Maria's New Year Resolution

New Year’s Resolution

I am so grateful that through all the changes we go through in this life—the disappointments, the ups and downs of this world, the good, the bad, and the ugly-- In the midst of the business of our days—when some days, all we need is a constant….

His love is unconditional.

His mercy is new each and every morning.

His grace is overflowing.

His peace is available always.

He offers forgiveness anytime we repent.

I am so very grateful for the constant of who Jesus is in my life.

Unfortunately, like most people, the holidays bring on many stressors.

Today, now that the hustle and bustle is over, I am so grateful that I can go to His Throne room, and He is still there.

Waiting for me.

Always.

Waiting for me to stop and be still.

Stop.

Slow down.

And just worship Him.

He is the constant in my life that I will be ever grateful for.

Even when I think He’s not listening, He is.

Even when there are days when I think He has forgotten about me, He hasn’t.

Even when circumstances in my life have allowed me to feel distant from Him, He’s still right next to me.

Whispering in my ear that things will be OK---pleading with me to lean on Him no matter what.

Teaching me that His grace is sufficient.

His love is overflowing.

And it is truly all I need.

Such peace there is knowing these simple, true facts of His word.

My New Year’s Resolution is to truly believe all He says and all that He is, and to be ever present in His presence.

Maria and her family reside in NE Ohio. She and her husband are the parents of two. Their daughter is a person with hemipelegic cerebral palsy.Because of her experiences, Maria provides parent-to-parent support for families involved in her local early intervention program. Her gift for writing has come directly from the Lord since her daughter’s diagnosis. She writes a monthly column entitled, “Special Parents, Special Kids” for the Mahoning Valley Parent magazine in Ohio; and has expanded into Parent magazines in parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
She is also a contributing author at http://www.mommiesmagazine.com/.Maria's first published work is in Jan Ross and Jeanice McDade's Women of Passion's anthology, "Ordinary Women Serving an Extraordinary God". Both Kim and Maria have been selected to have their work tentatively included in Lori Wagner's upcoming book, Quilting Patches of Life, Volume 2.

Slowing Down

Well, I had the complete privilege of getting away to the beach with my beautiful family for an entire week…and I still have “vacation brain.” (I know it has been 2 months, but I still have it!)

I finally had the chance to unwind and truly enjoy my family. Unfortunately, because I work full time, and between therapy appointments with my daughter, and sports activities with my son, I don’t get to actually enjoy the blessings that are all around me every day as much as I should.

Sooo…between the lazy river, the pool, and sitting by the beach---I had plenty of time to talk to the Lord, and watch in amazement as my children took in all the sights and sounds of our beautiful surroundings.

Because of treatments my daughter received over the summer for her muscles, prior to this vacation, she had casts on both of her legs for 6 weeks.
And four days prior to arriving at the beach, she had them removed. So, as you can imagine (especially if any of you have had to wear a cast for any length of time), her gait was very different, trying to adjust to her newly-stretched out muscles….And, because she normally wears braces on her legs daily, her muscles were fighting to keep her balance without them as we trekked to the beach and pool several times a day.

So needless to say, for the entire vacation her gait was very unusual, and she fought every second of the day, just to stay up to walk.

Because of these factors, I had no choice but to slow down.

Literally.

God knew I needed to slow down, and take my time to enjoy this vacation, and He created the circumstances so that I was forced to move slower.

And in the midst of me having to do everything slower, in order for her to be comfortable, I learned an amazing lesson.

Because I was moving at her pace, on her time, I got to see what was really important.

I actually focused on her beautiful face, and how much she is growing before my eyes.

I took the time to listen to each word she spoke, and tune into her amazing curiosity.

As her little body was struggling, her spirit was shining.

In the midst of her using every bit of energy just to stand up and walk, she was full of joy.

True, pure joy that can only come from a child.
The kind of joy our Lord wants us to have on a daily basis.

I learned this simple life lesson, from the most beautiful vessel He placed in my world seven years ago. She knows life no other way—and she perseveres each and every day. She is the epitome of God’s joy, strength and grace.

If she can have joy in the midst of her challenges than what excuse do I have to complain or fret about any challenge I have to face?

So I meditate on Romans 5:3-5, “ …but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”

Slow down.
Rejoice.
Persevere.
Gain hope.


A simple, yet profound lesson from my little girl.

And from my God.



Maria and her family reside in NE Ohio. She and her husband are the parents of two. Their daughter is a person with hemipelegic cerebral palsy.Because of her experiences, Maria provides parent-to-parent support for families involved in her local early intervention program. Her gift for writing has come directly from the Lord since her daughter’s diagnosis. She writes a monthly column entitled, “Special Parents, Special Kids” for the Mahoning Valley Parent magazine in Ohio; and has expanded into Parent magazines in parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
She is also a contributing author at http://www.mommiesmagazine.com/.Maria's first published work is in Jan Ross and Jeanice McDade's Women of Passion's anthology, "Ordinary Women Serving an Extraordinary God". Both Kim and Maria have been selected to have their work tentatively included in Lori Wagner's upcoming book, Quilting Patches of Life, Volume 2.

Until Next Time

Button courtesy Split Decisionz

Announcement: On Friday, November 14 I'll be a guest blogger over at Slurping Life. This is a huge honor for me as I share my nature pictures and words, something Melody is so gifted at in her own blog. I'd love for you to check her blog out!

It was nearly a year ago God gave me a vision for a new blog, a team blog. He showed me immediately what the theme would be (deeper things of Christian faith) and who the other bloggers would be (Kim and Maria, of course!) It took a few months of prayer for the right timing and for all of us to feel the same way, but here you have it, The Narrow Gate Invites.

It's exciting to see us evolve as much as the blog has. Kim felt such a strong desire to return to Romania, and she did, with so many awesome testimonies and a refined vision. Maria is surrendering fears and stepping out of her comfort zone, sometimes on national TV (see Joel Osteen sidebar on right)!

Me, well next week I feel God is going to do a new thing with me. Physically I'll have surgery that I'm believing will put me in a new season of life. It's been a long road and I wonder if a lot of it was His preparation for the next step in the journey. I'll have a good amount of bedrest and I really look forward to that quiet time with the Lord and just reading.

With that, I'm going to be taking a break from blogging here. I want to use the time of rest to seek perspective and wisdom and have fresh, anointed ideas. Besides here, I blog at my personal blog, Sundays at the Christian Writers Forum and I have two monthly columns at Take Root and Write. The Take Root ministry is so much of my calling, and with that comes groups with the social network, Christian Women Take Root. I facilitate the groups associated with the columns, so it's a fair amount of upkeep. Women are hungry for God's love through marriage and surrender. I'm willing to be a vessel for that as long as He calls me.

So pray for the Narrow Gate Girls. My hope is that Kim and Maria will continue to blog in my absence and that I'll be back in December sometime with renewed vision and a refreshed spirit.

If you have any ideas, suggestions or comments about what you'd like to see here, please leave a comment or e mail us at jarduini@faithwriters.net. We're so thankful for you!

Julie Arduini is a surrendered writer with her own blog, The Surrendered Scribe. A graduate of the Christian Writers Guild, she also blogs for the Christian Writers Forum Sundays as the mommy blogger. She is active with FaithWriters and has several writings ready to publish in different books and anthologies in 2008-09. One of the books will be a quote in Kathy Vick's Simon and Schuster/Howard's gift book, "Run Like a Girl." Julie's surrender story is featured in the Run Like a Girl website launch.

You can also find Julie the third Wednesday of each month over at Take Root and Write with her columns, Finding Freedom through Surrender and Marriage: Striving for Oneness. She facilitates groups by the same name at the sister social networking site, Christian Women Take Root.

When You Forget Your Best Friend's Name

With one child away at camp and the other attending VBS mornings this week, it's a different pace this week. Lots of writing projects are on the horizon, so I'm trying to crank out as much as I can.

This one, though, I knew was meant to share today.

The counting the days until she is five child made a "best friend" at VBS this week. Yesterday the teacher (the child's daughter) reported that her child and mine were inseparable. They did everything together, right down to holding hands on their way to the activities. What a great thing to hear!

On the way to the car I asked my child, "What's your best friend's name?"

She shrugged.

"I forget."

Seems odd to forget a best friend's name, isn't it? But I'm guilty of the very same thing.

Jesus Christ is my best friend.

But I don't just forget His name, I often forget Him.

I run ahead starting my day and I never look back. I make decisions without talking to my best friend. I don't keep in touch. I don't read His letters or listen to His Words. An hour becomes a day. A day turns into a week. A week melts into a month. Then some crisis hits and I remember.

I have a best friend.

And I forgot His name.


Have you visited Christian Women Take Root? The Narrow Gate Invites girls are not only involved in the social networking site with fantastic groups to join but the main site called Take Root and Write. Regular columns are ongoing, check it all out. The best thing you could do with Take Root is sign up for the free subscription feed right to your in box. We'll see you there...and hey---if you have a blog, Take Root has a blog roll. Give your blog some exposure and be associated with a quality Christian site!

Julie Arduini is a surrendered writer with her own blog, http://thesurrenderedscribe.blogspot.com/. A graduate of the Christian Writers Guild, she blogs for the Christian Writers Forum Sundays as the mommy blogger. She is active with FaithWriters and has several writings ready to publish in different books and anthologies in 2008-09. She is the tentative debut interview on surrender/fearlessness for Kathy Vick's upcoming website, Run Like a Girl. To get to know Julie better, read her interview by Lynda Schab at:http://www.faithreaders.com/featured-author-details.php?id=33%20
To contact Julie, please use the e mail provided in our profile.