"You Raise Me Up"

I love Josh Groban's voice. I remember years ago when I first saw him on TV. I was instantly amazed by him. For being so young, he is soulful, soft, and yet has such a powerful voice. His singing is so heartfelt and passionate. It resonates in hearts and souls everywhere. 

Like so many of his others, the song, "You Raise me Up" is beautiful. The chorus of the song goes like this:

"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be."

The whole song is here:  Josh Groban on You Tube

I am blessed to have several people in my life who "raise me up". My Mom has long encouraged me to do more with my music. God gave me the gift of writing, and I am ashamed to say that I have wasted it for many years. I actually did take some time out in 2005 and recorded a CD, but then that's as far as it went. I never sent it anywhere or did anything with it. A wasted opportunity. 

Jason is a great proponent of any and all of my whims and desires. He's a wonderful "Yes, Dear" kind of guy. ;o) If I want to try it, he's all over it. Pampered Chef? Did it. Avon? Did it. Another cat? Did it, three times. Rearrange the furniture for the umpteeth time? Did it. Jewelry business? Did it. Photography business? Doing it. Paint a room? Did it. New kitchen table? Did it. What's for dinner? He doesn't care, he'll eat it. Go back to school, if you want. Get a job, wherever you want. Be a stay-at-home-mom, if you want. He's awesome!

Then there are my friends. I have several "I'll pray for you" friends. I always appreciate prayers!! My best friend, Cindy, is SO in tune with me, I swear she KNOWS when I need her and she calls me! It's amazing. She is always there when I need her. Her advice is always introspective and right on target. She knows me ridiculously well. I have other friends who raise me up on a daily basis in many different ways. Sometimes they don't even know it. A hug, a smile, a "poke" on Facebook just to they just let me know they are thinking about me. Many others read this blog and send me little notes. I always enjoy the chuckles and comments. All the "little" things raise me up.  

I am still growing as a human being. I am trying to be a better person, more of who God desires me to be. My personal and professional goals have changed as I've gone through life, but my Spiritual goals remain the same. Sometimes I get off track, but I have been fortunate to have friends who keep me headed in the right direction, and I love them for it!

So, for all of you who love me unconditionally, support me and my goals, encourage my aspirations and push me to be a better person... thank you from the bottom of my grateful heart! You are the light that leads me through my dark times and the courage I need to continue my journey. I could not do it without you.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. 
-1 Thessalonians 5:11

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. -Hebrews 3:13

God Bless. 

Learning To Love

"Carry on!" Two words I heard a lot during my time in the Marine Corps. Those two small words have such great meaning. It's something we have to do, to "carry on", even when we feel weak, afraid, forlorn... we must carry on.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. -Psalm 46:1

We never carry on alone! Our Father is always with us in times of hurt, pain, trouble, and in joy, celebration and prosperity. My Aunt Nicki describes hard times as this; the devil sees how well our lives are going at any given time and he can't stand it, so he throws trouble and problems our way to mess things up. We have to lean on God, and trust in Him, asking for His help, wisdom, guidance and protection to weather the storms, and He WILL be there. We are HIS CHILDREN and he will never forsake us.

He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us. -2 Corinthians 1:10

It's hard to love the hardest of times. How do you "carry on" when you feel the weight on the world crashing down on your shoulders? I have never been one to publicly ask for help, but occasionally ask for prayers. Generally we're a fairly private family. I am learning though, that asking for help, asking for prayers, sharing my burdens and allowing others to pray with me has been an amazing outlet. It has also given me a chance to bond with other people through the hard times... giving me a real reason to learn to love the difficulties I am encountering. The devil has been working overtime at our house.

This blog has also been a good outlet for me. For years I had talked about doing it, but the thought of opening my heart and soul to the Internet, and total strangers, was a bit daunting. I know I can pick and choose what to share, and when my best friend read it she said I was being "guarded". I knew that I was to an extent, but I wanted this to be real, a real expression of who I am. Some days I put more thought into my writing than others, some days it's just a quick "jot down a note". Hey, it's my blog... they won't all be editorials! ;o)

I was encouraged to start a blog by my Mom (who encourages me to do EVERYTHING!!) and several friends. It was very interesting because last March, one friend in particular emailed me following a Facebook post and said, "Your prayer was so touching. Even hard-hearted me is wiping away some tears. With your talent for writing, the ease of your relationship with God, and your willingness to put both out into the world, I really think you have a calling as a Christian writer or blogger. You're really inspiring, Rachelle, and I don't think I tell you that enough." After I started my blog, and our friendship soured, she sent me a long, quite nasty email calling it "self-righteous pontificating, childish, self-indulgent, mediocre writing". Wow. That's a pretty far leap from the first compliment. Either way, I make no excuse or apologies for WHO I am or WHAT I post. She also suggested that I make it private or take it down if I didn't like her comments or her constant presence. I will do neither. I will learn to love the difficult times, because they make me closer to what matters; my God, my family and those who truly love and care about me.

But all these things will they do unto you for My name's sake, because they know not Him who sent me. - John 15:21

Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. -John 16:22

Our God Is Greater

And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? -Romans 8:30-31

I am working VERY hard to change my attitude for today. With the help of some truly wonderful friends and their loving, uplifting comments it's getting a bit better. Thank God for my husband and my friends.

One of the songs we sang yesterday in church is a Chris Tomlin song that I absolutely LOVE. It says, "If our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? If our God is with us, then what could stand against (us)?" Take a listen...

Chris Tomlin - Our God Is Greater

Our God IS greater!! He is greater than any worry I have, any doubt in my mind and any trouble that burdens my heart. Although I currently feel very bogged down and really overwhelmed, I know the God is handling it and when He is ready, this will be resolved. He is in control, I am not. For a "control freak" like me, that's hard!! But I put my faith in Him and I am trying so, so, so hard!!

Friendship, Or Is It?

“The friendship that can cease has never been real.”  ~ Saint Jerome

I’m going to have to disagree on this one. During my life, I’ve had many relationships that have come and gone. Just because they changed over time doesn’t mean they were never “real” when they were alive and well. 

You’ll have to give me a little room for this next one. OK, a lot of room… If we followed that logic in other areas, believing that anything, if changed, was never real in the first place, the world would be in a heap of trouble! What about the caterpillars that changed into butterflies? Were they never “real” caterpillars to begin with? Grapes made into wine were never grapes? So where did we get the butterfly, the wine, the raisin and a host of other turned-into creations if the things that created them were never “real”? Ridiculous, right? My point exactly. 

Every end is another beginning. People come in and out of our lives all the time. We never know how long we have them. We move away, relationships change, God has other plans for us… the whole reason/season thing. Let’s face it, we forget about people! Do you remember all of your “friends” from high school? Middle school? Elementary school? Even marriages end, the most sacred of all relationships, but it was still a marriage. However unhealthy, strained or whatever lead to their demise, it was still a “real” marriage at some point. Chances are they really loved each other when they got married. Yes, there are those exceptions, but for the sake of this argument we’re looking at the majority here. 

The same goes for a friendship. They can also become unhealthy or strained, and be forced to end. Most often it’s ugly, painful and loud. Hurt usually leads to the most intense anger and the biggest blowouts. If nobody cared, they wouldn’t fight. There would be nothing to fight over and they would simply walk away. The passionate fight comes from the emotion within, the feeling one has about the relationship, the situation, the other person, etc.  At some point, there is a change, and the friendship may cease, often out of self-preservation of one of the parties. 

Taking care of yourself is necessary. You know when you get on an airplane, and they give the safety speech and they tell you to put your own mask on before helping your children or others? The first time I heard that I was appalled! I thought, “Who would put on their own mask before helping their kid?” Then I realized that if you’re unconscious, you’re not much good to those around you, so if you don’t put your mask on first you probably won’t be helping too many other people. (Kid wisdom is fantastic, but slow.)   ;o)

The idea that a broken friendship was never a real one is just ludicrous to me. I’m sure there are arguments to the contrary, such as “a real friend would never leave, never let us fall apart, would work to save the friendship” but sometimes it just can’t be saved. 

I have learned that it’s OK to walk away from a bad situation, a bad friendship and even a bad marriage. In some cases, it’s even necessary to run.