"I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels."

(Isaiah - 61:10 - NLT)

This past week I have had such an overwhelming sense of God's presence all around me. Not only His presence, but an even deeper overwhelming of my love for Him. On my way to work Tuesday, I was talking with God and told Him, "God, I just have an overwhelming love for You today." At lunch, I still felt that way and just HAD to spend it with Him. I asked Him to show me, as I opened my Bible, what He wanted me to read. So I closed my eyes and opened my Bible and you can probably guess by now, the above verse is where I landed. Isn't it great how God came back at me with my own words - just so he could tell me how He feels about me! I love when He does that!

I guess the overwhelming in my spirit this week is because it is getting closer to spring - which is one of my favorite times of the year. There is so much to watch, and I love to watch it year after year - everything starts coming to life again. Little by little, the trees start blooming, the grass starts showing some green, early blooming flowers are starting to pop out. Then, there are the birds that God sends to me every morning outside my bedroom window to tell me "good morning Sharon, I Love You." Soon we will start seeing baby animals - they are just so adorable when they are so little and I love to watch the parent animals care for their newborns. They are so gentle and loving. I just LOVE this time of year! Why - because it's when we are truly reminded of just how much God does love us. Winter is starting to lose its hardness, the sun seems to be brighter, and hope starts rising up in us again. Color starts showing up all around us with each passing day. I like to step out of the world - for lack of a better way to say it - and imagine what this earth would look like without any buildings, cars, manmade stuff - especially now. Can you see the beauty of God? Maybe just a glimpse of what the Garden of Eden looked like. Can you smell the newness, the freshness, the different trees and flowers?

This time of year renews my hope, my hope in the Lord - it seems like God loves spring too - just so he CAN renew our hope. Another year behind us, the battles, heartbreaks.... we've been through a lot. I can't help but feel that God just wants to give us a time of year that is nothing but His time to show us His love for us. He gives us a season of love - Christmas, Valentine's Day, spring, then Easter. A season of HIS love. It's His time when He gets to burst out in full color to encourage and strengthen us. To give us renewed hope, new hope, new dreams. To let us know HE is STILL HERE, HE is STILL in control, and HE STILL LOVES US! My precious friends, put your hope in the Lord, not in anything or anyone, but in Him. Oh what a difference it makes. When you put your hope in Him, you will see such a newness in your life, in your spirit; an increase in trusting Him, and you will begin a new journey in walking with the Lord in relationship. As your hope increases, so will your dreams. Dreams that may have been let go come back to life, new dreams are given to you. Dreams turn into visions and visions into reality. God uses it to increase your faith, your faith in Him, your faith that with God you CAN do it, your faith that WITH God ALL things are possible! No matter how big the dreams are, they are never too big for God! When we try to see the how it will happen - we are placing limits on God. Just walk with Him, He gave you the dream - He will take care of how - you just keep walking, trusting, hoping and loving Him.

So, as we go through another week, I pray that your hope is renewed daily, that you see God's beauty in all that is around you - whether it be nature, animals, people. I pray that God's overwhelming love for you overtakes you. I pray that your overwhelming love for God consumes you. I pray for newness and strengthening in you, and new boldness in Him. I pray for dreams, hope, faith, and LOVE in your life that has not been there before. I pray for an increase of God in You!

Sharon Taylor 

"Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks

forgiveness, you must forgive.” (Luke 17:4 - NLT)

I received a word when preparing last week's blog which I thought was to be for this week. I prayed all week for God to show me the picture of what He was wanting to say and I even wrote the blog. But, when I finished, I felt like God was changing things on me, so I prayed about it again and this afternoon, on my way out the door to Church, sure enough, God spoke to my spirit and said write about "forgiveness". I am not sure why, but I want to do what He has asked, and so in obedience to Him, I pray these words strike the chord in each of us as God would have.

It seems that we live in a world that is so full of hurting people. There are those hurts that lie on the surface and then, there are the hurts that are buried deep in our hearts. You know what I mean - verbal, emotional, physical abuse and hurt that cuts to the core of our being. When we get hurt like that, it makes it hard for us to trust, it causes us to be angry, to fear and hate. So, when God said "forgiveness", I said of course, I see where you are going with this. Why? Well, not so much because of forgiveness, but more because of unforgiveness. Because when we hurt like that and don't forgive, in our unforgiveness, we are holding all of that INSIDE of us. But what's even worse is that sometimes, we can't forgive ourselves! That is one of the hardest things to do - forgive ourselves, even when the person we have wronged has forgiven us.

Unforgiveness is so powerful all on it's own and we allow it to control us! Just how crazy is that? Really, think about it, we hold it all in and then it starts showing up in us. It changes who we are - one day, we are loving, caring people, the next - we are filled with anger, negativity, etc. It affects our physical bodies too. We allow suffering because of unforgiveness - like mental illness (depression) and physical illness.

So, how do we get rid of the illness? As Jesus said - forgive! If the wrongdoer asks for forgiveness, we must forgive. But what about those that wrong us and don't ask for forgiveness? We must still forgive! It is as simple as that. Forgiveness isn't always about the person who wronged us - sometimes a person doesn't even know they have wronged us. Forgiveness is so that we can let go of the hurt and all that comes with it. It is so we can lay it all down and give it to God. It is so we can move forward with God and become healthy again! When we can't forgive ourselves, God says He can.

There were so many wrongs that Jesus suffered, but in all of it, He forgave. He forgave me, He forgave you - even before we were born. Why? Because He longs for that healthy relationship with us. He longs for us to become the mighty woman of God that He created us to be. He longs to shower us with His love. He longs for us to take His love and speak it to others. He longs for us to live!

So I pray that this week, God will speak to each of us, in His own unique way and I pray that we listen with expectation for His whisper. I pray that we take His hand and trust Him and when He wants to show us what needs to be dealt with, we say ok and we lay it all down. I pray that as we lay it down and give it to God that we feel His love embrace us. That we feel His breath breathing new life into us. I pray that as the week goes on, we see a healthier us, and that others notice it too. I pray that others will want to know how it happened and we can say - Jesus! Do you know Him? If not, let me introduce you to Him!

Sharon Taylor

"This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust Him."

(Psalm 91:2 - NLT)

"He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with His wings.

His faithful promises are your armor and protection."

(Psalm 91:4 - NLT)

Trust - what is it? It is defined in the dictionary as an "assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone; one in which confidence is placed." It is also defined as a "dependence on something future." But what I want to know is, what does it mean to you when the Lord says "trust in me?" Do you trust in Him? Do you trust no one? Is it hard to trust?

It seems like God has had me tell a story from my childhood a lot lately and it seems like He is asking me to share it here with you - so, here we go. My parents divorced when I was 3 and as unusual as it was in that day and age, my daddy actually gained custody of me and my sister. I loved my daddy so much. When it came time for him to come home at night after work, I just couldn't wait. My favorite time of the evening was after we ate dinner. We would settle down in the living room and I would immediately climb up in my daddy's lap. I loved to cuddle up and lean against his chest with his arms wrapped tight around me. It seemed like it was the safest place I could be in all the world. I would lean my right ear against his chest and listen. My daddy smoked and his cigarette box would be in his shirt pocket and the corner of the box would poke me in the ear, but it didn't matter to me. I'd wiggle around that box until I could get my ear next to my daddy's heart. I would lay there just listening to the beat of his heart, feeling his chest go up and down with every breath. I laid there taking in all that I could, smelling him, feeling him squeeze me every once in a while, reminding me he was there, hearing him tell me he loved me. What more could a little girl ask for! All the cares of the world from that day would fade away and I would fall fast asleep, safe in my daddy's arms.

And then, I grew up and in growing up, as we all do, we get too old to sit on daddy's lap. We go out into the cold, cruel world and put our trust in others, and we end up getting hurt. Some get hurt so deeply that it cuts to the core of who we are. Do you know what I mean? We get so hurt that we take our hearts and wrap them up in the softest linen we can find. Then we take our heart and place it in a box with even more padding. The box is made of iron walls. We put chains and a lock on the box so that no one can get in because we won't EVER allow anyone to hurt us like that again - ever! Then, we move on. We take each day and do what we must to keep busy and get by. But, although we don't allow anyone to see, we still feel the pain, we still feel the longing, we still feel. And then one day, the voice of the Lord - who has been whispering to us the whole time - "trust in me", "come to me" "I Love You my daughter" - those words, they finally get through. Our hearts start beating a little faster and we wonder - is it true - can I really trust Him?

I am here to tell you, yes, you can trust Him. He is your Father and He Loves You with everything He has. He has been with you the whole time, through all the hurt, the pain, the tears. When you hurt - He hurt; when you felt the pain - He felt the pain; when your tears flowed - His tears flowed. When you felt worthless - He cried and tried to tell you - not to me. He has taken every step with you, even though you felt like you were all alone. God longs for you, yes, YOU!

So, I ask you this next week to allow that little girl in you to come out. Listen, can you hear Him. Can you hear Him telling you, “it's ok - come on. I don't care how old you are, YOU are still MY little girl. Come here, crawl up in my lap and let me hold you. I am your "daddy". Come, rest in me. Lay your head against my chest and listen to my heart - do you know it beats just for YOU. With each breath, smell my fragrance of love.” Can you hear Him saying “I love you - I know, I know, it has been so long and hard and you have hurt so deeply. Here, let me wipe your tears away. Sleep my daughter, I am here with you. I'm not going anywhere, I will be right here - I will protect you. Sweet dreams, my precious daughter, sweet dreams, daddy's here.”

May you become more and more aware of your "daddy's" presence and may you allow yourself to start trusting Him, and as you learn to trust Him - little by little - when you are ready - He will help you open that box. He knows how hard it is for you, and it's ok - He has time. Then the day will come when you realize that you want to trust Him with all your heart and what a day that will be. You will give Him your whole heart and - He will give you a new heart - His heart.

Sharon Taylor

"Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me,

my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them."

(John 14:21)

How great is it for me that I get to write this, my first blog, on Valentine's Weekend? I can tell you it is a great honor and privilege, for if there is one thing I love to do with all my heart, soul, mind and spirit, with all that is within me, it is to share God through His Love for us. God's love for us is so deep, so wide, so everything - no words can completely describe it; and yet, there is still so much pain and suffering in this world. As bad as that breaks my heart, I can only imagine how it breaks God's heart.

Loving God is a choice we must make - John 14:21 - "those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me." It is our choice to accept or not accept, it is our choice to obey or not obey. If we truly want to know Jesus and His love, then we need to make that choice. Then, and only then, will we be able to know true love, and then and only then, will we truly know how to love.

As Valentine's Day has been approaching, we have seen people rushing out to buy flowers, to buy candy, to buy for their special someone for this special day - in the name of love, and what a precious thing it is to have someone special to share this love with. But yet, at the same time, there are others who have such an emptiness and an aching and a longing that doesn't seem to ever go away and times like these only makes things seem more empty, more painful.

But take heart my precious friend - because Jesus promises, if we make that choice, the choice of loving Him, He will reveal himself to each and every one of us. There is no greater love than the love of Jesus and once we come to know His love - oh how it changes us, how it transforms us, how it gives new life to us. With everything, there is a season, but with every season, there is Love, HIS love, His unconditional, unfailing love. So I ask you now, are you ready - are you ready to get rid of the things of the past that have caused you to have that emptiness, that longing? Those things that have caused you not to trust anyone, including Jesus? Are you ready to learn how to walk in that "perfect" love? Then I say, make your choice - choose Jesus, choose to accept His commandments and to obey them and let's begin a journey together of getting to know Him, to know Jesus, in ALL His fullness, in ALL His love. Let God be your Father, let Him be your Husband, let Him be your best friend. Let Him show you who He created you to be and as we take this journey in the blogs to come, let us step into the fullness of that woman God created us to be.

So, until next time, may you have a blessed Valentine's Day - may you know you are NOT alone, may you know Jesus cares about YOU. May you know YOU ARE LOVED. Jesus loves YOU so, so much - You are so precious to Him, He longs for You, He desires You. Don't let the things of this world make you lose sight of this! Hold on tight to Him!

Sharon Taylor

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed

by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.

So throw off the bowlines.

Sail away from the safe harbor.

Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore! Dream! Discover!”

(Anonymous)

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I unsuccessfully tried to find the writer of the above quote, but it is hanging in Mary’s computer cabinet and has spoken to me many times over the past few weeks, since Mary welcomed me into her home. I wanted to share it with every one of you who have heard God’s voice encouraging you to step out of your comfort zone and dive into the life He has designed for you and you alone. I promise…there will be no regrets when you take that risk and step out in faith. Had I remained where it was “safe”, I would be in Muscatine, still asking God to help me as I search for a job. I didn’t know what I was stepping into when I purged my house, packed my car and headed west. I only knew that God was breathing renewal into my life and I would find Him, leading and beckoning me around each new bend.

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Habakkuk 1:5b

“…For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”

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As His children with the limitations of human thought, we cannot imagine in our wildest dreams…even if we dreamed spectacular dreams…what God will do in our lives. I had always only dreamed of growing older in my hometown and watching the grandkids graduate from college, helping them achieve their dreams and goals. How many of you are there? If you are, I have good news for you! God has a plan for your life and there are no limited constraints in His desire for your daily walk…your specific adventure…with Him.

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Can you dream of going to a new place, discovering an old friend in a stranger’s face, being blessed with new relationships, and finding the life God had created you to live? There are timid souls out there and I was one of them, I guarantee you. Before I watched a film entitled, “Matthew” and came face to face with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I would have never ventured out on my own. I would not have accepted my nephew’s offer to come to Arizona and look for a job there. I was a “river rat”, born and raised on the banks of the Mississippi River…why would I move to a desert? But what God has shown me is not merely a dry, arid desert, but the fresh air you will only find as you climb higher in the mountains exploring beyond the valley of the desert that surrounds you.

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This past week Bob, my nephew, took me to the mountains. He told me that many people in the valley see all the traffic and don’t like it, yet will not venture out of the city and into the smaller communities in the mountains to see all the beauty God has poured out and blessed them with…splendor all around as far as the eye can see. They have tunnel vision. Bob is an outdoorsman and has taken his Bible and some provisions to spend hours, days and weeks in the mountains, and I am benefitting from his explorations. He is happy to share with me everything he has discovered and encourages me to become an explorer myself by taking walks and climbing up a narrow path or creating paths of my own to see why God has brought me here. I am filled with a spirit of adventure, knowing God is around each corner with something new and exciting for me to discover. I want to encourage all of you to join Him in the opportunities He has for each of you as you travel the paths of your lives with Him.

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Have I discovered all that He has for me? Is this the end of the adventure? Can I rest on my laurels now? Not by a long shot. Each new day is an adventure with Jesus and another beautiful color added to the tapestry of my life that the Master Weaver is designing. I pray for all of you and want to hear every story and all the adventures He has led you into…we will need Eternity to share all our opportunities with each other! Glorify Jesus by sharing each adventure of your life!

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"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

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Joyce Small