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.

Checking In...

Remember me? I don't know where the summer went but I can't believe it's been this long since a Narrow Gate post. I know a bit is going on with Kim and Maria, but today I'll give you my update. God is downloading a lot, and I hope in the coming days and weeks I can share it here.

This summer is "watch Julie spin her tires trying to know it all by fall" season. With both kids in school full time this fall, I want to know His plan yesterday. If you follow me on Facebook (Julie Arduini from Ohio) you know I recently wrote how I relate to Noah. I have specific blueprints, limited vision, no rain before, and people most likely think I'm nuts. The praise is I've read the rest of the ark story and things go well for Noah. I serve that same God.

I know I'm meant to write and public speak. I know encouraging women is at the heart of what I do, and that surrender seems to be the brand most people identify my name with. My husband and I are taking baby steps in creating a website. The little vision He's given me is big. Pretty big for someone who doesn't have a finished manuscript. Talk about faith walking!

I plan to offer a newsletter with the website. If folks subscribe, I want to offer them a free short story via PDF file. The story is called Discovering Nancy Struthers. What sets this apart is that this story will continue on Twitter and through the newsletter. I will create a separate Twitter account where readers can learn more about Nancy Struthers and her escaping ways. My hope is to add a chapter with each newsletter.

That's as far as I see it, and that's ok. I've worried, fretted, ate, whined, vented and cried my way through the summer wanting more answers and I am at peace. The vision is coming and He's just asking me to be prepared and obey.

Please join me as I leap off that proverbial faith cliff!

To read my work on a more regular basis, please find me at The Surrendered Scribe.


Julie Arduini is a writer and public speaker living in NE Ohio. Her latest work is included in Kathy Vick's Run Like a Girl, available now. She also moderates the Love Dare over at Christian Women Take Root and thinks she is going to make her superficial goal of watching Smallville Seasons 1-7 on Netflix.

Surrender To Your Hero

"My Hero" by Michele E. Struss. Please visit her site for her story and amazing work, available for purchase

For a few years now, I have been convincing myself that I have surrendered many things in my life to the Lord. It sounded good, so I’ve said it over and over again. But it wasn’t until recently that I truly learned what it meant—and honestly did it.

My daughter is a person with hemiplegic cerebral palsy---the muscles on the left side of her body are tight, as a result of a brain injury from an infection when she was an infant. She is six years old now, and she does extremely well. She wears braces on her legs for support and balance, and she has an incredible, independent spirit.
She started Kindergarten this week—at a “big school” with lots and lots of steps. She is very capable of climbing steps, she just does it at her own pace—and since steps are part of the world, my husband and I wanted her to go to her home school with her big brother.

So she did.

A few months ago I made the conscious decision to lay all my thoughts and fears regarding this transition to the Lord. We needed someone at the school to be around her during the most crucial times of her school day, to keep her safe. I laid this all at His feet, and said, “I know you will send the perfect person to our school for this position, someone with a heart that will see and feel what my daughter needs.”

And He did.

The bus was also a concern of mine, and once again, I submitted everything to Him, and said, “I know you will send us a bus driver with a compassionate heart, and will ensure her safety as she climbs the big steps on and off the bus.”

And He did.

I have been holding on to her for so long, that I knew it was time. He has been petitioning me to trust Him for her safety and her progress, and I think He is very proud of me this week.

He has shown me that He has been holding on to her all her life. He is the one that catches her when she falls, He is the one watching over her and keeping her safe.

The painting shown above is very near and dear to my heart. The artist is an amazing woman that is a person with a disability, also. If you look closely, you will see that the little girl in the picture has fallen, and her crutches that she uses to walk are lying by her side.

This painting, “My Hero” is the epitome of my surrender.

He is watching over my daughter, and all children with disabilities and helping them up when they fall.

He is in control of it all. He chose special parents to parent children with disabilities—we need to trust that He is guiding us with each and every decision we have to make.

He is our hero.

He is the father of all of us, and He wants us to depend on Him for each and every thought, decision, and action.

And He is rejoicing with joy when we surrender it all to Him.


My prayer is that these words will resound in your spirit today and take root.

What are you holding on to?

He’s your hero, too— He is watching over you, and will help you up each time you fall.

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'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.

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.

The Grocery Doors

I wish I could take credit for the word picture I'm about to give you to think about, but the original story comes from Joy Chickonoski, and sharing it with you is confirmation of a prayer time I had last month. When I was prayed for the person shared that I am a scribe (true) and that I absorb what I see, say and learn so that I can share it with others. Well I remember this story, and it's a perfect fit for what my child went through earlier this week.

Typically our oldest gets home at 3:15. Yesterday, the first day of school, 3:15 came and no child. At 3:25, my phone rang. It was him and he missed the bus. No problem, we live close by and I got him.

When we got home though, he fell apart. He was scared enough that he couldn't remember our phone number and that threw him into a panic. He thought he was in trouble. Once he was safely home he realized he had to go through the same process again. Maybe the bus situation would work out, maybe not.

With that, the whispers started. I bet you know them too.

"You're going to have a bad day."

"You'll never figure this out."

"You're going to fail."

"You have no business doing this."

By dusk, he was doubled over with stomach cramps and a headache. Fear had a vise grip on him. We went for a walk and together we prayed the fear would be sent packing in Jesus' name. Taking a step further, I felt God asking me to pray that the generational curse of fear over our family would be destroyed in Jesus' name.

For us, this means I can trace back to my life, one of my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other family members from both sides who carried/carry fear in their choices. My own example was as a child was I was so scared of art that I would hardly sleep the night before. When my alarm clock would sing, I judged whether the art day would go well on how fast I could get the numbers back to zero. I was desperate for reassurance and full of fear.

I boldly stand under His authority and claim the fear cycle stops yesterday.

But just because the fear was renounced, does everything magically disappear? Not in my case, and so far, not in our son's. We have to choose to believe faith is the victor. We can't choose both fear and faith. But when you're ten and you aren't sure the bus is going to be there for you, what do you do?

Well here is where we need to visualize the grocery doors. You know the automatic doors that nter as soon as you step on the mat? Well that's faith. Do you ever worry about those grocery doors opening? Probably not. You believe they will open and they do.

So it is with life with Christ at the helm. You can't see what comes around the corner, but you have to trust He is there. You have to trust He's in control of that bus coming, that diagnosis being under His care, those finances provided for, whatever it is, He's that grocery door.

How about you? Are you still listening to those nasty whispers and believing the lies? Are you approaching your faith like automatic grocery doors or Fort Knox?

It's a choice.

Just so you know, as hard as I prayed for him, 3:30 came today and went with no child. No call either. My heart knew he was on the bus or I would have a call. My stomach cranked out the waves of panic rising. I literally had to picture open grocery doors and speak truth as I encouraged my son to do. I did call the bus garage to make sure at 3:45 all was well, and I learned the driver didn't see him in the back and missed him on the route and left him for last. He came home happy and stress free. I chose faith, eventually, so I'm learning right with you!

Julie Arduini is a surrendered writer with her own blog, http://thesurrenderedscribe.blogspot.com/. 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."You can also find Julie the third Thursday of each month over at Take Root and Write with her column, Finding Freedom through Surrender. She facilates a group by the same name at the sister social networking site, Christian Women Take Root.

(heartlight.org)

The past few weeks have been an amazing time of revelation and growth; however, I must confess that the weeks prior were a real struggle. A mentor and friend told me, "This is all about faith, Kim. It is all about faith." Faith . . . confidence and trust in God. Did I really have it? Did I really believe and if I did was it to the fullest or just halfway, you know 'playing it safe.' At times it felt like an isolated mountain climb. A time where I could either choose to keep climbing even though my footing was slipping and the top looked too far away or a time when I could have started on my descent to the what looked like 'green grass' below. I chose to keep climbing. I reached out to friends, mentors, and my husband crying for help. My friends listened and encouraged, my mentors told me to read my bible, and my husband said, "You are just like the Israelites! When things are not going your way you whine and want to go build a golden calf. You keep forgetting all that He has done for you." Ouch!!! He was absolutely right. So I started reading, continued reaching out to others around me (I can easily isolate myself), and sat in awe of the stories of Daniel and Esther. I admired Daniel's faith as he lived in a pagan world. Mordecai and Esther taught me about prepartion, timing, patience, faith, and importance. I became so engrossed I did not want to put my bible down. In the meantime, the visits from male cardinals surrounded me.

Throughout the summer I received e-mails from Julie concerning the cardinals in her yard. Another friend also told me that Joy kept seeing a male cardinal. I had never experienced something like this before and honestly I thought, "Are they really making more of this, come on!" And then a male cardinal visited me. In late July we went on a last minute getaway to SC. One morning while sitting on a very, very small screen porch drinking my tea a male cardinal flew up next to the door and sat on the banister. He looked right at me and chirped for a very long time. I giggled and asked him what he was saying. He continued to chirp and eventually flew away. When we came home I started seeing a male cardinal in our backyard. Then the diving began. When sitting outside or taking a walk around the block male cardinals would dive only a few feet in front of me and swoop to the opposite side. This happened day after day. One day while driving down our street a male cardinal swooped in front of my car, I slammed on my brakes, it furiously fluttered and then flew away. My children in the car claim that there was nothing there. I shared my cardinal encounters with Julie, did a little research, and sent it onto Joy. She responded with her interpretation and her recent accident. Honestly I thought her interpretation was good but it had to be much bigger than that. The next morning I took my children to school (something my husband does 99% of the time), encountered an unexpected detour which caused delay, pulled into an area which I rarely use, and after my giggling children got out of the car I slammed into an oversized cement curb. When I put my car in reverse I could hear my front fender being ripped apart. Okay God, I got it! Slow down and pay attention. It is of the utmost importance. I started thinking about Mordecai and Esther. They took it slow, paid attention, it was of the utmost importance.

Male cardinals, His word, mentors, close friends, a spouse . . . all tools He used to reveal Himself to me once again. Looking back I had two choices, give up (which looked more appealing at the time) or press on. Frustrated, disappointed, and with tears in my eyes I chose to press on and once again it was all worth it. Amen!!!

Kim

Disclaimer: My writing on what Joy and Julie experienced and shared is to the best of my recollection. Any errors I have in thier interpretation is my own.

**On October 11th I will be leaving for a nine day trip to Romania. Two other women and I will be ministering in Oradea and a very remote gypsy village. Please join us in prayer as we prepare for our trip, keeping in mind the words revealed through the male cardinal. More details coming soon**

Re Visiting The Cable Guy

I'm still away from the computer so let's revisit one that still strikes a chord with me. Why? Because I'm not sure I've grown here too much since writing this one. My heart is to encourage others to surrender their fears yet here I am...still doubting the cable guy, God, and everything else.

How about you?

Do You Trust Him Now?

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.

I Can't Serve Like Hugh--Yet

I know what you're thinking. Kim and Maria are offline and I've gone over the edge. If you only knew. In the middle of a park crying my eyes out while walking my dog, God gave me this post. What I love about Him is He isn't as stuffy as the world makes Him to be. He's funny, and He'll use things familiar to draw us closer to His Son.

Today He showed me servanthood through the eyes of Hugh. You know, hugh at History Channel's Ice Road Truckers.

Actually I don't think it was God at first who was speaking to me. It was a mocking voice that God would not use on His kids. But once I heard the mocking, God gave me the message. And now it gets distributed here. God wins. I love that!

Here is where the mocking came in. Sunday's episode had Hugh, a rough looking, rough talking ice road talker hauling waste. In the Lower 48 (I sound smart don't I) he owns a a trucking company and rules the roads. Now that he's driving the Arctic and so far, there hasn't been a task that was too much for him.

Already we've seen Rick not handle tasks well AND be offended with mundane jobs. Hugh proved himself and gets to haul human waste. Poop, if you will. Hugh called it something else, I'm sure.

The mocking was when I was on my knees crying and scrubbing the floors, the seats, the underwear, the backside, the hands, the things my daughter was trying so hard to reach the potty for and more than not, coming up short elsewhere. After three straight days of constant wiping, cleaning, washing, and to do it over and over, I really did not feel like praising God. My nostrils are still burning. I thought because my words sound a lot nicer than what Hugh spews, I'm the better servant. Then the defeated one laughed, even with profanity Hugh comes off better than me. Because Hugh was grateful to serve, even when it was trucking poop.

Truth is, I'm not better than anyone, nor is Hugh. Sure he's my call if I have to make a trip on ice across the Arctic, but we both fall short of God's glory.

What I'm working on is my attitude. I have a ways to go. I get many nice compliments about my writing online mostly. That honestly doesn't feel like service because I know it's my calling and God tells me what to write and I do it. I enjoy it. Although He keeps stretching the box for me, so far, I'm happy to go where He calls me in that area.

Taking care of kids, one who is a little behind her peers in some areas, especially when it comes to unloading waste, that doesn't come as natural for me. But I know a bit of the potential God has for her, and it's an honor most of the time to sow my calling into hers. The mundane stuff, I struggle, especially after three straight days of the unloading.

But what God turned into good were other acts of service I had not thought of. I am not a natural evangelizer or bold anything. This summer He has called me to halt friendly conversations and ask if I could pray for that person---right there. I speak up more about what I see going on when I pray about stuff, instead of thinking I ate a taco too late and I'll make a fool out of myself for saying so. I sure don't do it because it's easy or for my own glory. I'd rather be watching Ice Road Truckers.

So kudos to Hugh, a great truck driver not afraid to haul our toilet goodies. I pray in your travels you get to know Jesus in a personal way. As for me, I'll try not to grumble and complain when I'm dealing with my own toilet goodie issues with a child God promised in the womb was an overcomer. But I won't let the devil get me down. I'm a serving work in progress.

Just like 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.

The Non Essentials

Awhile back I heard a radio program that discussed Christian faith. There were two camps of each Christian topic. There is the essentials and the non essentials.

In my opinion, we Christians sure waste a lot of our time on the non essentials.

Although I believe from that Moody radio program I believe there was a book tied in to the subject, but these are my opinions.

Essential---Personal faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible is the Inspired Word of God.

Non essential----the rest.

What rest?

The chit chat during worship.

"He should have a suit jacket on. It's the altar area for heaven's sake."

"Do you see that girl? No one should wear a top like that for church."

"Tattoo? What good Christian covers themselves with tattoos?"

"That song? How can the Holy Spirit move with a rock and roll song like that?"

"That song? How can I worship God with a slow boring old one like that?"

"Did you see he came alone? I knew their marriage was having problems."

"We're having a real service. Not like that church down the street."

Although I'm paraphrasing, I have to tell you I do hear a lot of chit chat during worship by people decades older than me. I don't mean to stereotype but I hear a lot more complaining during a church service and after by those older, rather than the teens who so often get a bad reputation.

I'm not perfect, I fall prey to obsessing on mole hill issues that bit by bit tear down the beams called the Church. But as I hunger and thirst for more things of God I'm tired of the non essentials dividing the church.

If a teen comes to church wearing shorts, I personally wouldn't care if they came or served publically somehow. Maybe they can't afford what we deem appropriate. Maybe they don't know there is a non verbal dress code. Perhaps they are so wrapped up in getting to church to join others in a total sell out to giving to God. Maybe we should too.

Ditto for why don't they stand, raise their hands, shout Hallelujhah, speak with words we don't understand, don't speak words we don't understand, laugh, etc...

I love when the sound system works. I love uplifting music. I love the hymns. I love powerful sermons that rev me up, but I love the quiet messages that transform my soul. I love how God moves. It's essential.

Our commentary? Non essential.

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. 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. To get to know her 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.

Beginning To Fly

(We found this gorgeous image HERE)

(For my last post, “Ready to Fly” click here…)

As I begin to expand my wings, I’m finding a few challenges as well as a new sense of freedom. My wings are a little sticky and almost stiff from the position they have been if for so very long in my cocoon. So as they begin to open (in kind-of slow motion) I am hesitant to start to stretch them out…I have encountered some resistance, but at the same time, as I begin to move my wings freely, it is beginning to get easier. I trust that my wings will be held up on the wind by Him.

I trust.

I’ve surrendered.

I know now (finally!)—Hi is in control of all things—He has created me to be His butterfly---He created me to go through this metamorphosis for the exact amount of time He intended.

He is, in fact, in control.

If I worry about things, it won’t change the outcome of anything. If I’m anxious and allow my thoughts to take over, it won’t make the end result any different. He is ordering my steps and has ordained this time for me to fly.

The color and shape of my wings are perfectly made by Him.

So are yours.

Have you surrendered?

Do you trust Him completely?

I feel free to fly and glide against the wind current of His love. He is holding me and keeping me in the air.

It is an exhilarating sensation.

I feel that the weights I’ve carried in my mind for far too long have finally been lifted.
I have made the conscious choice to surrender all. I’ve given up all to Him. I am grateful for the time I’ve spent in my cocoon. My metamorphosis has been a sometimes uncomfortable, but worthwhile experience.

If your cocoon has begun to get hotter and more uncomfortable recently…

Get ready.

He’s changing you.

He’s molding you.

He’s challenging you.

He wants you to trust Him completely.

Get ready.

His freedom is waiting.

Did you know the Narrow Gate Girls are spreading our wings over at Take Root and Write? We are monthly columnists on topics of adoption, special needs families, and finding freedom through surrender. There are many amazing writers over there covering a lot of great topics. In addition, you can find Kim and Julie (and maybe Maria soon) at the sister site, Christian Women Take Root. CWTR is a social networking sites where if you want you can personalize your page, add a music player, pictures, join groups, and more. You can best find Kim with the adoption group, and Julie with the surrender group. We appreciate you reading wherever you find us!

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.

Waist Deep With Kim

Today I am standing waist deep in my faith like a child standing in the ocean looking straight ahead. I have reached a point where I refuse to look back at the shore and I am only anticipating the beauty ahead. I have to believe, there is no other choice, no other option.

It has taken me awhile to arrive here. At times I started wading in only to run for the shore when the first wave hit. Other times I refused to step in at all and stood on the shore watching others wade in. But today is different. Today I am standing in my faith and I am choosing to keep walking in until it is time to swim.

How did I arrive here? As I posted several weeks ago, through prayer and prophecy, the Lord was calling me into a more intimate relationship with Him. At the time I was struggling because I had no idea how to get there. It was as though I had a destination but no map or direction of which way to go. So this past month I pressed in and spent lots of time alone with Him. I read, prayed, fasted, and just chatted with Him. I questioned, pondered, and really allowed Him to go deep into my heart and bring closure to several 'open areas' in my life. At times I felt scared, frustrated, and lonely - uncertain about what was going on and fearful that I would remain in such a 'separate' place, not separate from Him but from others. Then some amazing things began to happen. My husband and I both had vivid dreams which brought hope and revelation, confirmation came forth on decisions we had been contemplating, and the Lord began to reveal the plans He has for our lives. It was as though He and I, working together, needed to remove the 'pain' and 'junk' in my heart before we could move forward. And ultimately I needed to say, "Yes I trust you!"

Kim is a woman who loves the Lord and has a burden for the abandoned, the orphaned, and the forgotten. She has been called to minister to the people and children of Romania and will be traveling internationally in the days ahead. At home she cares for her three children and her husband John. She also loves prophetic worship and writing for the Lord. Her work can also be found at Take Root and Write where she wrties with fellow Narrow Gate Girls Julie Arduini & Maria Spencer, among other Christian writers. Kim also maintains her blog http://divingintohisgrace.blogspot.com/

A Head Start On Surrender

All day I had in my head the many things I felt I was to blog about, and then I got "the call". It changed the order of the day, my emotions, and we're working on finding our balance as we still stand on the rock of Christ who remains solid ground.





I titled the below Head Start on Surrender because there will be an Open House July 7 at http://www.takerootandwrite.com./ I will have a monthly column the third Wednesday of the month about finding freedom and victory through surrender. As always, the writer learns right with the readers.





Thanks for reading the link below.








http://thesurrenderedscribe.blogspot.com/2008/06/head-start-on-surrender.html



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.

Starting summer 2008, Julie will be a columnist the third Wednesday of each month on finding freedom and victory through surrender over at http://www.takerootandwrite.com/.

To get to know her 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.

Journey to Salvation: Part Three

Journey to Salvation Part Three

Did you miss Parts one and two? Click on the links to catch up!

http://thenarrowgateinvites.blogspot.com/2008/05/journey-to-salvation-part-one.html

http://thenarrowgateinvites.blogspot.com/2008/06/journey-to-salvation-part-two.html

So—
I was in a fog, trying to keep up with my home, my job, and my daughter’s new world of therapy…
I knew there must be a way to survive all of this, but I couldn’t find it anywhere.
I spent most of my days in depression—I was very good at making the world around me think that everything was OK, but I was falling apart on the inside.

The texture of my heart was different.
It hurt and I didn’t think it would ever heal.

So I began going to Catholic mass again, searching for some sign from God that He was real. Week after week, I was seeking after an answer for all of this pain. I sought counseling from my priest only to find out things on the surface that I already knew. I wanted some solid evidence that this pain was worth it somehow-- That my pain was for a purpose.

All this time, my husband did not go to church with me—he was not interested in learning more about a God that had allowed this to happen to his baby girl.

He was angry with God, and he didn’t know how to fix this.

Then one day he said to me, “I saw this motivational speaker on TV last night, you should look him up, and he really made a lot of sense.” He gave me the man’s name, and I was so out of it, I didn’t really give it much thought.

Then one Sunday morning, the TV was on, and my husband that had no interest in learning more about God said, “This is the man I was telling you about.”


The man was Joel Osteen.


I said to him, “Do you realize he’s talking about the Bible?”
He said, “Yes, I know, he’s very real---he makes the Bible make sense.”

I was so intrigued by the fact that this man had hit something inside my husband, and I had to hear more of him.

I watched him for a few weeks, and almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing…

Then one Sunday his message was about worry.
I thought, “Oh, this is my specialty. I know all there is to know about worry. I worry all the time; it’s one of the things that makes me a good Mom.”

Then he started talking about how God never intended for us to worry.
He quoted scripture that stated, “Do not worry about anything, pray about everything.”

I couldn’t believe that the Bible actually had those exact words in it.
I learned at a very young age that the more you loved someone, the more you worried about them.
That belief was now being tested.

I was standing in my kitchen, weeping.

At the end of his message, he invited his audience to say a simple prayer to ask Jesus into their hearts.
In the midst of my tears, I thought to myself---
“It can’t be this simple. This Truth that I had never heard of is just one prayer away?”

I had been searching for something to make my heart whole again, and I finally found it.

His name is Jesus.

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 as well as invitations for her to speak to your group.

Party Time

I'm having a party tonight and no one has showed up except me. Even my husband who tried to give me words of encouragement declined my invitation by saying, "You need to snap out of this!" and went up to bed. My party is a pity party . . . all about me, me, me.

I know I should be diving into the Word, on my knees in prayer, or listening to music and worshipping right now but all I really want to do is cry and so I am. It has been a long couple of weeks, okay, it has been a long year and I just feel like crying.

This past year began with the pruning process, followed by a 'time in the desert,' then a time of renewal and growth. It has been a year filled with discomfort, change, uncertainty, and a true test of patience. There are moments, like these, when I feel like I can barely hang on one more day and then I think of Job.

Job. How did he do it? Everything He loved was taken from Him and yet he continued to worship the Lord. The past few weeks I feel like I am being attacked from all sides and all I want to cry out is, "God show me that you are real!" And then I think of Job. If Job can do it so can I! I don't remember reading anything about Job's late night pity party either:)
Job . . . wow, what a guy!


Well after typing Job's name so many times I think it is time I bring my party to a close. He has humbled me once again. Just a few tissues to clean up and then up to bed.

Goodnight, Kim

Journey to Salvation: Part Two

Did you miss Part One? Catch up with the link below:

http://thenarrowgateinvites.blogspot.com/2008/05/journey-to-salvation-part-one.html

Journey to Salvation Part Two

So, as my husband and I were all of a sudden swept into an emotional roller coaster, we didn’t know how to function….
Our Olivia spent the next ten days in a pediatric ICU, with many moments of uncertainty for her future.
Still, I had no point of reference of even how to begin to cry out to God for help.
I almost felt guilty trying to speak to Him, since I never really had before.

She came home on anti-seizure medication, because once she came off of the ventilator, she began having seizures. Her brain was responding to the trauma that it endured from the period of time it was without oxygen.

There we were, in the midst of what I call “survival mode.” We were trying to learn and understand how to go about our lives, and take care of her and her big brother in the meantime.

The physicians reassured us that she would be ok long term, and her brain was without oxygen for an ‘insignificant’ period of time.
In between staring at her sleeping, and hovering over her constantly in my state of constant worry; I realized over the months that followed her discharge that her left hand was always fisted. Her pediatrician dismissed my worries, and insisted I was being overly cautious.
Then, by the time she was 8 months old, I demanded we get an occupational therapy evaluation; as it’s main focus is fine motor/hand skills.
The energy that allowed my husband and I to function during these months came from adrenaline, and our love for her. We wanted to be angry that this had happened, but we didn’t have time—we had to keep moving.
Then, during a routine visit with her neurologist, he said the words that I can still hear so very clearly, “We don’t know how long her brain was without oxygen, so I am going to write down in her chart that she has cerebral palsy; for insurance purposes.”

“Cerebral Palsy?” I said. “How does one get cerebral palsy?” My head was spinning.

I know driving home from this appointment, through my tear-soaked face I thought, “I don’t know how to do this. I can’t take care of a physically disabled child. God, please help me.”

Our days became filled with more therapy and doctor appointments, and I fell into a depression, because all I could do was live in fear for her future. I couldn’t see how anything positive could come from this. I spent most days focusing on her limitations, rather than her strengths.
I was now a mother of a child with cerebral palsy—and I was spiraling in a downward motion; not knowing where I was going to land.

I was raised Catholic, so I began going to church again—week after week, I was searching for God.
I thought daily, “Where is He? Who is He? Does He even hear me? I need some kind of hope, or I am literally going to have a nervous breakdown….”

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 as well as invitations for her to speak to your group.

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.

Believe

I heard Christian singer/songwriter Mark Schultz say recently about a particular song he wrote, “Next to the song title it states that it is written by me, but I didn’t write it the words-God did, I just happened to be in the room at the time.”

That’s exactly how I feel about almost every article I’ve written. I don’t have a background or education in journalism or writing, and prior to three years ago, I had never had the desire to write at all.

Until one day He gave me the idea. Almost instantly, I had the desire and confidence to start writing. A “wow” moment like that can only come from God. He not only placed the desire in my heart, He gave me the words He knows people need to hear---and He continues to give them to me month after month, week after week….

Now I’m sure some of you are thinking, “God could never use me, I don’t have anything to offer…He would never speak to me like that.”

Has God been telling you to do something you don’t feel qualified to do?

What is it that you started to do that you know could have only come from His strength and His love, and His guidance? Have you had “ideas” come to you that make no sense to your natural mind?

If He gave you the calling, He will see you through.

He will give you what you need—strength, courage, endurance, peace.

He did it for Gideon.

He did it for me.

He will do it for you.

Trust Him.

Believe.

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. If you would like to talk to her, please e-mail her. Our e mail address is in our profile.

Get a Life---verse!

Early in my Christian walk, someone asked me if I had a life verse. I barely had a grasp on what version of the Bible to read let alone a verse. I wanted something that no matter what came my way, I could look at that verse and go yea, that's right. God is in control and this is what I need to do here.

My faith became personal in 1992 and for many of those years, the same verse has served me well. What is it?

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6.

What does this verse mean to me? When I have a choice to make, when something is on my mind, I give it up. I know on my own intelligence and actions, I'll goof it up. Big. When I trust Him, it's the way to go every time. I need to do this in all areas of my life, not just the easy parts of life. I have to acknowledge Him in all ways. The visual I have is what if you bought a house and you were handed the deed but learned you only got certain rooms, not all of them? It's the same way with this verse. When you give your trust over to Him, He's going to show you the way.

His way. His perfect way. In His time. That's hard for most of us to accept. I can say when I have truly applied this verse to my life, He has never let me down. This verse exemplifies what I want in a relationship with God, and what I know I have to give, or in my case, give up. My way. My actions and reactions. My timing. Can you relate?

Do you have a verse that really means a lot to you? We'd love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment.

By the way, did you know that there are enough Proverbs that you could read one each day and tackle the book of Proverbs in a month, each month? There is so much wisdom in these short writings, I encourage you to read them.

Julie 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 and is the Forum's book club facilitator. She is active with FaithWriters and has several writings ready to publish in different books and anthologies in 2008-09. To contact Julie, Kim or Maria, please contact us at jarduini@faithwriters.net.

Maria on Surrender

Did you ever have a minor cut or scrape that at first hurts so bad, you don’t know how you will ever think about anything else? The pain seems to override everything else you have to do or focus on….It takes all of your energy to do something other than try to alleviate the pain from this wound.

Then after you nurse this wound for a little while, you realize the pain is not as it once was, it is tolerable, and you can go about your daily routine without having to feel the reminder that it is there and still causing you pain. Then suddenly, one day, you see the remainder of a scab or scar that was there, and you actually forgot it was there, or that not so long ago, it was causing you pain.

I feel that the wounds of our lives, our hearts, our emotions, are very similar to this kind of wound. No matter how minor the wound may be, the pain that can come from such a wound can pierce our innermost beings. But when we come to Christ, we know and we learn that He can make all things new, He has paid the price of his life for us, for our sins…so initially we think that if we go after Him and search out answers to all of our questions, maybe he can take away some of this pain. And we read His promises, we believe them to be true, but in the meantime, we are nursing these wounds…they still hurt. We know in our heart that He is who He says He is, and we see Him working in other people’s lives, and we read, we ask, we want to know him more….and we believe. But why then, if we believe, do these things still hurt? We think, “If I were a true believer, this pain would be gone…what’s wrong with me? I must not know enough, I must not be willing enough…” So, in turn, we search more, more resources, more books, more messengers and conferences, we think to ourselves, “surely if I go here or there, or read this book or that book, then I will fully understand and the pain will go away.”

But it is not until we realize there is only one book and only one resource that we need. It is in His word, and His name is Jesus, and He has endured the pain of our wounds, he has felt our scrapes, he has felt them even before we did. He knew we would be feeling them, and he has been waiting for us to totally completely surrender and believe him at his word. Believe that he is who he says he is, and he wants us to depend on him to carry us through.

I feel that this cannot happen completely until we learn what it is to receive this grace, this love, this mercy that he has for us. Each and every one of us. When we stop searching, running to find answers…when we just sit in his presence and truly receive his words from the only book we need, it is then and only then that our healing can begin. He doesn’t want us to hold onto anything…he knows we’re holding on to it and trying to do it in our own strength…he wants us to trust all of his words, and allow him to rescue us from this pain. He wants believing and receiving to go hand in hand. He knows it is sometimes difficult for us to receive….because some of these even small scrapes can be very, very deep and cause intense pain. When we decide to immerse ourselves in his word and live within his grace, we can truly, completely receive his promises.
And then, one day, as this receiving becomes second nature to us, we realize there were wounds that have now begun to heal. You see, when we surrender all to the Lord, and let his rain fall on us…and soak in it, it is then and only then that pain will become a memory. He will take the pain, and bask in the joy of our commitment and love for him.

Allow him to take your pain.
Allow him to rescue you from the wounds in your heart.
Let him in.
Give him your pain.
He wants to take it.
Go ahead. He really is who he says he is.
Let him heal you.
Surrender.


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. If you would like to talk to her, please leave a comment with an e mail address.

And The Gate Is Open!

Welcome! We're scared but we feel the call and we can't ignore it any longer. This blog is called "The Narrow Gate Invites" because we feel called to share the deeper things of Christian faith. Our hope is to blog our experiences, mistakes, learnings, revelations and tears to challenge your walk and seek God in a way you never have before. By no means does this mean we have things mastered, quite the opposite. We're all on this journey together.



The authors of this blog are myself, Kim and Maria. Besides feeling the call to blog here, we are all wives and moms with a full plate stretching us in several directions. We are hungry for things of God yet when we get together we confess how we yell at our kids, get frustrated, and skip Bible readings when we need it most. Our hope is to blog a few times a week and we definitely want you on board. We ask for your grace as this full plate may prevent us from posting like we want. My hope is to tackle Tuesdays and Thursdays. Kim would like once a week and so would Maria. I can't wait for you to get to know them.



My name is Julie and you can also find me at the right of this blog with my personal blog, The Surrendered Scribe, http://thesurrenderedscribe.blogspot.com/ I blog about many things there, and this blog will be a little more faith specific, so check my rants, thoughts, confessions and learnings on anything from writing, to family to wanting a two car attached garage over at the Surrendered Scribe. I'm also a writer dipping my pen in the waters so to speak, and you can find the list of what I'm doing at the right of the Surrendered Scribe blog. On Sundays I am the mommy blogger at the Christian Writers Forum blog, http://christianwritersforum.com/Blog/ . I'm married with two children and like Kim and Maria, I live in NE Ohio. If you want to know more about me, I am the featured author of the month at FaithReaders http://www.faithreaders.com/featured-author.php and Lynda did such a great job interviewing me I joke that my family can use this interview as my obituary one day.



Today I just want to say welcome and Kim and Maria, it's real and happening. For you the reader, pray for us. We sense this is a new thing God is doing, and we want to be authentic vessels for Him. We don't want you to be fans of us, we want you to be close friends with God because when Christ died on the cross, He opened the gate and knocked barriers so we could know the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in a personal way. We want that, and we hope you do too. Note on the right you can sign up for the RSS service or the Feedburner subscription service. As always, feel free to bookmark us and check back often!



Some of what we may blog may be new to you and that's ok. You may not agree with everything we write, that's fine too. We don't want to be controversial, we want to be Scriptural. More than anything, we want to challenge your thinking and rock your faith. Anyone can go the wide beaten down path----where God is calling us and you now is lesser traveled. It's narrow. There is room for you, so please, take those small steps and push the gate open a little further. Walk with us. Share your thoughts, remembering to be kind even if you disagree. Laugh and cry with us, but don't stand still. This journey is for all of us.



Will you join me in this prayer of asking God to bless this endeavor?



Father God, we invite you to this blog. We ask that every word written here would be given by You first and filtered through us. Help us be the vessels you want us to be. Guide each topic, each blogger, each comment, every part of this experience. Let anything learned here be for Your glory. Give us the drive to obey this call, surrendering all fear. Bring the readers you want to be here in Your time, not ours. Thank you for stirring us to step out of our comfort zone and try something new and different. This blog isn't convenient or easy, but it's of You. We covet your favor, anointing, blessing and protection over this, us, and our loved ones.



We feel this year is a year where you want to use the theme of the gate, so we honor You with your Word: But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:14 NIV) and But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the (gate) stall. (Malachi 4:2 NIV)



Thank you Lord for the opportunity to serve You. Your grace amazes us. Blessed be Your name. Surrendered to Him, Amen.



*Note: The gate image comes from by Petr Kratochvil at http://publicdomainpictures.net/