Love is the answer

A man came to save
To bring hope and bring light
His heart spoke of love
It spoke of healing, spoke of right

But then some came
A race to be His voice
They forgot what He said
They preach only “sin noise”

This man who came
To take away sin
They want Him now
To punish once again

Don’t let the world
Know that I’m His
If they twist His words
I want no part of this

I want all to be free
Not hear prison bars clang
If you don’t speak of freedom
We don’t speak the same

If your words are empty
With no love on your face
Don’t say you’re with me
Cause you forgot about Grace

©2011 Marsha Wilkerson Plumbtree

Draw me close

How many counseling sessions are birthed from a spouse saying “we just don’t talk anymore” or “I never see you” Or “I really miss you, how we were in the beginning when we first fell in love”

I found myself saying this to God. I’m in a job now that doesn’t allow me the freedom to read the word or write or even listen to worship music all day and today I really missed Him!

He hasn’t moved so the issue is me. I often find the time to quickly check email or make a status update but to hang out with my “first love” gets harder and harder to do.

I wonder if that’s how satan works. Keeps us separated from the very one we long to be with. I’m sure he loves it when I’m too busy to talk to God. He is happy when I stop turning to God for everyday things I once relied on Him for.
One of the most common problems you see with married couples when they get a divorce is communication. Or lack there of. When two people love each other they want to spend time together. That’s normal. When you stop wanting to talk to and spend time with someone you love. A huge red flag should go up.

I have been dating Bradd for about 1 year and 5 months and I love just being near him. I love to see his smile, to hear him laugh, to share adventures, to talk about our kids, to hold his hand, to chill out with him doing nothing, even just sitting in the same house in different rooms knowing he’s just a step a way makes me happy. If I didn’t have those moments I would be devastated. Love grows and matures as you go through life together.
It’s the same thing with God. You need to spend time with Him, hang out, laugh with Him, ask Him to be near you while you chill doing nothing. Worship Him!

I realized how much I missed Him tonight and I just started singing the song “Draw me close to You” maybe you need to sing it to Him too? Trust me, He will come.

Draw me close to You
Never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear You say that I’m Your friend

You are my desire
No one else will do
‘Cause nothing else could take Your place
To feel the warmth of Your embrace
Help me find the way
Bring me back to You

You’re all I want
You’re all I’ve ever needed
You’re all I want
Help me know You are near

Books Galore

I decided to get a real book from my bookshelf tonight. I have been reading regularly from my iPad. You could say I have a love affair with written words. I’m captured by a cleverly written paragraph. I’ m not partial to any particular genre, I read them all. Sunday had me reading “Just Desserts” a funny tale of dieting, love, and reaping what you sow. Yesterday I read “Soul Identity” a book that had me thinking about what legacy I’m leaving behind to future generations with some espionage, murder and love thrown in for spice. Tonight I was going through my books. I decided it was time for some non-fiction. Would it be “Misquoting Jesus” or “Generous Orthodoxy?” Millionaire Woman Next Door” or “Extravagant Worship?” I even contemplated “The Fifteen Minute Organizer” before finally deciding upon “What’s the Big Deal About Jesus”. It’s about who Jesus was, what He really taught, why He died on a Cross and what His relevance is to us today. I’m looking forward to seeing what the author has to say.
I think reading is one of the greatest things a mind can do for growth. My life’s dream is to one day be a published author. But for now I will enrich my mind and fill the recesses of my brain with as many books as it will hold.

Happy Reading!

In my corner of the world

In my little corner
I’m excited that you’re here
I promise in my corner
You have no need to fear

You are safe from hatred
No one will be unkind
Love is all that’s offered
Take a load off and unwind

In my little corner
Freedom is a plus
I will sing freedoms song
Teach you to sing with us

If your tired of searching
If you want to make a change
There is room in my corner
come in out of the rain.

Never stop seeking

I want to write about how wonderful love is, so you will never stop seeking it.
I want to describe how it feels to be cherished, so you will bask in the feeling,and let someone cherish you.
I want to explain what Jesus is really like, so you will want to meet Him and you will look for Him.
I want to convey the importance of believing in your kids, so you will tell them and they will in return believe in themselves.
I want to tell you all of the wonderful things that surround you each and everyday of your life, if only you take the time to look!

Love is amazing
A cherished thing
Jesus is risen
Look towards the King
Incredible kids
So full of giving
Wonderful things
make life worth living

Seek Him

Proverbs 8:17-21 “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yes, then fine fine gold and my revenue than choice silver. I traverse the way of righteousness. In the midst if the path of justice, that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth that I may fill their treasuries.”

This is the scripture that I chose to meditate on before starting my new job. I wanted to seek Him for wisdom and have Him direct my path. This is such a great scripture passage. I wanted to share it with all my blog friends.

Have a blessed Saturday!

Ode to my teens

I hardly had one thing to slow
My kids are teens if you didn’t know.

They wake themselves, they bath or shower, my job has nearly lost it’s power.

They dress themselves and it finally matches. I never had those real rough patches.

My kids are great yes this mom is stands tall. I sometimes wish they were still so small.

I would hug them tight and help them see. I love them for what they’ve given me.

I’m proud to wear this badge called mother. The hardest to earn but it’s like no other.

To my four teens. I love you more then you can ever imagine and I only celebrate today because God chose to give you to me. I am indeed blessed!

If you can’t join them beat them?

You have all heard the phrase “If you can’t beat em, join em” right? It basically means if you can’t change something that you don’t like then you can choose to change your view of it and react in a different way.  We are all guilty of saying “That person made me so mad” or “This job is making me crazy” but the truth of the matter is that our own reaction to the situation is what determines how we feel.

So when you choose to accept the situation and you “join them” then you are saying that you want to have a smooth running relationship and make the best of the situation.

All that said, today when I was talking with a friend of mine trying to explain why some people are so mean to other people it hit me that the phrase could be flipped and make sense in a whole other way.

In my life I have had people that were jealous of my success or something that I was able to acquire because of my hard work. Their jealousy caused them to do things that hurt me either through their words or actions.  When someone makes us angry or makes us feel insecure of ourselves then one instinct is to make that person look bad.  We tell other people how awful that person is, some people even twist words or make up stories to further enforce their view of you.  All it does is damage you and beat you up and make you feel worthless.  The information isn’t true but it doesn’t matter because you can’t always defend yourself.

Why do humans seek to hurt other human beings?  Sometimes our first response is to lay the blame on the other person so we can save face.  I know this makes God sad. We see it in the very first chapter of the bible when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and instead of saying “yes I failed, forgive me” they sought to blame the other to safe face.

Why is it so hard to admit we were wrong, or we made a mistake, or  we don’t have the same skills and abilities as another person? Why can’t we just be secure in the person God created us to be and live our lives walking in love and harmony?

If your first reaction to another person when you feel insecure or jealous is to bash them to another person, or to beat them up with your words, please rethink your reactions to the situation.

Go to God’s word and ask Him to help you turn it all around. The phrase is “If you can’t beat them, join them” not the other way around.  In order to reach this nation for Christ, we all have to work together using our gifts and abilities. I can’t do everything you can, and you can’t do everything I can. So what? Together we make the perfect team.  What do you say? Join me in reaching people with the message of Jesus?

Did you do that on purpose

“Did you do that on purpose?” I use to ask my son Justin this all the time when I would walk in the room and I would find some form of chaos that I knew had his handprint on it. When Justin was about three years old we had a moment that I remember so well as if it were yesterday. I had purchased dark green paint to paint an accent wall in our living room that had just been carpeted with beautiful new carpet, I’m sure you see where this is headed. I had the paint sitting in the corner; I thought the lid was on tightly. When I walked into the living room, I saw Justin, sitting in the floor surrounded by the paint in a massive puddle and he had the biggest grin on his face and green paint from head to toe. He stands to his feet and promptly runs across the room to get to me to say with his sweet innocent face “mommy I didn’t do that on purpose.”

We scrubbed the carpet up the best we could but with our budget at that time we couldn’t replace it, so we left the carpet with his little foot prints until we were able to get new carpet several years later.

There are a lot of mistakes we make in life that are often a result of things we did on purpose, or perhaps they were things we did, not really knowing what we were doing but we still had to face the consequences of those actions regardless.

I was thinking a lot about purpose today. Since I left the church world (as an employee and worship leader) I have felt a bit out of sorts. It’s almost like I have lost my purpose somehow, and I left the church willingly so I guess I did it on purpose, but I left not really knowing how it would affect me months down the road. Sometimes we have to make choices that we don’t understand, we move forward and we do them on purpose, hoping that eventually they will lead us to our “purpose” in life.

 In my quest to find my purpose aka “the reason I was created to be on this planet” I have done a lot of things on purpose and I have many more things I suppose I’ll do. I guess my focus needs to be on seeking my purpose and the rest will take care of its self. If I’m lucky, just like on our carpet I will see my footprints showing that I actually made an impact where I walked and the people that pass along after me will know that I was once there.

Religion? No just Jesus

I wish I could go back in time
To the way it use to be
When Jesus came and shed His blood
To set all captives free

To walk among the people
To witness all the love
To see the lives radically changed
When touched by God above

To watch how Jesus healed
All who came His way
To see Him heal the hurts
Of all the people everyday

It seemed like it was simple
Christianity I mean
You only had to love and serve
Not fight over stupid things

Who is right and who is wrong
Do you even measure up
Jesus just invited all
To drink from His living cup

I don’t want to be a part
Of a religion that separates
That says “I’m more important”
That judges with words of hate

I want to follow Jesus
He said He’s the only way
Love God alone and my fellow man
And I’ll live with Him someday

So if your searching for meaning
For something to heal your pain
Talk to me about my Jesus
And you will never be the same.
© 2011 Marsha Wilkerson Plumbtree