SEVEN FLOWERS: 2013

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Word of The Year

After seeing this idea that is circulating the blog world, I prayerfully

asked God to show me my WORD.

After picking out what I thought was my word I just did not get a resonating vibe

in my spirit. I mean GIVING is a good word, but it was not what God

was dealing with me.

And then He whispered into my spirit.....

What a word! I know that I struggle with it in all my
relationships especially God!
I mean who hasn't

sacrificed honesty on the alter of perfection?

....or wore the mask of pretense

in favor of tearfully asking for prayer?

.....or choked back the sobs of offense while hurling insults instead of
speaking our heart?

It is risky stuff,

being vulnerable...

exposing that tender part we all have inside.

When we do get enough bravado, it is usually when we are at our
exploding point and have
bottled our true feelings for far too long. The inevitable happens..
.we explode....sending toxic words all over our friends and family.
Our heart is, as a result, not heard due to everyone
running to avoid the explosive lava flowing everywhere.

What could have prevented it?
Transparency...

..sharing our heart

....being see through

Brokenness ministers to more people than our
pretend wholeness does..

When was the last time you said this word in conversation?

Lord have mercy, for when I consider the sins that have become
possible because of my lack of transparency, it makes me shudder.
Namely, envy.
Only God really knows how imperfect that person you admire truly is.
Please give me a spirit of transparency this year, Jesus!

Like my word button?
Got to have one?
They’re Here……………FREE One Word Blog Buttons!!!!!!!!!!!

Heart Shift Towards Mentoring

God is doing a new thing in my life. I feel a shift in the atmosphere of my heart!
Where I have had trouble in areas of my walk with Him, I am sensing a deliverance.
Not an instant miracle deliverance, but a slow healing and strengthening in these
weak areas
of my life. I asked Him to show me if he wanted me to be a mentor in this
season of my life
. You see I have a newborn. It is not always easy embracing this season, and turn down
things that I feel I could do and would be good to do. But I also know that the good
can sometimes
be the enemy of the best.

After prayerfully asking the Lord if I should take on the mantle of a mentoring group

I heard the voice of the Spirit whisper to me.."I need your heart."

I realized so much of what He was asking while working on my homework
from the mentoring group, of writing my life story.

Basically, it is a story to share with others that inspires to hope. One that does
not point too much
at the way people

failed us in life, but more to the way God has
raised us up out of the ashes.

Elisa gave an example of her testimony in the early years contrasted with her
testimony now that is seasoned with God's grace.

If you want to know if your heart has healed from your past, this is an
exercise that will expose the condition of your ticker real quick.

It made me realize how much I have filled my life with busyness
and doing things for God, at the expense of first setting a foundation of healing.

To me, this getting my mind off of my hurts was my healing.

But I realized it is only prolonging my healing, for I am building on shifting sand.

Inner healing happens when we are willing to be transparent and allow God,
and possibly others selected by God, to dig up those buried emotions, to tug on
those old bones to see if life can be found out of death!

It reminded me also of a recent post of mine called:
How we respond to our past is key to our future.
How transparent are we willing to be?
When should you be?
How do you know what to say and what to leave out?
Should you leave anything out?

I have been taught so many different things regarding this;
for example, only share
Christ if someone asks you to.
Well, if you follow the well thought out guidelines of... how to respond
to questions, you can
make those questions happen just
by asking questions yourself.
...such as"Can I share with you what happened to me?"

People tend to listen better when they have given you permission to speak into their life.

Friday, January 18, 2013

What I am learning through Mentor training

Mentor...

Mentoring...

What do these words bring to mind?

Does someones face pop in your thoughts?

She has probably mentored you,

or is most likely someone you are, or who needs you to mentor her.

If you are like me, you feel inadequate.

...under equipped

...pressed for time

....overcome with your own failures to believe you can be used as a

mentor.

you may not even be sure what a mentor is.

I have learned so much more than I already thought I knew about

mentoring

Through this six week study I hope to be able to lay aside these lies of the enemy and gain

simple and effective truths and strategies for mentoring while learning how to apply them to my mentoring relationships with friends and family.

Like for example...

What to do if someone says, you don't know what it is like, because you never walked

in their shoes.

Or how to avoid sounding preachy or like Miss fix-it-all.

I can't wait now for the next time a friend or one of my children ask for help,

instead of dreading a rerun of...you just do not understand!

If this intrigues you you can join in...it is not to late.

We are only in the second week and our leader Elisa is very organized

with the homework and resources.

If I can do it with a newborn to take care of, I am sure any one else

can also join this study and benefit from it.

M2B Mentoring Training

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Renewing our Wedding Vows Tomorrow

It's official, we have been married long enough to actually not think renewing our vows is a little abrupt...
I know, time flies when your heart is a flutter, and always melting like butter :-)...
I spin a good story, don't I? In all sincerity, we have had our share of up and downs in these two years, but tomorrow will definitely be one of the best ups.
We actually are coming right off the heels of an anniversary weekend, our second! So the feelings and sentiment are still fresh.

We we'll be sharing the moment with several other like minded romantic folks such as ourselves. I was able to sneak a peek at the stage setup the other night...what a sight!..

White gauzy tulle, white magnolias, hazy and dreamy, the stuff romance novels are made of! I am nervous and excited all rolled together, did I mention I will be singing right before the ceremony? Please keep us in your prayers tomorrow!

I promise to post an update on the event...

Grace and Peace,
Niky

Announcing.....

"BLOOMING WOMAN OF GRACE"

(meaning of her name)

December 15th

1:19 am

8.12 lbs

21 in.

blue eyes

strawberry blond hair

fair skin

deeply loved

(Birth Story to Follow Soon.....)

No one can truly prepare you for the way you fall in love with your child after
they are born.
It starts in the womb.
It progresses as you begin to understand their personality by
their movements.
As a mom I have been able to perceive how they are even going
to look.
I knew Chloe was going to be blue eyed and blond.
I could see her in my minds eye.
I also knew she was going to be peaceful, with a fighter side.
I knew this by the way she would kick manically if I laid on her the wrong way,
then go right back to sleep when I got it right.

We have all fallen in love with Chloe.
She has such a soft way about her.
I look at her and I melt.
At two weeks she popped her eyes open while nursing stared at me with love
in her eyes, cooed and smiled and then closed her eyes and resumed nursing.
AAAAhhhh. .....
PAYDAY!
I don't care if it is biweekly!
Priceless.....