God has taken the shears to me

Wow!! I have been gone on a landscaping job for awhile. It has been so hot out that I am wondering if I should rethink this whole landscaping idea!! not really, I love it, just not the heat and humidity.

Ya know, I don't know how many of you out there have ever suffered from an addiction, but if you have and have over come it I have a warning for you.
I was addicted to alcohol for some 5 years or so. God has released me from this addiction going on 3 years now!! Amen!! However, I was reading "Secrets of the Vine" by Bruce Wilkinson. He asked in this book, what is standing in the way of me not producing the fruit that God has intended for me to? Also he said "The first degree of discipline can be as simple as a convicting thought, as arresting as hearing your name". I heard as plain as day, right out of the blue that my medication that I had been taking for about 4 years to help me sleep was standing in my way of doing all that God wanted for me and that it was unhealthy. See I found this strange because I was only taking one pill at night to help me fall asleep. It was no big deal because my doctor prescribed it and I was doing as instructed. I did not see how this was a problem. Well God is so awesome! He knew that I was addicted to this medication and in fact it had a tremendous hold on me neurologically.

I heard Him tell me to stop taking it, so I did! Was I ever surprised how bad the withdrawal symptoms were. On about the 7th day I went on-line to see why I was having all these awful reactions. Well it said to NOT just stop taking this medication because of many reasons one of them being seizures. I did not want to start back and gradually come off them so I just prayed for all I was worth for God to lead me through the long battle ahead of me.

It has been three weeks now, and I still have some residual effects that may last for a month or more, but now I can sleep and my nerves are calming down. I NEVER want to go through such a horrible ordeal again!! You see I never saw that medication as something I may be addicted to because I was so use to taking it. God did see this and I was instantly convicted when I read that in the book. I was dependant on a unnecessary medication instead of allowing God to help me. I have to remind myself to turn to God first in all things because He will lead me in the right direction and make my path clear! I praise Him so much for walking me through this and never leaving me alone. He has given me the strength to overcome so much in my life. It is just amazing how much He loves me!

If you are reading this and wondering if you also may have something standing in your way of becoming all that God has for you, please know that He is right there waiting for you to just ask Him to help you too!! He tells us that He will never ask of us something that we can not do. He will give us all we need to get through even the worst situations. I know first hand the love and power God has in our lives if we just allow Him in our hearts to help us every day.

I have been blessed beyond imagination. I never would have thought that my life could ever be this good. Mark and I have found a whole new level of love and it is all because we both have a true relationship whit God. You also can have this in your life, no matter where you are at right now or what you have done in the past. There is nothing you could ever do to make God not love you!! Seriously!! This is true! What, you don"t believe that He could ever love you after all you have done? Well... I know that no matter what my kids do, I love them, I may not like what they have done and it may hurt me to see the damage that they have caused, but it does not change the fact that I love them. So, God loves us even more than a mother or father loves their children and you wonder if He can still love you? Of course He can!!! And He does!! He is just waiting for you to turn to Him and let Him help you to get your life where He wants it to be. God never wants us to hurt so if you are hurting right now please know that He is there for you!!

I bet this sounds just to good to be true. That is what I thought also, but I was at a point that I had nothing to lose and everything to gain so I went to my knees and ask for forgiveness for all I had done and asked God to come into my heart. The change in my life was instant. God placed wonderful people in my path, He removed from me all desire to drink, He tells me when I am being judgmental or unforgiving and helps me to over come these feelings. He has given me so much strength in areas that I would have never thought possible.

I now see that God has given me many gifts and if I use them to glorify Him then life is wonderful and I am so very happy!!

Now I can say that I truly am FREE!!!! LOVING IT!!!! Are you free? You can be!!! He is waiting for you! I will help you if you need. Just let me know, drop me a note and we can talk. It will be OK because we all have a Father who loves us!