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Praise the Lord! Wow…time flies – it is the end of August already. Jonathan goes back to school on Thursday – lol time flies when you are busy! Today is one of those reflection days…just thankful to the Lord for yet another day…trying not to allow my mind to over think and to get too bogged down…dag it – too late! LOL 

I was asked how I do what I do…I had to smile at that because today I was questioning myself on the same thing…looking to the Lord saying to Him…WHAT?! LOL I was looking to Him as there is so much going on – this needs handled, that needs handled, this thing over here needs worked on, oh yeah laundry needs done, got to get some more thing written up to post, oh yeah do not forget got to spend time with hubby and son – and the every so important spending time with hubby so he does not feel neglected….wow – what is a girl going to do? LOL I am telling you today – I am ready to say forget it all and crawl in the bed – sleep for 10 hours and wake up and say – WHAT?  

Yet then the next part of me says – no you would not sleep 10 hours – you do not even know how to do that…please and I would wake up with my lap top on my lap! Busy writing and working….hummm would I have it any other way…sometimes yes…sometimes no…sometimes who really cares! I think that we all have these moments and I know that I am going to keep having them probably until the die I leave here and see my Jesus…yet is it worth it? Is it really worth it…yes it is – if one sister’s life is guided more into the Lord and she starts to build a relationship with the Lord stronger…all those hours of writing, typing, thinking, praying, looking for, asking for help, crying out to the Lord, giving up something I want for someone’s need, standing in the gap in prayer, fussing at the Board of Directors, encouraging the sisters to talk, moving so fast that my head is spinning – yes it is all worth it even if that woman’s life that is changed is just mine!  

I thank the Lord for the direction in my life – although I do not always enjoy every single aspect of it, most times fight it off and try not to do it, but yet the Lord blesses anyhow. I was thinking yesterday and today – He has called me to exhort His name above all other names – He has called me to praise Him and uplift His Holy Name – guess what I can not even stop it for it is so in me now…Thank you Jesus. I am learning more in Him – I am striving more in Him…I am learning to love more despite of the difference, I am learning that ‘it will be all right’ just like everyone will be all right…if you have talked to me – when someone disagrees with me or thinks I am nuts…I always say – They will be all right because in the end of everything – they will! I am thankful to the Lord for the learning that I am getting – man there are so many different personalities just on the WL4J site let alone my church home, family, friends and all that I speak with – I love it because I am learning how to deal with all different people…hey newsflash – that is what a leader is supposed to do…WOW – thanks Jesus – I am getting it.  

The love flows more – sure I am still direct but I am learning softening so that people receive more – hummmm still direct and will for the most part still be direct…but learning more and more about people! Hummmm….only Jesus can teach this lesson…can you imagine – I used to be really shy – not so long ago – only Jesus – only Jesus – thank you Lord – only Jesus!  

Praise the Lord for another day – well back to the 9 to 5 – it is really working me today! I shall comment on blogs and stuff when I get home as I am at work and restricted from doing so – boo – hoo…yet I will be all right! LOL  

God Bless my sisters and enjoy your day in the Lord – praise Him for you never know if this will be your last opportunity to do so! 

Love ya all
 
 
Praise the Lord! I am just so thankful for the blessings that flow from the Lord and one of them is joy! I have to smile because I just love my assignments in the Lord…I love my calling and I love life. Sure I have days just like everyone else – husband working my last nerve, job is being a pain, son is not listening and people just wearing me out – BUT GOD!!  

It is in Jesus that we get our joy…as I was driving to work this morning…lately I have been riding in silence or singing songs that come to my mind to sing…I love doing that as it is my time with the Lord, but this morning I felt inclined to turn on the CD in my car…I was tired of hearing my sorry singing…LOL Praise the Lord – the CD I really like was in there…Youthful Praise! Yet it was the words of the first song that got me…. 

Lord I'm amazed at everything you've done for me
For every battle You have given victory
All I have needed You've provided for me
Who am I that You have so much love for me 

Okay even now as I think of those words – my spirit shouts unto the Lord. We are blessed – more than we even really know – yet we can not give the praise – HOGWASH! Jesus has done so much for us – He has kept us when we thought we were keeping ourselves – He is keeping us right now! When we were in sin running around thinking we were all that – the Lord was right there protecting us and we did not even acknowledge him with a thanks or a prayer. He was right there even when we sent up vain prayers – He was there even when we were doing things WE KNOW was wrong and yet He still loves us…not tell me that He is not awesome!!  

It is something about my walk with the Lord….God knows who to give what too…I can not stop praising the Lord even when I am angry or sad – I can not stop praising Him. It is in Jesus that we live – it is to Him that we owe ALL THINGS! We are so quick to look within us for strength – we better start looking to the Lord for our strength…it is in Him that we look for ALL THINGS! It is in Jesus – no where else.  

My life was a mess from the day that I was born – born to parents who had no idea what the heck they were doing…born into a life of pain and misery – BUT GOD…He saved me – He has kept me from the second I was conceived in the womb to this very second and He will keep me as long as He sees fit to do! Hallelujah Jesus…I am blessed….I have been through so much in my life – mentally, physically and spiritually – but God has kept me… 

I thank God for the trials that I have been through BEFORE I acknowledged Him in my life and for the ones that I go through after I acknowledged Him in my life. We are a bunch of complainers if we think about it – something is always not right – but God said in Him there is perfect peace, there is joy, there is love. God said that in Him everything is right – we are to look to Him in all things! I bless His name for all that He has done for me!  

I have had things done to me that are just beyond belief – I have done things that I never thought I would be able to do or would think of doing – I have been through some stuff that made me cry when I thought about it – but in Jesus there is no more tears – just tears of joy…I have no need to look on the past and be sad for He has taken that away from me – I look forward with joy and happiness in my life – there is nothing in my past for me so I tell the world what He brought me through but I am so much more in Jesus! Hallelujah Jesus… 

My sisters – God is good – He is so good….we have to take the time to focus on Jesus and less focus on us – we have to take the time to praise the Lord for ALL things…I thank God for my life every single part of it but most of all I thank Him for the pain I endured for it reminds me of the pain He endured for me and though I shall never feel the amount of pain that He went through I am thankful that He loved me – Sister Alissa Lynne Brunson – Hammond – Neal – Griffith (all the names I was) to change me into a child of God for the rest of my life…I shall serve the Lord for all eternity because He has been so good to me – He is so awesome!  

God Bless!!!  

By the way – Brunson was my maiden name – wow sounds so long ago – LOL Yet in Jesus – what a healing….Praise His Holy Name – Ain’t no rock going to cry out in my place – I am going to praise Him until the day I die and then I will praise Him for all eternity!!! Hallelujah Jesus – Thank God for saving me! Oh sisters think of the goodness of Jesus and all that He has done for you – I am so thankful to Him for the blessings He has bestowed upon me – I am blessed truly blessed! Hallelujah Jesus for saving ME!! Bless His Holy Name for He is worthy to be praise – praise Him until you close your eyes at night and wake up with a praise for the Lord on your lips – for we are blessed!
 
 
Praise the Lord! Well I am done with my first of many workouts at work. I went down there with the power of the Lord. I rode that bike for 15 minutes and was sweating when I was done – I am excited as that means some work was done. LOL I have to do strength exercises twice a week (Tuesdays & Thursdays) and I had 5 to do but I did only 3 but that was because the body said enough….that muscle cramp to the belly was enough to say okay let us start with 3 because in the middle of the 4th one – please I was done…pain for now. I shall work myself up to the 5 strength exercises. Yet God is good because when they hit – I prayed and now they are gone. Yahoo – as that was too much pain for me! I was gaining nothing but prayer time that was for sure…as I was praying for that to go away! 

I actually feel lighter – not weight wise but body wise – lighter in my spirit I think is what I am trying to say and that is always good. Less on me – less stress one thing is for sure – you can exercise that stuff off of you. Okay then I shall be headed to the wonderful world of exercising! Pray for me that I keep this up for the rest of my life!  

It amazes me how the Lord works things out in our lives, yet I wonder how many of us really truly believe the Lord for ourselves. How many of us read the word of God and believe it to be true for ourselves. We have a habit of reciting the word and passing it onto others…but do you really believe that you are more than a conquer in Jesus – do you really believe that you can do all things in Christ, do you really believe that no weapon formed against you shall prosper…. 

Do you know how to tell that you REALLY believe the word of the Lord? Look at what happens when you are faced with adversity in your life….are you calling on His word then and standing in it – do you possess peace that passeth all understanding, better yet – do you have joy during your temptations and trials? This is on way you can tell that you believe the word of the Lord for your life…. 

Fear, doubt, and anger are such strong enemies to have and it is not a good thing to possess in our lives – but in trusting the Lord and believing in His word – we will lost those things and it will be replaced with more of Jesus in our lives, more peace and calmness, more joy and happiness and just more of Jesus all around…aren’t ya tired of the pain, hurt, frustrations and mess of this world, well call on the Lord and believe His word for yourself!  

Until tomorrow – God Bless!  
 
 
Praise the Lord! The word of the Lord says…. 

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

I am thankful for this day in the Lord – I can do all things in Jesus and I will continue to press on towards the high calling of Jesus! I am blessed and this is truly what I need to focus on. I am excited to say that I have lost my first 3.4 pounds and this my sisters is just trying to figure out what I need to do in my eating habits, but cutting back only on eating out…hummm well let us see what happens when I am able to cut back on portions too. It is amazing what eating out once a week verses eating out 5 times a week can do. I have not cut back on my portions yet, but that is the goal for this week along with exercise. 

As I stated before I was having a problem with how to get the time in for exercise. I thought well maybe when Jonathan is at karate class I can get that done, but with Jonathan’s attention span – I need to stay in karate class with him, so that is not a good thing. We have a gym here at work that I had to fill out and send to get access to the gym, so I did just this and was waiting. Well today, I went downstairs to see if I have permission, which I did but I did not have access. After a few steps – I got access to the gym so my first official work out will be tomorrow!  

We have several machines there besides the weights. We have a treadmill (2), Elliptical machine (2), Exercise bikes (2), Leg press (1) and a leg curl (1 – I guess that is what it is) then there is one that is for arm curls, plus there is two weights with pulleys for different types of exercise I guess…LOL It is a nice little gym that they have provided us.

I have a goal to do exercise for 5 days a week, with 15 minutes each time, yet I am so not doing that right now…I had goals that were not met and have to get it together but I am getting there. I was feeling kind of sorry for myself because I could just not find any motivation and I still really do not have any motivation except for the fact that I get to go to the gym now and I know the weight should come off then…I pray it does.

So we shall see…new things coming with WL4J and changes coming about that I need to prepare myself with. So many things are revealing themselves to me and I am going to try to say this as nicely as I can without offending anyone on purpose….

So many of our sisters and brothers in Christ are going through so much stuff going on in their lives…so many people trying to get paid to help them…so many ministers and pastors making you pay for the word on line. So many writing books that are supposed to help but nothing but a bunch of mess – so many are out there doing stuff that God has not called them to do…too much wanting to get paid instead of wanting to truly help.

We are finding that we are going to this thing and that thing – looking for our purpose – looking for our direction all the while missing out on it because we are so busy looking for it. I was so thrown last night as a sister text me about stuff going on with her and I was wondering why me lord and it is something as my husband was asking the Lord the same question…what is it about us that brings people to that place with us – always seeking counsel and things….it is because we are obedient…LOL I thought okay – yet the more I thought about it…it is our calling – our direction at this time from the Lord.

So many times sisters are wondering what is their purpose – which I explain that their purpose is NOT just their calling in the Lord or their ministry in the Lord and everyone does not have to have their own ministry and name it after themselves either…..our purpose is to serve the Lord and when we are doing that – we just fall into our calling in the Lord – some of us have more than one calling and some of us just have one calling…but it is in keeping in the Lord that we are able to know what it is.

Yet there is something that has to be done as a body of Christ and we need to make sure we are supporting and uplifting our sisters and brothers in Christ as God has called us to do. Sure we can do all kinds of things to do this, but we have to make sure that we are doing this and be very careful for putting a charge on it. Yet this is another issue I have so much….

It bothers me that you go to different places and the donation button is right out there in the forefront of the site…I have been doing research on a few different programs that WL4J will be offering soon (get ready some great stuff is coming – ALL FOR FREE) Yet it amazes me how many places are seeking donations and charging for stuff…maybe it is just me but encouragement should come free, the word of the Lord should come free. Okay you selling a book about things – okay I see a price for that, but why are you charging for someone to listen to your sermons….why is that a charge? Why have donations buttons, if I want to donate – I can read the address on the website and send a check or money order if I am so lead by the Lord…I love technology I truly do – but I will say that it has done some things to us that I regret – I do not like donation buttons.

Yes this is my own personal pet peeve – I know it takes money to make the world function – I know it takes money to help people and to do the things God has for us to do, but I also know that God will provide for His vision. I know that WL4J will get the money to do all that we have to do – but I also know that there are sisters who give without thinking twice for what needs to be done and I never asked them. Why can we not take that attitude on – why must everything have a price tag on it? Why must we face this world without the attitude of “I can do all things in Christ” why not…for if there is nothing impossible in God why not believe that and move forward.

I was crushed when I had to put that money in the WL4J account not to help sisters but to cover the cost of someone else’s bill that could have been avoided. I knew that money was going to go help the sisters – hey I worked over time for that money – but God knew the over time was to cover the cost, It hurt me to send out an email saying we have to take one sister at a time and as the money comes in we will send it out. Man that hurt me to the core – but then the Lord said He will provide and He is doing just that. Yet guess what that did…it strengthen me to know that He is still in charge and He will provide. I know that there is a path for all of us to follow but it is in Jesus that we must follow it. Sometimes things just do not go as we plan them but we are to trust and know that it is in Him that we place our trust and let Him do what is needed for us to live in Him.  

If all of us would stop living for ourselves and live for the Lord – take the focus off of us and focus on Jesus – there will come a revelation in this world that would amaze us but we know that is not going to happen for it to happen means that there will be no wolves in sheep’s clothing….Yet one thing is for sure – I shall make sure I am not a wolf in sheep’s clothing….and you can make sure you are not one too…

Okay do not ask me where all this is coming from – one of those days…I am all over the place with thoughts LOL so forgive me but I feel some kind of change coming sister – be ye ready for you know not when the Lord shall return.

Enough Rambling…God Bless and have a great day!
 
 
Praise the Lord – what to say what to say…changes are coming! Praise the Lord – changes and improvement is coming in the Lord! I just feel a change in Him coming for not just me but all of us. God is moving mightily in some of our lives – by changing our attitudes and thoughts on things!  

We (WL4J) have started a few ‘undercover’ programs that will be release to the masses later this year or beginning of next year but I know that God is in it because His direction is so clear in it. I am thankful to be a part of WL4J and that He is leading us in this new direction…yet He is showing me how I can still do ministry work and work a full time job. 

I had to laugh yesterday while I was at work and it was so busy that I could barely do a thing outside of my 9 to 5 duties…you know it was hurting me. I started talking to the Lord about it and just like Jesus – He answered me last night as I was talking to a sister about how I felt about life coaches and all those that get paid to encourage others…and it hit me – square dab in the heart…LOL I think I actually said to the sister - sorry was having a moment – because I was…. 

I have been praying to be able to be released from this job so that I can do WL4J full time and He said…why – you can do both for now. I can do both for now as I have been doing…the ‘foot’ went down this weekend so that releases so much stress from me, the love went forth this weekend and the direction is clearer too…hummm amazing how God will work with us when we just keep walking in Him. I am so against people getting ‘paid’ to do what God has called us to do and though I do not get paid for it – I wanted at this time the same benefits that they get and the Lord is telling me there is a lesson and testimony in all of this. Sure the day will come when I am no longer doing this 9 to 5 job and I will be in ministry work and my prayer is that if I get a salary that I am blessed to turn it right back over to WL4J because I really do not want to get paid at all…I just want to encourage my sisters, uplift the name of the Lord and minister to all that He places in my path…who needs money to do that…LOL Yet I know my hubby will say – bills got to get paid…LOL but isn’t that what he is for! LOL (Just kidding – well kind of!)  

Well that is all for today – may your day be full of love, joy and truly all of Jesus!!! 

God bless!
 
 
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Praise the Lord! He is worthy of all praise!

 

I say yes – Lord Yes – to your will and to your way

I say yes – Lord Yes – I will trust you and obey

When your spirit speaks to me with my whole heart I believe

And my answer will be yes – Lord Yes 

How often do we really sing that song and mean it when we sing it? How many times has God told us to do something and we said no way or we procrastinate or even question that He even said it…this as hard as it is to realize is disobedience and in doing this we can hinder our walk with the Lord even more.  

I can not even begin to express to you how amazed I am at the things the Lord has done in my life. I look at it and see such blessings and just sit back in awe of the Lord in His wonderful majesty. He is awesome and we are blessed. I look at WL4J and the growth that He has blessed us with and I think to myself – WOW Lord – look at what you have done! Even in the struggles – He is there and directing. I get amazed that I wake up sleepy but as soon as I pray for strength to make it through the day – here is some ‘get up and run’ strength that just amazes me. 

The doctors never thought I would be here this day, the enemy is trying to destroy me every single day, my flesh is cutting up left and right – BUT GOD keeps me centered in Him. It is something how the Lord just blesses…sisters make comments to me about being strong in the Lord – hummmm I am weak as He is strong…I do what I do because He strengthens me to do it – He guides me to do it and when I listen to Him – I can do all things in Him…yet man those days when I am not listening – watch out…that ‘twin’ sister comes out and she is not very pretty.  

I was relaxing last night after getting a few things done (yes I do relax – I do practice what I preach! LOL) and as I was playing one of my many time management games (It is addictive – I am a control freak – help me Jesus – I have to manage everything…LOL) I was still hearing from the Lord about things that need done with WL4J…yet it was so refreshing to know that He will send the help and He will direct the way that I did not panic or get upset. 

He reminded me yet again about how He does things…He does it perfect for all things are decent and in order. He has never used a bunch of people to do anything…remember Gideon – 300 men – just 300 men!! Praise the Lord…remember Joshua and the walls of Jericho – marching around just brought those walls down…yet it was their faith and trust in the Lord – how awesome is that!! Many of us are facing obstacles in our lives, situations that we may not see a way out of…but it is our faith and trust that will get us to the point of being calm in the storm.  

I was thinking of things last night and the Lord reminded me to trust Him and have faith in Him – not my husband, my son, the sisters of WL4J, but in Him – He will bring it all to past – all I have to do is trust, believe and be an open vessel for Him.  

Hey that is another thing – how open are we truly to the Lord…many of us are missing out on blessings, breakthroughs, and just pure joy in Jesus because we are not open to Him. We put Him on the back burner, we are not reading our word, and we are not spending time with Him as we should outside of Sunday service. When we do open up ourselves unto the Lord – awwwww the joy of the Lord – the presence of Jesus and the overflowing of His love is so right there in our hearts….open up my sisters – open up to the Lord…stop dragging your feet – stop putting Him as an after thought but make Him first in your life – 100%! Of course it is not going to be easy – the enemy is going to hate you but you know what when you are armed in Jesus – there is nothing that the enemy can do for you already have the victory – just ride that storm through! AMEN!  

Well enjoy your day – time to go do some of my 9 to 5 work! God bless and talk to ya in a few!  

Love your sister

Alissa
 
 
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Praise the Lord! Today is a good day – tired but good. I am moving forward as I have not really been a good girl in the eating category. The retreat was fun but I ate what I should not have, but not in the same amounts as I normally do so for that I am grateful. I have been praying for the will to stop over eating, so the Lord put my 8 year old on a health kick. 

He wanted healthy food last night, so we eat close to what we should have. I am thankful for that, yet there is little desire to really do what I need to do. Shame on me but as I was telling Sister Meeka the other day – I love to eat! LOL I need to keep praying to break that on me…I know it will come. My weight coach is really cool though, she is giving me tips and stuff so that is helping.  

My biggest issue is exercise – ugghhh I dread it – really dread it. All this extra weight is really taking a toll on me and I am trying to get that to motivate me telling myself just start it and then the rest will follow. This time is a slower start and my coach said that is fine as long as I am making adjustments in the right direction. So I filled out the paperwork to join the gym here at work – it is free and it has a treadmill. In the program I only have to exercise 5 days a week – 10 minutes a day…and still have yet to meet that goal…lazy – just pure d-lazy! I am praying that I can do this here at work and really get motivated.  

I keep telling myself when I see/feel the pounds drop off I will be really motivated especially when the butt comes back from being so dag on flat….wide and flat is not what I want! LOL Yet right now getting off that couch is a HUGE effort. Prayerfully I will be able to get down to the gym at work…I do not even know where it is and going to have to go search it out so I know what I am doing…LOL  

Yet I have thoughts of working out for a whole hour and being all buff…hummmm could that just be instant please! LOL I do not want to do all that work, LOL Yet I want to see a size 16 again – that is my goal…I did it before so I know I can do it again. This upcoming Wednesday morning will be a weigh in – IF and only IF I can get myself together! I know I can and I know I will…

Last night I wanted to smash my recorder and video cam…LOL I was messing around with that and guess what…still can’t get it to do what I want it to do. I left the digital recorder for my hubby to do and the video cam needs a software disc that you can not download on line – you have to order it if you lost yours – well Sony is not being nice as far as I am concerned. I looked for it on line and EBay has it for $30.00 I believe…oh well I guess I shall leave that up to hubby too – he said he was going to call Sony today to get the cd sent to us.  

Well that is about all the realness I can muster today…still very much praying for the future direction of WL4J and just smiling as I sit here with my eyes closed – typing away – wanting to be home in the bed…LOL Yet this too shall pass!

Well until tomorrow – God bless!
 
 
Praise the Lord! When God speaks – He really speaks. I am thankful to the Lord for the blessings that He has given unto me. As I was hearing the Lord speak to me on the Daily Bible Reading – I was at first floored because I am thinking – Lord no one wants that…yet He started showing me sisters who need to come together and read the word together. So I hear in my mind the need of coming together…many of us have lives where we are not able to attend bible study at our church because of the day or the hour that it is done – yet many of us are not reading the word at all, and some are but not getting an understanding of it as they would like. 

I am sitting here smiling remembering when I used to sit there saying to God what shall I do, where shall I go – what is my call? Oh my goodness, look at the Lord and how He is moving. I am amazed at what He does – sure things are on a small scale with the group, with the number of sisters participating but you know what I see that is so strong – the growth in sisters. Praise the Lord. He keeps reminding me of the motto He gave to us…We are here for ALL women – one woman at a time. I am thankful to the Lord for His mighty blessings and how He moves things according to His will. 

Last night my husband said something that is just so profound…the Lord’s work will go forth – He will make sure His vision will comes to pass, the bottom line is do you want to be the vessel that He is using…as I thought about that, no matter what comes my way, it is time to step up and move according to His will in my life. It is time to move forward in Him and hold onto the way that He directs us to go. I am amazed at the path that God has given me in my life…

I used to question why me – and then I stopped doing that and started saying Yes Lord. As I was talking to a sister about the Bible Reading and talking to her about her and I doing some things together – she said she did not want to be an bother to me and I started thinking about that statement. How many times have we been a ‘bother’ to the Lord? We have never been and never will be a bother to the Lord and we must get in our minds that we will not be a bother to each other either. It is in the Lord that we get our strength.

A sister said to me that God has granted me supernatural strength and I thought about that…man He has…because when I am really tired – I sleep – but pretty much going all the time and not getting sick. I only got sick when I did not do what He said – so I am learning that. I have learned that money is not the object of things in my life any more. I was working overtime to get money for WL4J and the Back to School help for sisters – ended up getting sick because I was trying to do that and WL4J – the Lord showed me to follow Him not my own mindset. He did this not just by my getting sick, but I ended up paying $365.00 over what I anticipated paying and that was the money to help sisters – so I know that God is going to move things according to what He wants done. I am thankful to the Lord for all that He is doing and I am going to trust Him even more. 

I am thankful – so thankful for being a vessel to glorify the Lord. I am a blessed woman – man am I a blessed woman and I have decided to stop worrying about how things are going to go and I am going to let things go as God says they will. It is something how when we remove ourselves – He will step in and take care of it all. 

My sisters – keep WL4J in prayer and keep me in prayer – we have some things to do and right now – all hands on deck…are ya bored and want something to do in the Lord – and really want to get busy in the Lord – WL4J is a ministry to do so…we need to come on and get things done…let us help our sisters in their time of need, being there in all aspects of the word! Let us move forward in the Lord as much as He brings us to…

My sisters do not take a second for granted for you are a blessed woman – despite your current circumstances – God is with you and you shall stand in Him….just call on Him this day and every day. It is time to move together my sister – move together in Jesus! 

I love ya all – God bless and enjoy your day!
 
 
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Proverbs 3:5-7 5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

Philippians 4:6-8 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Praise the Lord! Sister Shasta hit it on the nose this morning…I read her blog and said Yes Lord – Yes Lord – I hear ya – Yes Lord!! I love it when He does that. Yesterday was a day of reckoning, joy, peace and serious love! First let me start with the fun stuff…LOL 

My hubby and I went out to dinner and movie. We went and saw G.I. Joe as my son really wants to see that and I MUST see all movies before he can see them if they are not rated G. I am one of ‘those’ moms…I know a lot of parents look at me strange and all that but I try very hard to watch what he is exposed to. So the ‘hot’ movies of the summer such as Transformers and Terminator have not been seen by my son though all his friends have seen them…just because I do not take him with me to movies that I am not sure about the scenes…LOL hey they made those movie ratings for a reason! LOL 

We went to Atria’s – a nice restaurant and atmosphere – we enjoyed the food and the time spent together. We just truly enjoyed the evening…yet it is funny sometimes as we were walking into the restaurant – I looked over at my hubby and went “he really is shorter than me” LOL I had to laugh at that because to me my hubby is larger than life and I most of the time do not see his size at all, so I had to laugh as to me – my hubby is 10 feet tall even though in real height he is only 5ft 4 maybe LOL Yet the heart of this man is so awesome and watch out when he grabs a hold of me! LOL Praise the Lord for that! We just really enjoyed ourselves…we do not get many times to do that so it was really nice to be able to do that and may we be blessed with many more times to do so.  

Yet it was funny when we went home and walked in the house – the work was back and off we went. LOL You would have thought we would have sat on the couch and talked…hummmm NOT…LOL I hit the computer to get the Good Morning email done and just run through my email real quick – that took an hour!! A WHOLE HOUR!! LOL He went and started looking up stuff and working on Sister Shasta’s computer and the next thing I noticed it was midnight and I had to get up for work…ugggghhhhh work – work nasty work…yet I said Lord I shall smile and go!  

Yesterday, I came into work expecting to walk back out – with my papers of freedom! LOL Yet the Lord had other plans and I was told I was just too valuable to the company to let me go…WHAT??!!! I AM WHAT!!! I started calling on Jesus! I was just so thrown…I called my hubby and started talking to him about it. I was so floored about it. How could they just keep me here? Why couldn’t I be released from this job? LOL I had to vent it out for a minute – yet again talking to my hubby but really talking to the Lord.  

How can WL4J go where you want it to go Lord, while I am working a full time job, being a wife and mother, and just not finding enough time in the day? Lord how can I get my house together, network, find us an office, work on getting the preliminaries done for all those programs you laid on my heart while trying to work this full time job? Lord, what the heck is going on? LOL All of this is going through my mind – all of this is just making me go nuts AT FIRST! I was so thrown as I was full of joy for leaving – just knowing that I could leave and be home. My son having his mommy home, my hubby coming home to a clean house and home cooked meal. Being able to do what I need to do for my family and my sisters – what a blessing to me – yet I thought Lord it just flew out the window…how can this be?  

I was just at a lost for things….yet the word of the Lord always comes forth to calm us and show us that it is not OUR WILL that matters anyhow – but HIS WILL in HIS POWER! It is something when we stop ourselves from moving in our will and in His will. I am walking in Jesus and not even sure what is next but I am doing what He said to do. I am doing what He directs me to do and that is all that really matters.  

I was so concerned in bringing this vision to existence but the reality is that this vision is not my vision, shoot I ran from it and wanted no parts of heading up anything with a bunch of women…LOL. This vision is God’s vision and He will bring it to pass as HE sees fit, so I thought I had to do it free from work, but the Lord has had WL4J working in the Lord since October 2007 – so you know what I can say that He will bring it the rest of the way.  

Yet as I type this, my words come back to me – nothing worth having is easy to get. It is not an easy walk in this life and as long as our focus is on Jesus and we find the joy in life while we are doing it – all the rest will follow. I am thankful to the Lord for the mighty blessings that He has bestowed upon us and it is so good in Him that we are able to do His will that HE wants us to do!  

We are blessed – we are really blessed! It is in listening to His direction and His will for our lives we will find happiness and joy – sure we are going to have moments where we are wondering WHAT THE HECK but remember that Jesus answers all prayers and answers – we just have to be open to hear the answer…which is most times are issues any how…hearing the answers that He has for us… 

You know it was really something to watch the sisters’ praise and worship the Lord together this weekend, it was really something to have all that wonderful conversation and love flowing this weekend…but none of it really matters if our focus is not on the Lord. I started thinking about that as I was having my own 15 second pity party for having to go back to work, altering the plans that I had for stuff, and then the Lord reminded me that none of what I have been through really matters if my focus is not on Him.  

Our number one purpose of life is…

 Matthew 22:36-38 36Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment.

If we do this – do you realize that everything else will follow, all that you could imagine will follow…as my hubby said during his sermon on Sunday – that God will be immeasurable – the blessings that flow when we do this will be immeasurable for He is immeasurable! Hallelujah – we going through – take our focus off of what we are going through and place our focus on Jesus – focus on the Lord this day and every day and watch what happens to our lives in Him…watch what the Lord will do to those around us that are in our way – they become our footstools and we never have to even open our mouths against them!

Praise the Lord for that! Let us remember who we really belong too – we are children of the most High God….    
 
 
Praise the Lord!! God is truly good to us and what a blessing it is to know Him for ourselves. I am still bubbling over from the retreat weekend and so ready to go back. It was kind of nice to have no access to the internet…LOL (their internet service was down) 

It was a cell phone free weekend as the only place I could get signal on my phone was in our room and I was only in that room to go to sleep! LOL It was a beautiful weekend and I truly enjoyed myself.  

It was a pain to pack up and unpack – as it was just a reminder that it was over and that the realness of life was going to smack me in my face soon. Sure enough, I got home and there were messages from my car finance company saying that I was two months behind on my car note…WHAT THE HECK!! lol Yes – I called and it is cleared and straighten out but man I was like satan leave me alone! LOL (By the way – not late on my payments!) It was kind of discouraging that one of the sisters did not make it and not even sure why – yet her part was already paid by me – but the Lord provided and worked it all out…just have to jiggle a few things around so we can get this back to school help underway – yet God will make a way there too!  

One thing that I am learning is that in ALL THINGS God will get the glory – even the stuff we do not even understand at the time that we are going through it – God will get the glory – there is no other way for I am the called according to His purpose and guess what – all things work together for my good! I was thinking this as I was listening to my boss tell me how much of a major asset I am to the company that I am with. I wanted to hear the words that my service was no longer needed and that they were letting people go and I was one of them…well that just did not happen! Boo hoo…yet regroup and rethink the plans of how things are going to get done…it will get done.  

It was really interesting this weekend as there was 6 of us sisters together – 6 different styles, personalities and stages of our walk…yet we came together as one in Jesus…oops forgot to mention Brother Merv…what a trouper…LOL He was our musician and pastor in acting for the weekend…LOL I thank God for my hubby – he kept us in tune and with the right words for the songs – well some of us as I am not known for knowing the words or staying in tune…LOL Yet I thank God for my hubby as he truly was a blessing being there with us.  

He did a workshop on Spiritual Warfare and gave us the word on Sunday morning…he is a silly and crazy man who loves the Lord and so thankful that he was there with us. I do not get to hear my hubby sing that often so this weekend was a treat as he helped with our services by providing the music and prayers. Oh the prayers – man the Lord was moving and it was just a blessing to be in the house of the Lord – it truly showed me that we take Jesus every where we go – and it is in Him that we shall be!  

Friday was a relaxed evening as only three of us were there that evening; we just relaxed and talked – just being as women are. Brother Merv spent most of the time with us, I think he was kind of missing being around people but then I think he thought we were nuts too…what a trooper he was. LOL Yet the conversations about the Lord were just such a blessing to me.  

I was able to spend time with my sisters and man the conversations were great…just talking about the Lord and just being who we are – WOMEN LIVING 4 JESUS!! LOL Yet there was one conversation that touched me the most…I pray I do not embarrass her…LOL if so – sorry sis… 

On Sunday morning there was prayer hour, I went down first and was speaking to the Lord and Sister Shasta came down not too long after me…after scaring me as she walked quietly in…and after prayer – we started talking about the goodness of the Lord and the things of the night before. As Saturday evening service was on fire for Jesus, the Lord was sending a word for all sisters there and it was just awesome. Yet the conversation we (Sister Shasta/Babygirl and I) had about the cross and the reverence of the atmosphere that the different statues represented…it got me thinking about how awesome God truly is. He accepts us no matter what – He loves us no matter what – He died just for us. As Sister Brandi pointed out – we were His enemy and yet He died for us. For when we were walking in darkness – we were in line with the devil which makes us the enemy of the Lord! We (Shasta and I) were talking and man I was tearing up from the joy of it all.  

It is a blessing to be able to talk about the goodness of Jesus and to feel Him in me so strong and powerful…not me but Him. It is a blessing to know the Lord. Our weekend was not rushed or full of getting here and there – we did not start anything on time except when it was time to eat…LOL yet it was still beautiful and relaxed. It is then that I knew that those that were there were meant to be there and those that were not – were not!  

I thank God for the time that we had and the conversations, the prayers, the love and fellowship that transpired for those few days. It was just so relaxing…. 

We actually video taped a few parts of the workshops and prayerfully this week I will be able to post them for ya…we also recorded the workshops and services in full BUT we left the recorder at the resort and they are mailing it to us. I do have the workshops in full to post and will do that this week and when the recorder is returned to us – I will post the Saturday and Sunday services for you to listen. God is good and His word went forth. 

One thing is for sure – He showed that where two or three are gathered in His name – He will be in the midst of us – wow the word and the presence of God was there my sisters – it was there! I truly enjoyed myself – truly and so looking forward to next year and pray that those that can will come too!  

Well until tomorrow,

God Bless and talk with ya then!!

Love your sister

Alissa Lynne Griffith