Live to Proclaim

Hi friends, It's been a couple of months since I've felt like writing a blog post, which made me think of the reason why. I believe it was due to the fluctuations we, as Christians, go through in our walk with God. The Highs and Lows.  A few months ago, I could NOT stop talking about God and all He had done for me and in me! I was amazed and in awe with every prayer, scripture I read, and prompting of the Holy Spirit! It was a feeling I wish I could have 24/7!   My love for Him and His graciousness had not changed or wavered, but strangely, I was starting to come "down" from the God-high I was on. It seemed that everyday life was starting to take over my days and thoughts again. I found myself reading my Bible, but only for short spurts before I got distracted with something else. I went a few days in between prayers and conversing with God. I really didn't like losing the closeness that I once felt just a short time ago. Just like any good relationship, I

After my experience at the ladies event at church, I felt such a closeness to God. I prayed all the time, read my bible (bible app) all throughout my day, and sought out people that would encourage my faith and my purpose. Doing those things made such a huge impact in my faith and how I felt connected to our Father.  When it comes to the relationship we have with God, it seems (for me anyway) that it is very easy to let it slip. Kind of like a marriage. In order for it to thrive, we need to be intentional with our time and attention. God wants to have quiet time with us! And just like a spouse, He wants us to pursue Him!   During this wonderful time, I had decided, after discussing with my family, that I would sit down with my boss and request to work part-time. I needed more time at home with my family, and at that point, I would've been happy with just getting one extra day off per week. So during a meeting with my boss, I asked him what he thought about the ide

I've always naturally been the type of person to try to adapt and not stress about my situation. I try to "roll with the punches" and not complain about what's going wrong in my life. Of course, I have my rough days when I stress about bills and schedules like everyone else, but I try not to let it become a habit. I knew that I wanted to be at home with my kids, but I didn't let it take over my thoughts and emotions. I also knew that I needed to work and help my family financially, so I tried to make the best of it and split my time up as best as possible. A few months ago, our church was having a ladies event with a guest speaker (Renay West). It was the day before my husband's birthday and I wasn't sure if I was going to attend, but then I got asked to volunteer, so I said yes. I have trouble saying no sometimes. lol  I joked with my husband and said "Well, I guess God made the decision for me." It was a great evening! The speaker deli

For the past 4-5 years, my family and I have been attending church regularly. We've connected with people in small groups and built lots of friendships during this time. My family has seen quite a bit of change within the last couple of years. I went from being a stay-at-home mom, to working full time. It was a difficult transition for me since I really felt like my kids needed me at home with them, but financially it made sense for me to go back to work. I found a job that I liked, but it didn't pay very much. Within a short three month period, I received a call from a previous job, asking if I would be willing to come back. It was almost double what I was making at the time, and didn't require me to work weekends like my current job! I was so thrilled, because I knew that was from God! An unsolicited job offer doesn't happen like that very often, and I truly believe that was all God! I immediately thanked Him out loud while I was in my car. It was an amazing feel

Compromising was a new concept for me at that time. LOL! I've always been hard-headed and don't like to lose. But when my b/f, Craig asked me for the 100th time if we could try going back to his old church, I finally gave in.  I was nervous and worried that we would be judged for not being married and for us both being divorced. He and his ex-wife attended that church with their kids for a few years, and I definitely felt uneasy as the "new girlfriend" even though we had been together for a few years already. At that point, I still refused to get re-married due to my past marriage and the problems Craig and I had been dealing with. He, on the other hand, still hoped that one day I'd change my mind. The first day of attending his old church, I was nervous and uncomfortable. The music was loud and different from what I was used to at the little church I had been attending. There were a lot more people, and the church itself was bigger too. I felt like a small fi

After living a life void of any sort of relationship with God, we started attending a small church in our town. As previously mentioned, I started volunteering and pouring myself into the church.  At this time, I was learning what it was to be a follower of Christ and I certainly didn't know that there was an actual ENEMY! I learned that very quickly though. As I got more involved in the church, I started having really horrible nightmares of hell and the devil. These were reoccurring, vivid dreams. They were the scariest dreams I've ever had. I'd wake up crying and shaking every night. It was brutal and made me not want to even go to sleep. After several nights of these dreams, I started to pray to God that He would help me to stop having them. And even though I was praying, they kept happening. It was terrifying. After weeks of having these nightmares, I mentioned it to my pastor. He told me that the devil was trying to intimidate me because I was moving towards

Hello, My name is Rachel, I am a wife and mother of 4(blended family).  I wanted to share my testimony of how I found God, and the amazing goodness I have experienced since then...because it really is worth sharing! To give you a little backstory, I did not grow up in church nor did I ever have anyone really talk to me about God as I was growing up.  I never knew anything was missing until my late twenties! It was in my early twenties when I met and married my 1st husband and had my 2 daughters. My marriage was a very unhealthy one full of deceit and constant unfaithfulness on his part. We were only married for 4 years, but that was enough to convince me that I never wanted to remarry. After my divorce, I tried to distract myself with partying and shallow attempts at love. In the midst of this, I met my current husband. He was divorced like me and understood my situation/past. Long story short, we moved in together in Dec. 2010. Our relationship was exciting and passionate,