A Peaceful Treasure

Sometimes traveling from one place to another place you pass through a place you want to discover further…such was Brunswick, Georgia. The little town intrigued me for years as I passed through it headed to a retreat on St. Simons Island.

My recent journey afforded me the opportunity to explore the city since it is only a two-hour drive from Jacksonville, FL where I am presently enjoying the quiet sanctuary of my best friend's home. I set out for an overnight stay to give myself enough time to see all there is to see in this small Georgia town. However, the town wasn't the treasure I thought it would be.

My first obstacle was finding an affordable hotel with a vacancy; I didn’t make a reservation because it was off season and most tourist were back at work and off to school.  It never occurred to me they would be accommodating Irma refugees and FEMA personnel. After going above my budget, I settled in at the Best Western Plus to peruse the information I found at the Georgia Welcome Center where I stopped to get info on Brunswick and the surrounding area. There wasn’t much to be found on Brunswick, but I came away with a plethora of information on a little town that had never crossed my radar. I was once again intrigued with a small town and wanted to know more, however, this town was not my goal, so I put the interesting info away and decided to explore the city that was on my radar…it was a bust. There was nothing there that drew my attention and said stay awhile. The most interesting part was the gateway portion to the Golden Isles (which was the part I had seen for years).

I decided to head back to FL. Having some extra time, I detoured to see what this new little town had to offer. There wasn’t much there as well, like Brunswick there was a main drag that housed all your chain stores and necessities, but on a smaller scale. Unlike Brunswick traffic was light, as a local put it, “the most traffic we have is when the elementary school down the street let’s out”. Like Brunswick downtown was scarce but had something Brunswick didn’t have—peace and serenity. I could feel it as I walked the streets and talked to the friendly locals. The most inviting part of the that peace was where the quiet sidewalk ended—a picturesque view of Cumberland Sound from the St. Mary’s waterfront. Though temporarily impaired with damage from Hurricane Irma, it was like a little piece of heaven. I spent the remainder of my time enjoying the quiet serenity and the gentle breeze that caressed my thoughts of what it would be like to live here. To have this view every day and enjoy the peace of no hustle-bustle noise would be divine.

I left the area feeling as if I had found a peaceful treasure housed in the little town of St. Mary’s, Georgia.

October

October 24…this day always made my mama sad

This was the day she was spared, and we tragically lost my dad

God kept her here and she lost one of the things she held most dear

She was a miracle in the midst of his tragedy

Why Lord, did you want her to stay

And a fatal bullet took my dad away

Was it that on this earth she had more to say

Some say it wasn’t her time

And for that only You know the reason and the rhyme

Here I sit on this day—remembering him, and remembering her

For now, they both have gone away

I can no longer hear what either of them have to say

In this moment of time in my life

I wish I could once again glean from their wisdom and advice…

October is a month of mixed feelings made of joy and cloaked with sadness of entrances and exits:

                On the 2^nd Makayla made her entrance into the world *
                          

                On the 3^rd my mom made her exit

                On the 5^th I made my entrance

                On the 24^th my dad made his exit

How does one keep the joy of the entrances and not let them get overshadowed by the exits?

You dwell on the joy of each entrance and the good memories you had before the exits—placing all in God’s hands and live in the comfort of His love.

*(Read Makayla's story in my 2009 blog)

Awaken The Dawn!

Have you ever done something you want to do again and again, and keep doing it…that’s the feeling I have about Awaken the Dawn/The Call.  I want to go back to The National Mall in Washington D.C., be with the people I went with; hear the songs we sang; share the experience of electrifying worship; engage in deep heartfelt prayer; be inspired by impassioned messages; walk among the tents hearing the different styles of worship and prayer from each state and region, unique yet sharing the same message—but most of all basking in the presence of God! A presence that surrounded the entire area.

There was a call to our nation that weekend: we need to invite God's presence back into our homes, our schools, our workplace, our government, our entertainment, our relationships, and yes, even our churches…we need to kneel down and passionately make 2Chr. 7:14 a part of our daily ritual. We are His people called by His name, so let's humble ourselves, and pray and seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways, then He will hear from heaven, and will forgive our sin and heal our land! As one speaker pointed out we often overlook the next verse: 2Chr. 7:15, “Now my eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.” We cried out and invited our Lord back to our nation…we thank you Lord that your eyes are open, and your ears are attentive to the prayers made in that place on October 6-9, 2017!

The catch phrase for me that weekend was from speaker Heidi Baker: “what does love look like” …so eloquently repeated several times until it saturated your spirit. Love looks like us sharing God’s love, and not just sharing God’s love but being God’s love.

God had a purpose and a plan for each person in attendance—I can’t wait for Him to reveal mine…

Praying at the Supreme Court

Prayer at the White House

Praying on the Capitol grounds

(I'm sorry the video will not play) 

We had a blast! God is on the move...

Be blessed my friends…in His Spirit
Vanessa

An Open Door

One of the greatest things about visiting family is communing with those that are rich in the wisdom of the Lord and hears His voice. I have a family member here in San Diego that is blessed with that richness.

Like myself she loves the beauty of the ocean and often walks along the shore. While on her walk one day at LaJolla Shores God shared His wisdom with her through a visual revelation walking under the pier. The columns caught her attention as the waves crashed against them. She saw those crashing waves as challenges.

Life brings many challenges; walking in the grace of God you can see His plan as you go through these challenges and experience what He has for you in the completion. At the end of those crashing challenges that each column represented, my cousin saw an open door leading to the vastness of the ocean. The big beautiful ocean! I loved what she called this door—an open door of endless possibilities. Isn’t that what God has for us—possibilities that are as big as the ocean and never quit, all we have to do is trust and receive.

Our challenges may seem insurmountable as they crash against us, but compared to the vastness of the ocean…they become endless possibilities. Let’s walk through that open door—and enjoy all He has for us… 

I witnessed her revelation

Peace in the journey

The Senses of My Journey

I see you in the beauty of a rose

I see you in the color green

I feel you in the breath of the wind

Your fragrant love tingles my nose

I hear you in the silence of my heart

As I rest in the color blue

I want to experience You face to face

Before I leave the beauty of this place

Please hear my heart’s cry

Let me learn from You eye to eye—ear to ear

And let me know I have nothing to fear

Wherever this journey takes me

Your beauty is all I want to see, feel, touch, and hear

Then I’ll know Your presence is always near

As I leave this place

I may not always see beauty in my surroundings

But the joy of Your love will always be there

Embracing me with Your graceful care.

I love you Lord—now and forever more...

Relaunching

The next phase of my journey is taking me back to San Diego. A place where I left my heart, the place where I learned what salvation is, the place where I learned to spend time alone in His presence and praise Him. A place I loved and have longed to return to since I left there in 1989.

My reason for returning home to Georgia has now transitioned to her heavenly home. With that I should feel freedom to come and go as I please. Do I feel that freedom…yes I do, and only because I have freedom in the knowledge of Christ. Whom God has set free is free indeed. Do I like the freedom I should feel…not especially. My mother’s transition hurt far more than I ever thought it would. In times past, I would say to the Lord, “when I’ve finished with what I need to do here please send me back to California”. It took 28 years to finish what I needed to do; however, it is finished, and not how I expected it to—I have learned some things about the unexpected.

In my wait to return to San Diego I encountered some life experiences that took me abroad with some successes and some failures. The failures, unfortunately, had more of an impact than the successes. One failure in particular paralyzed me and almost destroyed my spirit. But God being the loving Father he is kept me, never left me, and breathed revived life into my valley of dry bones so I rise from the ashes to thrive again.

I titled this piece “relaunching”, inspired by a Dale Bronner message of the same title, because I feel that is what’s happening in my return to my beloved San Diego. I had stopped doing the things God called me to do. I stepped out of the boat, failed, then stepped back into the boat to hide—now I’m stepping out again. With power packed knowledge from my failures and successes—I am relaunching. The timing of my return to San Diego was not next in line in my travels.  Nevertheless, because I have given God a blank page I go now. Will it once again become the place it was for me in times past—I don’t know. At the beginning of my journey I was excited to go back thinking it would be the last leg of my journey and the place I would settle in once again as my home. Standing at the window of my former home looking out one day praying about my journey my excitement was mounting; my thoughts went to San Diego and I smiled...God said to me, be careful, you may not have the same heart toward it as you did before…it’s not the same place you left, and neither are you.

What will my heart be like when I visit familiar places there…I can only speculate with guided expectation. I seek Him—His will is my will.

Be blessed my friends… Please pray for me as I depart on August 30, 2017.

Beauty in the Unexpected

Sometimes when looking through emotional fog we fail to see the beauty God has tucked away in the most inconspicuous places—or maybe not so inconspicuous. Even if we know what we have we don’t really see it until someone else sees it.

After a very long trip across three states in a downpour of liquid crystals pelleting the windshield and one lane traffic in one state, our convoy of three cars totally ten family members arrived in Detroit to settle for the night at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel. Of the five rooms we were assigned on each side of the building my view was of the courtyard (which I didn't notice until it was pointed out to me). My prayer is to always be surrounded by the beauty of God’s nature—He never fails. Though I feel my journey didn’t start as I envisioned God is still in the mix, giving me even the smallest desires of my heart (even when I don’t ask). I open the curtains in my hotel room and see Him in the beauty of His nature.

The service for my cousin brought forth more beauty in the spirit of words and songs. Her favorite color purple embraced the peaceful beauty of her smile as her spirit soared upward toward her heavenly home. May we feel the peace on earth she is now experiencing.

I have sojourned here in Tuscaloosa for almost three weeks enjoying the company of my family here. I thank and praise God for their beautiful hospitality and the love I have felt. I will leave this week or early next week for Memphis, or back to Georgia to regroup as I continue to listen for that small still voice that leads me on the path I should follow and direct my time in each place. I covet the prayers of those following me that I may be attentive to His directions.

God’s peace and blessings to all reading this post. Grace in the journey…

The Unexpected in the Journey

When one embarks upon a journey of discovery you have these picturesque thoughts of traveling happy trails of joy. That’s how I saw my journey beginning. Instead, my joy is replaced with sadness. First, with hospital visits in New York; and now I leave tomorrow to meet my cousins in Tuscaloosa, AL; then on to Detroit, MI for a memorial service for another cousin.

Has my journey of discovery begun with these unexpected life events…it would be so easy to be upset with God right now, and question His plan. Easy if I didn’t know Him—but I do know Him and the God I know does have a plan. He did from the very beginning of time. Part of that plan is life…and death. We love the life part when it’s great, but when life deteriorates we want God to change His plan and keep life picturesque on happy trails of joy. But death is a part of life, and the realism of death hurts. Whereas, we do not feel happy when a loved one enters a suffering stage of life and then graduates into heaven, our comfort comes in knowing weeping and mourning will endure for a night, but joy does come in the morning.

I would like to think my journey of discovery has not yet begun until I feel those picturesque thoughts of joy. I may not have them at this present moment; nevertheless, I am traveling. In God I place my trust—and my heart; which I know He will heal. And I will carry on with joy in the journey...

Eat Pray Love...Vanessa's Version

Seven long years since my last post...ironically it was centered on a movie character taking a journey. I am embarking on the same type journey with a different focus. My journey is more spiritual in nature in that I am following the leading of the Holy Spirit to guide my moves and set my itinerary as I travel in His grace and mercy. I give Him thanks and praise for His wisdom and direction.

Why this journey...in some of my earlier posts I was mourning the loss of my father; I am now mourning the loss of my mother. With that loss what has always been home and a place of refuge doesn't seem like such anymore. In this journey I will visit friends and family in various places. As I visit I will be searching for a new home. That home will be where God says this is the place to stop, settle, and tell people what you know of me. Where that place is only God knows. I trust Him to reveal it to me when I'm there. Who knows...He could bring me back to my home town. The journey will be far greater than the destination.

At the present moment I am writing this in New York. I would like to think of this as the start of my journey. Unfortunately, I came here earlier than expected because the relative I was planning to visit (my mom's older sister) had a stroke bringing me here sooner than I planned; which reinerates my goal to follow God's plan. We never know what life is going to bring, or the order in which life events will happen. I give God a blank page for Him to plan my itinerary on this journey. To God be the glory!