Friday, June 6, 2008

The Gift of Christian Friendship

How awesome the Lord God is!!  I truly believe one of the most amazing blessings He grants us, is Christian friends.   I did find out more than once that when I asked Him for a good Christian friend, He provided just that in a big way.  He put someone in my life that I may never have chosen myself (no offense to those close to me).  I found out that the new friend was someone who would challenge me in my walk with the Lord, and push me to grow way outside my comfort zone!!  :-)  After this same scenario occurred two different times, I reallized that it was only when the Almighty God chose my friends, would I really experience God-sized moments which would point to His amazing power and His zealous love of us.

After my closest friend (whom God had given to me after I had asked for one) got married, I was feeling a little lonely, but I didn’t think about asking for another close friend for quite a while.  Finally, in prayer, I asked God if He could put another special friend in my life.  Of course, I stll love my friend Geri, and the Holy Spirit showed up many times in our friendship, but we don’t get near as much time to spend together anymore.  It must not have been more than a few days after the prayer, that God plopped Carrie right into my life!   I have to smile when I remember telling God that she is so different from me, was He sure she was meant to be a close friend! Do you think God gets tired of us asking Him if He’s sure about something or just patiently watches until we have our ‘AHA!’ moment?   Well, it wasn’t long before I experienced several ‘AHA’ moments!!  I believe my growth has accelerated by leaps and bounds since Carrie came into my life.    Well, now my dear friend is about to come back from a two-week trip to Europe and I have really missed our 2-4 hour talks of How amazing our Lord is.  I am so looking forward to catching up and finding out what God did in her life on her adventure to Budapest.
Thank you dear Lord, and dear Carrie, for devine blessings that can only come from true Godly friendships which are grounded deeply in our Heavenly Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Posted by Shirley in 02:11:46 | Permalink | No Comments »

Saturday, May 31, 2008

A great birthday!

Wow, what a way to spend a birthday!   I had a wonderful Swedish massage at a Spa in Raleigh. Four friends of mine whom I worked with for several years bought me lunch, and then we each indulged ourselves by having a wonderful massage with aromatherapy. 


Even better than that though, were the Happy Birthday phone calls, text message and myspace messages.  Shelina and Chris called, Derek texted me, my mom called me, and my granddaughter even called me this morning to wish me a Happy Birthday.  My sis, Carla, my daughter Shelina, and my friend Melinda sent me myspace messages.  Yes you can even have great birthdays after 50!

Posted by Shirley in 04:00:00 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Blog Newby reporting in for duty

 Hello 
Hello!  This is my first Blog post.   I decided to start a blog because of my good friends Carrie and Melinda. They are amazing Blog writers, and I thought I should probably write down my thoughts, since I just returned from the Christian Writer’s Conference in RidgeCrest, NC.   Wow!! What an experience that was!  I had God-appointments all week and not all of them were with Agents, Editors or Publishers.  Some were just with other wonderful children of God that have answered the call to the Christian writing ministry.    Yes, it is definitely a business, and involves a lot of work, however, it is also a Christian Ministry.  Praise God for the amazing work he does through those He calls to write for Him!  His presence was felt throughout the campus, as each writer found more direction to move forward in the Call to spread the love of God through Jesus Christ!

One thing I was told by a writer I spoke to about the call to share the hope of God to those who have been abused, was that I must gird my home and loved ones against the attacks which will be made against me.  Praise God, He has provided such scripture to help me (and everyone else who reads His living Word) do just that:

EPHESIANS 6:10-20
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

 19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Posted by Shirley in 01:32:27 | Permalink | Comments (2)