A Long Time

It has been a long time since I have had some quiet time to sit down and just pour out my feelings. It is long over due and very much needed. So much is going on in my busy life at the moment. Jan 29th I went before the Judge for my Disability. I was awarded my disability after four long years. It has been a battle. I wept as I was leaving the building. I have prayed to God for this for so long it seems. I ultimately left it in his hands. I said to him, "If it is your will for me than let it be and if not then so be it." It still will be a few more weeks before I get the confirmation letter in the mail. Then my monthly pymts should start coming. I thought that once I was granted my disability that it would lift a huge burden off my shoulders, yet I find myself worring now about other things and how best to handle certain situations. I don't want to mess anything up. I have to make my choices very carefully. This is my last chance at a fresh start and to freedom. I am 40years old now. I have made many mistakes over the years. I have grown wiser because of them. I've learned to be very cautious with matters. I want my family to have some happiness for a change. We will most certainly be taking a long over due vacation. I also want to do some things for my parents, my churches, and other organizations that has helped me over the last four years. I just pray the lord will guide me down the right path. Help me to use this for the better and not the worse. I guess the best thing I can do to begin with is just right down everything I need to do. It will all work out. That I am sure of. Well for now I must go. Time goe's to fast.

Praise His Name!

As I have mentioned before in some of my blogs I am not a healthy person. I have been sick for several years now and trying for my disability for almost 4 years. Just before the holidays my attorney called and said we had our hearing date scheduled for today, (Jan 29th). So I was there this morning at 8:30 am sharpe. I did not get a wink of sleep lastnight. I finally just got up at 4 am and sank into the word of God and just meditated in his word. I was only with the Judge for about 15 minutes an he said, "Mrs. Alexander I think you are very deserving of this, congradulations!" I became weak at the knees and just about fanted. I held myself together until I got outside the door with my attorney an I just wept with joy. At this very moment being exhausted from lack of sleep, I feel like I am in a dream.
Of course when I got out to the car and grabbed the phone to call my husband, wouldn't you know that my phone was dead. It has been acting up for a few days. Today of all days it decides to die. I rushed to the verizon store an I said to the salesman---buddy you better have a phone I can use cause I am about to bust with news. He just laughed as did I.
The last several years have been very hard for me and my family. We went into this knowing it was not going to be easy, but not realizing how painful it actually would be. All I know is that it brought us closer to God. We have learned so many lessons that I don't think we would have learned otherwise. We were two lost souls before all this happened. I give all the glory to God because without him I would have nothing and be nothing. It is all about you Lord Jesus. Praise your name.
Now my next prayer is that he will lead us down the path to financial freedom. Help us to make good sound decissions. For anyone that is going through what we have just came through, may God be with you. If you do not have Jesus in your life, invite him in. He will be the bestfriend you can ever have. He will never leave you, nor forsake you.
In Christ!

Rainy Day, Blue Day

Oh my goodness...It is such a blue day/rainy day. I have been out in it since this morning. I have had several different errands to run. The doctor, Lunch with a dear friend, My father and mother, paper work for them, then I find out my sister-in-law is having emergency surgery this Thursday. She has a hernia on her bile duct that is causing major complications. I am so worried about her because she is a very obese woman. These kind of surgeries can be tricky for us plus size women. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. There is just to much going on.

It seems as though the only place I can get some solitude is at church. I went in yesterday for a few hours to do some volunteer work. I love it. It is like all the stress in my body just seeps out through my toe's. I am looking forward to giving them as much time as I can without wearing myself out. If it could rain just a little more....It has rained for two days here in North Carolina and is expected for two more days. I hate it....Peace be with all and I need lots of prayers.
Sincerely.....

It's Been A While

It has been some time since my last blog. The holidays came, I became out of touch with my thoughts and was so comsumed by all the holiday happenings that I have just been lost. Today I find myself needing the place and time to let go of some emotional struggles I have been dealing with for a few weeks now. For me just writing it down sometimes is helpful.

It is hard to make a positive change in your life when you have a life partner that is always flip flopping. For the last few years I have been eagerly struggling to live a christian life and to persue my life in away that I know God would approve. It is very difficult to even put this into words at this moment. I am not the best at wording things. My significant other has struggled for several years with substance abuse issues. When I fell ill, he amazed me at how quick he was to change his life so that he could take care of us. I was always the one that worked two jobs, took care of our child, you know a womens work is never done. I just could not do it anymore. It was killing me. I knew if I did not make a change I was going to be in my grave. So I took the jump. But in dealing with my situation, I don't think he gave himself enough time to completely heal from his own sickness. Between these past several years, he has had some breaking points, I guess you could call it. He is a much better and wiser person when he is not under the influence of others, an of other things. He an I's relationship has been the best it could be at certain times through out the past three years. I thought we were actually developing a mature martial relationship. But now I have been slapped in the face yet again by this demon that will not leave him alone. He knows that I am not happy with his behavior as of late. We have a son that doe's not need this demon in his life for sure. It seems that everytime we are about to embark on a magnificent relationship with God, the devil stick his nose in. At this very moment I am deeply wounded. But I have made a firm decission that I will not let the devil keep me from being the God fearing women that I long to be. I will not let him stop me from trying my hardest to influence my family in their spiritual growth. I know my significant other loves God and believes, it is almost like he is trying to, "Have his cake and eat it too." But that is something God will not allow. It is all or nothing. Am I right in saying that? I cannot love him any less for his failures. I just want him to get the help he needs to put this demon behind us. He always trys doing it alone. Kudo's to him, he has a willpower that I have never seen before. But with the constant return, I know he cannot do it alone this time. Please pray for us.

Left Over Turkey

Today is Monday. Thanksgiving has come and gone for this current year. I can honestly say that I enjoyed being with my friends & family. I tried to not over stuff, but it is hard--is it not? In my house we still have lots of Turkey left over. I made Turkey salad today, but let me give you another idea on how to use that Turkey up. It is a Recipe that I learned off Rachel Ray one morning. You are suppose to make it with chicken, but the Turkey works just as well. You will need the following items:
Left over Turkey
Pillsbury Cresent Rolls (two tubes)
If you saved your Turkey Broth you can use it to make your gravy or you can use; 2 cans of cream of chicken and 1 cream of mushroom.
Milk
Heres what you do. Unroll the cresent roll, take some turkey and roll it up in the cresent roll making like a dumpling. Line your pan with these dumplings until all your rolls are used up. Mix your cream of chicken or mushroom with 1 to 2 cans of milk. The consistency of the broth is up to you. Some like it thick, some like it thinner. I am a thinner person. After mixing, pour it all over these turkey dumplings. Now if you made gravey from scratch then you would just pour it all over your dumplings. The second roll of cresent rolls you are going to unroll and cut into strips and lay all over top of your dumplings and gravy. Put in the oven and bake at 375 degrees for about 40 mins or until golden brown. Yummy! I think you will enjoy it. Let me know if you try it and like it.

So now that Turkey Day is out of the way, Have you hung the holly yet? I finished mine up yesterday. Now I can sit back and make christmas goodies and watch some good ole movies. Oh Yeah, and countdown the days till our Saviours birthday. I have often thought about having a Birthday Cake on Christmas Day. Have you? Peace be to all. I hope you enjoy the dumplings.

Picture This, Week 3

Our Sunday Services just seem to get better and better. Some may be offended by our Pastors teachings, but he speaks the truth. It is right there in black in white, in the only book that matters in this world.

This past Sunday We began our service with Priase and Worship as we always do. We recapped the past two Sundays, Picture This--A Church that is :
1. Full of the Power of God.
2. Wildly genorous in giving.
Pastor Allen explains that we at Daystar are a diverse church. We want to reach all ages but we put a high priority on our youth & college Students which are to be the next generation.
3. Reaching the next Generation.
Why do we want to do this? At Daystar thats who we are and God has given us a mandate to make deciplies of all Nations and generations. Statistics Show that most children will come to christ by the age of 13 if they are ministered too. So We ask--How do we accomplish this reaching out to the youth and college age generation? We must be "Kingdom minded" and it all goe's back to "Financies." How much are we willing to give to make this ministry work? Pastor Allen points out that indeed these children and students are going to grow and up and some will move away. So perhaps the church may not gain anything significant out of this giving..but it is what God wants us to do. Pastor Allen states that 15% of what Jesus talked about was Financies and how we should handle them. We turn to Ecclesiates 5:8-18"Riches Are Meaningless." Please take the time to read these verses. We should not be conformed to the world, but let our minds be transformed. From (vs10) Pastor Allen points out that "The more you have the more you want." We need to always give the first 10% of what we earn to God.
All the money & possessions in the world will never make us happy. Life is not found on what we get , but on what we give. (Luke 12:18-21) Then he said, "This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."20 "But God said to him, You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" 21 This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God. "
Pastor Allen declares to give 10%, Save 10%, and live off 80%. When we start giving our 10% something happens within us spiritually--it makes us look at material things differently, For when we die we lose it all anyways.
Matt19:29 And everyone who has left houses or borther or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will recieve a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
From (Ecc5:11-14) Pastor Allen states again that the more stuff, the lease happiness you will find. The point that the Pastor is getting at is that first before we can be happy here on earth--we must realize that all we have comes from God,(we are blessed). It is our duty to give back 10% and more if you are wealthier--It is all His anyways!
1Tim 6: 7-10 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destrution. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money have wandered fromthe faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Tim 6:17-19 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hop in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
So no matter how mych we get we will leave this world empty handed. We closed with (Matt 16:27) For the son of man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
So with all this being said--I can say that I will do whatever it takes to reach our next generation. Where we have failed the world economicly because of our selfish ways, now realizing this a little to late. It is our duty to teach the youth of now so when their time comes hopefully their world will be better than ours.
My Husband an I realize now that our biggest mistake was waiting to late to get our child to God. If we would have had our priorities straight when he was a baby--our live might be different this day. But all we can do is ask for forgiveness and from this day forward do what God wants us to do and be . I pray often for the Lord to reach my child who is now seventeen and to lead him in the path in which he desires him to go.

Prayer:Awesome God, I confess my inclination to rush into Your presence overflowing with many words. My private devotions are filled with my agendas for You. My public worship can be so flooded with noise that You would not be able to get a word in edgewise. I confess my failure to listen for Your voice. Too seldom do I wait in silence before You as a servant waits before a king. Help me, O Word of God, to learn to listen to You. Teach me to still my soul as a child with its mother. Give me a renewed vision of Your holiess, so that when I speak to You it might be with reverence and repsect. Gracious God, Thank You for the gift of perspective that these verses I have read bring. Thank You for the gift of life for the joys of each new day. Thank You for simple gifts of food to eat and water to drink. Thank You for work to do, even when that work is hard or monotonous. Thank You for the grace to be content in all circumstances, both in times of plenty and in times of need. And when You give extra blessings, whether they be material or spiritual, thank You for the ability to enjoy them. Indeed all good gifts, including the gift of satisfaction, come from You. Thank You heavenly Father for Your boundless generosity! In Jesus name I pray---Amen....

Other Passages the Pastor recommends us to read because he may not have time to cover them is James 4:1-10, James 5: 1-5, 2 Cor 5:1-5, Book og Haggai. I have taken the time already to read all of this. WOW!!!!I ask myself how could I have been so blind to this world all of my 40 years of living. I am Thankful that my eyes are now open---wide open.

Picture This Series, Week 2 11/16/08

This past Sunday we continued our series on, "Picture This." We have been discussing the issue of In an economic slow down what should the church do? Pastor Allen recaped from the previous week and then he makes the statement, What if or picture this, a church that is wildly genorous in giving. He re-ask the question Who are we as a church? The following week we had desided that we wanted to demonstrate the power and authority given to us by God as a church body and show the Supernatural. He stresses the fact that we have to have faith as a church body. Today, meaning during that service, we want to be wildly genorous. But the next question is, How do we reach this genorousity? The answer is simply clear---by Tithing! He reads to us from the Book of Malachi3:6-12, which is titled "Robbing God." The words from this scripture are so strong and powerful. Oh Lord how it hit me. My husband an I have struggled financially now our entire married life. 18 Years! But it was 2006 when the Lord lead us to C4. It was at that church I was baptized, there that my spiritual life changed and for my husband as well, an our son. Our Pastors at C4 opened our eyes and taaught us things that had been so unclear before. Though we do not go to that church anymore--C4 I will never forget. My Christian family there is always in my heart and prayers. Now we have been lead to Daystar. Pastor Allen is continuing the work and how excellent he is. He goe's on to resite scriptures Gen14, Numb 18:1-48, Due24:13-27(Old Testament Titheing) All of these speak powerful words. I suggest you read them. We have always given a tithe, but ut has never been our whole 10% of our gross earnings. We thought by giving what we could, would be enough, but today our eyes are opened to the full picture. As christians we are to be givers not takers and to be happy at heart when doing so. Acts2:42-47 is the "New Testament of Titheing" As a christian we have to give at least 10% of our earnings. That belongs to Jesus Christ. Otherwise we are robbing God. Is that what we want against us on judgement day? NO!
Pastor Allen list three reasons why it is a bad idea to Rob God:
#1You will always get caught. He reads Joshua 7:20.
#2 It doesn't work--you are under a curse (which goe's back to verse 9 of Malachi)
#3It causes you to miss a financial miracle (verse 10&11 of Malachi)
The world is under a curse because of the church. He gave us statistics, which I don't have to time to list at this moment. But we closed with Matt 7:11 If you then though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Matt 4:17 Jesus preached, "Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is near."
If we as a body of the church would give the way we are suppose to, look at how many people we could help and reach. Just think about it. It all makes perfect sense. WOW! what a service....