To Bloom or not To Bloom

Devotion

2012-01-08T02:26:00.001-06:00

It's simple....

Your word is your promise. You do what you say.

A promise is a promise. Breaking it is never a consideration.

Think of others before yourself. Making others happy will bring you joy.

Doing anything because it "feels right" suggests that you haven't given it much thought to whether it IS right.

Feelings WILL change. Honor remains the same.

Respect the ones you love first because you will always love those whom you respect.

Honor and commitment should never become a thing of the past or the past is all we will have left. There will be nothing left for our future.

Our society has been lied to. We are told by media, friends, family and some religions that if it feels good... Then we should do it. Our own happiness should reign supreme. If something gets too hard, then we should move on.

So what happens when you can no longer find happiness by doing what feels right? When you have left everything and everyone behind to follow your heart? What happened to thinking things through? What has happened to our American spirit?? "When the going gets tough, the tough get going?" "Never say die?" Our society has become lazy and selfish. What is going to be left for our kids? What legacy will they inherit? Will we still be able to be the greatest nation in the world when our greatest inclination is to please ourselves?

It is more clear to me than ever before, we have to teach about devotion.

Pass it on...

Notably Quoted....

2012-01-07T02:15:00.004-06:00

I like information. You could call me an information junkie. I like to research, read and then write about what I have learned. I like knowing "stuff!" So, another term for me could be... "a-know-it-all." It's okay... I am coming to terms with this label and finding out how to use my powers for good and not evil. Ha, ha! :P

I used to write stories and poems as a kid and teen, and inevitably, they would represent some part of me: past, present, or future. Maybe, someday, I will take the time to write like that again... If and when the inspiration hits.

But, for today (January 6th), I wanted to see who else, out there, had experienced what I have and what they had to say about it. It reminds me that we are never alone... there is nothing "new under the sun." It was a cathartic exercise for me, since, today is my 16th anniversary. It's ok... I'm ok.... So, today I looked up quotes and one liners. I love finding great quotes! You will see some funny, witty, and some of the most beautiful expressions of love lost.

"Badas I like ye, it's worse without ye". ~Irish Proverb

"Yetleave me not; yet, if thou wilt, be free;
Love me no more, butlove my love of thee."
~Algernon Charles Swinburne

"Haveyou ever been hurt and the place tries to heal a bit, and you justpull the scar off of it over and over again" ~Rosa Parks

"Iprithee send me back my heart,
Since I cannot have thine;
Forif from yours you will not part,
Why, then, shouldst thou havemine?"
~John Suckling

"Todie and part is a less evil; but to part and live, there, there isthe torment." ~George Lansdowne

"Missingyou could turn from pain to pleasure, if I knew you were missing metoo." ~Author Unknown

"I like the snot to run a little, the tears toaccumulate a bit before reaching for the handkerchief. Then Iknow I’m really crying. Crying just isn’t crying unlessit’s messy." ~D.H. Mondfleur (Ha, ha! Loved this one!!)

"Laughter and tears are both responses tofrustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, sincethere is less cleaning up to do afterward." ~Kurt Vonnegut

"Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, forthey are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hardhearts." ~Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, 1860

"The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes notears." ~John Vance Cheney

"To weep is to make less the depth of grief."
~WilliamShakespeare, King Henry the Sixth

"Wife: honey I want you to whisper dirty things in my ear! Husband: kitchen, living room, dinning room, patio" ~Anonymous (they are obviously no longer together!)

"It’s hard to tell your mind to stop lovingsomeone when your heart still does." ~Anonymous

"Why is it that when you miss someone so muchthat your heart is ready to disintegrate, you hear the saddest songon the radio?" ~Anonymous (This is sooo true!!)

"I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited. But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it. I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded. That for me it isn't over." ~Adele

"The hottest love has the coldest end." ~Socrates

God Texts!

2012-01-04T21:01:00.000-06:00

In a much earlier post, I mentioned that it would be so awesome if sometimes God would actually text us or call us so that we could feel like we were having a real life conversation....

So, I have to share this little story from last night... its like 2am and I can't sleep. Bogged down by all the events of the evening, I just could seem to wind down. I had done all sorts of things and had been laying in bed listening to Gateway's praise and worship music for quite a while. I kept having the urge to turn on the TV, because the nights are sometimes the hardest. But, I also had the feeling that God was telling me, "Just wait. Listen for me. I will keep you company."

So... I waited. It just seemed to get harder.

It was getting later and later. Just when I roll over thinking that I am gonna get no relief... it happened.

I heard that buzzing sound coming from my phone... what? Who on earth would be texting me in the middle of the night? It's almost 3am.

I looked at my phone, thinking I was probably just mistaken, but no. There it was. A text from God.

Now don't think I have totally lost my mind here... just hear me out.

The text was actually written from a friend of mine who had been awakened by her daughter having a nightmare... happened to get on FB and see my last post. She was texting me to let me know that she was praying for me right then. She reminded me of God's grace and his provision. She referred to other stories of tragedy and the beauty that came from their ashes. She could have waited to text me the next morning or during the day, but she acted exactly when God knew that I needed someone to reach out to me in the middle of the night. Incredible, isn't He! (Thanks, girl!!)

And then... if that wasn't enough... it happened again! Another message from another person just minutes later! My phone buzzes, and there is a message from my mom. Her message was "trust." It pretty much underlined the theme of the night. (Thanks, Mom!)

He showed me, in real time, that He was listening... He was talking... He was taking care of me...He was HERE.

But wait... here's the kicker.... before all of this happened, I had prayed a simple prayer...

"God, can you please just show me that You are here? You know how lonely it gets in the middle of the night. I just wanna know that You are here."

"Is there any place I can go to avoid your Spirit?
      to be out of your sight?
   If I climb to the sky, you're there!
      If I go underground, you're there!
   If I flew on morning's wings
      to the far western horizon,
   You'd find me in a minute—
      you're already there waiting!
   Then I said to myself, "Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
      At night I'm immersed in the light!"
   It's a fact: darkness isn't dark to you;
      night and day, darkness and light, they're all the same to you." Psalm 139:7-12

Rough Days Ahead....

2012-01-03T23:36:00.000-06:00

Whew... breathe. Sometimes, I just have to remind myself to breathe. Sounds silly, I know, but in this place, sometimes you forget to do the most basic of things to keep yourself alive.... breathe.

I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't cry so much in front of the kids... I would keep a "lid on it," so to speak. But of course, whenever you make a resolution, it's the first 24 hours that seems to pull out all of the punches. I have cried a lot tonight.

And, of course, right after I wrote my last blog about not looking back but pushing forward.... well, I get thrown back and moving forward just seems impossible.

I am just keeping it real here, folks. No one can go through a life altering blow without injury.

The car has crashed, and we are all coming out of it alive, but forever altered. I think that I sat in the smoldering car a little too long. My injuries have me crawling and sometimes just slithering away. I can't seem to stay away from the wreckage. I keep going back to it over and over in disbelief. We were hit head-on by a vehicle we never saw coming. And when I woke up from the crash, one person was missing.... The officer tells me that somehow, he ended up in the other car...

I thought we were all driving along together. One destination on this forever journey, but with many detours and bumps along the way. How on earth did we end up in separate vehicles?? How?

So, tonight, I found myself in the bathroom, leaning over the sink, asking God, "Please, help me to breathe..." And He did.

"For I know the plans I have for you.... hope..... future."

New Year...New ???

2012-01-03T00:21:00.000-06:00

"If Satan can keep you looking back, he can keep you from moving forward. It's a new day. Press on." Dr. Tony Evans

What does pressing on look like? And if this is a "new day" and a "new year".... why does it look and feel so much like the old one?

Accepting this new role as a single... single mom... is the challenge of accepting many things that are completely beyond my control. One of them being, accepting the simple fact, that I am not in control of anything.

Sometimes the car turns to the left, sometimes it doesn't. The ice maker... well, doesn't make anything. I have no idea what the next day will bring... more bills, more worries, more heartache???

Or, could this "new day, new year" actually bring new good things?

There's "the rub." I don't know, and I have no control over any of it. I do my best and the rest... well, it's up to Him. Jeremiah 29:11 has come to my attention several times today, "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 a hope and a future."

My future is very unclear, uncertain and unbelievably scary when I try to imagine it. But that is where I go back to the Scripture and remind myself that me being out of control is the best place to be, because that puts Him IN CONTROL. Looking back is no longer an option. Pressing on is the ONLY option.

It is going to be a day by day decision to move forward. And I will have to remind myself of that more times than I want to imagine. So, "new day"... here we go...

"If God is going to take you to where He wants you to go, you can't be bound to where you have been." Dr. Tony Evans

crys cross designs websites...

2011-12-09T21:01:00.001-06:00

For those of you on Facebook, you can go to crys cross designs at
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.245620365491811.80145.245573142163200&ty pe=3&saved#!/pages/Crys-Cross-Designs/245573142163200?sk=wall

I also have a new website on blogspot that you can follow cryscrossdesigns@blogspot.com.

Take a look for sales and closeouts happening now!

I will also be adding a page for Divine Desserts coming soon!!

DELETE!!!!

2011-11-16T00:45:00.000-06:00

I love to take pictures! My girls and I will get together and see how many distorted faces we can make and take in one photo session. Its loads of fun, ,but never anything I would allow to get out into the public!!! NO WAY!! Most of the time, we just hit "delete" and keep going. My older daughter and I might threaten each other that we are going to post it to each others profile page on facebook, but we never do.

Why? I mean, we had great fun making those pics, why not let the world see us in our silly, laugh out loud moments? Not to mention the pictures taken when I am off guard, or not at my best? The humid days when I look like little orphan Annie got electrocuted! Or when I am not standing just right and sucking in my gut? Or, my favorite pics when little daughter shoots a picture from below, and I look like I am ALL chest?? You know those pics? The not-so-perfect-let-me-preview-that-pic-before-you-save-it-oooh-its-so-bad-let-me-delete-that-and-try-again-pic???

Isn't that kind of like out lives? Most days, we are not at our picture-perfect-best, right? But forbid anyone else to see us that way! Put on your best smile, make-up, lift your chin and take the picture from a downward shot as to make you look thinner....

posed....

picture.

Our lives can't always be posed. We all have bad hair days. When we didn't handle that situation just right with our teenage daughter, and now our voices are raised, and someone is crying. When we are in such a rush to get to school on time, and we hit every stop light, forget someone's lunch at home, and then chocolate milk gets spilled down the front of a white uniform shirt as we are 2 minutes from the school, already running late. Or maybe we feel as if we have been hurt too much, gone too far, and noone could ever understand.

Its ok. Let the flaws be uncovered. Be yourself. Raw. Photographed.

One moment in time could never tell your whole life's story. But the pieces of it, all fit together in a Divine puzzle, that will one day lead to a masterpiece of artwork.

Piece by piece.

Moment by moment.

One imperfect picture at a time.

So, take those pictures. Don't delete them!! Share them! You never know who you will inspire by the undeleted pictures in your life!!

2 Corinthians 1:3-5
^"All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too."

Listening

2011-10-20T11:48:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard a very clear message from God? This is a big topic of discussion in my house lately. "Mommy, how do you hear from God? How do you know that He is talking to me and its not just my own thoughts that I am hearing?"

Wouldn't it be great if God had an iphone? If He texted his answers down from heaven? I saw a cute message on a church sign recently displaying the new sermon series, "What would Jesus Tweet?" Of course, there is one obvious problem.... IF God called us on the phone, would we even recognize his voice?

I know when my daughter calls. Besides her upbeat ringtone, when I hear her speak, I KNOW it is Michaela. I know her voice. And even as close as it is to her younger sister's voice, her tone, her wit, her topics of conversation are very distinctively her own. How do I know it is her withing seconds of answering the phone? Because I have spent the last almost 14 years spending time with her. Getting to know her very personally. I read her stories. Listen to her jr. high drama. Laugh at her quick witted responses. Cry and pray with her. I KNOW my daughter. What a blessing to know hear so intimately at this stage of her life! Each day, I realize what a blessing God has placed into my hands for me to treasure.

My Pastor recently made this connection in a sermon series this past summer. If we know the voices of our family so distinctively, shouldn't we be able to know the voice of our own Heavenly Father? Our Creator?

This morning as I went to a Book by Sarah Young, Jesus Lives, the topic of today was worship. She states that even when our bodies are not engaged in worship, God sees into our heart. That is where worship begins. Then I went to the Psalms where I have been reading for some time now, and I was up to chapters 95-97. All three chapters dealing with worship. In fact many praise and worship songs have been written from these three chapters. Now how does worship tie into listening to God? How does God speak? Through His people, through His Word, through our worship.

So when I speak to my girls tonight at prayer time, I can testify to another way God has spoken to me. I can encourage them that He IS speaking. Even in my busy morning of washing the car, cleaning out the guinea pigs cage and doing laundry, when I got quiet and asked God what He had for me today, He pointed me to His Word, and to a book written by one of his daughters. So, His Word to me today is worship. Even if my body doesn't feel like it can engage, I can worship him from my heart! And as I go about the rest of my day, whether listening to my Gateway worship station while I write this blog, or watching tv while I fold laundry and make beds, I will keep a heart of worship for my King. He deserves no less!

This is one of my favorite worship songs. I pray that it will bless you and set your heart on worship today.

http://youtu.be/ojBca7C-d-U

Psalm 95 (The Message)

Come, let'sshout praises to God,raise the roof forthe Rock who saved us! Let's march into his presencesinging praises, lifting the rafters with our hymns! 3-5And why? Because Godis the best, High King over all the gods. In one hand he holds deep cavesand caverns, in the other hand grasps the high mountains. Hemade Ocean—he owns it! His hands sculpted Earth! 6-7So come, let us worship: bowbefore him, on your knees before God, who made us! Oh yes, he's ourGod, and we're the people he pastures, the flock he feeds. Dropeverything and listen, listen as he speaks!

Planted

2011-10-19T00:36:00.000-05:00

A seed. Mixed into an envelope with many other seeds. Varieties of all kinds. Pulled from the package and placed into a dark, moist, dirty, lonely hole. Then completely covered with more dirt and drowned with water. If I wasn't more sure, I would think that is just what I am. Alone. Covered. Overwhelmed. Drowning. Dirty. In a place that sees more darkness than light.

How did I get here? Who put me in this pot? Why am I in over my head? Are there any other seeds out there??

I prefer to plant flowers that have already begun to grow. I mean who really wants to wait around to watch for seeds to sprout? I would much rather have a beautiful bush of mums on my front porch than a bunch of dirt filled pots! Right?? And waiting for a seed to grow?? Who has the patience? If I am decorating around my home, I want beauty NOW. Not in 6 to 8 weeks.... or longer.

You know, planting a seed has often times reminded me of burial. Especially with my not-so-green thumb. I have to hope and pray that I will see my flower some day! I have sent many a seed to the great garden beyond! But, in reality, planting a seed is very much like a resurrection. Placing something seemingly insignificant into the ground to one day become a glorious, beautiful and fragrant gift. And think of the multiplication factor going on here! Now I am by no means a mathematician!! I can hardly help my 4th grader with her math homework! UGH!! But there is something quite amazing with multiplication. One tiny seed can produce a pot full of flowers, a shrub, and even an oak tree!! You receive so much more life springing up from the ground than the small, seemingly insignificant seed you have buried.

That is how I have to look at life right now. No matter what I have lost, buried: relationships... jobs... friendships... dreams... If I have buried them into the hands of my Father, into His soil; the return I will get for my investment will be so much greater than holding on to those tiny, seemingly insignificant seeds. For if I can let them go, and give them to the Master Creator, I can be sure that his gardening skills are so much greater than mine. His multiplication is beyond my understanding. His resurrection covers a multitude of hurts and pains. And His garden is beyond compare.

I, impatient as I am, have to be prepared to wait. I love the way the Message presents Psalms 40:1 "I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened. He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud." I wait constantly. But I continue. And I pray that the master Gardener is tending to my soul and will produce a rich, beautiful and fragrant garden one day.

Isaiah 58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.