Writer’s Block? No More!

Good Morning Readers!  Well, my last post was in May and here it is August!  What have I been doing?  A LOT!  Where has the time gone?  Good Question! 🙂  It’s not that I have been so busy that I couldn’t have written, it’s just that I haven’t been able to write!  And, for those of you who know me, I know that’s a little hard to grasp, because I ALWAYS have SOMETHING to SAY!  Right?!  I have started many posts and I just have had a great case of “writer’s block”!  Dave and I have had a lot going on this summer, not so much that I couldn’t write, but that’s just it – I COULDN’T WRITE!  Oh, trust me, there have been days when I have wanted to blog and blog and blog, but when I started this blog it was because I felt led by God to write ~ more of His words than mine ~ to bring Glory and Honor to HIM!  And, believe me, what I have wanted to write and write and write would NOT have brought glory and honor to anyone or anything, especially God! 

Have you ever had so much emotion inside you that you just started spewing everything that is on your mind?  Yep, that’s been me for several months now, but it’s odd because my “word” for this year has been SIMPLIFY.  I started out this year with the intent to simplify my life so that I would have more time for the things that truly matter to me – rather, so that I would consciously choose to spend my time on what really matters to me.  So, in order to do that I have often found myself silenced!  Silenced?  Me?  Yep!  Me!  I often hear my mother’s voice in my head (yes, I hear voices!  ha, ha!), saying “silence is golden, Jackie”!  Some days I hear that resonating in my head so much that I want to shout “shut up”!  Thank the Lord, I haven’t done that, or I’d probably be somewhere far from sitting in my comfy pj’s in my comfy home right now!  lol! 

So, what has prompted me to blog this morning?  GOD!  He apprarently feels my words matter!  Well, at least that I what I read this morning in my OBS devotional (on-line Bible study).  Several times throughout the devotional this morning it said “your words matter”.  This may not seem very powerful to you, but it’s so powerful to me.  You see I have had a lot of emotion to process in the last year.  I have lost a dear friend by her choice to choose another life path, and that is o.k.  For many, many months I was angry in feeling rejected, but I have come to accept that she needs to do what is best for her.  And, a good friend understands that some folks are in your life for a season and, others are in it for the “long haul”.  I wish my friend well!  I have recently lost another dear friend, but not by her choice, or mine.  She fought the fight, but lost her battle with cancer and now sings at the top of her lungs with the angels in praise to God every day!  And, that is a complete photographic picture in my head, that puts a really big smile on my face!

Then, as I’ve shared in previous posts, I have a new position at my place of employment.  I love my job, but the last ten months have been some of the most challenging of my life.  I won’t go into the nauseating details, because they just don’t matter!  What matters the most, though, is that I have been challenged and am developing character qualities and strength to operate from my highest self.  And, I don’t say that boastfully!  I give all honor and glory to God for this.  He has encouraged me every day to reach for my highest self in order to bring honor to Him.  You see I work around a lot of unbelievers.  What better way to witness to a non-believer than to “walk the talk”.  Many, many times when I have wanted to lash out with unkind words and have a tongue like a sword, God has silenced me – and, then, He puts my mother’s voice in my head reminding me “silence is golden”!  I believe that God has called me to obedience in this manner.  He has made me remember that people are always watching others!  He has helped me and challenged me to be the kind of person that when others watch they think:  wow, she is really forgiving; she gives others grace and a second chance; she is kind when met with unkindness; etc….  Most days I fail, miserably, at this, but with God’s help and strength I’m getting better and I HOPE with all my might, that I someday will be a complete Proverbs 31 woman.  (look up the scripture, if you don’t know it!)

We are told that when we are obedient we will see rewards, and, oh, was I given such a wonderful gift this summer!  In June, my mom and I attended a seminar that brought me the BEST GIFT EVER!  At the age of 10, I accepted Jesus into my heart.  I was reared in the church.  So, having a relationship with Christ has just always been a part of me.  Yet, at times, many times, I have felt something missing.  I could never really put my finger on it, but something has been missing.  So, for two days, we sat in this seminar hearing awesome testimony about the love of God, and I can’t even tell you the exact scripture that was spoken, but in one phrase the speaker touched me in a way that it’s really hard to describe.  He spoke it to me when having a conversation and he wrote it down for me.  It’s as if God came into that moment and into that room to say to me, “Jackie, I love you.  YOU!  Not what you do, not what you speak ~ just you – simply you”.  It’s like all of these year’s I have had this parental, authority type relationship with God to where I have been working myself at trying to please Him.  And, while I do need to do that through obedience, I also needed to realize that He LOVES me.  Intelectually I have known that.  However, emotionally, I had not gotten to that level, never, ever, ever, had I FELT the LOVE completely!  Now, do you want to know what those “magic” words were?  Here is what was written and spoken to me:

“Jackie, GRACE sings your name. YOU MATTER!” 

I matter?!  I matter! 

And, YOU matter, too! 

I’m not sure why God has given me writers block for a few months.  Maybe it was because I have been reading so much more scripture.  And, I have been a lot more silent ~ which I know from my mother that “silence is golden”!  I only hear it like a thousand times a day! 🙂 

And, I’m not sure why this morning God awoke me at 4:30 a.m., without an alarm.  I awoke with excitement to read my devotions, get my coffee, and start my day – which for any of you who know me – I am NOT a morning person! 

I’m not sure why, this day of August 15, 2013, God brought to me scripture of Ephesians 6:11-12, again!  It’s kind of been my main scripture for months now!  And, even more so….I’m not sure why He had my OBS leaders write numerous times today in our devotion the words “your words matter” – I mean there are like 20,000+ women in this Bible study, but I’m certain that God wanted me to read that and gave me permission and encouragement to pen these words today.  And, with all my rambling above, I’m completely certain the words I am to bless you with today is:

YOU MATTER! 

All praise and honor be to God, our almighty, loving father.  YOU MATTER to HIM!  He loves YOU!  He forgives YOU!  He LOVES YOU!  YOU MATTER! 

Have a blessed day!  🙂