December 2012 was a time of struggle for me as I adjusted to different moments with my family.  Christmas has always been a time of the traditional moments that have been celebrated year after year.  The season in itself can be stressful and when there was so much change that had been going on in my life, I felt lost, alone, making the wrong decisions and I felt so very discouraged.  That Christmas not having a home of my own, it was a struggle in itself to find even the smallest remembrance of our special celebrations.  Squeezing in a few of the favorites from our menu I fixed the one recipe that grounded me “scalloped oysters”, My daddy’s favorite.  As a young girl I always swayed away from ever taking just one bite, then I became the brave soul and would eat the “scallop” part leaving the main ingredient behind.  After saying good bye to the greatest man I ever knew, I jumped right in and oysters became one of my favs!…. soooooo, scalloped oysters are on the menu Thanksgiving and Christmas.  That Christmas it was one of the moments that I felt I had to hold onto.  Since I was usually the only one that would dive into this delicacy there was always leftovers…..just for me daddy…. He would be so proud!   That year as I was eating one of the last bowls in my room alone with my faithful’s Bailey and Mason curled up beside me, I felt a crunch, well not a real crunch, but like I just bit into a rock!  I did, I did just bite into a rock, well not a rock but a pearl!  I couldn’t believe it!  I found a pearl in my oyster!  If not immediately very soon after that dawn of realization washed over me, the whisper that I have come to cherish “You are my pearl” gently brushed my ear.  Oh Lord, you know my struggles, you know my doubts, you know my failures and weaknesses and you know just how to blow all those struggles, doubts, failures and weaknesses away with just a whisper.  I had let the world slide in between the seams of my faith and allowed a rip that could only grow wider as I kept harvesting the thoughts of “ I am not _______ enough”.  “The voice you believe will determine the future you experience” Isaiah 55:1.  With his whisper I began to remember that “I am!”   “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made’ your works are wonderful I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth” Psalm 139:14-15.  I was a pearl, not just any pearl but my Father’s pearl who made me.  I cleaned the pearl up and placed it in a safe place and smiled every time I recalled that whisper, that told me to remember who “I am”.  I eventually placed it into a locket with other charms that would remind me how far I had come and how tall I could stand.  This past March I was attending Liberty for a week on campus for an intensive class and I opened the locket to shine the pearl, it would rub up against the other charms and would get a little dingy. (Wow, another thoughtful blog on that one!)  I didn’t close the locket tight enough and the only charm that fell out was the pearl……OH NO….. my heart skipped a beat……I couldn’t lose my pearl……the pearl given to me when I was at a very low point…. The pearl that made me remember “I am”…….what? The whisper?…….you have to tell others that they are my pearls too!  I didn’t even stop to look for that small white round gift of grace that I had held onto.  I smiled knowing that someone would find the pearl and would feel the same whisper that I did and they will know that they are God’s pearl, fearfully and wonderfully made and they are as “I am”.

Source: Today is Priceless

Yay it’s Tuesday and that means Monday is over for this week!  We have including today seven more days until Monday comes again!  Tomorrow is Wednesday, wow, one more day until it is “hump day” and our week is almost over.  Woo hoo, Thursday is Friday eve and I think I can make it one more day because the next day is FRIDAY!!  Saturday oh Saturday is probably the best day ever because it’s MY day!  Sunday morning dawns peacefully and then BAM it’s evening and Oh no here comes Monday………

Days get defined by the moments that fill them.  Each day of the week has for better or worse been attached to ideas and perceptions of what it will bring.  So everyday we slam off that noise maker that calls in the day as we roll out of our bed already having some idea of what our day will bring.  For the most part the typical day is the typical day.  Evening draws near and we shut our office door and begin to make our way home, wondering what’s for dinner and already thinking about preparing for the next day.  Then life happens.  The day is no longer defined by where it stands in the roll call of the calendar.  It’s the moment that a young mother is told she has two weeks to live.  It’s the moment that a young mother listens to her son’s last breath.  It’s the moment that a child’s cry is heard for the first time and it’s the moment that you sit in the midst of a snow storm and your heart smiles because although your family is not all together they are safe and warm and happy.  Our choice for what some moments will sneak into our day are not our choice but it is our choice to make it Priceless.  So often we become trapped in our perceptions of what day it is and how that day was defined by the moments that were in it before; joyful, fearful, sadness and anger (sounds like a theme for a good Disney movie) that we completely miss the new moments that are waiting to happen.  Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  God knows the moments that are about to come into our day and it is our choice on how we define these moments.  He knows that each moment will bring joy, fear, sadness or anger and he is there with his hand on our shoulder as we define our day, not to define the day for us but if we let him, to guide us into showing us why this day is going to be Priceless.  

I share with you a moment that God sent me as I was driving to a meeting and going into a new direction of my life.  I was nervous, excited and I questioned if I was going in the direction that God wanted me to go.  I whispered a prayer and as I glanced to the left this truck passed me.  I can rest in the moments that God sends me each day, and I can make them  Priceless and precious for whatever they may hold. His hand is always never to far away on the plan for my day…

Source: “Priceless”

As 2016 dawned we all look for ways to make a change for the new year, to make a difference in not only our world but make changes from our last year.  There are so many challenges and ideas that are shared and if followed promise to make this year the best yet!  There are ways to save money, lose weight, clean house, organize, de-stress, read the bible and the list grows each year.  We so often accept these challenges and they may last a week, month or more.  Some may even last almost the whole year.  I am not condemning at all as these challenges and ideas that slowly start to waiver and get covered up to where they become less of a focus each day.  Life happens and we don’t have the control we think we do, our best intentions and ideas get lost and covered up. (OK, getting to far into something that should be a whole other blog… save that for another day).  One challenge that caught my attention was that we should find a word for 2016.  I heard words such as “praise”, “prayer”, “faith” and “death” ( better explain that one—letting the negatives in our life die, “death” to old ways).  I liked this challenge and I began trying to find a word for my 2016.  This should be easy.  Right?  Nope.  The Oxford English Dictionary has 171,476 full entries in use today, how hard is it to find a word that I want for 2016?  So just like other “resolutions or challenges”  this too fell by the wayside until a few days ago, God reminded me.  For the second time in a day I had commented on a post on Facebook with a simple word that came to my mind,  priceless.  It was maybe a few moments later that I heard that soft whisper, “this is your word for 2016”.   Priceless: having a value beyond any price (invaluable), costly because of rarity or quality (precious).  Extremely important or valuable.  Very funny.  I just love how God happens when we are still.  Claiming the word Priceless as my word led me to Luke 12:24 “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.  O how much more value are you than the birds.” and 1 Peter 2:4 “As you come to him, the living Stone–rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him”.  God’s word overflows with how priceless we are to him.  This word chosen by God for me for this year has given me His promise once again that I am valuable to Him, I am precious to Him, I am priceless!  This word that was chosen by God for me for this year also commands me to find the value in the people around me and to find the value in  why we are here, to find the value in the moments that God gives us and to make them precious and priceless.  The world does not give us our value and if we let  our value come from anywhere other then God it can always be taken back.  The value God places on us is beyond any price and it is free, unconditional and is ours forever, it is priceless.

I challenge you to find your word given to you by God for this year.  Add your word in the comments below to share.  And remember you are priceless to me and more importantly to God.

My son gave me a lokai bracelet which is a bracelet that is filled with elements from the highest point on earth and the lowest point on earth. The bracelet’s white bead carries water from Mt. Everest, and its black bead contains mud from the Dead Sea. These extreme elements are a reminder to the wearer to live a balanced life – staying humble during life’s peaks and hopeful during its lows. One weekend I was checking out at Home Depot and the cashier  commented on the bracelet saying he like it. I shared what it stood for and he thought that was a unique idea then he shared a thought that had never crossed my mind. ” I wonder if those elements are really in there?” Hmmmm, I had never thought about that, I just had always thought that yes of course the elements were in the bracelet. Why wouldn’t it be! This then gave me another thought, if it really didn’t have the water from Mt. Everest or the mud from the Dead Sea did it change how I felt when I looked at the bracelet? Did that take away from it reminding me that no matter how low I go, I can stand up with hope?  And if I get too high do I forget to humble myself? If there are no elements does this mean that the bracelet is worthless?  Then the thought turns again.  To have faith is to believe in what can’t be seen or touched.  The bracelet is not something to have faith in but is simply to be a reminder and a symbol of guidance to remain in balance.  To help us “stand tall” when the world knocks us down.  Our faith in God is based on the same belief of something we can’t see or touch but as it touches us it guides us and directs us each moment of our days and nights.  This faith is far greater than the smallest element from the highest and lowest points on this earth and as we allow it, it will keep us balanced in the strongest storms of our lives.  So I cherish the bracelet and I smile as I slip it onto my wrist each time now, as I do not think of the elements that I may or may not be wearing but of the reminder of my faith in God’s grace and love that I KNOW I have and wear every moment of the day.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy spirit who has been given to us.”  Romans 5:1-5

Yes this can cause a minor delay but it gives us a moment to breath in and breath out and witness God’s touch. If he uses so much detail in this artwork we are so blessed of his touch on the details of our lives.

Good morning? Really, no way. I wake up with that nagging little pounding somewhere deep behind one eye that I know is going to travel up, over and around about until it reaches the top and yep, the pounding has grown stronger as it goes. Even without the now full force headache, I simply woke up in a bad mood. I am sure it wasn’t the blaring radio alarm that went off oh, somewhere about 5:30 am and kept on and on singing about a wonderful happy life. I know it wasn’t the fact that the little furry two pound Mason that was wrapped so tight in the blankets that weighed down my legs and I could not get my foot out to breath. Let’s say there were several reasons that I had a right to be in a bad mood. I did however stay with my recent commitment and I opened my “First Five” app (Proverbs 31) and read the message and the scripture. Mood didn’t sway. Headache still on. So I sat and meditated for a bit hoping that I could just will it away. Nope. Then I read the Proverbs 31 devotion for the day. Still not a budge. Strolled through Facebook, found the tribute by Kathy Lee Gifford to her husband. Yes the mood swayed slightly and the headache just a slight less for her words were such a beautiful tribute not only to her husband but also how grateful he was to be in the life that God gave him. It was not always an easy life and it taught him his faith. Kathy shared the message to choose your stone in life just as David slew the Giant with the stone, small in size but bigger than life in faith. So I went forward on beginning my day. Even after that beautiful message, I was still just sour! A block from work and God finally makes a break through. He had sent me message after message and I kept blocking and knocking it back. He kept telling me how big his love was, how we were to show Unity to the world and to show His love, to pick our stone that will grow a faith bigger than we can imagine and that He had given me another beautiful day to live. Ok, so what got through to me this morning when I struggled with each moment that I was coming in contact with? Another devotional from Proverbs 31 on the radio and the message was…. The days we don’t like ourselves, God still does! He sees past the ugly Chari that greeted the break of dawn this morning. He sees past the grumbling and complaining. He sees right deep inside to his beautiful daughter that he created. He loves me in that ugly moment just as he loves me in the beautiful moments that I am still and soaking him in. He loves me as I doubt just as much as he loves me when I throw my stone. Who would ever believe that I would not hear Him in His words of Grace and Faith but when He gives up and says “Hey Chari, you are pretty ugly right now, but guess what, I love you still and I see past the ugly to the beautiful” Yes, I began to see the rays of sun peak through the overcast sky and as I am writing these words, I look back and see that I had a beautiful day, because I am loved through the ugly.