He took my soul from rags to riches!!!
I cannot begin to thank the Lord for all He has done for me. But these last few days. Wow, He surprised me more than I would have ever thought possible.
My FH and my kids go away often and although I never felt jealous I thought that the only time I would be able to go on holiday like that would be when my marriage is restored. Ha, the Lord showed me how wrong I was.
When Erin's daughter Tara came to visit and said that they (she and her mom) would like to take me to Cape Town on holiday I thought well, maybe I will be able to get a few days off from work to go and that would be great.
Then the Lord showed me again that with Him in my life I should not think so small. I had a whole 3 weeks leave which He devised because of something bad happening that He turned for good. You see I get 6 weeks leave a year which I usually take in one go from December to January. When I took my leave last year December, my new boss made it clear to me that once I start working for her she will never allow me to take leave for so long. So I had to separate my leave in two, having 3 weeks in the middle of the year and 3 weeks in the end of the year. So He started working all this out even before our plans were finalised:)
So, 10 days in Cape Town! How amazing it was. I really enjoyed being away from everything. Just resting in Him. I found myself staring out of the window at the most beautiful view I have ever seen and then suddenly wondering, hey should I not be doing something. And the Lord just reminded me that I can be Mary for a while. No need to be Martha all the time. (Read Luke 10:38-42)
Well, so this Mary really enjoyed her time with the Lord and being so spoiled and then came my birthday. It started out with a wonderful breakfast with a breathtaking view. We stopped at a few places and then we took a wrong turn and as we were driving and thinking where to turn around we came upon this place with a view that was even more breathtaking than the first. And I felt so special. This was the Lord taking our wrong turn and turning it into a birthday present from Him to me:):):)
As if He has not done enough already, He took another bad situation (blisters on my foot) and turned it into good. I relaxed with a nice cup of coffee and a great book in the winter sunshine while Tara finished her shopping!!!
And then to top off the whole day, I could go for a stroll on the beach with the waves crashing and the sand beneath my feet and just thank Him for a perfect day. What a perfect end to a much-needed vacation from Him.
O ladies, if ever you doubt His love for you, please read this and know that He wants to spoil each of you now, yes now. Whether your marriage is restored or not, your Heavenly Husband wants you to have joy in Him. He wants to take that broken, trampled heart of yours and He wants to show You what a wonderful Husband He can be if you let Him...
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
(Psalms 8:3-9 - KJV)
The day we went on top of table mountain, I felt so small and humbled by the creation of the Lord and then the next day my first Psalm was Psalm 8 and it summed up everything I had in my heart at that time.
I am so small in this big picture and yet He takes the time to give me the opportunity to go on holiday and to spoil me on my birthday.
You may enjoy seeing Yvonne and Tara picture near the top of our ministers' page.
Do you want to PRAISE Him for how He's brought you from Rags to Riches and/or from being a Martha to a Mary? Aren't you thankful that Yvonne took the time to share her PRAISE with you an Encouraging Woman?
Remember, Matthew 7:13-14 tells us to “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.”
And Psalm 100:4 tells us HOW to Enter— “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.”
Be sure to submit a Praise Report today and enter through that narrow gate few ever find!