Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Total Forgiveness





Good morning beautiful friends!

I wanted to post about the book I mentioned last night and offer a link to R.T. Kendall's ministry.

My copy of Total Forgiveness is much older and I have not read this new and updated version yet!

God used this amazing book to help me while I was stuck underneath mountains of offense and pain.

R.T. says this:

"What God did for me he will do for you. All of us have a story to tell. Chances are you have a story, if told, far outweighs mine in terms of unfairness and hurt. I reply: the greater the suffering the greater the anointing and blessing – if you truly totally forgive them. Your life will change and make you a great blessing – and, most of all; you will be blessed with extraordinary grace and freedom."

I shared a little last night that my struggle was wrapped around my wrong thinking.

I truly felt that if I forgave - that it meant that I was in agreement with it or that it was "okay."

I also believed that if I forgave them that I was actually giving them permission to do it all over again.

And so I remained stuck in that thinking for years and years.

R.T. so beautifully breaks down everything forgiveness is and everything forgiveness is not - using sound biblical teaching.  

It set me free.

I have had the honor of listening to R.T. teach in person on this subject and it was life changing for me.

If there is any way your church can extend an invitation for R.T. to come and speak- you will be blessed!

I do not know him personally at all- but God's ministry through him changed my life in such a way for the better that I just wanted to share it with you all.




Here are two more books that he has written on this subject. Totally Forgiving God and How To Forgive Ourselves- Totally. I have not read either one, but I am sure they will bless you tremendously!



I know that forgiveness is a sensitive subject for many. It is something that is tied to pain and suffering and sometimes extremely unfortunate events. I mentioned last night that we can't always forgive and forget. We can choose to forgive and God can bring us to such a place of healing that the turn of events do not hurt anymore- even though we still remember.  God can use the places that the enemy meant for harm, for our good and for His glory.

God can take our places of pain and make it our platform once He has brought healing. Truly.

I want to encourage you that God will meet you right where you are with this. He is such a loving Father and wants to set us free in every possible way.

One of the scriptures I shared was from 1Peter 3:9 

"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." 

When we bless those who have hurt us or who have caused the sorrow, we inherit a blessing.

God is so good.

I also shared Mark 11:24-26

"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and your will have them. And when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."

Romans 12: 14
"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse"

Romans 12: 17
"Do not repay evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody."

Romans 12:19
"Beloved, do you avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

Luke 6:28
Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.


Thank you to all of you for your encouragement and support during this new thing the Father has asked me to do. It took every ounce of courage I had! We will try again next Monday night with a new topic and hopefully it will get a little easier each time. I am so incredibly grateful this morning for what He is doing. To God be the glory...


Sunday, August 26, 2012

Blog Talk Radio Show







Well. There are days where I feel a sudden burst of courage and I am guessing this is one of those days.

Several times over the years I have looked into the wonder that is Blog Talk Radio.

It is nothing short of amazing and I have always been absolutely fascinated by it.

Especially given the fact that all you need is a phone, a computer and a passion and you can create a radio show.

You can give a voice to whatever is nearest and dearest to your heart,  much like the blog world. There are thousands and thousands of shows. All manner of topics and subjects and they all have listeners.

Fascinating I tell you.

But as awe inspired as I was, I did not feel His leading to move in that direction until more recently.

And so, I am stepping out in obedience and trying something new for the first time....

I believe this is something He wants to use as a ministry tool, as well as a way to edify and encourage others and hopefully draw hearts unto Himself.

So with the Father's leading and an ounce of courage, I've signed up to host this little radio show on Monday evenings. It is 30 minutes long for now and I can listen and talk with five callers!

Y'all.

The thought of getting to hear your sweet voices is about to send me right over the edge!

Now please do not laugh when you hear the time slot. But it was the only time that I could get for this here free show and also the only time where I am hopeful that I will have five sleeping babies and no interruptions.

10:00 p.m. (central time)

Hopefully most of you will be sound asleep by then and I can just chat away into the midnight hour and  still feel as though I am being obedient:)

So let's see...

I know that this will come as a great surprise to most of you but the show is called "The Pearl."

I'm branching out. :)

The very first show is scheduled for tomorrow night, August 27.

This has to be quick before I change my mind or talk myself right on out of this!

So here is the link to the show

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pearlsandgraceministries

The first show topic is going to be on forgiveness. It is something I struggled with for years and years and probably the number one thing I hear others openly struggling with-outside of self worth.

Which might be the second show topic!

I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas or topics you might like to discuss!

Monday night I will share a piece or two of my testimony in this area and why it was so hard for me to forgive, what biblical truths God has to say about forgiveness and the good things that come along when we do forgive.  I will also share about a special book that changed my life and helped me tremendously on that topic.

And if anyone is listening to the show and wants to call in, I am allowed five callers.

Y'all.

I'm so excited.

Please say some prayers that God would have His way and be glorified in this special time each week.

Thank you!!!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Like This Lord




If I could trust You like this Lord. With reckless abandon. Without any hesitation. With the knowing that You have this- these many situations and circumstances and You also have me.  You have us.

If I could trust you like this Lord.

Arms up and extended. Hands fully released, face pressed into Yours.

Full throttle trust. Never sitting on doubt, worry or fear.

Knowing that you are nothing like earthly ones who wound and leave us hanging.

You are Abba, Father, Papa. You are Daddy. 

You are the Great I Am.

You are the Healer. Restorer. Redeemer.

You are a Strong Tower. A Mighty Fortress.

You are my Provider.

You are The One who sees the end from the beginning.

You make all things new.

You are the All Knowing One.

You are the One who sings over us. Rejoices over us. Delights in us.

Great are Your Plans and Your Purposes and Your Promises...

You hover over us. Over our circumstances. Over situations. Over the unfair things and the painful things. Over broken hearts and broken dreams and things that didn't go as planned. You are near the broken hearted Father. Every, single one of us.







Monday, August 20, 2012

A Bigger Plan





I usually do what He asks. Sometimes with hesitation. Sometimes I wrestle. But most often I jump from
the puddle to the pond and take a leap of faith and I trust Him. I believe Him.

Over the summer the Lord asked me to take The Pearl Event - on a smaller scale
to three specific cities this fall. Greenwich, Houston and Charlotte.
He named it The Mini Pearl- which I absolutely loved- and gave me instructions about what He wanted to do.

I questioned and wrestled for quite some time but in the end I was obedient and full of expectancy.

I called the hotel- the location of the very first event, booked the ballroom and signed the contract.

Still shaking in my boots, but I did it.

Then the hardest part.  

The trusting Him on a new level for something that has never happened before while looking at natural circumstances that suggest that there is absolutely no way that this is going to work.

Day after day. Night after night. Week after week I fought those concerns.

Circumstances caused fear to set in and it seemed that maybe I had misheard Him.

We needed things to work out in the natural in order to move forward. No luck.

So with tears and frustration and feelings of defeat I called and cancelled the first event scheduled for September.

It felt like the death of hope for me.

This was a huge risk that I couldn't take but I had believed that my obedience would bring the blessing
and God would just provide. Someway. Somehow.

I've believed Him before and somehow He has worked things out for the last two events- but I think this time I was feeling a little too battle worn and did not want to add additional stress on my family of trying to figure out finances.

I have to say I'm not sure I've ever felt like such a failure.

Out of those feelings that day I decided to just lay it down. Not just the event- but all of it.

Every dream and desire. Every hope of what is to come. Every bible study idea. Every ministry idea. Every business idea. Every page in every notebook that I had hoped would one day become books of encouragement to others. The future of The Pearl Event. The future of The Mini Pearls. The ministry to the broken hearted....all of it.

I tied it all up with spiritual heart strings and I wept over it.

I placed it at His feet and I gave it to Him.

I asked for forgiveness for messing this up, if I had. For not understanding. For disappointing others. For being of little faith, if that was the case. For anything and everything. All of it.

And I prayed.

I asked Him to pick up whatever piece- if any, and one day, maybe we could begin again....

For those of you who have asked about the possibility of Houston in October and Charlotte in November...right now I do not have a way. The first event was to fund or front the costs for the next event if that makes sense?

The Atlanta event in March of 2013 is still scheduled as a wonderful church is hosting and providing for that event. We are also still planning on hosting The Pearl Event III in April of 2013 with wonderful  guest speakers and bloggers and a live praise and worship team.

I want to apologize to you beautiful friends, for any disappointment I may have caused in any way at all. My heart is to move forward but right now I have to wait for provision.  For all of you who have prayed, commented, emailed and encouraged in words and prayers....thank you is an understatement.

I am so incredibly grateful to all of you.

If anything changes you all will be the first to know.

In the meantime I am trying to trust Him for a bigger plan. Thank you to each one of you who have offered encouragement and for helping me to see, that might just be the case....




Monday, August 13, 2012

Our Very Best {Repost}


This is a special post that I originally shared in January of 2010. The Lord brought it back to my remembrance over the weekend as we have been walking through some painful things as a family that have felt like defeat. I wanted to share it with you all again in hopes of encouraging you too. I pray that it blesses you today.

How do we give Him our very best?

In the midst of uncertain times? In the midst of tremendous suffering?  How do we give our very best in the midst of a job loss? A miscarriage?  Another betrayal? A loss of finances? Hurtful words?  A separation? A divorce? An illness?

How do we get up every, single morning and offer the One who created it all our very best ?

This is no easy thing.

It seems impossible some days.

We are after all, merely human and everything human within us wants to give up at the 20 yard line.

We tell ourselves that we cannot do this anymore. 

But we can.

I have learned (the hard way) that it is a simple act of worship.

It is a spiritual posture.

It is a choice.

We can choose to give up at the twenty. The thirty. And even the fifty.
Or we can choose to press in and press on keeping our eyes on Him and not on our situations and make it to the very end.

To choose to count it all joy no matter the circumstances. 

No matter how difficult. No matter how unfair it is. No matter how painful it is.

I have learned over the years that when we are busy giving Him our very best instead of our very best leftovers we end up doing the very thing that we think we cannot do. The very thing.

When we press in and press on, instead of giving up, pretty soon we will look up and find ourselves in the end zone. Maybe we will have to do the death crawl to get there- but we will get there friend.

I love this video clip from the movie Facing The Giants.

It really ministered to me and I pray that it speaks to you as well.

Picture yourself as the one doing the death crawl and picture that football field as your circumstances. Then imagine the coach in this movie as your Heavenly Father pushing you toward your goal.

I pray that this ministers to you and blesses you and encourages you today sweet friend.

Give Him your very best.....

This post is dedicated to my incredible husband- again.







Thursday, August 9, 2012

People Blessing




Here in the South some folks have a hobby they call  "people watching." You may have heard of this little hobby, but just in case you have no idea what on earth I am talking about I will break it down for you.

It is literally people sitting together and watching other people and usually while they have a cup of coffee in hand and there are lots of comments exchanged back and forth.

And I'm sorry to say that here in the south it is an Olympic sport. Truly.

Folks will even refer to a specific area as one that has "the best people watching ever."

Like an airport.

Or the mall.

Or a sporting event or concert.

I am also sorry to say that I know all too well how to "people watch."

I worked in a mall for many years and also waited tables once upon a time.

And there isn't anything that can compare to working with the general public for people watching.

At one point in my "career" I managed a women's clothing store in a huge college town and had no less than 15 sorority girls who worked the sales floor during any given week.

You have never in your life heard this many one liners.

Hysterical, razor sharp, quick witted comments.

I joined right in many times either by listening and laughing or by adding my own comments.

Day after day. Week after week. Month after month.

We all participated.

Even a special friend who worked in the mall who was known for her incredible manners couldn't resist a good people watching opportunity. She would hold her powder compact mirror at just the right angle in order to "see" what all the fuss was about in the food court. She would never turn around and stare like the rest of us. But then, she also ate her morning biscuit with a fork and knife.

She was in a class all by herself.

Meanwhile...

During a time when we were busy with a little harmless people watching and commenting all in the name of a good laugh to get through the work day...

The Father was busy preparing to make a full blown heart arrest with me.

A couple of years later, after a move, a wedding and few more major life changes I found myself in the middle of a Christian women's weekend conference where the Father finally had His way.

Heart surgery.

And although it was a process and I was most certainly a work in progress then and I still am nowone of the life changing things that He ministered to me was this.

Stop people watching and start people blessing.

And even though I felt I had always been a giver and always had this mercy gift- I allowed Him to have His way with my heart and He literally taught me the very definition of what those words meant.

He imparted the art of "people blessing" to me.

A heart transformation that takes you from merely "watching" His people to a place where you are literally moved with compassion to do something to bless them.

Instead of sitting there just observing, He would prompt me to encourage, help, serve, sow, love, give and meet a need in some way.

To look for opportunities to be a blessing.

Every. Single. Day.

What does "people blessing" look like?

You name it.

But the foundation of its goodness is this...

To think more highly of others than yourself. (Phil. 2:3)

To prefer others above yourself. ( Romans 12:10)


To be moved with compassion. (Matthew 9:36)


To be doers of the word and not hearers only. ( James 1:22)


Loving your enemies by blessing them. (Matthew 5:44)


People blessing is more than just praying for someone.  It is a call to action.

Instead of withholding we do something!

People blessing can look like this......

Using our resources. Our connections. Our realm of influence. Our finances.

Making phone calls and introductions to help others.

Connecting others and then bowing out and allowing God to have His way.

Serving other families in need and giving generously.

Speaking life. Building up. Encouraging and edifying one another.

Giving books and dvds and connecting others with wonderful counselors.

Holding doors and giving up seats and parking places and places in line cheerfully.

Blessing cashiers and waitresses in radical ways.

Paying for someone else's groceries in your checkout line.

Calling shelters to see how you can serve.

Helping someone by actually listening to what is going on in their life and then asking God how we can help them and following through with the blessing.

Responding to needs in radical ways.

Loving others by demonstration during their hardships in big, beautiful and creative ways.

Acknowledging the humanity in one another by really listening when others are sharing.

Searching out a way to meet a need in someone else.

Giving to the homeless, the hurting and the broken.

Giving to the married, the single and the single mothers.

Blessing those who have hurt you or mistreated you.

Using your gifts and talents to sow into the lives of others.

Surprising someone.

Giving away a car.

Giving away clothes.

Sowing finances.

Giving and loving and sowing and serving and encouraging until God tells us to stop!

People blessing is a lifestyle that brings more joy than one can imagine.

It is addictive.

To wake up each morning and look for opportunities to be a blessing even in the midst of our own needs... this is the gospel in motion.

I want to encourage you to bring glory to God today by trading out a little people watching for a little  people blessing if you've never tried it.

I would love for you to leave a comment with your favorite "people blessings" either given or received for others to read and be inspired by today.

And let us not grow weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. - Gal. 6:9