for my life and I no longer want to keep You at arms length. I want to fully surrender to Your will and not my own. You have placed desires and abilities within me for Your purposes and I long to fulfill my destiny on earth. May Your will be done. Amen.”
by Tracy | Bad Day Blues, Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
Please welcome again our guest writer for “Tuesdays With Tracy,” Carol Abersold. Carol is the best selling author of “The Elf On The Shelf: A Christmas Tradition.” She is currently traveling throughout America signing books and bringing smiles to children everywhere. Please check out her wonderful website at:www.elfontheshelf.com. My daughter goes onto her website daily to create cookies, color, and play games.
I know you will be blessed by Carol’s devotional today and it’s timeless message to let your light shine this Christmas and everyday of the year.
“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give praise to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Although I had tried to faithfully serve the Lord for more than fifty years, my light, for all intents and purposes, was out. I found myself in the blackest of pits mentally, physically and spiritually. I had been physically suffering with three herniated discs in my neck, my husband’s business was failing, and my in-laws let me know how much they disliked me after thirty-four years of pretense. I found myself curled up in a ball weeping and crying out to God for help, healing and deliverance. All hope seemed gone.Why was I, a Sunday school teacher, amateur Bible scholar, a word believing, walking, talking Christian suffering from hopelessness?!! My usually strong husband was suffering from his own worries ( I was one of them), and I “turned to God” but He seemed to be on vacation. What was the deal!
My oldest daughter came over to pray for me. She took action and made an appointment for me to get professional Christian counseling, and she encouraged me to start writing. My Eeyore-like reply was, “I have nothing to say.” Determined child (adult) that she is, she looked up on a shelf in my kitchen where my little pixie elf from childhood still remained even though the holidays were past. “Why don’t we write a book about the elf tradition?” she said. My reply was, “Oh, Chanda, nobody would want to read that……Okay.”
And so we began writing what turned out to be The Elf On The Shelf: A Christmas Tradition. While we were in the process of writing the story, I received the professional help I needed from Tracy Hurst. These two women, Chanda and Tracy, let the Lord use them to shine His light upon me. He graciously healed me from my pain, the source of our financial drain was revealed to us, and most importantly… I got my light back.
The point is this: a Christian woman’s light never completely goes out, but it can grow extremely dim. Perhaps, you, like I, need someone to shine their light on you until you can get your “batteries recharged.” Don’t be afraid, just receive it. In turn, when darkness seems present in another’s life do not hesitate to shine your God-given light.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, let me be equally as willing to be set alight, as to shed light. Let the Holy Spirit remind me not to lose heart, because I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Let me not be ashamed to seek proper help when my light seems to dim, and let me be a beacon shedding Your light on everyone I meet today. Amen.
For all you coupon lovers, click on over to my coupon site: www.couponswithtracy.blogspot.com. This week I highlight a $5 off target coupon for any Blu-ray disc, a $2 off coupon on Bertolli Frozen Meals (on sale this week for $6 and a $5 Gift Card when you buy 3) & I share a great price on chicken at Publix this week – just $1.59/LB – a great time to stock up!!
