I'm Expecting!!!!

I can remember all those years ago when I found out I was pregnant with my children. Both times I was surprised. But it was the emotions that followed those pronouncements that I was going to be having a baby that I remember most.

The anticipation, the fear, the excitement, the joy, the expectation, and a million other emotions all bottled up inside of me. Each day brought that longed for event closer and closer. And each day brought changes within my body that prepared me for being able to fulfill that particular destiny, the moment when I would actually giving birth, the moment I would see the culmination of every dream I had ever dreamed coming true before my eyes.

I read everything I could about pregnancy. If the doctor told me to stop something, guess what? I stopped. If he told me to start something, I started. I KNEW that it was not only ME any longer. I knew that I had taken on the responsibility of another life, and in order to give that new life the opportunity to be healthy I needed to take care of myself, I needed to do whatever was necessary to protect my growing child.

And I remember with the clarity that only a mother can remember with the moments of giving birth. I can remember the excitement that accompanied the pain, the overwhelming joy and the inexplicable love. I can remember the release and the relief when those lusty cries reverberated throughout the delivery rooms.

Working as an Obstetrical Nurse for as long as I did I had quite a few occasions to *catch* a new life in my hands. I cannot even begin to explain what that feels like. Nothing I have ever done in my professional career compares to wrapping my hands around such a miracle.

Micah 4:10 Being in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the and of thine enemies.

Isaiah 66.8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

When the church {ZION} travails children are born. And you know what, we may have to go out to our cities, we may have to seek them in the countrysides, We may EVEN have to go into the parts of town we would rather avoid, but GOD is calling to us.

Can you feel the excitement, the anticipation for what is about to take place? I can!

As I was praying this morning God spoke so clearly to me: "You're expecting."

I answered, "Yes, LORD, I am expecting."

I am expecting.

And I may have to stop doing certain things, I may have to start doing certain things, I will follow the dictates of the Word, because I understand the responsibility I have! I am part of Zion, and my time of travail is at hand. It is my responsibility to give birth. That is the whole point of my existence.

And as my time draws nearer, as the time of the church draws nearer, I am getting ready, preparing for the additions, expanding to make room for all that God is about to do.

Lord, I heed to Your call. I will go where You would have me to go, do what You would have me to do. I know that my time is at hand, but not only my time, YOUR time is at hand, isn't it Lord? Lead me, prepare me, use me. I want to give birth by reaching out to this lost and dying world.

Put On A Happy Face

I am sitting here in the waiting room in ICU. Today has been a day. I was on my way to a meeting this morning when I got a call from the nurse saying my Mom wanted to talk to me. I could hardly understand her.

Needless to say I did a u-turn and head to Valdosta.

It has been a rough day.

My Mom looks really bad. It just breaks my heart. She has been crying off and on all day.

I have been holding it together by a string and a prayer.

I have been worried about her. I worried that when she went home she would not do what the doctor said she should do. I worried because I work and am unavailable for 9 hours a day. I worried they would need me and I would not be available.

I worry, but does that make me faithless?

I don't know, but I don't think so. But maybe I should be praying, "Lord, I believe, but help thou my unbelief."

I know I'm a child of mercy. I know that God is in control. And I trust Him. Look at all he has brought me and my family through. Does that mean that my faith is lacking because I hurt, because I look in the face of reality and finding it looking back at me?

I don't want to appear to anyone that I don't fully believe that MY God is able. I know without a doubt He is.

I am expecting it, but sometimes I feel weak, not my faith, but me....

Sometimes I get weary having to be strong. Does that make me bad?

I think it just makes me human. It is the reason I need Him. and I do, Oh So Much.

So I have learned to *suck it up.* I have learned that when I am weak, I have to paste a smile on my face and lean COMPLETELY on Him.

And it seems when I am at my weakest, others may find me disappointing, but He is never disappointed in me

When I end up a blubbering mass at His feet, He doesn't say, *Oh ye of little faith.*

He says, *I know it's hard, but I am here. I will never leave you or forsake you.*

So I have learned to suck up a LOT. I have learned that I can hold it together with a string and a prayer, and then, when the time comes, I can throw myself at His feet. And He always catches me.

Tonight I stood by the bed and held my Mom's hand, literally. She did not know I was there, so I held her still hand in mine, and I reminded her that I was there, and I was strong for her. And I pasted a smile on my face and one in my voice.

I love You tonight. You have held me up today, I could not have stood without You.

Winner By Random Drawing

What child does not love the story of "David and the Giant?" We all hoped to be able to slay the giants that we face in our own young lives using David as our inspiration since he was young himself and was able to win where bigger, stronger, older, more experienced soldiers could not.

Still today, the story fascinates me. Being the youngest child of three, I know what it is like to live in the shadows.

Here sat little David, singing to his Lord, tending the sheep, while his older, wiser and stronger sibling were about doing the important stuff.

I never noticed David feeling pity for himself.

He goes, at his father's bidding to check on his brothers. He finds everyone cowering in the face of a *giant*.

Instead of joining his brothers behind the rock to shake and quake in the face of the enemy he boldly stood and said, *I'll fight him!*

Out of the brook he takes 5 smooth stones, the rough edges removed by the adversity caused by the water moving constantly over the surface.

Let's imagine, for a moment, that David had named each stone.

1 Samuel 17:45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou has defiled.

Let's suppose one stone he named Jehovah-Shammah: The Lord is Present. Had he picked this stone and used it, he would be saying, "God is here, right now."

Or what if he named one Jehovah-Jireh: The Lord will Provide. Had he picked this stone and used it, he would be saying, "God provided me the means to fight."

Had he named a stone Jehovah-Nissi he would be saying "God is my victory."

Or what about Jehovah-Saboath: The Lord of Armies. David would be saying God is the Lord over this battle, and all of the armies of Israel.

But for tonight, let's supposed as David randomly reached in and pulled out a stone, he pulled out the one he had named Jehovah-Tsidkenu: The Lord our Righteousness.

1 Samuel 17:48 says: And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew night to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

The giant stood thinking *who is this pipsqueak??* Instead of running behind the rocks or climbing into the ditch with his big brothers, David ran to face the problem head on.

1 Samuel 17:49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence *Jehovah-Tsidkenu,* and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead: and he fell upon his face to the earth.

Jehovah-Tsidkenu: The Lord our Righteousness. I love it. Not the Lord IS our Righteousness, but The Lord OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!!

What are you battling today? Have situations you are facing made you feel inferior to the *GIANTS* around you? Maybe it's time you quit cowering from your problems and run boldly to face them. Maybe it's time you stopped waiting for someone else to come along and take care of the problems you face and you grabbed hold to the Lord to fight for you.

Which stone will you need for your fight? Maybe you need Jehovah-Rophe: The Lord who Heals, or Jehovah-Shalom: The Lord our Peace. Maybe you need Jehovah-Rohi: The Lord is my Shepherd. Or could you use the help of Jehovah-Mekeddshem: The Lord who Sanctifies.

Whatever you are facing, He IS Jehovah-Shammah! And His NAME IS JESUS!!!

The 2 Things You Will Never Forget

I had the awesome privilege of speaking at a Senior Club luncheon today.

I was contacted to speak, and we made all of the preparations and hurried over this morning, only to find out that they had canceled us.

Bummer.

But, since we were there, they decided to let us speak briefly.

10 minutes was all I told them I needed.

So, I sped through as much as I could.

The reason they canceled us was they decided to honor the Veterans in our area, one in particular, who is about to celebrate his 90th birthday.

I just can't even tell what it meant to sit in that room and hear their stories. All still proud of what they did, all still honored to have done it, all still in love with this country.

I clung to every word, until...

There was one man who took the floor, a man of small stature, who told of his service in Hiroshima very, very briefly.

Then he said something that has forever changed me.

He said there are TWO things that you never forget.

The first thing is Deep Hunger.

He said, "I'm not talking about the hunger you get from missing a meal, I'm talking about deep hunger."

I know this to be true.

Have you ever seen the face of someone praying for the Holy Ghost? I mean really praying?

I remember what that hunger felt like, that consuming hunger where I knew I would do anything to get it satisfied. It is the memory of that hunger that drives me today, keeps me pressing on.

I remember the extreme emptiness, the endless void waiting to be filled. I remember the gnawing inside, begging for something.

And I thought about these men, so young, so far away from home, in a country where they couldn't even speak the language, obviously out of supplies, and seemingly out of hope.

So, they ate what they could find to appease that deep, deep hunger within.

Another man replied later, "When you truly get hungry, you would be surprised by what you can eat."

I have seen people, hungry people, eating up whatever the world would feed them, denying where the real nourishment is found, they feed their souls the garbage lying around them, until they cannot feel that hunger any longer, until the growling of need is appeased.

We have got to reach the hungry around us. We have got to convince them to "taste and see."

The second thing he said is that you never forget is the smell of a decaying human body.

I began to think how God must feel when our very souls are decaying, and He smells the stench of our unrepented failure that is eating away at the very fiber of our beings.

I thought about how that decaying smell can permeate everything and cling to the walls of your nostrils making it impossible to smell anything else.

There have been times when I worked at the hospital when they would bring a body into the morgue that had been dead for quite some time. You could smell it long before you ever reached the door to the hospital.

I could see, in my minds eye, these young men who had left their friends and loved ones, young men who used to play football at school, and court young ladies. I could see young men who laughed and loved and lived facing such horror as the death that must have been all around them. I could see their innocence dying as they came upon body after decaying body. I could imagine them at night, trying to sleep with the smell of death all around them.

And then I thought of our own young people. I thought of their innocence, and I thought of the stench of the world that would like to permeate their being. I thought about the way it can get inside you so that it never leaves you. And even when they return to safety the memory of the stench never leaves.

This man was young when he arrived on those shores so far away. But over 50 years later, those memories are still strong. He has never forgotten his exposure to death, to real hunger, because they turned his young life around.

Oh, my sweet Lord, I know that sometimes we need to feel that deep hunger, but let it be for the things of You. Draw us Lord to Your table, feed us from Your Word, let that be all that satisfies us. Protect us, protect our young people, from the stench of this world, because this world brings nothing but death to our souls. But You, Lord, have overcome this world. I love You so.

How Much Is It Worth~~To YOU??

Luke 7:37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment.

I started to think about that woman today. She passes through my mind on many occasions, but today I lingered on her story.

Today my mother lies in the hospital. Today my father is alone, still coping with all the health issues that have taken such a toll on him. Today my husband is on the road and will be gone the whole week; he's missing church tonight & I know he needs to be there. Today I have been on my knees, fighting for my children and all the things of the world that have been coming against them. Today I have been struggling in my job, needing connections that I just cannot seem to make.

Luke 7:38 And (she) stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

Mark 14:3 And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious, and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.

Today I feel such praise within my heart.

My praise is not just words that I utter. No, no. You see, my praise is as a precious ointment.

Like a precious jewel I protect my praise, and I place it within my most costly vessel. You see, it means so much to me that I keep it cradled in the vessel of my heart.

Sometimes it takes breaking that vessel to pour out my praise. And when I keep my heart full of praise for Him, there is no room for bitterness, envy or strife.

I long to reach His feet, to humble myself, once again, and pour out all that is within me to my God.

There is no waste of my praise, for He repairs my vessel and enlarges it to hold even more praise for Him.

My praise is the most valuable thing I can give to the One who gave all to me. No one can take my praise from me, if I lose it, it is at my own hand because I have not be careful and protected my vessel.

I am ready, Lord. I can feel the overwhelming desire to praise You. It's time. When I look around me, I know the cost. Today, I give you my all.

THANKS FOR THE VOTES!!!

For those of you who have been helping us vote...


THANKS!!!!

I mean that!!! If you don't know what in the world (there's that Georgia phrase again) I am talking about check out our blog at www.thisdayphotography.com

For those of you that have gone above and beyond in getting the votes in *and you know who you are* we owe you a special thank you...so look out!!!

We are not done yet!!! If we make it into the final 3 then we will need your votes even MORE!!!

I will keep you posted....

Check us out at www.scarlettlillian.net


~~on a side note~~

For those of you who know my baby girl left me last weekend to become all grown up and on her own...it's still hard. You can't just turn off a mother's heart. I know kabillions of mothers have gone through this, but not me, and that doesn't help my feelings...

I miss her. I don't see another week changing that or another year or another 10 years. I will always miss my little baby, my little freckle face, my sweetie, my dumplin, my friend....

With A Little Help...

"The friend of my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity."
~~~Ulysses S. Grant

I have found this to be true. I would imagine it to be hard to be in the position of Grant, especially during the Civil War. Not only was the country split, but friendships were split, families were split.

How lonely it must have been to be in the position of a General during that time. War is always a lonely time to me because war ultimately results in separation.

Sitting alone in their tents at night, thinking back over the decisions of the day, both the good and the bad, knowing that the decision either saved or cost the lives of sons, and husbands, and fathers.

They didn't have email or text messaging to send out an urgent need. How their faith must have been tested every hour of every day.

But imagine if they did.

USG: We have an important battle in the morning. I covet your prayers.

Gen. Sherman: I will call my officers together. We will be praying. Pray for us also. We lost many today.

USG: You have my prayers my friend.

There is something to be said for having someone with you, fighting in the trenches, battling the enemy by your side, lifting you up and standing with you in times of trouble.

We have been so blessed.

For so many years we were seemingly alone. Aside from our Pastor and his precious wife, there was no one we could confide in, no one to laugh with, to share with. And I feel like there were battles for me to fight during that time in my life that I needed to fight alone, that I needed to come through based on my faith alone to bring me to the place I am in now.

I have sat alone on the edge of the battlefield, weary and heart sore from the wounds that were inflicted. I have felt the loneliness of responsibility for those in my charge, praying my decisions were for our good and would not cause a fatality of faith in my children. I have stood when the only thing that held me up was the grip of grace in my life.

But, those times are a memory now. For you see, God has placed people in our lives that we can count on, people we can turn to, people we can cry with and laugh with, people that will fight right along side of us, that we will fight for, too.

I have always loved Ecclesiastes 4:9&10: Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him.

It goes on in verse 12 to say: ...If one prevail against him, two shall withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

I am thankful today. Thankful that there are those I can turn to. Thankful that I have help.

Me: Please help me pray! We are in desperate need!!

Them: You bet! We have a need too!

Me: I will be praying.

Isn't that what it's all about? Standing in the gap for each other?

I know I can make it!! *with a little help from my friends*

God, I don't even know where to begin thanking You for all the treasures in my life. You have given me riches beyond measure in the guise of true friends. I feel like I am the wealthiest person on earth. How could You love me this much? I will never understand. But I thank You. Every day, every hour, every minute, I want to live my thanks to You! Because YOU are my BEST FRIEND! You have never, never let me down. I love You!