Focus.

Focus.





If God showed me this word once this new year, I've seen it, heard it, or read about it half a dozen times already.





I think He has something for me.





And you.





Focus.





When the ship is raging against a storm and you're on the ship, where is your focus?





The waves?





The ship?





The storm?





The sky?





God wants to take you back to the past for healing. He shows you something and years later, you see it from a different perspective. As a child you wondered where Jesus was in all of it.






He was there the whole time. Difference is focus. What was fuzzy is now clear.





This new year, I know I'm praying direction, wisdom, provision and favor.





His response?





Focus.





Photo: photobucket





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 recently placed 10th in the JournEzine Christmas story contest about the Good News of Bethlehem. Her verse for 2009 is Deuteronomy 11:1-12. She's a new columnist with the daily online newspaper, The Cypress Times.

Free Fallin'

This picture keeps coming back to me when I meet with different groups and people, so I think I'm supposed to share it here.

Are you feeling like your life is spiraling out of control? You have a vague idea where you are supposed to be but it's taking forever for God to get you there? Are there several options before you?

If so, it's the free fall.

As I pray, this is what I see for those that I know are in the free fall pattern.

If you are free falling, what you don't know is you have a backpack on. Once that backpack releases, you have a parachute.

The way I understand it, that parachute is the Holy Spirit. Been with you the whole time, but you don't see His work activated until a certain point of your free fall.

The free fall continues, but with direction.

As this "directed" free fall continues, I sense the closer you hunger for your Father and His will, the more dead on target you land.

I don't know how long your free fall lasts.

I don't know where you will land.

But I know if you place your trust in Him (I'm working on that too) your path will not only become obvious, you'll land dead center on target.

Not sure about you, but there is no where else I want to be.

Even if I have to take a free fall to get there.

How about you?

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%20To contact Julie, please use the e mail provided in our profile.

He Gives Me Rest

(Photo taken by Julie Arduini/Clute Park, Watkins Glen, NY)

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28)


I have been weary and felt burdened lately, and I definitely need rest. My family and I are vacationing this week, and I am going to rest in Him, and just bask in the freshness of His presence. I have many things on my heart that He has placed there, and I’m laying them at His feet this week, and asking for direction.

So I will update you next week on what the Lord has shown me in my time of much needed rest.

Know you are Blessed,

Maria

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!

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 columnist over with Kim, Julie and other writers over at http://www.takerootandwrite.com/ Maria's column is on encouraging special needs familes.
She is also a contributing author at 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". The book is available for purchase by clicking on the book image on the right side of this blog.
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 as well as invitations for her to speak to your group.