When God Whispers: Are you lost?

If you feel lost today...

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?  And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish."

NIV Matthew 18: 12-14

Beside Still Waters by Greg Olsen

You WILL be found...He will leave the 99 to find the one that has wandered off...YOU...WE...I am that precious to the Father...His search is tireless.  You can not run or hide...He will find you and bring you back to the flock.

There is HOPE in this verse....even when we find ourselves running....escaping from ourselves...the lives we have created by filling holes with people and things of the flesh. 

Long ago during one of the many "prodigal journeys" of my life, a woman whom I had met at a conference and hardly known for 24-hours came to me saying that God had spoken to her during her prayer time. God had laid His message for me upon her heart so strongly that she had to relay it even though we didn't know each other well.  She apologized for being so bold but proceeded to tell me things she could never have known about my family, marriage and recent bad decisions I had made. She then warned me to stop what I was doing as it would destroy my marriage and family, and if I continued I would not be able to retrieve the relationships ever again. This woman then told me I was one of the 99 and God knew that I was lost and running. She told me to stop running. We can never outrun the Almighty because we are His children. The Shepherd will always search until He finds us and will carry us back to the flock even if we don't want to return. This woman stopped me in my tracks. I was amazed. 

How could she have known? 
How could she have guessed the details?
God does see and know everything.
We can not fool or outrun Him.

I tried.

I am blessed that He found me and dragged me back to the flock. I am blessed that this woman, who to this day I do not remember her name, heard the Father and relayed His message of hope to me. No other person could have delivered it. I would have ignored anyone that I knew personally. It was the only way I would have believed...to have a stranger know my most secret sins and tell me that God saw them and it was time to stop. 

I did listen. 
I did stop.
I changed that day because I truly saw God save me from myself.


If you need encouragement, prayer, please reach out here at the website. 

Do you have a "When God Whispers" story?  Please share it with us and you could be published on our new website called "When God Whispers" and possibly be included in a "When God Whispers" a compilation of stories. More details are forthcoming. Message us here.

Parking Lot Random Act of Kindness

To the Lovely Woman with the Kate+8 haircut and the Hairy Eyeball:

Thank you for walking my Bloom grocery cart all the way to cart corral, while giving me the stink eye and then dramatically slamming the cart into the others as you vigorously strode back to your car.

I am truly grateful, as my daughter was standing alone up at the high school in the dark waiting for me to pick her up.

You did me a great favor. I hope you understood me when I mouthed "Thank You" as you stomped to your car.

Believe me, I wanted to mouth something else...even use some sign language...but decided your random act of kindness should not go unnoticed.

So...Thank you!

BTW: I believe you may have been so caught up in your random act of kindness that you didn't notice the cart corral was much farther away then the front of the store.  You could have taken less stomps to the front of the store then to the corral...but then maybe you needed the exercise.

Bonus for you, I guess! :-)


Sincerely,


A Grateful (Menopausal) Bloom Shopper

Do you have any stories like this...Stories where the Random Act of Kindness came from you by NOT reacting negatively...but positively...then turning or making the other person think about their own reaction to YOUR action? 


I would love to hear them.

Can you "Catch more flies with honey then vinegar"?

Dr.Oz Gives Voice to the Mid-Life Silent Scream

Dr. Mehmet Oz of The Dr. OZ Show finally gave the mid-life silent scream a voice and a label...Periomenopausal Rage.


PMR, in my opinion, is the root or the first place every women who suspects that they are going through mid-life transition or crisis should investigate to deal with the physical and emotional upheaval that can come at this time in her life.  

Dr. Mehmet Oz of The Dr. OZ Show

For the past several years at this blog and my forum called Women in MLC, I have addressed  PMR or Periomenopausal Rage...the language that I used may have been different, as I didn't label it as PMR, but purely as hormone imbalance that may be attributed to the hormone changes that are occurring prior to menopause.


As teenage girls we are prepared and educated for the emotional and physical changes that occur when "our time of the month" begins...


BUT...no one prepares OR educates us for the the multitude of changes that occur within our body as it prepares to stop our monthly visits by "our"little friend".


So, when we suffer from fatigue, confusion, memory loss. lack of patience, irritability...even split second rages...then falling back in to equilibrium or calm; we have no clue as to what may be causing it or what is happening.


In fact, when we do go to the doctor and our hormones are checked the results, in many cases I have heard of come back in "normal" ranges.


WHAT THE HECK IS "NORMAL"?...for me...for my neighbor...for YOU!!

Mother's Message

Daughter Facebook Status: “I really wish I didn't care so much about some things. I care too much about too much.”

Mother Facebook Comment: I had this problem too when I was your age...

You just have to figure out what/who EXPIRES you and what/who INSPIRES you...

ELIMINATE those who EXPIRE and grab on to those who INSPIRE you...

INSPIREES are the one's who have forward motion and they help you reach for the stars!!

Those who expire you will suck you dry of your energy, enthusiasm and ability to succeed...they are just using you! Run as fast as you can from them.
 

Affirmation Message:

 “Today, I declare blessing over you — that you are strong and courageous. You are full of talent, creativity, and wisdom. You can accomplish your God-given dreams. You walk in divine health. You have favor with every person you meet. Everything you touch is going to prosper and succeed. Those seeds of greatness on the inside of you are growing stronger and stronger. That hidden treasure is about to burst forth and you’re going to come in to new seasons of increase.” Kimberly Jones

Tune in for another Mother's Message next week with the new weekly blog post: Monday Mother's Message"

Remember, I Love You!

Numbers 6: 24-26

 :-) ♥

Reality of Human Trafficking Hits the Bookshelf with "Deliver Me From Evil"

As hard as we might try to ignore the reality that sexual human trafficking occurs...it is even harder to wrap our brains around the fact that it happens in our own US cities and hometowns.


In "Deliver Me from Evil", author Kathi Macias weaves a story of how the paths of those that have their lives stolen from them with those who are totally unaware that it has happened.  Many of the characters are caught unaware...off guard as fate delivers them to the lives of either being the abused or being tested in the face of an evil that rarely enters their quiet and clean-cut Christian lives. It is a wake up call even for the reader!


I do not want to give away any of the details of this gripping and timely novel.  Ms Macias has brought to life the ugliness and struggle that occurs in the world of sexual human trafficking, while delivering the message to the reader that this is no longer something that they can ignore, turn their backs on...in fact, it can happen even within our own families, in our own towns and cities...it no longer happens over seas in foreign countries!


The Christian perspective is subtle (yet powerful) enough that even the secular reader will not be put off by the urgency of the message that is given throughout the book.  As the mother of five children ( four girls and one boy), the story reached in to my brain and grabbed at my own fears of their safety, then broke my heart, while being shaken with the sharp reality of a child going out of sight for just a few minutes and how it could be the last time!!  It truly made me think and even speak to my children who are of the ages of the children and teens portrayed in this book.


Ms Macias has done a wonderful work with her first book in her Freedom Series.  I look forward to reading the next novel and hoping that the stories of the characters established in the first continue.


Deliver Me From Evil will shake and wake you up to a societal problem that is slowly but surely creeping in to our own neighborhoods, is no longer just in the news or happening to another family...sexual human trafficking can no longer be ignored.


If you would like to read this novel, I will be randomly selecting someone from those who comment on this article.  The drawing will occur on November 1st, 2011 and I will notify the winner via e-mail and here in the comment section.  


If you would like to read more about the Kathi Macias and watch the book trailer...Please click Read more below:

A Farewell to Can't

No longer be bound to certain words that tend to limit, tie-up and suppress your abilities to create, move forward and allow you to release those gifts and talents that God placed within your mind, body and spirit.

It is time...a time to declare...to proclaim:

A Farewell to Can't

This good-bye doesn't make me sad.

I will not miss you.

I have discovered what it feels like to do the unthinkable.

The hard.

The Long.

The challenging.

You have no business here anymore.

From now on, difficult will seem doable.

I will see the impossible as simply not yet conquered.

Farewell, Can't!!

You will haunt me never again.

Hello, Can!

Welcome to my world!

 (Outward Bound.org)

Social Media Leader, Trey Pennington Remembered

Social Media Leader Remembered - Video - WYFF Greenville

This story is just so incredibly sad...please read/watch(video link above) Trey Pennington's story...there are lessons to be learned...his passing should not be in vain.

When I read some of the details of the possiblity of why he committed suicide Sunday morning, I wonder if our little group of support at Women in MLC (Mid-Life Crisis) could have given him a place to go and receive support from other men who are struggling with difficult divorces....and then in a split second I wonder IF one of the men that are there with an alias WAS Trey seeking help, comfort and support. Preventing suicide, helping with depression is one of the many reasons why I created the forum. WINMLC (forum) is to help the husbands dealing with a wife who no longer wants to be in a marriage, may be going through severe mid-life changes...it can take many men to the edge of the abyss. I have held many hands (figuratively) mostly through chat, e-mail and SKYPE...talking some men away from the edge of suicide. Many men are in shock, lost and totally taken off guard...many can't let go...many give up not only on the marriage...but on the family and themselves.  Could we have helped Trey step away from the abyss?  Maybe or maybe not...All I know is that deep down this man was hurting, lost and at his wits end feeling he had no reason to live any longer...and IF for one moment his script was the one we hear at our forum all the time...Oh, How I wish that we could have reached out a hand to him.

I am not privy to the exact reason why Trey Pennington took his life, but as small details start coming out, I start seeing the same script that I read every day at my forum from many of the men AND the women that come there seeking help and advice about how to handle the breaking up of their marriage, while trying to deal with the CHANGE that occurs at mid-life. Please pray for the Pennington family and friends...on-line and off-line.

MercyMe - Beautiful

Doris Day -- Sentimental Journey

When I was growing up one of my favorite actresses was Doris Day.  I loved her movies, her TV show and her clean cut, down to earth, American Girl ways!  She was the epitome of who I wanted to be and she  stunningly beautiful to boot!!  


My first taste of Doris Day was seeing her in the movie "Calamity Jane",a rough a tumble country cow-gal, who finally finds her inner and outer beauty when she falls in love with the man of her dreams.  A cowgirl version of ugly duckling that turns into the swan.  I watched that movie over and over again...I could relate to the movie premise when I was a gawky pre-teen.


Then my father introduced me to her real roots...singing in Les Brown's Band with Doris Day as his lead singer. "Sentimental Journey" was her biggest hit with this Big Band Hit maker.


Doris Day has not always led the life that is portrayed in her many movies. Her real story was revealed in her autobiography "Doris Day: Her Own Story" (book is out of print but you can find it used)...This is a woman who has been rich, lost it all and come back from nothing. Doris Day is a survivor! 

Many folks only connect Doris Day to her leading men...Rock Hudson, James Garner, Brain Keith, Gordan McRae , Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewertand my favorite Cary Grant.  Here is a list of her movies and some of my favorites:

• Calamity Jane
• On Moonlight Bay
• By the Light Of the Silver Moon
• Please Don't Eat the Daisies  
• Move Over Darling 
• The Thrill of it All
• The Glass Bottom Boat
• That Touch of Mink
• With Six You Get Eggroll
• Pillow Talk
• Young at Heart
• The Pajama Game
• Send Me No Flowers
• The Man Who Knew Too Much
• Many more....

But my favorite of all was her TV show...The Doris Day Show!  It was on for five seasons and you will learn from her autobiography that it was her hit TV series that brought her back from the brink of financial collapse after her husband, Marty Melcher, lost all of her fortune from her success in her early career.  Her show, along with a few movies and TV specials brought her back from financial ruin. It was cute little show with a "That Girl" California style flair.

If you would like to learn more about Doris Day...past and present...look no further then here at her website with everything Doris Day - Legendary Actress! 

Thank you Doris...for all the love and memories!!


Who was your favorite actress or actor and Why?!!

Treasures from My Father

My sister Gail brought a treasure trove of pictures, slides letters, diplomas and writings that were my mother's...but mostly my father's writing and musings.

Edward S Onody

Edward S Onody was a character...one that you rarely see any more in this world.  He was a Renaissance man of sorts. He was definitely a product of his Hungarian Immigrant parents; a generation who toiled and learned how to live with little and being blessed with much.  Until I started reading my father's younger musings, when he was young and in love, starting a family, being sent off to war and dealing with family and life issues...I didn't realize until now that it was my father who was the romantic one of my parents.  It was my father who openly struggled and grappled with life’s growing pains, but all the while leaning on an ever present faith in God.

Here is the one of many Treasures my father left behind.  I found this list written on a bank deposit slip, front and back...he never wasted anything and always used bank deposit lists for his lists and notes.  This one, I believe, tells you a lot about a man that at the time that he wrote it, which was at my mother's and his final home at Loughberry Park in Saratoga...that he was a man who was looking over his life and jotting down his thoughts. To me, this list is what is missing in the men today...it is the foundation of what makes a Noble Man.

All Of Creation - Mercyme

Prepare your hearts...open your mind and arms and welcome your salvation!!

Prepare for the celebration of Easter Sunday....HE IS RISEN!!

I Can Only Imagine ~ MercyMe w/ London Symphony Orchestra

An Easter Gift of Music

Letter to our Congress

Dear Congress:

Last year I mismanaged my funds, procrastinated and allowed others to distract me with stupid issues without merit, along with reading the new healthcare plan AND this year I cannot decide on a budget, financial plan and strategy or donate all my money to NPR or Planned Parenthood.

Until I have come to a unified decision that fits ALL of my needs and interests, I will have to shut down my checkbook and will no longer be able to pay my taxes. I'm sure you'll can relate and understand.

Thank you very much for setting an example we can all follow.

If you need to contact me I will be at home on furlough, golfing or meeting with Al Sharpton in NYC.

Sincerely, 

Amy L Harden

Navy Veteran and Military Wife

Ultimate Blog Challenge - Day 8

Vision Boards - The Basics (Part 2)

This is a direct how to guide on creating a successful and powerful vision board that will help you to center yourself and channel your positive energy into the board, making the effect much stronger on your life involving you goal or dream for yourself in life. To find out what a vision board is and how to create one, 

My Vision Board for 2005. Created right before I turned 50 years old.  

You begin by being honest with yourself about what your ultimate goal or dream is. We all have dreams that may seem impossible, but they can actually be accomplished with some, determination, powerful positivity and a good solid vision board. After you have made your decision to create your own powerful vision board, start by keeping an eye out for pictures, colors and images that grab your eye. Some you will see and they will grab you with a definite "yes", whereas others you may feel attracted to with a "buzzing" feeling in the pit of your stomach. Not every image that you collect will end up on your board, but until you get them all together to make the vision board you will not know for sure.

Vision Boards

April 2011 Vision Board

I have been working on this Vision Board for several days and I finally completed it tonight, after procrastinating and then putting one together without gluing it...which the dogs came in and knocked the pictures all over the place.  I had to start over.

I have always created Vision Boards but back when I started they were called collage and IF you put a clear paste like medium over it...they were called decoupage.  In any case I loved doing it and after every collage I always felt a sense of emptying, a creative intensity...a release of of ideas, thoughts and emotions on to the page.  They started out with more pictures then words and not that I have been writing more...I seem to create or collage with words instead.  I LOVE collage/Vision Boards...as they tell a story or show where my head was at that time in my life

If you have ever taken a Vision Board class...tell you to break up the field in to four spaces with a center that place your most prominent picture, thoughts, words, phrases. Simply, each section can represent certain parts of your life, like: Love, Family, Work, Play or Health, Happiness and Wealth.  

The Vision Board you see above have several sections that align with what I learning and using a The Ultimate Game of Life Challenge.

In the next few days, I will be looking further in to the power of Vision Boards and how everyone needs to do at least one in their life.  If you would like to learn more about Vision Boards, the BEST resources are John Assaraf's - The Complete Vision Board Kit and Joyce Schwartz - The Vision Board.

Learn how to direct your story, affirm your life and work...focus on where you want to go!

Life Legacy Stories: Taking the Time to Listen

A dear Facebook friend, Becky Shaw Mantooth, recently wrote an inspiring article at her blog Becky's Daily Thoughts about her "dream job"...how she would like to travel the country... even the world and just listen to all the many life stories that people , religions, cultures and countries.  She actually got me to thinking about an encounter I had a few years ago.

These stories of those who are NOT famous, rich and brilliant can be just as amazing...aren't they?  Your blog post brought to mind the most wonderful encounter I had with an older woman in a Walgreen's Drug Store a few years ago.  She was there shopping with a few of her Assisted Living Friends and trying to get around the store with a basket and a walker.  I saw her struggling to get things down off of shelves and carry the basket...so I asked her if I could help her shop.  In the most distinct Brooklyn accent she told me: "Hon, you must be an angel sent straight from God...Yes!"...and for the next hour this delightful curmudgeon kept me enraptured with stories of her family, children and her youth in NYC before, during WWII and after.

Music Monday: Win Francesca Battistelli - This Is the Stuff

This is the Stuff that can make or break a Monday...maybe even a week. I love this little song or ditty by Francesca Battistelli!

On Monday's when life can get away from you or out of hand...with losing the keys, getting stopped by the cops because you are going too fast...running late again...This is the Stuff!

How about the forgotten gas bill that didn't get paid?  Suddenly you remember or figure out you have forgotten, as you are standing in the shower with a full head of suds in your hair and the water has suddenly turned quite cold....This is the Stuff!


God has a sense of humor...He loves to take every day annoyances or small mistakes and teach lessons of gratitude or even bless us. 


...What is the Stuff that gets in the way of your day...BUT...in the end God uses to show you how fortunate you are...in the end, He uses to blesses you every day?  


Please share your This is the Stuff God Blesses stories here with me. I will randomly select one story as a winner.  The winner will receive a download of the Hundred More Years MP3 and will be reposted as a guest blogger on Music Monday, along with another favorite selection from this album.

The next time your day seems to take a turn for the worse...play this little ditty and you will soon see that This is the Stuff that God uses to show us how blessed we truly are.

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