My Little Faith Journey!

I am on my own little faith journey.  In the past couple of months, I have learned a lot about myself and what I really believe in comparison to what I thought I believed.  I have always believed in God and have never questioned His existence, I have always loved God but I don’t think I have ever been in love with God.  Because of this I have never had that REAL, ALIVE, PERSONAL relationship with Him.  Until recently, I thought that I did... I have read the Bible and studied, I have prayed and I consider Him in major decisions.  Truthfully though, I have never really considered Him as my most cherished relationship.  I am really almost ashamed to say that out loud (or write in a blog).  This is something that I have been actively praying for for just over a month now.  In the past two months I have heard three people talk about this type of relationship and try to describe what this relationship is like to them.  I realized that what they were describing, I do not have.  I believe this relationship is possible and I am truly fascinated by it; I am in fact intrigued by it.  I have wondered how I can feel like God wants to use me to write material for other women when I myself don’t have this relationship.  I have had to search my heart over this one...  In a some recent study time I came across developed a love for Isaiah 42:16 and 43:2-3.  These are the verses I am hanging on to.  They are the backbone for me as I search for and seek a relationship with God like I have never had.  

Isaiah 43:2-3 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

Who else can make promises like that?  Who else loves me like that?  Why would I not want an intimate relationship with the One who is always with me and will protect me?  I want to really love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  I want that love to fill me up to the point of overflowing.  I want that love to be all that I need, where I don’t look to anything or anyone else for comfort.  My Lord, My God, My Savior is with me and loves me and wants me to trust Him beyond any way that I have trusted Him so far.  I feel it in my soul... maybe that is the beginning of  that intimate, alive, personal relationship that I am seeking! 

Isaiah 42:16 says, “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”

I am blind because I do not know where God is leading me, my path is unfamiliar, but He is guiding me.  He will turn the dark and unknown into light and He will make the rough places smooth.  He will not leave me.  This is so comforting as I continue down the path of writing Bible studies for women.  I am so unqualified and unworthy!  I do not know where the path will lead, but God has told me what He will do and that He will not leave me, so I need to continue on safe and confident in His love!

To realize and admit how lacking my realtionship with God is is a little unsettling, but I realize that I should never be still; I should always be growing and growing I am. I call this my little faith journey, but I think that really my entire life is a faith journey... this is just another step on the journey to bring me closer to Him! 

Ladies Retreat at Muir's Chapel UMC

The weekend at Michelle’s church’s Ladies Retreat was great.  I had such a great time there and met a lot of really great people.  I was nervous at first, especially after my sis-in-law Michelle introduced me on Friday night.  On Saturday and even more so on Sunday, I realized what I already knew... God was in control.  It actually felt really natural for me to be talking to this group of ladies.  I am certainly no body special with nothing special to say, but as Michelle had told me I not important enough to stop God from using me.  I hope that He was able to use this damaged vessel, this everyday person with nothing special to say for the glory of His kingdom!  I thank God for the trials  I have had in my life and pray that what I have learned from them that I am always bold enough and transparent enough to share with others.  I need to be careful what I pray for, but I pray, “God, please use me for your glory!”  This is a really fun ride!  Maybe I should hang on :-)

Catching Up!

It has been a really long time since I have blogged.  Summer was busy, the kids are older so there were days at the park, swimming, and camping to take up our days.  Doug and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.  Fall has approached and now I am getting ready to speak to ladies about marriage for two straight weekends.  This is something that I have really been prayerfully considering for a while now and feel like how this goes will determine if I continue to pursue this ministry.  I have had a few roadblocks and am uncertain what God wants me to do.  I feel like God will make it clear to me this weekend and next weekend if this is my calling.  Please pray for me to be aware of God’s guidance and for me to accept His will in my life.  

I have also succumbed to Facebook.  If you have a Facebook page you can check me out!

I will write again next week to let you know how thing went this weekend!

Happy New Year

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and is having a Happy New Year, now that 2008 is here.  I am excited to see what God is going to do in my life this year; I feel like this is a big year for my family.  We are settling in to a new church will be moving to a new city, adjusting our work schedules, and I will be trying to complete my second book by the end of 2008.  No new babies this year!  We have sold our house in Charlotte and are looking to buy a great house in Salisbury.  We should be moving by the end of January.  I am sure this will be a crazy month to start off a great year!

I plan to start promoting my book this month.  I will be taking at least a couple of days to go to some local bookstores and churches, hoping to spark some interest.  I also hope to find a church or two to speak at by March.  If I can get my act together I will also start a class in Salisbury on being a Christian wife.  Please pray for that.  I think this “class” will be a big stepping-stone for my ministry.

Things have already started to move a little in the world of marketing.  I have a couple of great friends and coworkers at the hospital who contacted the media guy at work.  He came by and took a few pics with my hair and makeup less than perfect and interviewed me.  I was so nervous and embarrassed!  I think I blushed the entire time.  I felt really unprepared and just plain silly telling him about me and my book.  I guess that I need to get prepared if I am going to go around at the first of the year to promote my book and my story.  But, because of this, the gift shop at the hospital where I work is actually carrying them on the shelf!  That was so cool to go in there and actually see my book for sale.  What was even cooler is that they sold out in just over a week! 

Thanks for your continued prayers and support.  I ask that you please continue to tell others about me and my book, Marriage, God’s Way.  Your kind words is my greatest advertising.  Thanks to you all and Happy New Year!

Now Available!!!

I am so excited that my book is now available.  You would not believe how excited I was the day I saw it on Amazon.com.  That was the "This is for real" moment for me.  Who knew that I would be here having published a book and wandering what does God have in store for me.  I am so excited about what He has done and what He will do in the future.  I am also humbled that He has chosen me to be one of His servents.  I am looking forward to the first of the year, I have taken a week off of work to go and promote Marriage, God's Way to local churches and Christian bookstores.  I am praying for it's success because I feel that what I have learned can inspire other women to stay in their marriage and allow God to do more than he ever thought possible. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.  If you still have not purchased your copy of Marriage, God's Way, you can do that on any major bookstore's website.

God's Confirmation

As I have gone along this journey of having a book published, I want to be sure that I always give all of the glory to God.  He did this, He saved my marriage, He inspired me to want to minister to other women, and He had me accidentally write a book.  Now He is doing it again.  Yesterday, I talked with a long time friend of mine.  She is the person that everyone needs in his or her life.  She is much older than me, is very wise and loves the Lord with all of her heart.  She always has sound advice; I love her and her family dearly!  God is now using her to help me.  Without people knowing about my book and doing the Bible study, God cannot use it to heal people and help them have the marriage that He intended.  My dear friend has offered to buy all of the books that I need to promote this study to local media, bookstores and churches.  I was really almost speechless by her generous offer and thankful beyond words.  This is just another confirmation that God wants to use me as an example to inspire and heal marriages.  I am honored to be God's servant and thankful for my dear friend that God is using to help me in this process.  I hope that each of you have someone like her in your life!  May God bless you all.

Cost Too Much???

So, now I have a release date and I have looked at my publisher's online bookstore and have seen the price they gave my book... $16.95.  That seems kind of pricey to me.  Although I had nothing to do with the price, I fell a little guilty about it.  I just hope that when the main retailers get it, they lower the price.  I do not want the cost to adversely affect the work that God can do with this.  I just continue to ask for your prayers.

Dana