Why we are here....

Turn down the music on my blog (at the bottom of this page) and watch our "Why we are here" video that will be played at our Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fundraiser in April. Good stuff.

Desert Song ~ TURN IT UP

TODAY...this song (playing on my blog as you read this) is speaking directly to my heart. I need to add it to my MP3 player and listen to it non-stop. I need the constant reminder that HE IS HERE and no weapon formed against me shall remain. I need to hear that.
~~~~~~~~~~
This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides

This is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flame

I will bring praise, I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice, I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

This is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on its way
I am conqueror and co- heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

I will bring praise, I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice, I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

All of my life in every season
You are still God,
I have a reason to sing,
I have a reason to worship

I will bring praise, I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice, I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I received I will sow
~~~~~~~~~~

Thank God for His healing. Thank God for His love. Thank God for His peace and understanding. Thank God for His forgiveness. Thank God for HIM.....and THANK GOD for people who know Him and see with His eyes and touch with His hands.

Amen and amen.

A special friend...

I have a very special friend. I've never shaken her hand, looked her in the eye or heard her laugh because I've never met her in person....but she is a gift from God every single time we "talk".

I won't share her story here because it's only hers to tell. I will, however, share with you what this lady has done for me in the nearly two years we have been communicating via blogs and email. {almost two years already? Oh my....the older I get the faster time flies!}

Meet my sweet friend Gwenn. She lives a half a country away from me and we met through The Christian Woman blog where we both contribute our hearts. Funny thing is....we both post occasionally, but when we do, it's usually within a few days of each other. Yep...She's my soul sista.

Maybe it's easier to be friends with someone you have never met. I say that because maybe you can say things that need said without fear of running into that person in the grocery store line...especially if what you said might have hit a nerve.

Gwenn did that for me once. No, she did not hurt my feelings, but she did hit a nerve and said what God had been trying to telling me for a long time. He just used her to get it through my thick skull finally...and I so love her for it.

"Maybe you should stop trying to force a square peg in a round hole....that round peg just might be right around the corner," she said. Might not mean much to you, but knocked me over the head, stumbled me back a few steps, opened my heart and stopped me in my tracks. IN THAT ORDER.

She was right. Her words rattled around in my head and heart for quite some time. Her words, sent by God, changed my life for the better. I let go of that square peg and I'll be darned if she wasn't right....that round peg was seriously right around the corner.

Won't you please stop right this second and pray for my friend Gwenn? She needs prayers....to stay strong and not give up. To love the way God is asking her to love and to keep on the path He has made for her. He is restoring her in ways she cannot yet see, but it will be so worth all the effort. I love her and so does God. Pray for her, please.

Gwenn: THANK YOU for being the most faithfilled woman I've never met. THANK YOU for modeling for me how to never give up and follow God's lead. THANK YOU for speaking the truth to me {though I'm sure you would speak it even if we did run into each other in the grocery store line}, for listening to me when I whine and laughing with me and praying for me and on and on. You are truly a blessing to everyone around you....and those of us 3,000 miles away. May God bless you with all you deserve and so much more. May your heart be filled to overflow once again and may you remember always to be who you are.

"Life is partly what we make it and partly what it is made by the friends we choose" ~ Tennessee Williams

Love letters....

Very cool video....turn off the music at the bottom of my blog and watch this. You will be glad you did.

Boy, am I human....

Never before has it been quite so obvious that I am a flawed human being. Made in the perfect image of God, but not perfect by any means. I'm not being too hard on myself, honest. Just a wake up call that I am not all that and a bag of chips most days. {Not that I think I am, just sayin'}

God showed up...again.

My need to control and understand ten steps ahead of me is a huge thorn in my side. Why can't I relax and go with the flow? It's my spiritual gift to get my panties in a bunch, I honestly jokingly say. My uncanny ability to see things in the way people talk, react and behave can and DOES get me into trouble. It's weird. I'm pretty good at reading people who are upset, feeling left out or hurt, but I have no clue when my mouth is moving that I am making someone that way. It's also my spiritual gift to open mouth, insert foot.

I said to God this morning {after two long days} that I just don't understand men. I am fairly confident God laughed about that because I was immediately reminded that HE is a MAN. I know, ladies, I know.

I love, love, love, love, love my husband. He is a man...a real man like I've never known before, but a man none the less. He doesn't pick up on the unspoken words us girlies speak when we are upset, in need, hurt or otherwise. He does, on the other hand, want to know {which puts him 800 heads above most men in my book}. He just can't know without being told because that's how God made him. As necessary as it is, it's hard to tell a man what you feel and how you hurt. We want our man to KNOW....to look in our eyes and FEEL it or to be so in tune to who we are that no words need be spoken. That's ridiculous and truly unfair to him...not to mention too trashy romance novel for words!

So I'm learning. I'm learning to say what needs said while remembering that just because I can, it doesn't always mean that I should.

Boy, am I human.

Blinders

I've been so busy lately I've hardly been able to tell my head from my rear. Seems like there is never enough time in the day to get everything that needs done DONE.

Can I get a witness?!

I had a convo with God the other day about how to get it all done and how to prioritize, what to cut out, what to keep. I'm truly wearing myself out just thinking about it right now. The word that kept coming up through that convo was "blinders".

At the time I was thinking it was just my mind wandering {It does that, ya know}. I went on about my business that day but the word keeps circling back around in my thoughts.

Blinders.

What does that even mean? I have no real idea. Other than the picture I get in my head is of a horse with her "blinders" on meant to keep her from getting distracted. Horse owners use them to keep the horse from seeing things and getting spooked or distracted. {I think....I don't own a horse, only been near one a few times...so yeah. I'm a warehouse of knowledge on this subject and you should totally take me as an authority here}.

But if I'm right and that's the case, then what is God telling me about blinders?

Maybe He wants me to wear them? I have to admit that I am NOT fashion forward enough to literally strap them on my head and wear them.

If I were to put on a pair, a set ...wait...a pair {whatever} of blinders, what am I to be blocking out? The distractions of this world are immense. There are sooo many things that can get me off course, make me lose my focus. Kids, husband, job, house cleaning, working out, fundraising, THE STINKIN' OLYMPICS {OMG-ish....don't even get me started on watching them on tv! They can literally suck hours of my time into oblivion!}. That's all life, though....life CAN get in the way of the to do list.

BUT....WAIT.....

What if God is telling me about the blinders I have keeping HIM out? Maybe He is telling me to take OFF my blinders and let HIM into my world more. Or better yet, keep them on but tune my newly focused vision on Him instead of everything else.

Yeah....I think that's it. Focus on HIM, not my list.

The bible says in Proverbs 4:25: "Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you." There it is...stop looking around, getting distracted and keep our eyes focused on GOOD things and RIGHT things and HIS promises. I know...easier said than done!

I find myself too busy to pray everyday. I find myself too busy to get in my bible as much as I should. I find myself gossiping or saying things that I know are not pleasing to Him. I bet {if I was the bettin' type, which I'm not} that if I actually put my time with Him first, I'd have the energy to get things done. I bet I'd get the right things done first....the things that matter checked off the list daily. I also bet I'd not be writing this post right now.

So....now what? I think I'll stop at the horse supply store on my way home {yes....I drive right by one} and pick up some serious blinders. Maybe literally wearing them will do the trick. You should be seeing me on the cover of Vogue in March....wearing blinders will be the next fashion accessory on the market. Either that....or I'll be on the next episode of "What Not to Wear"! :0}

Won't you please?

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ia/rnr10/bramseyruc

Click on the link above....it will take you to my personal Team in Training website.

I've done it again. I'm going all in and doing another event for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I will be running in the San Diego Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon on June 6, 2010. As part of that commitment to run that race, I need to raise $3,900 for the Society. I ran the 2005 Honolulu Marathon and the 2007 Nashville Country Music Marathon....doing a half marathon will be a piece of cake (someone please remind me of that on race day)! I can and WILL succeed in this goal!

BUT I need your help.

Give $5, $10, $100....whatever you can. Your donation is tax-deductible and a huge percentage of it goes directly to research to help find a cure for blood cancers.

THANK YOU....from the bottom of my heart to the tip of my running shoes....FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

P.S. If you or anyone you know is a survivor of a blood cancer or is currently enduring the battle, PLEASE let me know. I'd like to make a list of everyone who is or has gone through the battle...I'll carry that list with me during the race and every step will honor them and their COURAGE.

"I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME!" ~ Philippians 4:13