Restoring Dreams

I'm reading Bill Johnson's Dreaming with God and it's such a relevant message.  Across the board I'm seeing women realize they were created for purpose.  God gave them dreams and for too long, the true defeated one has robbed us of those dreams.

Restoration is another message I see happening and with dreams, I think it means God takes back what was stolen and returns us to the place where His dreams are.  Not our dreams, His.  The dreams He formed within us when we were in the womb.  I am loving what I'm seeing.  There are grandmothers learning ballet or taking art classes, moms writing books, no matter the age they are embracing what's been inside them all along.

Can you relate to that?  Does redeeming dreams mean anything to you?  Restoration?

Years ago I remembered an interview with NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr.  As soon as he was born I'm guessing his destiny was sealed just by his name.  When his father died, the pressure was all the more apparent.  For the business, he had to drive, meet contract expectations, and do all the things a professional race car driver does.
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Thing is, I saw his eyes light up when he talked about a life far removed from the bright lights and fast tracks.  He admitted (at the time) that he'd love to just go down the street to an auto shop and change oil.  Even if it was minimum wage.

This from a multi million dollar brand.  He's not just a man, he's a business.  Yet his dream would be (again, at the time of the interview) to walk away and tinker with cars.

Chances are your name isn't Trump or Earnhardt and you aren't tied to the family business.  What's your dream?  Are you living it?  Can you feel the dream budding forth within you?  Tell us about it if you're comfortable.  We love comments.

photo by photobucket

 Julie Arduini is a writer and speaker residing in NE Ohio with her husband and two children.  Her first published fiction work is included in Delivered by the Peculiar People Postcard Project.  To see her complete writing and speaking resume, please visit her at her website.

The Negative "-ion" Series

We continue to scratch our heads when we look and see the readers that visit here and where they come from. We're not here as often as we like but we are so grateful for you. We truly just our three moms who are navigating deeper waters of Christian faith...by faith. We're willing to let God use us in spite of us.

This is the case with today's post. I have no idea why He's downloading to my heart, but I am so grateful and wanting to be a good steward with what He gives. A month or so ago a series of events hit around me and I was in prayer tying to piece them all together.

God let me know there is a common denominator: deception. As a whole we're believing a lie and the lie is that we are the defeated one. The Lord is loving on His kids letting them know it's not so. Deception is just a word, a negative word that has -ion on the end. The thing is, He's ready to exchange those negative -ions for positive ones.

So the first download He gave me was getting rid of deception. Embrace the truth that the real defeated one is not you. It's the true defeated one, satan. He's desperate and talk about a recession, now there is an organization on a failing budget. The defeated one has to use cheap tricks because it's all he can afford. So the negative -ion words I will share are ones the defeated one has been using on us because they used to work. In Jesus' name, we're done with those words, choices, and beliefs. We're instead embracing the + -ion words.

So if you fell for something or someone in 2009 or earlier that left you thinking how on Earth did I fall for that deception? You're not alone. You're not alone if you've spent a season or more thinking you are the defeated one. You aren't. You are a celebration. A Child of Christ. A miracle, a wonder. His delight.

I hope this touches your heart. I'll be sharing more of these thoughts here. If you want a sneak peek, I invite you to find me on Facebook. I have a group called Julie Arduini: The Surrendered Scribe where I send the -ion messages once a week to them first. I'm also sharing those messages at The Cypress Times.

Have a wonderful week living it out in celebration!


Julie Arduini is a writer and speaker residing in NE Ohio with her husband and two children.  Her first published fiction work is included in Delivered by the Peculiar People Postcard Project.  To see her complete writing and speaking resume, please visit her at her website.

The Maria He So Desperately Wants Me To See

Hello everyone!
I hope you all are having a peaceful summer….
I haven’t had much time to enter the gate, and I am happy to be back!

The summer has been busy here…
My daughter had her tonsils and adenoids removed, along with some injections to help relax her muscles. And now she has casts on both legs to stretch her muscles for awhile…sooo… I have been kind-of in stress mode since June.

In the midst of all of the craziness, I have learned that God uses stress to bring up all the things inside of me that I am still holding on to (even though I have claimed to give them to Him). So, once again, He is molding all of me—my thoughts, my words, my actions---into the Maria He sees, the Maria He so desperately wants me to see.

Thankfully, my daughter’s casts will be off next week, and we are headed to a real beach.
My kids have never seen the ocean, so I am looking forward to seeing the looks on their faces when they feel the sand on their feet, and feel the ocean waves splash their faces.

And I am looking forward to sitting still—something I don’t do very often.

Sitting, basking in the beauty of God’s creations, and enjoying the amazing family He has given me.

I will close the gate door for now, and I will return soon.
Maria

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.

Robbed To Redemption

There are so many keywords and themes God is putting in my path these days, I could blog a whole lot more if I had the time.

I'm quite taken with this revelation.

It's no secret or surprise Christians the last few years have been attacked. I know from 2003-5 I wasn't sure I'd survive the onslaught of loss and change. On the other side of those things I totally see the purpose behind those hard times. I'm stronger, and now I'm serving out of those broken places.

What I never thought about though was moving beyond the robbed. I know God had a plan for His glory in all those things, but I knew also the defeated one had a target on my back and wanted me down and out for good. So many people have been robbed of so many things by his tactics.

Here's the good news. Besides God using what satan intended for evil as God's glory, He redeems. For every financial hit, persecution, health crisis, all the hits that nearly knocked me out---I'm asking for 100 fold redeeming situation.

Not because God is Santa and I'm demanding tit for tat.

Because He is my Daddy and He wants to lavish on us, more than we can ever guess.

I'm already feeling the redemption. Despite everything around me in the news, there is a joy deep in my heart once I start to laugh I'm afraid I won't be able to stop. It is joy only God can give.

Are you living with a robbed mentality or redemptive?

Julie Arduini is a wife, mom and surrendering writer. Her personal blog, The Surrendered Scribe, shows her writing resume. A graduate of the Christian Writers Guild, she is also a columnist with Take Root and Write. She has a tentative story to contribute to the Jeanette Littleton book, GodSightings. Her verse for 2009 is Deuteronomy 11:11-12. She's a new columnist with the daily online newspaper, The Cypress Times.

Always

Well, it’s been over a week since I’ve entered the gate.

Please forgive my absence.

As a wife, mother, and a support to many families of children with special needs, I have been literally exhausted.

Thank you for your patience.

God has been showing me many signs and signals of what’s ahead in my journey here on earth. I have been in prayer and have felt His presence more than ever recently—because I’m finally allowing myself to receive—completely receive His promises.

He really is who He says He is.

He really is here with me always.

And He is with you always.

Always.

The facts never cease to amaze me.

He has shown me His goodness and mercy over and over again, and I often hear Him telling me, “How much more do I have to show you? What do you need from me to completely receive my love—totally and completely?”

Over the next few weeks I would like to take you on my journey that the Lord has been guiding.

Through His love and His promises, He has saved me through my circumstances.

At times it may get lengthy, but hang in there with me—because just as He has saved me He can save you.

My prayer is that you will find at least one word of encouragement from my testimony.

I will pray that the Lord will guide the exact sets of eyes that were meant to read my gate entries.

I look forward to sharing the facts surrounding my salvation, and how God’s grace continues to overwhelm me…

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 www.mommiesmagazine.com. Maria is very passionate about getting the word out to special parents that they are not alone in their journey of raising their special child; and that they were chosen by God to parent their children. Maria welcomes comments and communication.