The prayer of my heart ……. to love without hesitation! To love like Jesus! To love unconditionally!
But God had other plans! And yes, He does know best! 
Check out His plans for me during my first visit to Haiti!
I’m guest posting today for Susan at Pure Purpose.
And Susan will be giving away a ticket to Beth Moore’s Living Proof Live event in Springfield, IL. Leave a comment on Susan’s blog for your chance to win.
And yes, sometimes it is better to receive than give!
“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” Francis of Assisi
Dog food, cat food, dog treats, cat treats, cat litter and yes even a few bags of dog litter are a few of my favorite things to sell. And it’s always a great thing to get paid to sell these things so I can pay my mortgage, my car note, my grocery bill – a girl always has to eat – or this one does!
A few of the tools my corporate office provides me with to help sell our “stuff” include coupons, t-shirts, brochures, Frisbees, hats, poop bags, key chains and miscellaneous promotional items. I’m also required to design and develop promotional sell sheets for my accounts. Promotional sell sheets include the features and benefits of a particular product along with the cost of the product, a suggested retail price, margin, and a suggested order for the account – otherwise known as Silent Sales Partners.
When I’m not selling dog food and all of that other “stuff”, I sometimes stalk soon-to-be-friends on Facebook. I know …. most would freak …but I’m a harmless stalker. I promise.
I’m not even sure how we connected, but as I stalked from a safe distance, I couldn’t help but notice how she lived her life out on FB and her blog. I think I was reading her blog before I even knew what a blog was. (I know, I’m late to this whole blogging thing!) All I knew was that she was living out her faith on both her blog and her FB posts. And they matched up!
We began to talk through FB posts and email. Soon to be followed by texts and voice to voice calls. With every topic of discussion or question, she would point me to God and His truth. Then with the help of God and His divine calendar, we meet face to face over a three plus hour lunch! No judging, you’ve been there too with your girlfriends! Besides, we had a lot to talk about! And don’t you just love talking Jesus with your girlfriends?
I even got to hear my friend teach on the topic of “Forgotten”. Love God’s timing! She had no idea how much I needed to hear the message that God had given her to share weeks prior to our anointed appointment. (I know – a blog post for the future will soon be in the works for that one).
As I watch my friend walk her talk and talk her walk, I can’t help but notice the similarities between her living her faith out loud; how she constantly reflects the benefits and features of living for Jesus; and my Silent Sales Partners. The light bulb went off! My friend is a Silent Sales Partner for Jesus.
I watch, up close and personal, as she lives out the scripture in 1 Peter 3:15-16, “but in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
She will be the first to tell you that she is nowhere near perfect in her walk with Jesus. She will tell you that she messes up on a daily basis but her goal is to “live a life worthy of the calling that she has received and along the way she will try her best to be humble, gentle, patient bearing with another in love” (Ephesians 4:1-2) as she pours herself out into the lives of other women, including myself.
Not too sure about you – but like my friend – I’m ready to live a life worthy of the call that God has placed on my life – a call of living a life that honors and glorifies God in all that I do – a walk that includes following God’s example by walking in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2 )
I’m ready to be a Silent Sales Partner for Jesus! A Silent Sales Partner who puts Jesus at center of her life! A Silent Sales Partner who preaches Jesus at all times with her life! A Silent Sales Partner who tries her hardest to love like Jesus.
Lord, thank You for loving us. Thank you for calling us and giving us a purpose – a purpose to honor and glorify You with our lives. Thank you for girlfriends that bring out the You in us. Thank you for girlfriends that point us to You. Thank you for girlfriends that hold us accountable to our walk towards Your heart. Make us into the type of sales partners that You desire – sales partners that love like You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Enter a comment below for a chance to enter a copy of Susan with Pure Purpose’s Bible Study “Pure Growth”. Just completed it. Loved it. And would love to bless someone with a copy!
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8)
Monday through Friday, I have the glamorous job of selling pet food for Nestle Purina. Love my job! Love the flexibility that comes with my job and I really love my six weeks of vacation! And I love my spoiled puppies!
My job often requires overnight travel to exotic places like Wichita, KS, Des Moines, IA and Omaha, NE. So I leave Sam and Charli at home to fend for themselves. And yes, I have a doggie door so they can come and go as they need. (Sometimes they actually make it outside … sometimes not so much! Don’t ask – just always know wiener dogs have to be the most-strong-willed-dogs EVER!)
As I prepared to travel out of town this week, I poured water and food into bowls – enough for three days, just in case I got delayed. My kibble of choice is Purina’s Pro Plan brand – one of our shredded formulas. Shredded as 
in it contains both “hard” and soft kibbles. ( I’ve gotta get my plug in for Purina … best dog food on the market…all dog food manufacturers can’t claim that they feed seven out of seven of the Westminster group winners including Best in Show.) Buy Purina – I could use a raise! Okay, done with the plugging.
I returned home to find that not only had Sam and Charli eaten, they had eaten out of all three bowls. The only problem being they had picked out the soft kibbles and left the “hard” kibbles behind. So I combined the three partially eaten bowls into one and placed it back on the mat next to their water bowl in anticipation that they would return and eat the leftovers!
But not so much! Later that night as I sat on the couch studying, Charli proceeds to go into the kitchen and begins rattling the kibbles around in the bowl. A few seconds later she comes and stands in the doorway and whines which is her cue of letting me know that the bowl is empty.
I laid my Bible and study book down to go re-fill the bowl only to find it full of “hard” kibbles. The spoiled heifer dog wanted me to add a new scoop of food containing more soft kibbles! So after three or so re-plays of the whining, Charli finally surrendered and returned to eat the remaining “hard” kibbles. (Donna – 3 points; Charli – 0 points!) And I returned to my spot on the couch to resume studying.
As I picked up my Pure Growth study book, it fell open to a mid-way point; a spot in the book that I had supposedly moved past – a spot in the book where questions should have been answered – but I was seeing white space! Like Charli and Sam, I had moved past the “hard” kibbles leaving them unanswered – uneaten! And I’m ninety-nine percent sure whining was involved when I read the questions the first time around.
I was mimicking Charli’s behavior! I was refusing to eat the “hard” kibbles God had laid out for me through Susan’s questions. I was dining only on the “soft” kibbles. I was choosing to answer the questions that I found easy to answer – questions that didn’t require extra energy or extra “heart power” to answer.
Unfortunately for me, this behavior also carries over to my quiet time – my time of reading God’s Word – my time of hearing God’s voice. Anytime, I come across a “hard” truth – a truth I don’t want to practice or a truth that I find hard to understand, I sail through it to the next “soft” truth.
Just as the “hard” kibbles benefit Charli and Sam by controlling tarter build-up on their teeth, God’s “hard” truths provide tarter control for our hearts; “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) God’s truth – the “hard” and the soft – is beneficial to our growth in Him. As we saturate our hearts with His truth, we become more like Him. As we feast on God’s Words – all of them – they provide nourishment for our growth and become preventative and protective care as we face our daily trials in life.
God’s word also tells us to “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8) How can we possibly see that the Lord is good when we skip over His hard truths – when we’re selective in the kibble that we want to eat? How can we take refuge in Him when we’re not reading His Truth in its’ entirety? How can we receive God’s blessings in their entirety if we’re reading and digesting our hand-picked kibbles?
Father God, I thank You for Your truth – both the “hard” and soft kibble that you cho0se to feed us. Give us the courage to taste the “hard” kibble – show us Your goodness in the “hard” spots. Give me the tenacity to digest the “hard” along with the soft. Use all of Your words as a source of preventative and protective care for our hearts. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!” (Acts 7:51, NIV)
Meet Bugs – the friendly Shih Tzu puppy who resides next door. Bugs loves to run to the fence line and bark until Charli and Sam scurry through the doggie door to greet him. Trust me, it doesn’t take but seconds for Charli and Sam to add their voices to the symphony as they partake in the loudest stand offs and longest stare downs ever!
Not only does Bugs bark, but he teases and goads Charli and Sam because he knows that the fence separates them as he runs up and down the fence line. It’s like watching a game of Catch Me if You Can, with Bugs knowing that he will never be caught.
Bugs’ visits usually occur like clockwork – and usually at the most inopportune times – like around 6am on Saturday mornings and 11pm on any given week night – when I’m trying to get my much needed beauty sleep! His barks – I mean visits – have become so frequent and so perfectly timed Charli and Sam have developed an immunity to his bark. They have learned to tune out and ignore Bugs. Me – not so much!
As I reflect upon the scene of Charli and Sam being able to totally ignore the barks of Bugs, I ponder the times I tune out the promptings of God – the times I ignore the whispers of God – the times I am immune to the voice of God – the times His voice lands on deaf ears – my deaf ears!
The times I tease and goad God with my prayer life – my quiet time – my walk with Him! The times a fence – a fence that I construct – otherwise known as sin, comes between my fellowship with God and my fellowship with others – way too many fences to count!
Father God, thank You for your gift of forgiveness. Thank You for Your grace when I ignore Your voice, when I ignore Your promptings, when I turn an ear away from Your voice. Thank You for loving me through Your eyes and not through the eyes of the world. Forgive me when I tease and try to goad you into a game that you never want to play. Forgive me for being stiff necked. Forgive me for resisting Your Holy Spirit. Make me sensitive to Your voice. Thank You for always having open ears and an open heart towards me. Forgive me God for the fences that I build that not only separate me from You – but that also separate me from others. Circumcise my heart and my ears. Father God, give me ears to hear, eyes to see and cause me to not merely listen to Your Word, so I deceive [myself] but cause me to do what [Your Word] says. (James 1:22) In the name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.
You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can’t take Texas out of the girl! Unknown.
Born. Bred. And raised in the great state of Texas for the first 27 years of my life! Not only Texas – but East Texas!
Not sure if you know a lot about Texans, but we are a proud bunch of folks! And East Texans are even a prouder bunch. Don’t know how we got that way – but it’s like we all exited our momma’s bellies with this unbelievable amount of pride in our hearts all wrapped around Texas; being born in Texas; and Texas’ amazing heritage.
And not only are we a proud bunch, we also have our own slang words to go with our Texas drawl. (One syllable words become two; two syllable words become three and let’s just say three syllable words – well they seem to roll on forever!). And most think we talk a little bit on the slow side. And we are okay with that – we own it – we are proud of it!
“Fixin’ to” is my favorite Texas word! For my non-Texan friends “fixin’ to” implies that you are getting ready to do something such as;
But there is a small problem with the word “fixin’ to”. “Fixin’ to” unfortunately, can also imply that whatever it is that I am about to do may not actually get done. There have been times and are times when I haven’t fixed my eyes on Jesus, as we are told to do in Hebrews 12:2, “Let us FIX our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith”.
Trust me, I can give you excuse after excuse as to why I didn’t and why I don’t follow through with my “fixin’ to” spend time with God statement. Too many to count. I can blame work. I can blame others. I can blame my feelings. I can blame my health. I can blame just about anything you want to name – but the truth is – there are times when I just don’t make it a priority. No one to blame but myself!
So won’t you join me in trading that last “fixin’ to” statement into a “FIX” statement? “FIX these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your forehead.” (Deut. 11: 18) – knowing that the only way we can fix His words into our hearts and minds is to read and study His Word. No excuses!
Father God, thank You for loving us like no other! Thank you for desiring to have one-on-one conversations with us. Cause us to FIX our eyes on You and Your Word. Change our “fixin’ to’s” into FIXES with our hearts and eyes focused on You. Cause us to also not only be reader’s of Your Word, but also doers of Your Word. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
If y’all are stopping by from Tell His Story, welcome and hope y’all come back soon! And much thanks to Jennifer Dukes Lee for hosting this link up party.
“If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-7)
Please join me today at One Degree Ministries where I will be sharing Daniella’s story and giving away a copy of Chris Tomlin’s new CD, Burning Lights. And while visiting, please subscribe to my incredible friend Tracy Steel’s ministry page. You will love her heart for Jesus and for others. It’s contagious!
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV),
FEAR. We’ve all experienced, felt, and seen it. Some even live with it every day.
How do we define fear?
What is fear to the five-year-old whose daddy flings a plate of hot spaghetti through the air, followed by a chair aimed at the TV? Will her mom be the next thing he hits; or will it be the girl?
What is fear to the little one in the police cruiser with her younger sister, not sure what she’s done wrong, only to find out her daddy broke the law by not following the custody ruling.
Or to the eight-year-old who hears the heavy footsteps of the neighbor getting closer to the bedroom door. She lies silently, hoping the evil man will pass the door. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn’t.
Or to the forty-year-old, alone in the doctor’s office. The doctor gently says, “I believe it’s cancer. We’ll take it one day, and one test, at a time; we’ll pray you through this.”
Surgery removes the lump near her vocal cords; it’s not cancerous. But the roller coaster dips two days later: it is cancer—the fastest growing kind. Another surgery is needed ASAP. Three days after this, the diagnosis changes again. After a second surgery six weeks later, she’s told they got it all. Does she believe them this time?
What is fear to the fifty-year-old driving with Melissa Taylor when she hears, “Donna, you should be speaking and writing. You have lots to offer. I want to see you doing these things.”
Those were, and some still are, my fears.
For years my fears ruled my life and my emotions. I allowed fear to become anger; the kind of anger that I would bottle up and unleash on the most unlikely candidate at the most inopportune times. At times I would let my fear hold me captive to living in the shadows, hiding and sulking from my family and friends. Sometimes I would even profess hate at either the circumstances or at the people involved and yes, even at God. And other times I questioned why God would allow all of this to happen.
I don’t have all the answers. But I realized one day that I had a choice. I can let my fears rule over my heart, mind and soul, or I can allow God to heal me with His grace and truth, and give me hope to share with others. Some days I make the right choices and some days I don’t.
Over time I’ve discovered I don’t have to let my fears define me. 2 Timothy 1:7 states, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” God keeps the promises His Word is filled with. He’s given us a spirit of power and a sound mind. Although some will probably debate if I have a sound mind {and I would probably lose!}.
Despite my fears, God has shown me He has plans to prosper and not harm me, plans to give me hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). He’s revealed Himself to be my Healer (Exodus 15:26); my Prince of Peace (Judges 6:24); my Protector, Defender and Abba Father who loves me no matter what (Psalm 68:5-6). God is my Daddy whose lap I can crawl into any time I become fearful.
Let’s begin to let go of our fears and take hold of these promises in His Word. We’re His daughters, protected and defended by His peace. Fears may have shaped our past, but they don’t have to define our future.
God, I praise You that You’re my Future and Hope, and that You love me no matter what. Thank You that I can run to You and crawl in Your lap when fear overtakes me. Thanks for being a Promise Keeper, and the Author and Perfecter of my faith. Help me seek You with my entire being and remember Your faithfulness. I love and thank You for the life You’ve given me in You. Cause me to honor and glorify You with my life, actions, speech and heart. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
If you are joining me from Tell His Story, thank you so much for stopping by and I hope that you can visit often. And much thanks to Jennifer Dukes Lee for hosting and helping this non-technical person out!
We have a winner — no make that three winners!!! I just couldn’t pick one!!
Catherine Shepherd, Rivera Douthit and Kristen Barkdull private message me your home addresses and I will have Amazon ship each of you a copy of Pure Growth by Susan Lawrence.
Congrats to all three!!
Happy Growing in Him.
“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”
(Romans 12:6-8, NIV)
I love my church! I love the leadership team of my church. They teach me much about being generous and how all that I own belongs to God. It’s ALL His! God doesn’t need my money to run His world. He is perfectly capable and able to run things on His own. He just wants my obedience in saying yes to un-clinching my fists and letting it go so that I can serve and give to others without expecting anything in return.
I love how God blesses and uses me to bless others. It’s all about being the hands and feet of Jesus to those in need. It can come in the form of dropping off a prepared meal; giving away a bag of groceries; baby sitting; cleaning a friend’s house; rides to the airport; snow removal; lawn upkeep and the list goes on and on. Sometimes God prompts me to give to encourage others in their ministries. I give because God first gave to me. He gave me Jesus so that I might have life and have life abundantly.
God has taught me that no matter how hard I try, I cannot out give Him. When I gave a friend’s son money for a missions trip – He provided an unexpected rebate check – double the amount I gave! I love how He surprises me! When I gave a book to a friend – she reciprocated with two of her own Bible Studies that I had been coveting. I know, I know, there’s a commandment out there that tells me I shouldn’t covet other people’s stuff – but I couldn’t help myself.
As I was working my way through Pure Growth by Susan Lawrence last night, one of my newly God-provided Bible Study books, He gave me a new perspective on the whole re-gifting thing! Not only is re-gifting is a good thing! Re-gifting is a Godly thing!
I absolutely feel in love with the words God gave Susan on re-gifting – so much so that I asked if I could share them on my blog. And she graciously said, “Yes, they were God’s words and not hers.” Love her heart! And you’ve guessed it by now, I am re-gifting the words given to me through Susan by God to you! Not only am I re-gifting the chapter below from Susan, leave a thought below for Susan and I will pick a winner to receive a copy of Susan’s study, Pure Growth.
Pure Growth: Re-gifting God’s Gifts. ~~ Susan Lawrence / Pure Purpose.org
No one is to come before me without a gift. You must work for six days, but on the seventh day you must rest—even during the planting season and the harvest season. Celebrate the Feast of Weeks when you gather the first grain of the wheat harvest. And celebrate the Feast of Shelters in the fall. Exodus 34:20-22
One of my favorite quotes from VeggieTales® comes from A Snoodles Tale:
“…but Sir…if you made this great land, can’t you make Snoodles obey your command?”
“…A gift that’s demanded is no gift at all.”
God gives us gifts. He provides for us, and he is generously merciful and gracious, which means he gives us what we need but also a surplus of what we don’t need but will enjoy. It’s not that we’re all materialistically wealthy. God isn’t a god of materialism. We’re more important than mere stuff. He gifts us with relationships, opportunities, emotions, personalities, and much more.
Thinking outside the prettily-wrapped gift box, what does God give you?
Consider people in your life:
Consider emotions that enhance your life:
Consider personality traits:
Consider opportunities you’ve been given:
Imagine each of the words and phrases you’ve considered in response to the above questions, each placed in a beautifully-wrapped gift box.
Have you fully unwrapped the gifts God has presented to you? Have you torn apart each package and thoroughly explored the contents of the gift like a young child on Christmas morning? Have you barely peeked inside? Have you set the gift aside, thinking you’ll get to it someday or saving it until you really need it?
God doesn’t give you display models of gifts. He doesn’t intend for you to fill a china cabinet of untouchables and unusable gifts. He’s given you gifts for faith-building reasons. The first reason is to accept the gift and acknowledge the giver. The second is to use the gift to its fullest potential – not the potential you believe it has, but the potential God says it has. The third reason is to give the gift back to God.
Re-gifting to God isn’t the same as slyly re-gifting a gift Aunt Gladys gave you because you don’t like it. Re-gifting to God isn’t about getting rid of something you don’t want. Re-gifting to God is sacrificially offering his gifts back to him by fully using them for his glory. It’s about not taking personal ownership of the gifts but instead recognizing the source of and reason for the gifts. God gives the gifts, and he wants you to fully use them in obedience to him. In the process, he gets all the glory, and you get all the growth.
God’s gifts exponentially multiply. It would make sense that in order to gift something back to God, you have to divide it, keeping only a portion. And that is often our heartitude and limited understanding of tithe. That was true for the material possessions of the Hebrews, and it’s a good starting point for us as we begin to develop a habitual lifestyle of tithing. However, let’s not stop there. When God places a gift of relationship, opportunity, or characteristics in our hands, we can unwrap it, fully embrace it and offer it back to God, and we end up with just as much, if not more, of what God originally gave us. Plus, our God-given gifts ripple throughout the lives of others as we use them to glorify him. When we choose to use God-given gifts for self-focused purposes, the gifts will shrink. They might look full-blown, but they’re filled with temporary puffs of selfish air. When we choose to use God-given gifts for God-focused purposes, the gifts grow, filling with life-producing nourishment. God’s work is kingdom work. He’s a builder. Oh, he destroys some things: anything full of human self – not because he’s a proud God who wants to be the center of everything, but because he is a trustworthy and true God who is the center of everything. He knows that in order for us to grow into our full God-ordained potential, we must die to our selves, so he’s willing to destroy our selves as we yield to him. As we yield to him, the construction process thrives. It’s wonderful to have the architect of our lives also serve as the best general contractor, carpenter, electrician, and interior designer.
You’ve likely only caught a glimpse of the beauty and grandeur of the dwelling place he’s creating for you. What do you know about it so far?
“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:11 -12)
FRIED CHICKEN!!!
Yep, I fried some chicken, fixed some mashed potatoes and threw some rolls in the oven in memory of my Granny!
And the winner of Farm Days by Susan Lawrence is ………….. Melanie Shannon!
Thank you all for stopping by. Loved reading your Granny stories!
Praying God’s blessings on each of you!
Melanie, email me you address to dfbostick@yahoo.com and I will get you a book ordered! You will love it!
Donna Bostick 