I declare!

Today is the last day of 2012.  Wow!  This year has been full of so much...heartbreak, pain, frustration, tears, confusion, doubt, love, joy, happiness, hope, God...This year I have learned so much, about myself, about God, about my future, about love--what is truly is and is not...2012 is not at all what I expected it to be, but it was everything that it needed to be.  Now, 2013 is going to be amazing!  It is going to be full of God's favor in my life.  This year He will provide for me a car, a job, a home of my own, new friendships, and maybe even a new love.  This year will see the miraculous, orchestrated only by God, supernatural release of my brother from prison.  This year will see many dreams ans hopes come into fruition.  This year will see a supernatural provision for my entire family, my sister, brother, parents, and myself.  I declare that the year 2013 will be a year of salvation for my lost family members and a new level for those who know Him already.  This year will see the release of books, starting of businesses.  This year we will see the glory of God in our lives and in our church like never before.  This year will be a year of blessing and favor.  This year, the year of "rebellion and satan" (what the number 13 represents), we will see the complete opposite of that---a year of complete and total humility and submission to the Lord Jesus Christ and a year full of His power, His grace, His mercy, His faithfulness, His love, His provision, His Spirit, His peace, and so much more!  This year, I will experience Him in a new way, on a new level.  This year, He will activate the "above and beyond" in my life, while I learn to "Just Breathe" and trust Him. 
This year is going to be amazing!!!  Are you ready?!?!?!?

Ugh! yet, not really:)

Sometimes I hate that I remember dates so well...Don't get me wrong, I love that I remember birthdays and anniversaries for the ones that I hold close...what I hate is that I remember birthdays for the ones who broke my heart, the ones who I no longer a part of my life...I hate that they are still a memory...I have a quote on this blog that says, "the beautiful thing about memories is that they are yours, whether they are good, bad, or indifferent...they belong to you.  And no matter where life takes you, your memories tie you to where you've been."  I just want to forget...I don't want to remember birthdays...maybe with time I will forget, or I will just remember the good memories and not the bad ones, the painful ones.  Just maybe...
On another note, it's almost 2013!  Do you know what happens in 2013?  My brother comes home!!!  YAY!  I am so excited, I just can't contain it!  This will be the last Christmas, the last New Year that we will have to spend without him...I can't wait to see what God has in store...I can't wait to see how He will move in my life, in the life of my family:)  I can't wait to write it all down and then read it later!  How exciting will it be to read it all, to share all that God has done?  I'm so ready to start writing some good stuff, to start writing about all the "Above and Beyond" stuff that God will be doing in 2013!!!

Remember...

I sit here watching the news, and reading all my facebook friends post, about the shootings of 20 innocent kindergarten children, and 7 adults--by a 24 year old man.  All these posts talk about the evil in this world, about the sadness and heartbreak that they feel for the parents and families of these innocent people...yes, I do feel heartbreak...I am not a parent, but the thought that this could have been any one of my nieces, or my mom who is a teacher, saddens me, the reality of this world.  However, for me, the tears that I cried were in part for the soul of the one who pulled the trigger over and over again.  He was a human being also.  He was a sick man, yes, but he was still a human being.  The Savior of this world, the One who died for me, the One who has given me so much joy and freedom, spared my from so much pain and suffering, is also the One who died for this man.  Jesus loved him just as much as He loves me.  He died for Him just as much as He died for me.  I am sure that His heart was grieved today also, but not only for the children, for the innocent, but for the one who did this.
This is how I know that God has changed me...that He has changed my heart.  I am angry, but not at the man who did this, rather the one who so deceptively controlled this man's thoughts, actions.  Yes, this man made a choice...a really bad choice, but God still loves him.  I can't help but wonder if he ever heard the name of Jesus.  I can't help but wonder if anyone ever reached out to him.  A teacher? friend? neighbor? co-worker? classmate? mailman?  pastor?  Did anyone ever pray for him, really pray for him?  If so, did they pursue him?  Did they fight for him?  Did they constantly love him and get in his business, make him talk?  I wonder.
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood...So, as you process the events of today, I challenge you to remember who the enemy is...to remember that we have been called to be the salt of the earth, the light in a darkened world...Greater is He who is in us!  I challenge you to speak life into all those around you...you may never know how dark their world is, you may never know how powerful your love, friendship, encouraging word, or prayer is to that person.  I challenge you to listen closely to the voice of God, the Holy Spirit as He leads you to the hurting and dying people of this world.  I challenge you to remember that for God so loved the WORLD...we must love like Christ loves, we must embrace as Christ embraces, and we must forgive as Christ forgives..."Father forgive them, for they know not what they do"...sound familiar?

Dreaming with Him,

Andrea

New Beginnings!

I've been thinking alot about this year...the year 2012...about the things I had hoped for, the dreams I had...etc.  As I look back, as we are about to close out 2012, I remember so many things.  I remember what my life looked like this time last year.  I was emotionally connected to someone that I loved with my entire being-who was becoming connected with someone else while I wasn't looking.  I was sad, I was depressed, I was confused about my purpose in life, what I wanted, etc.  Honestly, I was living a life of disobedience.  Satan is sly like that...he gets in and then before you realize it, you are in deep.  I was lonely and I wasn't seeking God like I should have been...when that happens it's a setup waiting to happen.  I gave him a foothold...by the time I realized what had happened, what I had done...it was too late.  I was already so in love that I figured I could "him.  I could make him want the same things I wanted, love God the way I thought he needed to, be who I knew he could be...THEN I went to this thing called "THE RAMP" and my life was forever changed.  I can't explain what happened, and I can't believe that it hasn't even been a year yet.  God drastically changed me.  He gave me hope, joy, delivered me from the fear of man.  He showed me that He has a destiny for my life and asked me to dream His dreams for me.  I came back a different Andrea.  Completely different.
Throughout this year I lost love, I felt pain.  I know what it feels like to be betrayed, to be cheated on, to find out that everything you believed to be true was a lie.  I know what it's like to grieve the death of dreams, love, life as I knew it.  I know what it's like to have everything stripped away from you and to be left with nothing, or at least what feels like nothing.  I know what it's like to sacrifice.  You see, God has always chased me, pursued me.  He has always been trying to get my attention, to take me to a greater level with Him.  No matter what I wanted, what my flesh wanted, my spirit, my soul, ALWAYS wanted Him more than anything else.  My flesh wasn't strong enough to give everything up on my own, so my prayer was for His help...and although I would have saved myself alot of pain and heartache if I would have done it myself, He helped me.  Even though I let Satan deceive me, to distract me from God's dreams for me, God was still pursuing me.  He was still chasing me.  He is still chasing me, still pursuing me.  This year of 2012---as I mentioned in an earlier blog--I learned that He is enough.  God is enough for me.  I have learned about the kind of love I deserve, the kind of love I desire.  I don't want to be pursued by a love that is selfish, that turns to another when it gets to be too much work.  I have learned what is and is not okay.  I have learned that God loves me so much that He has created a man out there for me that is praying for me.  As I pursue the Lord, and as he pursues the Lord, God will lead us to pursue each other. 
So, although 2012 was a year that I was asked to sacrifice much, to walk away from much, I am thankful for the lessons learned.  And I am more thankful that soon I can put 2012 behind me and look towards 2013! 2013 will be a year of new beginnings! A year that puts my "above and beyond' into action!  So, keep your eyes on this blog, I will write about my new beginnings, the new things that God is going to be doing in my life, in the life of my family.  2013 will see my brother being released from prison, it will see my new job, new car, and who knows, possibly even a husband:)!  You never know...

Still dreaming His dreams,

Andrea