Are You Prepared For Marriage?

….Hey….it’s me…I was thinking…Oh I’m sorry…Here’s an invitation to what I’ve been wondering about lately. Welcome to my thoughts…..I was looking back at my life and to be quite honest I’ve been blessed…I have accomplished some of what I wanted at stage in my life. I love God with all my heart, I got an education, I have a career that I love, and a great place to work. I’m healthy, my family is with me and I have real true friends.

I was thinking about how I got it all. What did I do to get it all? I realized that for the most part I prayed and then got myself prepared for each step I took. When I finished high school I knew I wanted to go to college so I got prepared and made a list of schools I wanted then applied and don’t forgot that I prayed along the entire process. When I went to class, I learned the material and went home to go back over everything so that I’d be prepared for the exams. I got myself ready, I studied, I researched what I didn’t really know or understand. Well lets keep going…I promise you that I’m getting somewhere with this……I knew I wanted to buy a car someday but first I needed to learn how to drive!! I needed to get ready to get on the road before I could officially call myself a driver. I did a lot of praying because I was really afraid of driving my car on NYC streets. These were all challenges. Yet I prayed and God helped me during each phase.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I did something to prepare myself for the unknown. For college, for those exams, for that road test, for my monetary investment and read my bible to develop my spiritual life. So then I started to wonder…I wondered about the other things I’d like to see happen in my future…marriage…kids…however I began to realize when it comes to something as big as marriage that people aren’t getting themselves prepared. Something that will affect the rest of your life. Something so complicated as falling in love and staying together. Now I used the word complicated because it’s just that…Love and developing a relationship is hard work. Marriage is about two people becoming one. Have you ever wondered about what it would be like to take a course on marriage before you jumped the broom. I know you can’t know everything, but maybe…just maybe you could do some research, speak to a few married or divorce couples just to get some insight about the idea of happily ever after (if that is even at all possible cause living in today’s age is no fairytale)

How amazing would it be to know what pitfalls to avoid before you get to them before you get married? How to resolve issues? How to communicate your feelings? Isn’t it ironic that people get themselves prepared in one way or another for a lot of things in life but they don’t get prepared or try to figure out what it would take to have a successful marriage….?

If marriage is something your heart desires is there really anyway to get yourself prepared (and I’m not talking about when you are engaged already…way before that?)

I also ask you this…..

Do you feel like there is a way to get yourself prepared and if so what would you be willing to do to prepare for it? Have you done anything so far? If so what was it?

Why is it that with everything else we are ready to do the research to get ourselves prepared for the unknown…but we often walk into marriage thinking we can take a crash course at the alter?

Is it Love? Part 2

Claire walked out of the office building where she worked in a daze. She could not believe what just happened. She got laid off. When her supervisor called her into his office, she thought he wanted to discuss a new project that he proposed during the last staff meeting. However, as he told her that the company needed downsizing due to product sales going down causing him to make some cuts from staff. After those words reached her ears, she could only see his lips moving in disbelief. How could this happen during a time in which she had so many financial responsibilities? How was she going to pay for her rent, car note, electric/cell/gas bill, student loans that seemed never ending and the good ole cable bill?

As she rode the train home to her apartment in Corona, Claire started to worry. Tears started to stream down her face as she began to ponder on what she was supposed to do now that her back was up against the wall. As she cried, she said a silent prayer to God saying how she needed Him to come quickly to comfort and help direct her steps as she did not know what she would do to keep her head above water. Claire reached into her bag for a tissue wiping away her tears. She suddenly realized that people around her may be wondering why she was so distraught. Her stop came. She rose from her seat and got out of the train station. As she walked home she called her mother, sister, best friend and told them what happened. They said some encouraging words which brought her some comfort. When she got home, she said another prayer as she crawled into her bed hoping that this would all go away.

A few hours had passed as Claire’s cell phone rang on her night stand. She looked at the phone and saw that it was one of her favorite people to speak with. Her highlight…His name was Daniel Earton… In that moment, Claire really did not feel like talking. So she ignored the call and let it go to voicemail. She pulled the covers over her shoulders and went back to sleep.

Daniel had been emailing Claire from work as they often communicated via the internet throughout the day. However, for some reason the emails stopped around 10:30am. He was somewhat puzzled wondering if he had said something wrong to have upset her, but his last few responses could only bring a smile to her face. He was called into a meeting and it ran a lot longer than expected. When he returned to his desk and checked his email, she had not responded all day. He started to become concerned and called her job and they said that she had left early for the day. So Daniel called her on his way to the parking lot and when she didn’t answer he said, “Hey Sweety, I noticed that you haven’t returned my emails today and when I called your office they said that you went home early. Is everything ok? Please call me, ok Babe..bye”

Daniel had a long drive home and as he pulled into his driveway all he could think about was Claire. He wondered why she had not called back by now. He tried calling her again only to find that it went straight to voicemail. Although, he lived 45mins away from her, he pulled right back out and headed towards her apartment complex. As he rang the doorbell he was hoping that his girl was ok.

Claire heard the doorbell ring, but she didn’t want to get up even though she knew she had to. She was thinking it was her sister stopping by to check up on her. But when Claire opened the door…It was Daniel.

Daniel took one look at Claire and new something was not right. Not only was Claire’s hair disheveled but judging from the wrinkles in her clothing, it was obvious that she didn’t bother to change before lying down. What gave her state of mind away were her sad eyes. Those are not the eyes that he was used to staring into.

“Claire what’s wrong? Tell me what happened?”

Claire walked away from him without responding and left the door open for him to enter the living room. She sat down on the couch as a flood of feelings began to invade her entire body. She started to cry. Daniel closed the door and when he heard her crying he felt paralyzed for a few seconds. He had never seen Claire like this before and immediately went to hold her while she cried on his shoulder. Claire didn’t have the words to explain and she felt helpless in his arms. After a couple of minutes she, told him what happened.

Daniel began to reassure her that things would be okay, and that she had to have faith that everything was going to turn around. For the next three months, Daniel did everything he could to help Claire get through this trial. He came over at least twice a week after work helping Claire figure out her finances so that she could pay for all her bills. Daniel helped her fix up her resume and spent time referring her to websites that listed openings in her field. They even did some mock interviews as she had not been on an interview for the past 5 years and felt nervous. He knew that she was smart, and determined to find another position as she spent hours online looking for a job. She was going to job fairs and even got dressed up to drop her resume at a couple of companies.

It took six months before she landed a position at a prestigious company in the city. When she got the call from the HR department that she got the position she said a prayer of thanksgiving. Not only did she land a new job but she was going to be making ten thousand dollars more than she was making at her old job. She immediately called her sister and mother. She decided to hold off on calling Daniel as he was headed over to her apartment to drop off some job listing information she left at his house.

As she got some dinner ready for the both of them, she began to remember what it had felt like to lose her job and how she was able to make ends meet during the past six months. It was a miracle. Then she realized how much time Daniel had dedicated to supporting and helping her throughout the entire process and she was moved to tears.

Daniel rang the doorbell and when Claire opened the door, she saw her eyes. They seemed to light up and it’s something he had in a while. He missed them so much. She smiled and said “I GOT THE JOB!!!!” He rushed to embrace her and lifted her off her feet and said “YESSSSS!! I’m so happy for you baby!!” as he silently thanked God in his heart.

So I ask you this, Is this Love? If so, how do you know? If not, tell me why not?

Thanks for Reading…

Just_Wondering

The Power Of Prayer

Have you ever wondered if God is really listening when you ask Him for help? Do you think He cares about what is bothering you, who is hurting you, a situation is getting so out of control that you don't know what else to do. As a Christian I have built my faith on putting my trust in God. He is concerned about you and me! He will answer your prayers if you believe that he exists along with faith that He will fulfill your requests.


Well I wanted to share with you all just how much coming to God in prayer makes a difference in your life. When you pray, it doesn't have to be fancy, filled with a lot of words...Just talk to God like He is your friend. Speak to Him whenever you feel the need. On the bus, train, plane, while you are walking, running, before bed, in bed, in school, at work ANYWHERE!! God is so powerful that he has the ability to listen to each and everyone in different places at once!! So don't think He can't hear you.


This past summer my sister who was diagnosed with breast cancer found out that her cancer had returned after 5yrs!! Can you imagine just how shocking that was for my entire Family. She was diagnosed at the age of 23 and now at 28 she's faced with another tumor. So guess what we all did...You guessed it!! We started praying because honestly God is the one who created the human body. He knows how it works and Jesus healed many who came to Him by their faith. This time around I asked every single person I knew who told other people to pray for my sister. We attended the prayer meeting at our church and she went up for individual prayer each time. What was even more interesting was that at the prayer meetings the prayer band gives out prayer card requests to the entire congregation and we read the situations written on the card and get in small groups of 2-4 and pray about each request. During this ordeal do you know there were two occasions in which I received a card with two women who needed prayer because someone in their family had breast cancer. Did I get discouraged? Nope, because I knew that God had delivered my sister the 1st time and that card came to me for a reason. So I prayed with all my heart for those woman knowing GOD would come through for them!


They operated on my sister and removed the tumors! The doctors throughout the process were not very optimistic...However, we never placed our faith in them but in Jesus Christ! So when my sister went to see the doctor for her post opt visit the doctor told her that they removed the tumors, however the lab results revealed that my sister had microscopic cells left and that she had 3 options:


1-Do radiation for that area to kill cells (but you only get to do radiation once and it kills all cells)

2-Go back and remove more tissue hoping to get all of the cancer cells then radiation

3-Remove everything and be breast less (My sister had reconstructive surgery with breast implant)

This was a very hard decision as my sister still young and the thought of being breast less was a horrible thought. So she went with option 2.


When I found out this news, I was in a pharmacy and I was horrified! I came home that day and I pleaded with God to deliver my sister from this cancer as He has done in the past. I thanked him for keeping her for 5 years but I was coming to him again and this time ladies and gentlemen I left my sister in the hands of God. When you are in the mist of a storm, the winds my kick up, the rain may be pouring down hard, but God is in control of it all and I believed that He could heal my sister as Jesus healed that woman who was bleeding for YEARS and had faith that if she simply touched the edge of his cloak she would be healed. I have seen God protect my property (a story for another post) So of COURSE He could help my sister.


We Prayed, WE prayed, People PRAYED...The more I prayed the more I knew that I knew that I knew that no matter what happened God would come through. God is faithful! I didn’t care if things looked WORST God was in control.


So surgery day came....They took more tissue out.. Tissue with tiny cancer cells...I'd call it a blind surgery because they could never be sure they got it all. It's like digging for gold. You never know when you'll hit the jackpot...A week later my sister couldn't make it to the prayer meeting. So I went for prayer for her. The man said a wonderful prayer and asked me to come back with the results.


The results came in: Here it Comes


NOT ONE SINGLE CANCER CELL WAS FOUND IN THE SAMPLE THEY TOOK OUT!!!! NOT ONE!!!!!


We rejoiced and gave praises to who???? God Almighty!


There is power in prayer. I don't care how small the request is....I don't care if you think it's impossible. Know that God is concerned about you. Know that He can do anything that you ask! His power is LIMITLESS!!!


But the key to prayer is this

Philpians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.


So present your request right and then do this:

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.


YOU MUST HAVE FAITH!!!


Place that problem, or situation in Gods hands trusting him, believing he exists and He will move!! There will be times when you see things getting worst but KEEP PRAYING!! Even when it looks ugly and crazy STAY on TOP of YOUR PRAYER REQUEST!


And when all is said and done. When God comes through for you, don't forget to give him 100% of the credit. Don't talk about luck, don't say it was positive thinking, don't say it was the doctors or the medicine (they have their place) however when you pray and God comes through don't rob him of a THank YOu Jesus!

Now if you are reading this and you are interested in having a personal relationship with God and allow Him to guide your heart and your life...You believe that you need a savior and you know you have sinned...The Bible says that

Romans 10:9-11That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." (New International Version)

Get alone with God and say this prayer with faith and trust in God:

Heavenly Father,

I have sinned against You. I want forgiveness for all my sins. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me and rose again. Father, I give You my life to do with as You wish. I want Jesus Christ to come inot my life and into my heart. This I ask in Jesus' name.

Amen

If you read the Sinners Prayer and truely believe the words you read, then Praise the Lord as you have been saved and now your 1st step is to purchase a Bible, so that you can start your relationship with God! Check out http://www.christianbook.com/ to buy one. You can read my post on the Bible and watch the video at the top of this page to help you on your journey in understanding the message of the Bible. If you feel confused when reading ask God to help you understand each time before you start reading. I would suggest reading the book of John so you can get to know Jesus in a personal way.

If you have any questions about anything please email me. If you said this prayer EMAIL ME! I'd like to celebrate with you!

There is Power in Prayer!

God Bless You and Thanks for Reading!

Just_Wondering