Month: November 2015

LOVING EXTRAVAGANTLY

My husband and I moved to Houston 8 months ago to be close to our only two perfectly wonderful and wonderfully perfect grandbabies! I am over the moon about them and being close to my only daughter and great son-in-law but it has been quite a transition moving to the 4th largest city in the United States with over 2 million peeps! I recently went to the city’s BIG Christmas market and was literally just carried from place to place by the crowd of women as we were shoulder to shoulder! So many people!

Yesterday my wonderful hubs thought it would be fun to take me to see the Galleria shopping mall! Having been a “mallaholic” for most of our 37 years of marriage, I was excited and full of giddy expectation! It didn’t take long for that giddiness to turn to grumpiness as I felt smothered by the throngs of people madly dashing to get the best deal for their dollars! After a couple of hours I felt like I had done one of those mud obstacle courses minus the mud!

I’m here to confess to you that I didn’t have the most kind and loving spirit towards that mass of people! 😬 Now outwardly, other than a few sighs directed towards the lady exchanging her toddler’s entire wardrobe, I appeared to be that nice loving Christian, but inside my head in rapid fire, I was making comments about those people who had bumped past me or driven their massive strollers over my feet!

But the Lord holds me to a high standard which fortunately but unfortunately I have asked Him to do! With each and every critical and negative thought I had, the Holy Spirit, in His firm but loving way, nailed me on it! By the time I left that mall I was not only physically and emotionally wrung out, but felt like such a grinch who had failed miserably in God’s love your neighbor command!

What I love about the Lord is He takes our failures and turns them into fabulous life lessons that actually change our very hearts and makes us more like Jesus! So this morning I happened upon a beautiful story of a family at Target who didn’t have enough money for their purchases so were putting things back they couldn’t pay for. A lady in the lane next to them overheard and stepped in to say she wanted to pay for their ENTIRE purchase! The mom began to weep! Now no doubt this dear saint probably experienced the trauma of Target during the holidays and had probably been been dodging kids and carts and waiting in a long line, yet she heard that still small voice calling her to step in and be Jesus with skin on! She was loving extravagantly!

How many opportunities do we miss each and every day because we allow negative and selfish thoughts to crowd out the voice of our precious Lord! How He wants to use us to bring the good news of His love, mercy and grace to those who are struggling with pain, disappointment, fear and loss. So someone pushed past me to grab the last sweater! What hurts are they carrying in their hearts! What devastating circumstances are they experiencing! What if it was me going through the same thing? What if I could be the only person who has shown them love for as long as they can remember! What if I’m their only representation of our loving God and our Savior Jesus?

“BELOVED, LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER, FOR LOVE IS FROM GOD, AND WHOEVER LOVES HAS BEEN BORN OF GOD AND KNOWS GOD. ANYONE WHO DOES NOT LOVE DOES NOT KNOW GOD, BECAUSE GOD IS LOVE.” 1John 4:7-8

Oh precious ones, our Amazing Heavenly Father loves us extravagantly! He gave us a gift that we could never come close to matching nor could we ever repay. He gave us His only Son Jesus and even watched Him go through excruciating pain, suffering and even death! But He was gloriously raised up and is seated right now beside the Father, where night and day He is praying for us and asking the Father to meet our every need and give us the desires of our heart! That’s extravagant!

So how can we do any less than love people extravagantly! Since we experience God’s over the top, to the moon and back love, don’t others deserve that too no matter what they’ve done or how they act?
When I acted a fool yesterday, my beautiful Abba Father went above and beyond to teach me through my failure and dropped in my heart how very much He loves me inspite of my shortcomings! Reminding me once again I’m His beautiful mess!

WARNING!! We can NOT love people this way unless we rely on the Lord’s strength and power! There are some pretty tough cases out there, but at times we can all be one of the toughest! During this season where the lonely feel even more alone and the hurting hurt even deeper, let’s ask the Lord to give us His eyes to see others as He sees them, His heart to feel the compassion He feels and the courage to reach out and love extravagantly!

PRAYER: Dearest Loving Lord, Thank you for loving us in the most extravagant way! Forgive us for taking for granted the GREAT PRICE that was paid so we could live in fellowship, freedom and peace in you now and forever! Open our eyes Lord to see what you see in others whether it be our own family and friends or strangers we pass every day. Help us never to forget that we may be the only Jesus with skin that others may see! Give us your heart for people and the courage to reach out and touch a life with Your extravagant love!

Love always❤️,
TaraBella
“HE MUST INCREASE AND I MUST DECREASE” John 3:30
P.S. Send me your stories on how you reached out to show love!💖

LOVING THE REAL JESUS

Since I’ve turned 60, I’ve spend a lot of time looking back on my life! I’ve thought about how I could have been a better mom, wife, daughter. How I should have done this more or that less. The coulda, shoulda, woulda’s swirl around in my not as sharp as it used to be mind! But God in His preciousness and unrelenting love keeps bringing me back to the many, many blessings He’s poured out on me because I’m His beautiful child and He LOVES to bless His children! “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:11

Gratefulness-“Deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received.” This definition of gratefulness seems to warrant a BIG, DEEP response from us to whomever has bestowed kind blessings upon us. We are so quick to thank someone when we receive a gift or when someone cooks a meal for us, helps out with the kids or gives us an encouraging word! You know, when real people do real things for us!

But how quick are we to thank the One who gave up His life for us! The One who forgives us a billion times a billion and then some more! The One who loves us wildly even when our minds and thoughts are on the petty things of this world instead of on the One who is responsible for our very life and breath! Why do we show more gratitude towards our earthy family and friends than we do our Creator, Savior, Redeemer? “In Him we live and move and have our being.”Acts 17:28

I think sometimes it is easier to respond to real people we can touch and see! But let me tell you precious ones;

Jesus is REAL y’all!

I’ve touched the hem of His garment and been healed! I’ve seen Him transform lives, restore broken relationships, deliver people from addictions! I’ve heard His still small voice whisper that He will see me through, give me strength and restore the things the enemy has stolen! I’ve seen the lost saved, the weak become strong and His grace be sufficient! Apart from Jesus, we are nothing and can do nothing until He is our EVERYTHING! “For apart from Me you can do nothing.”John 15:5

One day in my quiet time I sensed the Lord telling me in His kind but firm way that I was not being grateful for the things in life that He had given me! He nailed it as always for I had been murmuring and complaining about my present circumstances. And then I heard the million dollar question: “Who do you say I am?” Jesus asked this question to His disciples, His closest circle of friends who spent every waking minute with Him for the past three years! Really? You think we don’t KNOW who you are by now?

Who do we say Jesus is? Have we met the REAL Jesus or do we just know the Jesus that religion has taught us about! The REAL Jesus is so full of love for us that no matter how much of a mess we are, He calls us His Beautiful Mess and loves us through it! The religious Jesus that we’ve heard about loves us if we say and do all the right things! The REAL Jesus has the desire and power to come into impossibly hopeless situations and bring hope and healing! The religious Jesus is not quite big and powerful enough and may not even want you to deliver us!

Jesus is REAL y’all and I’m so GRATEFUL for the REAL Jesus that pursued me as a young Catholic girl, brought me through many situations where I felt rejected and had no self-worth and did miracle after miracle in the life of our son who was diagnosed at 2 with a brain tumor ( now 29 yrs old and married to a precious girl!). He has healed me supernaturally from physical illness, crippling fear, legalism, pride, selfishness, unforgiveness, anger and a BIG religious spirit! “For nothing is impossible with God” Luke 1:37

So how in the world can I not be GRATEFUL! I KNOW the REAL Jesus and He loves me deeply, and unconditionally! He is wild about me and He’s wild about you too! So which Jesus do you KNOW? I think the times I am ungrateful and whine and complain, I am putting Jesus in that small religious box where I have to work for His love and approval and just cross my fingers and hope He’s big enough to save me from whatever mess I’m in! But when I turn my eyes to the REAL Jesus, my heart is full of gratitude, devotion and deep love for the One who NEVER leaves me or forsakes me! I can’t fear because I know He is bigger than any problem I face! This has become my life verse:

“For my God is able to do exceeding and abundantly MORE than I could ever ask or think, according to His power that is at work within us” Ephesians 3:20 I think that just about covers it all!!

So here’s the invitation! Get to KNOW the REAL Jesus! Dig in to the Bible and read the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. You will see a beautiful picture of who Jesus really is! Don’t be fooled by the weak and watered down version that the world speaks of and sadly much of the church does too. The Jesus I’ve gotten to know is BIG, powerful, compassionate and full of grace and mercy when we don’t get it right! He loves you so deeply that He willingly went to the cross and by His death and resurrection provided a way to intimately KNOW Him and receive everything we could ever need to live victoriously and eternally!

“BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL, AND ALL THAT IS WITHIN ME, BLESS HIS HOLY NAME! BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL, AND FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS, WHO FORGIVES ALL YOUR SINS AND HEALS ALL YOUR DISEASES, WHO REDEEMS YOUR LIFE FROM THE PIT, WHO CROWNS YOU WITH STEADFAST LOVE AND MERCY, WHO SATISFIES YOU WITH GOOD SO THAT YOUR YOUTH IS RENEWED LIKE THE EAGLES.” Psalm 103:1-5

Now that’s as REAL and fabulous as it gets! May our hearts be full of gratitude for the One whose love ran red at the cross so we could truly live!

TaraBella

PRAYER: Dearest Lord, We want to really KNOW the REAL you and all of your awesome ways! Help us to take you out of the small boxes we have put you in! Grow us in our faith to believe that You can move mountains! Help us to really believe that you want to see us walk in love, freedom, joy, hope, peace and victory! Open our eyes to see the many ways you love us and may we be grateful for all you have given us! We love you imperfectly but help us perfect that love!

 

 

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NOT ANOTHER BLOGGER! 😬

*We all want to be heard.

*We all want to make a difference our world.

*We all want to affect lives in a positive way. 

And yes we all want to start a blog! Although these aforementioned reasons are part of my motivation to enter this over saturated and underpaid world of blogging, one of my motives is a bit different! I’m lonesomeI just turned 60, moved to a HUGE city in Texas to be near our only daughter and son-in-law who have given us 2 of the most adorable and perfect grandbabies! But being here almost 9 months I’ve found it sooooo incredibly hard to make new friends! My precious granddaughter Landry Grace is my best friend here, but there are limitations to conversations with a 2 yr old!

With the likes of incredible bloggers like Jen Hatmaker, Ann Voskamp and Lysa TerKeurst (Proverbs 31 Ministries), who each have tens of thousands of followers/friends, I figured if I can just get 10, I’d be as happy as a mom whose 6 week old baby started sleeping through the night! Of course my mom, daughter and sister could not be counted as part of the 10! I do realize I would also have to be as witty as Jimmy Fallen and Jimmy Kimmel combined, be as beautiful as Angelina Jole and have 3.5 more children while adopting several more!  So since my grandbabies are the only ones who think I’m funny, I’m 60 and I’ve only had 3 kids, we will just have to see where this goes!

In all seriousness, I have been a lover of Jesus since I was a young girl and have a passion for each of you to see yourselves as God sees you! I want us all to discover the incredible joy of a crazy close relationship with Jesus and uncover the gifts He has so graciously given each of us! Can you imagine what a difference we could make in our own little sphere of influence if we used our God-given gifts and walked in the plans God has already mapped out for us before we were even born! The enemy of our souls has derailed us far too long! You must know that you are so precious and valuable and your life matters! What you bring to those around you can not be replicated or duplicated!

*”For you are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10

This world and all the yuk in it have beat us up pretty good! We’re made to feel unworthy, unloved, unappreciated and invisible on top of that! At times we’ve made bad choices with terrible consequences! We’ve broken promises to others, ourselves and to God and have been crushed by the broken promises of others. We’ve repeated besetting sins and continued to struggle with strongholds that leave us feeling we will never be able to measure up to the godly person we so want to be! We’ve been disappointed in ourselves, others and even with God! But I’m hear to SHOUT out to each of you, that you are HIS BEAUTIFUL MESS! 

*”But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not because of the righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy.” Titus 3:4,5

You see Jesus didn’t come for a cleaned-up, prayed-up, got it all together child of God, He came and comes right in the middle of your mess to whisper so lovingly and tenderly, that you are the apple of His eye, the one He gave His life for and He will scoop you up with His victorious and righteous right hand and carry you through each mess you find yourself in until you are victorious! No questions asked!. He’s done it for me for 60 years and 37 years of marriage! We’re all in this together and we have a Savior, Deliverer. Redeemer, Healer and Prince of Peace who is wild about each one of us and longs to stretch out His hand! All we need to do is ask! He’ll even answer a groan or a cry!

*”Don’t be afraid, for I am with you  Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand!” Isaiah 41:10

This blog is for those who find themselves from time to time in the trenches of messes! We will talk about those things that trip us up like fear, insecurity, rejection etc and find strength in His love and promises and comfort from each other knowing we are not the only ones on the planet living a messy life! So let’s turn our messes over to Him! Let’s grab His hand! Let’s grab each other’s hands to help us find our way to victory in Jesus! Let’s dig in and discover who God thinks we are and then live as though we believe it! We are in this together!

With sincere love for each of you!

tarabella

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