Good Morning Women of Worth. I would like to introduce to you our newest and youngest Women of Worth who definitely has the WOW factor. Her name is Carissa Stark and she is 4 yrs old, and I am blessed and honored to call her Daughter. Here is how our morning went . . .
(last night Carissa asked her Mommy, What birthday present do you want? Her Mommy said what she always says each year, "You and Daddy are the greatest birthday present God has given me").
This morning while Carissa's Mommy was preparing breakfast, and packing her lunch for school Carissa said, Mommy I want to give one of my dollies to a Friend that doesn't have any. Carissa's Mommy asked her, Which Friend doesn't have a dolly? Carissa started naming Friends and her Mommy said those Friends have lots of dollies. Then Carissa paused for a second and said pointing a finger down at the table, "Mommy there is a girl in this land that needs a dolly. Mommy I want to give one of my dollys to a little girl that doesn't have a dolly or Mommy. She went to go pick out one of her dollies and said, "I want to give this one to her" Then she thought a moment and said, "I think she would want a brand new dolly. Can we go and buy a new dolly for a little girl who doesn't have a dolly or Mommy?" Carissa's Mommy's heart overflowed with so much Joy that she could no longer contain the happy tears. Carissa concerned and a bit confused asked, Mommy why are you crying? Her Mommy said, Watching you Love Others like Jesus, giving from your beautiful heart and putting love in someone else's heart has made Mommy's heart overflow with Joy that the happiness is coming out of my eyes. Carissa asked, So Mommy those are Happy Tears? Her Mommy said, Yes my Love those are VERY Happy Tears. My Beautiful Daughter you have given Me the Best Birthday Present EVERRRRR!
Our faith grows by completely trusting God. There is a direct correlation or cause and effect between truly trusting God and our faith. The Greater the Trust, the Greater the Faith, and consequently the Greater the Faith, the Greater the Trust. Faith and Trust are not solely independent of one another, and instead interact to strengthen each other as iron sharpens iron. They are so intertwined it is hard to see where one ends, and the other begins. Faith and Trust are a Divine Marriage of Supernatural Attributes, where you see one you see the other. Is it possible to even have one without the other?
In regards to my own marriage, I'm just going to be real honest, I don't always have complete trust that my husband will make the correct decision (don't worry, he would say that the feeling is very mutual & reciprocated, because we have both let each other down at one time or another during our 23 yrs of knowing one another), but I have faith in God that the Holy Spirit will lead my husband to make the righteous choice for his family, because he is not only accountable to me, but more importantly he is accountable first and foremost to our Holy Parent.
Placing my trust & faith in God has blessed my marriage. While there will come from time to time disagreements between my husband and I where we don't always agree, due to our different perspective, we have faith that God will work it out. God has worked it out, so we have learned that we do not have to shout it out. While there will be disagreements from time to time there are no more fights or heated, loud arguments. Our daughter is blessed to watch people lovingly disagree with one another and resolve their disagreement with God's intervention, counsel, and wisdom that far exceeds our combined efforts alone. We encourage one another to talk it over with God. We have a strong marriage, because each of us independently has a strong relationship with God's Holy Spirit as well as both of us together as a couple enjoy having God's presence keep us company. We talk to God as a couple, and most importantly we are listening to God as a couple. It is God who brought us together, and it is God who will keep us together. I love that my husband loves the Lord, and that Jesus is his primary relationship.
Hebrews 11:6
New King James Version (NKJV)
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
I must confess I did not fully understand this powerful Scripture, up and until I became a parent of a child who is about to turn 5 early in the New Year. I grew up in a house of deception and lies, so I vowed if I do anything right as a parent it will be to never lie to my child, so that she could have peace & security from fully trusting me. To this day I have kept my promise, not through my own strength, no the temptation to break my promise has arose on more than one occasion, and in varies different ways, such as not wanting to admit to my child that I was wrong and messed up and humble myself to ask her for forgiveness. As parents our pride can deceive us that if we admit we were wrong, humble ourselves before our children, and ask them to forgive us that our children will not respect us, and that it will weaken our relationship. My husband and I have found the very opposite to be true. Our child is not afraid to be honest with us, because we have not been afraid to be honest with her. Our child is also not afraid to ask for forgiveness, because we have not been afraid to ask for forgiveness from her. She has witnessed our remorse and our repentant heart due to our changed behavior, because we first allow the Holy Spirit to convict us, then transform us through heightened awareness that we stay vigilant as to not reoffend. Our child keeps her promise to change her behavior, because she has seen us keep our promise.
Through God's strength with the Supernatural intervening help of the Holy Spirit both my husband & I have been able to keep our promise to not lie to our child. My Daughter has complete trust, and faith in us that we have her very best interest at heart. Still there are times of uncertainty due to others deception, repeated lies, lack of empathy, & hurtful behavior that she doubts and questions if I will also do the same. When she doubts me, although I have not given her a single reason to do so it does pain me and hurt me, and it is not at all pleasing and the doubt does drive a wedge between us creating a temporary separation if even for a very short moment of time. Doubt is a powerful deceptive tool to create separation, that is why the enemy used it to come in between Adam & Eve and God. Unrighteous and unholy doubt can forever change and ruin a blessed relationship -- just ask Adam & Eve! I understand now how our own doubt and unbelief is displeasing to God, because it hurts God. It is an insult and slap in the face to Someone who offers us His Amazing Love and Grace.
Numbers 23:19 New King James Version (NKJV)
19 “God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
1 Samuel 15:29 New King James Version (NKJV)
29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”
When my child doubts me although I have given her no reason to and puts me in the same category of those who have let her down, it makes we want to shout out STOP COMPARING ME TO THEM, I AM YOUR PARENT AND I AM NOT LIKE THEM. I wonder if our Holy Parent ever feels the same way?
There are times when my child and I have had misunderstandings, and she has been adamant in her belief that because a certain outcome did not happen as she wanted she blamed me, and accused me of breaking my promise. She is upset, angry and confused about why things didn't transpire the way she wanted them to. When she is ready to listen, be still, and hear me out she discovers that I did not promise her a certain outcome, but rather wishful thinking led her to believe a certain favorable outcome would be the result of a given situation or choice she made. Sometimes a given outcome is not at all what she expected, longed for, planned for, earned, wanted, or needed at the time, because it did not necessarily benefit her in the current situation, but rather over the duration of her Life. For example, when her great grandmother went to Heaven, later followed by her other great grandfather, the recent death of her grandparents dog which is the brother of our old dog who will eventually go to Heaven, because after all -- All Dogs Go To Heaven (movie from my childhood). One temporary loss of a physical relationship as painful as it is will prepare her for next, which will be more painful due to the closeness of that particular relationship. We can not control certain outcomes, but we can rejoice that our Faith and Trust in God to keep His promise that we will see our loved ones again some day.
The Parent-Child relationship is analogous to our relationship with God. We struggle, much like I child does, to completely understand our Holy Parent's ways and decisions, but His ways are not our ways. Our relationship with God, like our child's relationship with us, can not be dependent upon fully understanding every situation, but rather having Trust & Faith that in every situation God is going to miraculously use it to our benefit to bless our life, especially when we see no way. God is faithful to keep His promise, and redeem our pain and transform it into purpose.
Jeremiah 29:11
New King James Version (NKJV)
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
New International Version (NIV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
When my child has doubt & unbelief I need to remind her of who I am. When doubt & unbelief challenge us we need to calm down, be still, and know that He is God, and remind ourselves of Who He is. . . The Great I AM. . . our Holy Parent who does not & can not lie, who keeps His Promise, and will do what He says He will do. God will move Heaven and Earth to bless our Life. The blessing may not arrive or result in the form we want it to be, but it will be just as we need it to be to equip us to fulfill our long-term Divine Destiny. What the enemy created to destroy us, God will transform our pain into purpose.
One day my daughter had a bad day, and I asked her, Do you love me? She was confused and said, of course Momma I love you. I replied, Even when you had a bad day? Again she did not understand, and said Momma it is NOT your fault I had a bad day. I could see her struggle with trying to figure out how in the world would her having a real bad day have anything to do with her parent loving her. My precious daughter is not even 5 yrs old yet, and she understands that her having a bad day has nothing to do with how much I love her. She is not my puppet and I am not her puppet master. I can not control what she does, nor what others do by their free will.
In fact my Beautiful Daughter knows that when she does have a bad day, when a friend has been mean to her, when things did not turn out fair, or when a punk kid came along out of nowhere and punched her right in the stomach, she can run into my arms and I will comfort her. She feels just how much I love her, that each tear is precious to me, and to see her in pain elicits pain in me, I feel what she feels, and when she cries, I cry too. As for the punk kid who punched her in the stomach, he will not go unpunished. Even if others do not do right by my child and fail to deliver justice, my faith and trust is not in People, but in God. I will intervene on my child's behalf. I will seek higher authority, until the bully is reprimanded, rebuked, or has a repentant heart as evident by his helpful rather than hurtful behavior. Even if the system totally fails, God's system does not. We have Faith & Trust in God that people will reap what they sow. We may not be around to see it happen, or it may appear that those who hurt us are harvesting great rewards in the physical world -- I say don't get discouraged, frustrated, or angry but rather rejoice and tell them to reap away for what they harvest is temporary and will not stay and they will be held accountable on their judgement day. And when they call our to the Lord the Lord will rebuke them and say part from me for I knew you not. For if they knew the Lord they would have a repentant heart.
My desire is to bless my precious daughter by sharing my wisdom with her, so that she can apply it to her life where applicable, make better choices where need be, and in the times where it was not a matter of choice, she was just a victim of circumstance, than my loving comfort is all she needs from me. She has taught me that my love is enough for her. And in turn I know that God's Love is more than enough for me.
Lord I know you love me no matter what kind of day I am having.
GOD'S Time is Perfect. At Church for the past few weeks our Pastor has been speaking on Ecclesiastes. Today was on Ecclesiastes 3 which the Famous 1960's Band the Byrds turned into a Song called Turn, Turn, Turn.
"Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season)", often abbreviated to "Turn! Turn! Turn!", is a song adapted entirely from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible (with the exception of the last line) and put to music by Pete Seeger in 1959. Seeger waited until 1962 to record his own version of it, releasing the song on his The Bitter and the Sweet album on Columbia Records.[1] 45% of the royalties for the song are donated to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, because, in Seeger's own words, "[in addition to the music] I did write six words."[2]The song became an international hit in late 1965, when it was covered by The Byrds, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #26 on the UK Singles Chart. Thus, the song easily holds the record as the #1 song with the oldest lyrics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn!_Turn!_Turn!
Today at Church our Pastor spoke on Ecclesiastes 3 that there is a Season for Everything. To Everything there is a Season. During our Pastor's Sermon he explained how there was a Season and a Time for Everything, Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
http://www.biblegateway.com
Our Pastor explained during one of the comparisons that there was a Time for Speaking Up and a Time for Remaining Quite. It is not always easy to know which we are to do. Thank the Lord for the Holy Spirit that we have a Helper through prayer we gain the Gift of Discernment to determine when we should Speak Up and when we should Remain Quite.
Warning, both Men and Women strap on your Spiritual Safety Belts, because this is not easy to hear for either of us.
Pastor gave an example of Marital Issues where the husband knows he has messed up, but his wife keeps going on and on and on complaining, "nagging", and lecturing -- been there & done that! It is so true, no Man wants his Wife to act like his Mom. I totally get that. Our Pastor was speaking from the husband's perspective and he made a very good point that our complaining, nagging, and lecturing does not make for a Happy Healthy Marriage.
Our Pastor spoke from the Husband's point of view, and admitted that after a few times of the wife "nagging" the husband just tunes us out and our voice falls on death ears, so we are literally wasting our time. If we stop to set our egos aside we will allow the Holy Spirit to convict us on our Communication Skills. Keep reading Ladies!
Since our Pastor's wife did not speak from the Wife's Perspective, I would like us to now Turn! Turn! Turn! and look at this very same Marital Situation from the wife's viewpoint. When only one perspective is presented we are left with only half the story, and an incomplete understanding of the entire situation.
I have a background in Social Psychology Experimental Research with the focus on Interpersonal Relationships, so when I look at a given Social Situation I ask myself, What is the Cause and Effect? In this Marital Situation the Effect we are talking about is the Negative Effect a complaining, nagging, lecturing wife has on her husband, their Marital Relationship, and the Family Dynamic, because let's face it a child watching Mommy nagging Daddy is not good for the child to witness. We definitely know that this has a Negative Effect on Everyone involved, including the Wife who is complaining, nagging, and lecturing.
What is the Cause of the Negative Effect?
A Husband does not want his Wife to act like a Mother. . . and a Wife does not want her Husband to act like a Child. Simply put, It is the Husband's irresponsible childish behavior that causes the Wife's nagging Motherly behavior. It is the Husband's Bad Listening Skills that CAUSES the Wife's Bad Communication Skills. Again speaking as a Wife, we don't start off frustrated & nagging, that is the End Result from Multiple Requests for a Changed Behavior (i.e., Could you please put your dirty socks in the dirty laundry?). It is only after Repeated Requests have been ignored that it sends a Strong Message to the Wife and tells her that I don't care enough about you or respect you enough to fulfill this Simple Request. Therefore out of frustration and resentment from our Husband hurting our Heart we resort to complaining, nagging, and lecturing.
I want to quickly recognize and address the 10% to 25% of the General Population that are Toxic People. Research shows, along with my Personal & Professional Experience that 10% to 25% of our General Population are Neurotic, Narcissistic, Pathological, Toxic People who feel good when they make others feel bad. These Toxic People lack empathy and remorse and because they actually enjoy hurting others they do not repent. They are what the King James Bible Refers to as the Reprobate, and what other Bible Versions refer to as the Unrepentant Sinner. This will be the topic of the next Article, A Time for Letting Go, which Pastor Rod courageously mentioned in last Sunday's Service. On the top of negative nagging People there are those, both women and men, who are negative & nag for no reason. These People are mean and actually enjoy hurting others. Nothing & No One causes them to be mean, they just are. If you feel that you are married to such a person pray to God to confirm that to you. In prayer we will discover whether or not there is a Cause to our Spouse's or Loved One's Negative Toxic Behavior. We must pray for discernment to determine whether or not we are in a Normal Imperfect Relationship or in a Toxic one.
Now back to a Normal Imperfect Marriage. The Husband feels & is greatly effected by the Wife's angry words, but behind the angry words is the Heart of the Wife that her Beloved Husband has hurt. We think that since my Kind Repeated Requests were ignored, and had Zero Effect, then our Kindness was viewed as Weakness, so now if we speak with Frustration & Anger that will be a Language our Husband will Respect & Respond to. And let's be honest, Husbands do respond to the Wife's Frustration & Anger by doing the Behavior Change. . . at least for that Moment and for a short time that follows. You would think this would make the Frustrated Wife Happy, but it doesn't. It actually often has the exact Opposite Effect and makes the Wife ever MORE Unhappy & Frustrated. Men are completely confused. After all our Husbands are Finally doing what we wanted. We got what we wanted, so that should make us Happy. But it doesn't. Why Not? Because it Reinforces us and proves to us that a Wife's Gentle & Kind Words will be ignored by the person she loves the Most in this World, and her Husband will Only listen when she gets Angry, which breaks the Heart of a Wife.
Husbands love your Wife like Christ loves the Church. Our Poor Communication Skills is the Effect of your Poor Listening Skills, which Caused the Situation. If you would Respect, Value, and Treasure our Kind & Gentle Words, then you would NEVER hear our angry words that is shielding our Heart that you have hurt.
In Conclusion, If you don't want your Wife to act like a Mother, then don't act like a Child. I pray that both Wives & Husbands will allow the Gentle Spirit to convict and heal our Hearts & Minds, so that Husband & Wife can be Loved & Respected by one another. Let's ask each other, Can we do a Do-Over? Can we stop the Negative Behavioral Pattern & Dysfunctional Dance?
Today is literally a New Day, the beginning of a New Week as I post this at 7 minutes past Midnight. Today is a New Beginning to Happy & Healthy Communication with our Spouse, our Best Friend, and our Soulmate. Let's ask each other for Forgiveness. Let's have Empathy, Understanding, and Compassion for our Spouse's Perspective. Let's feel the Hurt & Pain we caused our Spouse, both Wife to Husband and Husband to Wife. Let's have such Deep Remorse that we are moved to Repentance. Let's pray that God not only Restores what has been Damaged, but actual Transforms our Marriage to Better than Before.
Let's vow to one another that From this Day Forward:
Wives say to your Husbands:From this Day Forward I choose to Forget the Past, because I Forgave you, I know you Love & Respect me and my Heart is Healed. From this Day ForwardI know you will Treasure my Gentle & Kind Words, so that I don't have to be hurt and speak in Anger & Frustration anymore.
Husbands say to your Wives:From this Day Forward I choose to Forget the Past, because I Forgave you, I know you Love & Respect me and my Heart is Healed. From this Day Forward, I promise that I will Treasure & Protect your Gentle & Kind Heart. I will guard it and not hurt it, so that you no longer have to speak in Anger & Frustration anymore. When you lovingly remind me that I am not listening, I will stop and listen to you, because nothing in the World is more important than my Wife who God has blessed me with.
* Please feel free to modify your own Vows & Promises to one another to make them Personal. Then call up Grandma and Grandpa, drop the kids off at their house, go to the Restaurant you had your First Date or your Favorite Restaurant, and spend the Evening Enjoying one another. May Each of you as Individuals and a Married Couple be Greatly Blessed. And may you enjoy the Experience of SuperNatural Sex with one another.
WOW! God is AMAZING. I was so blessed to meet such a Great Group of Awesome Women. I must confess, I wasn't sure that this Retreat was something that I needed. I have suffered a huge loss recently. My Family of Origin are a bunch of users and abusers and God told me it is time for Letting Go. It is time to give up control. Time to take them out of my hands and place them in His. I was not created to be their Personal Savior. God showed me in His Word and gave me a Love Telegram from Heaven. This Love Telegram was delivered by Robanne and given to me one Powerful Day to confirm what the Lord was telling me. Even when you have to let go of abusive, toxic People in your Life it creates a void. Having just one Toxic Parent in your Life is Horrible, having both your Parents be Abusive People is too much to bare alone, then multiply that by having Siblings who don't care about you and you have an idea of what I have been dealing with all my Life. Two years ago this August I had to make a painful choice to have no more contact w/my Biological Mom due to her extreme abusive & harmful behavior and lack of remorse and desire to change. Then top that off with Financial Challenges, having no Health Insurance (huge Safety Net), and the possibility of losing my first and only home well now you have a better idea of where I stood before I went to the Retreat.
Christopher kept saying, Anissa you need to go to the Retreat, and I wasn't sure I needed to go. I thought at the very least I would have a relaxing time, catch up on some sleep, and get some very needed rest (I can just hear my Roomie Laurie LOL about all the rest I was planning to get). I thought this would be a chance to get away from it all and be around some Friendly People. As you can imagine & what the Lord knew, my needs went much MORE deeper than just that. I was not just in need of a Friendly Person, but a Friend, not just a temporary Friend, but one that I could build a deep relationship with. I not only found Friends, but I found Sisters. Loving Sisters to replace the hurtful ones. God gave me a Beautiful Miracle this weekend and filled a void in my Heart.
I had an Amazing Experience at the Sanctuary Retreat. This past weekend was about Revelation, Confirmation, and Conviction, and to think I could have missed out. The first time I heard about the Retreat I wanted to go and I prayed about it. The Great & Holy Spirit told me to go to the Retreat, and that it was going to be an Awesome BLESSING (Remember what Blessing meant? Anything that brings you closer to God.). I really wanted to go, but I didn't know if I should go. I am sure some of you understand, know and felt that way too. I had doubt, and of course when we have doubt the enemy tries his best to trip us up and make us fall by not following the Directions of God. I sometimes get frustrated at my Child when she does not follow direction, after I have repeatedly over and over and over and over AGAIN have told her something that is for her own Good and the Lord lovingly said, Go ahead and tell Me about it My Daughter.AnissaI completely understand and know what you mean. A Parent shouldn't have to repeat Him or Herself, and a Child should follow directions the first time. A Child should listen to her Loving Parent who only wants the very best for her. -- thatwas beyond an AHA Moment that was a WOW Moment! It was a gentle, yet powerful Conviction. And most importantly a time for Repentance for me. I desire my Daughter to automatically follow my word, but do I automatically follow my Holy Parent's Word? Yikes!
I thought do I really need to go to the Retreat? Lord I need more than just a weekend with the Ladies. I need something Very Powerful right now. And the Lord shall provide ALL our needs in ABUNDANCE. What the Lord placed in my Heart I could not contain. My Heart over ran and my Tears over flowed. I think I cried about 5 lbs of Tears this weekend. Well back to deciding IF I needed to go to the Retreat.
Christopher and I looked at our Bank account, and like many others we have Financial Struggles, we are going through a Modification on our Mortgage, and can't even afford Medical Insurance. I think Shelly called it the Miserable Middle. We just barely make too much for Public Assistance and not enough for Insurance. There is no room for anything extra. Nothing, but the Bare Necessities. I said God, you know my heart I would love to go to the Retreat, but it is just Impossible right now. And God said. . . My Beautiful Precious & Beloved Child have I taught you nothing?What is impossible for you is VERY Possible for Me. Someday I will tell you about Carissa's Story. God taught me that the Impossible is Possible. When we see there is no way, God has made a way.
Along this Way I had to battle a couple of familiar Giants that go by the name of Shame & Pride that tried to stop me by saying; You don't deserve A Scholarship, Aren't you embarrassed, just stay home, someone else needs it more than you. I had a choice, listen to the Giants or listen to God. I listened to God. Talked to Robanne and she confirmed that God in fact did have a way. I got the Scholarship, then there was the challenge of figuring out Transportation, and God said, Don't worry I got that covered too. Of course last Friday it was a Challenge just to get ready in time in order to meet up with Donna, her Mom, and Amanda. I'll tell ya, the way to know for sure that God has a Gift waiting for you is that when you try to get there, all Hell comes against you to try and stop it. Some of you might have experienced the same sort of Challenge just to leave on time & make it to the Retreat.
Well, I make it to Donna's and after Christopher did a last minute suitcase exchange and repacking, I kissed & hugged Christopher & Carissa goodbye and the Ladies and I headed on our way. What a great bunch of Ladies I got to travel with to the Retreat. We get to the Retreat and I have no idea who I am rooming with for the weekend. When the ladies told me who I was rooming with I did not know who this Person was, but they prayed about it and God helped them pick a Great Roomie for me, in fact God knew Laurie and I needed to be Roommates this weekend. We had a fantastic time together staying up late laughing, learning, and sharing our Story with one another. What a Wonderful Woman of Worth. I am honored that she trusted me to Share her Heart and her Story. I never knew how easy it is to Love someone you have never met before. We are both Sanctuary Sisters & Friends. Laurie introduced me to her travel companion Virgina who also is a fantastic Woman of Worth with a Powerful Story & Testimony.
Upon arriving at the Retreat we were greeted by the Hospitality Ladies who made us feel welcomed. We each got to draw a name of a Person who would be our Secret Sister, and throughout the weekend we would pray for her and make heart-made Personal Notes of Encouragement to leave on the Poster Board, so that she could pick them up and read them during her Retreat. I drew a name of a Person I did not know. Laurie and I first met in our room and went to the dinning room to have dinner together, or did we first meet at Dinner? I can't recall. Side Effects from the Sleep Deprivation. Laurie did not know who my Secret Sister was either. I kept looking on name tags trying to figure it out, but I didn't see her name. After dinner was done we went to the Meeting Room. Our Worship Team was Inspirational. It was so much fun to worship just with the Sanctuary Sisters in one Big Group. I heard it was about 100 Women. After Worship our Guest Speaker is introduced, Shelley Withem and as she stood up I got my first look at my Secret Sister, and the Blessings kept on pouring in that weekend.
Shelley's Message about Life is a Circus, What's Your Safety Net? was so very powerful. We talked about the things we depend upon and our fears. You know how people say they have AHA Moments, well I had many many WOW Moments. One WOW Experience after another. As I said before, this weekend was about Revelations, Confirmations, and Convictions for me. I want to capture this WOW Experience and Share It Forward with others.
The Lord gave me a Vision before I went to the Retreat about starting a Group, and I would like to invite you to join our Group. It is called The WOW Group and WOW is the acronym for Women of Worth. Each Woman is God's Daughter, created with a Unique Purpose which gives her Intrinsic Value and makes her a Woman of Worth. Our Mission Statement is on our Blog, Women of Worth United to Inspire, Encourage, and Empower. It is for Woman to Connect with other Women. There are two ways in which we can meet & connect with one another. We are going to connect once a month in Person and using the internet tools through a thing you might have heard about, FaceBook & possibly w/Skype. Through Facebook & Skype we will be able to connect w/one another from the comforts of our own home. You can meet up with others when you can. I am not a FaceBook wiz, so I am going to need some help figuring all that out. I am so not a computer or internet tech. person, so I am going to need the help from other gifted people to help this Process go along, as well getting help from those Blog experts.
We have planned another WOW Event for Ladies to participate & enjoy. And I will be talking with Robanne about another. We are beginning our Summer BookClub. Whether you are an avid reader, or haven't picked up a book in years this is going to Bless you. Remember what Blessing meant! The book is called Warrior Women Arise by Amanda Goransson. She is an Amazing. We have been e-mailing and Skyped with one another and she is a Friend who I have nicknamed Amazing Amanda. Now I am double blessed with two Amazing Amandas in my Life. Amanda Garcia is the other one. Amanda Goransson's book, is a Powerful Explanation of how God sees the Attributes of His Daughters which is much different than the Word. We have our ideas of what a Warrior Woman might look like and act like and it is nothing like how God sees us. The World's Image is not God's. It is such an Amazing Book about how God Treasures His Daughters. This is a Blessing for every Woman. It will both Surprise you, Inspire, Encourage, and Empower you. Let me give you a little taste of what is in store for you in this powerful book.
Some People know my BackStory and others do not. Here's the short version. Some Children grow up with the zip code 90210, and others H E L L -- I was the child who grew up in Hell. At least Hell on Earth where I endured every type of abuse. You can imagine that growing up in Hell leaves a person with many Giants to Battle. There is a great chapter in this book called Facing Your Giants. One of my Goliaths goes by the name of Fear. In fact I have battled a variety of different kinds of this Giant. One of the Fear Giants goes by the name of Public Speaking. The Hell I grew up in I could not trust my own Parents, so how in the World am I suppose to trust anyone else? I learned in Hell that I had to solely rely on myself. And the Lord is teaching me it is time to let go of that Safety Net, because He came to set the Captives Free. I told the Lord this weekend, I have been Battling Fear all my Life and God said, you are my Beautiful Daughter I did not create you to Battle Fear I created you to Conquer it. These Giants were never meant to be my Life Long Companions. This Giant is so enormous and strong I can not take it down, and God said, Anissa you can't do it depending upon your strength, but you can do it in Mine. The Lord said, I will Conquer this Goliath with you and for you. So here I stand a Person stepping out in God's Strength to share my BackStory, my Journey and my Dream & Vision with Others. Are there any Giants in your Life? Anything holding you back from stepping forward into the destiny God has planned for you? Giants go by many names. Maybe you might recognize one, Anxiety, Stress, Exhaustion, Neverousness, Confusion, Depression, Rejection, Abandonment, Worthlessness, Fear (many kinds), Self-Loathing, Low-Self Esteem, Addiction (many kinds, eating, shopping, working, alcohol, drugs) Despair, Pride, Pain (many kinds), The Void (lack of Passion & Purpose)?
Another Great Chapter in this Book is called The Weeping Warrior. This weekend I shed 5 lbs of Tears. They were Great Tears, Powerful Tears, Cleansing, Healing and even Tears of Joy. I grew up w/the message that Strong People don't cry and weep. Weeping is for the Weak. But these were all lies from Hell. This fantastic book shows how God views a Weeping Warrior. It might surprise you and it will definitely inspire, encourage, and empower you. Amanda, author of Warrior Woman Arise writes,"Tears have a cleansing function, not only removing impurities by their actual presence, but also serving to purify our souls. The American poet John Vance Cheney wrote in his poem about tears: 'The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears.' I love this image, as it symbolizes the hope that can come after a time of weeping and how the faithfulness and beauty of God can arise out of great suffering. A God who is acquainted with suffering Himself could never despise this expression. God stores our tears as an outward symbol of their value to Him, and through that act, He affirms that the substance they represent is worthy of capturing." -- this is just a taste of what is in store for you in this powerful book.
Some might feel reluctant about the title and you don't envision yourself as a Warrior. This book has a great chapter on The Reluctant Warrior. The World's image and God's image of a Warrior Woman is not the same, God's imagine is Amazing. I was reluctant to go to the Retreat and I was very reluctant to lay my Safety Net down. However, when we lay our Safety Net down we walk away with Amazing Love. I love the Little Red Heart we were given at the Retreat. I have been holding on to it as I create the WOW Group & Blog to remind me that it is okay to step out of our Comfort Zone and do something we have never done before.
I was Blessed w/connecting with Amazing Women of Worth this weekend. Before we even left for the Retreat Donna blessed me w/encouragement. Virgina who I met through my connection w/my Roomie Lorrie blessed me by sharing her Story. All the Woman who shared their weekend Testimony were so powerful. Everyone who crossed my path. Jill our Very Talented Worship Angel also Inspired me through song and her love for the Young Ladies in her Youth Group. My own Secret Sister Margaret was such a blessing and also has a powerful Story of her own. I hope she does not mind me sharing the last Note of Encouragement she gave me. It says, Dear Anissa, I'm your Sister in the Lord who has prayed all weekend that the Holy Spirit would pour Himself out upon you and cause joy and confidence in Him to be given in Abundance. Love in Jesus, Margaret
WOW Right! Talk about prayers being answered. I do not have a Basket Big Enough to carry all my Blessing, my cup runth over. And before I conclude I want to share with everyone how the Entire Group of Santucary Sister's Blessed me, especially Tiffany by teaching me a very important Lesson of Love. Growing up in Hell it is a matter of survival to be Unseen. I grew up feeling like my Presence was not Important. My Family of Origin couldn't care less about what happens to me. They are a bunch of users and abusers. God has taught me recently that Family is defined by Love not by Biology and thanks to my Sanctuary Sisters they gave me Confirmation that my Family of Origin is created in Heaven not on Earth. My Family is Larger than I ever knew.
Saturday Night Laurie, Virgina, and I decided we would quickly get some dinner in town instead of meeting everyone in the Dinning room. It was more than just not wanting a Stuffed Potato for Dinner, it was a time to Share our Journey with one another. It did not cross our minds that anyone would worry if we were not there. We thought we would be back while People were still eating dinner, and no one would miss us if we were gone. We were SO wrong. We were missed -- very much. In fact some People were getting ready to send out a Search Party and go looking in town for us. We all have very Deep Regret & Remorse for worrying People. We did not mean to worry others and I can not speak for anyone else, only to say that all 3 of us have felt at sometime in our Life that we would not be missed. Laurie and Virigina's Stories are their own to share in their own time, just know that we did not mean to worry or hurt anyone. I honestly felt like I would not be missed. It wasn't that I was thoughtless about others, it was that I thought less about myself. Like I had mentioned earlier, my Family of Origin has made me feel like an Unseen & Unimportant Person, especially due to some recent events. I made the Mistake that others would feel the same way, just go on without me, not giving me a second thought. Anissa not being here is No Big Deal. I got use to that. I am so Sorry for Worrying People. Thank You for showing me that there is some Old Baggage that needed to be handed over to Jesus. And I was able to do that this weekend at "The WOW Retreat" thanks to all my Sanctuary Sisters.
I want to invite every Woman to join our WOW Group. You do not have to buy the book in order to join the group. Details for the Book are below as well as more important info. on a Praise Report. There is some Blog challenges w/spacing. Sorry. Just keep reading. You can purchase the book below. Thanks.
(National Orders Only at this time. Price includes, book, tax, and s/h.)
This is one of the WOW events that we are planning for our group. We will soon announce our next WOW Event. Hope you will join us. God Bless your Life. I am praying for Spiritual Networking to take place, so please forward this to your Ladies in your Life and invite them to join with you. This is going to be so much FUN! Remember even if you can not meet in Person we are setting up our On-Line Group, so that you don't miss out on anything and can connect w/other Women of Worth around the World. Amanda the Author of Warrior Women Arise lives in Sweden, originally from Dublin, and she has joined our group and is looking forward to talking with other Women of Worth. Our WOW Group is Officially International! We need you to help get the word out through Spiritual Networking. Thank You for your help and support.
Love & Peace to you,
Anissa
PS. PRAISE REPORT: Christopher told me last night that when he got home from dropping me off at Donna's there was a Large Envelope waiting for him. He read what the letter said, and the Mortgage Company is going to give us a 3 Month Trial Period for a Modified Mortgage. We had previously had a 10 Month Trial Mortgage at a higher amount and when we completed that Trial Period we expected to solidify the deal and were told that the Mortgage Company is not working with that group any longer and we had to resubmit all our paper work, so it is very interesting to see GOD work things out to our benefit. We were so upset that they did not solidify the first deal, but GOD is using it to Bless us. Yes, I am weeping happy tears right now! GOD is Great! No matter how this House deal goes GOD is directing our path and blessing it. Who needs Biological Parents when you have GOD watching over you. -- not a slam on Great Biological Parents, I just didn't have any. What this World can not provide GOD makes up in Abundance.
