My Eyes Tell it All

From a recent visit with a young lady at a youth detention facility. July 2009
She walks in. An abrupt hi is the answer to my greeting. She looks lost and cornered in. I look into her face when she sits down and I immediately notice her eyes.
They say that the eyes are the window of the soul and I believe that it is so. The eyes tell all. In this particular young woman, I had to almost look away because there was just so much hurt, bitterness, hate, and sadness in them.
When I ask her how strong is her faith in God on a scale of weak, medium, or strong, this young woman, answered medium, but added, "I''m about to lose it." Years of abuse, neglect, failure, and making the wrong choices in life brought her to this place. She is a young mother locked up awaiting placement in a foster home and not knowing if she will see her baby again. She is a daughter who's parents refuse to visit her even on court dates. She has a weak perception of who God trully is even though she sat in church pews and prayed earnestly. When the topic of prayer came up she told me that before her prayers were answered, but now even though she prays, God doesn't answer her prayers. Everything has been getting worse and worse. Then her eyes mist over with tears and she looks defeated. She tries to change her ways, but she keeps on repeating her mistakes over and over!
She admits that while she's locked up, she reads the bible more often as well as prays but when she's on the "outs" she does neither.
God cannot be like a light switch which you turn on and off she tells me (she tells ME!) and I nod a yes.
But yet she doesn't see this getting better is what I see her eyes saying silently.
Such hopelessness and yet there is a solution to all her problems that is just a fingertip away!
And that is God alone...
If you desire a relationship with someone, you get to know them from head to toe to interests, to likes and dislikes...
You desire to talk with them all the time. You desire their presence near you constantly. You continuously seek them...and when you stumble and fall knee deep into a muddy pit, you cry out for that person that you trust and hold dear. It is only Jesus.
God washes away the mud, the scars, aches, and webs of sins from our heart and then we walk with Him by faith, and only by faith.
To get to know God and to trully seek Him is when you will see faith grow and soar ever higher. You will have to endure times when faith is tested...to the limit, but it will show the honesty of your heart and how much you really love Jesus. Is it with all your being or 3/4 of it?
With these words I ask God to give this young lady hope and continuous zeal to seek the Truth. I ask God to bless her and to give her strength. Finally, I ask Him to give her one more chance and that she may once again be able to hold her little baby in her arms. She walks out of the room but I still have a picture of those eyes that continuosly remind me to continue praying and giving hope to the hundreds of other young women incarcerated and lost...
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you...Matthew 7:7

She is running

A hundred miles an hour

in the wrong direction

She is trying

But the canyon's ever widening

In the depths of her cold heart

So she sets out on another misadventure just to find

She's another two years older

And she's three more steps behind

Does anybody hear her?

Can anybody see?

Or does anybody even know she's going down today

Under the shadow of our steeple

With all the lost and lonely people

Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

- Casting Crowns lyrics

The Bridge that Joins the Two...

It’s the bridge that joins the two…a world of chaos and a world of peace and order…
On one side you have the fast lanes of the freeway, the sound of speeding cars trying to reach their destinations…who knows where they are going…who knows if they will even get there…
Life’s too short to keep on moving, zooming through it at the speed of light….
This is when I like the other side to turn to…a world of peace and order…
Here, the water calmly flows, the soft wind touches your face- drying all your tears away…
Here, my soul is filled with peace, joy, and comfort at the thought of Jesus…
Here, I find strength to renew my mind, here I feel God’s presence…
It is here where I find hope in the future which lies ahead of me,
And it's here where I look up…and with a humble heart say, “Jesus, you have brought me here this far, through the fast lanes of the freeways, pain and sorrow You allowed, just to make me stronger…
You have brought me throut so much, that which I could never go through…if it hadn’t been for You, here to lift me when my hart is aching.
Here, you show me two extremes, that the life of fast paced chaos…only wears out my poor soul, and no matter how fast I go…there will always be a road ahead- one that’s never ending…
And the other side of this…if my life were only calm and quiet…not much action, not much pain…I’d get sick of it in no time…
Here you open up my eyes, to see that bride that joins the gap...
A world of peace, and a world of chaos.
And even though I can’t escape, not one world and not the other…they are both a great big part in my lifelong, earthly journey.
Thank you Jesus for allowing me, to see the beauty of this bridge…
Not in physical appearance…not just in the landscape scenes, or the quietness around it…but the content that it brings…the deep meaning that’s behind it…
It’s the bridge between two worlds…a world of chaos, and a world of peace and order,
It’s the bridge where I find peace in the midst of all the chaos…
It’s the bridge where I find hope, for the fast and untold future…
Here, Your presence fills my heart…
And I thank You Father, truly.”

*I Love You Jesus*

Do you find yourself realizing that the people we tend to spend most of our time with are the people we love? The more time we spend with someone, the more we want to get to know that someone, and the more we realize how much we love that someone…sounds familiar? Maybe?...I guess you could take this in as if I were talking about a prince charming…(every girls dream! Hehe) ….and yes, it could be, …only I haven’t met my ‘prince charming’ yet,- so in this post…I’ll be referring to a different Prince Charming…ONE of everyone’s dreams…
I find that the more time I spend with God’s Word, the more I see God’s Glory. The more I see HIS Glory, the more It draws me in…my heart is filled with Praises to the LORD and I Glorify God in my heart as I read about the wonders of HIS works…HIS Wonders to the people of Israel, HIS Mercy and Loving-kindness, HIS Wrath, HIS Forgiveness, HIS Grace, etc…the list is never ending. It always amazes me that no matter how much time one spends with the BIBLE, there will ALWAYS be more to learn and more to study. Our GOD is Infinite. At times it’s hard for my mind to grasp the meaning of that, I want to fill up my head with all the knowledge of GOD there is…that’s not possible either. God is INFINITE and we will never reach the full understanding and knowledge of HIM here on earth…never the less…this only motivates me to spend even more time in a relationship with God. Since HE is Infinite, there will always be something more that HE will reveal to me when I seek HIM.
I find this to be like a continuous circle: the more time I spend with the Word of God, the more I am inspired by the God of the universe, the more I Glorify God, the more I pray. I pray as a response to that overwhelming feeling in my heart, the joy, the love, the peace the Glory that I want to give back to HIM, my heart is praying to the ONE Who deserves this Glory. The more I pray, the more I want that feeling to come back, so here I go again, I read, rejoice, I Glorify the Lord. He answers prayers, once again, putting HIS Glory on Display….
It’s a relationship that never ends…there is no limit. It makes me realize how much I love God, and how much I depend on HIM to keep me going. (Let’s not forget however, that the Bible says that if we LOVE Him, we obey HIS Word…in order to obey It, we must read It.)

I want to encourage everyone to long for this relationship with God, to be filled with HIS Glory and in response, Glorify HIM…then come back to the Source of that which shows HIS Glory, and Glorify HIM even more…
~Blessings

"RIP Dima Tsverinko"

RIP DIMA TSVERINKO

What Just happened, an accident?
How can this be? What’s going on, I’m in so much pain I’m all covered in blood?
What’s wrong with me legs I can’t feel them
It wasn’t my fault I promises you I looked both ways it wasn’t my fault,
OH Dear God Please Help me Don’t Let me die.
Where are they taking me? "Sir Can you hear me, sir can you open your eyes?" Oh Lord Help me please, Save my Life
I’m so young, this can't be it i just got Married and we are expecting a baby i can't die, I can't leave Nastya and the baby, "sir stay with us, can you hear me? I'm loosing him, we need to operate now"
My Body went through so much, doctors worked on me for a long time fighting for my life trying everything in there power to save me, but my soul left my body, what's happening now? I can see my body on the table, And the doctors all Around me and i could see my family and friends in sorrow weeping so loud, I wanted to comfort them, I wanted to hug my beautiful wife and tell her I Love her, I seen my mom, dad and my family I wanted to tell them that I missed them so much and I really was looking forward to seeing them but I couldn’t, So what's going on? Why can’t they see me? Why don’t they talk back to me?
And The Light is so bright out here, where am I?
Dima It is time,
Angel said, time for what did I die? Time for us to go I'm taking you home, there you won’t feel any pain, so this is it I won’t see my family and friend again? I won’t hug my wife and tell her I love her? But I can’t leave my wife and unborn child, who will look out for them and take care of them if I’m not here? I will take care of them GOD answered,
I will Help your family and friends get through this hard time, they will feel sorrow and pain, they will say we lost a good person, but that's not true, i have taking you in to my kingdom, they will ask me “WHY, WHY have you taking him way from us, he was so young?”
My answer is I know best I am your GOD for I do things you don't understand now, but you will soon.
And as for your family and Friends you will soon be reunited with them in heaven
So GOD opened the Gates of heaven and took Dima from this earth.
Dima was a big part of our life he was Our Friend and our Brother in Christi, He was a Husband, a soon to be Father, a Son and a Brother. he will live in our memories and our heart for ever.
Dima Tsverinko had a Big Heart he was always willing to help others
He Was Always there when you where down,
His sense of humor always lifted up your sprit
He was one of the happiest people I ever known
He was a really good friend you could ever ask for.
DIMA You will be missed deeply


By Alina Gurskiy

{three thoughts and a thank you}

It's so nice to get messages from God when you least expect it...He never fails to impress me, and His interest in molding me into a Child of His is so mind boggling....who am I that He would care for me so?? I will never be able to grasp God's unconditional love.

I was privileged to visit a church in Roseville where 2/3 messages were provided. This church service style was completely not what I grew up with. Think Desert vs Ocean. yea, that big of a difference. Where we kneel down to our knees to pray, they lift up their arms, where we sing with slight emotions in our eyes, their whole body reflects all they feel through praise and worship. Neither is more "correct"...God told me....for just as each child has a unique relationship with his/her parents, and requires a unique approach in return, so is Our Heavenly Father with us, His children.


Is there anything you can claim as entirely yours? Tithing has never been an issue in my life...Our church calls us to tithe as the Bible does, however, they never guilt us into doing it..There is a system at our church to give monthly...and that's what most people do. To give additionally, however, is done voluntarily. The church I visited literally blew me away by the way their family Thrives to GIVE TO GOD. I mean these people wip out their calculators and before spending even on a piece of gum, they give the 10% OF WHAT GOD GAVE THEM!. This is where I was convicted by the Spirit. I never really saw it from the perspective of giving God the first of His present to you.

If we really, I mean TRULY believe in God and His word...then we cannot help but act upon the calling of being a leader of faith, and advocate of truth. Starting with the most simple of things...and ready to be called into the most challenging ones of all. The pastor of the Roseville church shared a scenario: walking through the mall with his wife he notices a new store, a bathing suit store. A Huge poster of a young gentleman is hung in the front as a welcoming sign....except that when they see it in full...he is wearing nothing but bottoms...so low that the pubic hair is shown. yea, sorry...not very pleasant to read, i know. THE PASTOR IS OUTRAGED at this....I am sure I would be too...and hopefully all of you who may be reading this. I would continue to be upset, maybe shake my head in disgust and think about how the world is just going downhill.

BUT THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO LEAD!! the pastor walks into the store, speaks to the manager, who refers him to the Admin of the entire mall. The Pastor vocalizes his concern, describing it as "molesting kids' minds" by presenting inappropriate pictures in a public mall where kids and teens are. This served as a great reminder and example for me personally.

One day as I was working I realized how much it didn't seem like I was at WORK...I genuinely enjoyed the rewarding feeling of caring for others and all that is included in doing so. At that moment I felt such gratitude that God lead me to become a Nurse...I could have made so many mistakes if I would pick and follow my random hobbies and passions (music, art, teaching) But My Father in Heaven has provision and by His love lead me to this calling. I will thank Him for it every day of my life. I encourage everyone to seek His guidance in everything...even where to work =)

Blessings,
victoria

Here's a video of the cutest preacher! Makes you just smile!

"HOPE is the ability to hear the music of the future

FAITH is the courage to dance to it today"

"Strong Woman vs. Woman of Strength"

"A strong woman works out everyday to keep her body in shape, but a woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape.

A strong woman isn't afraid of anything, but a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of fear.

A strong woman won't let anyone get the best of her, but a woman of strength gives the best of her to everyone.

A strong woman walks sure footedly, but a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls.

A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face, but a woman of strength wears grace.

A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey, but a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong."

True Education

Deuteronomy 6:7 "And thou shalt teach them (God’s commandments) diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

Here is a great article from a teacher's perspective! I was amazed at the conclusion he came to about public schooling and even about Christian schools! Wow!
http://www.collegeplus.org/acceleration/a-teacher-learns-the-truth-about-education