I AM REDEEMED & YOU ARE TOO!

With a move from a city you lived in for 8 years, to your home town that you haven’t live in since 1998 – there comes change, there comes a shift in chores, time spent with each other, time not spent with each other, more family functions – lots and lots of change. Even the smallest of things, your work-out routine, your walking path, your dog not having his doggy door – which then in turn makes you get up MULTIPLE times to let him in and out because you see, he too has changes. He is SO dang excited about having a yard now, he wants to be in the yard a lot but he struggles too because he wants to be with his family in the house – so in and out, all night long until we get the doggy door in and the fence put up.

Change. It’s inevitable.

And, if you aren’t aware there will be big changes, you might fall. If you go into everything in your life, like I do, only thinking of the best times to come – well…..you might have some issues.

But for some reason, I can never do anything but this, I wish I could but I guess I'm an eternal optimist. I just always think the best of people and that the best is only to come. I haven’t decided if that is a good trait to have or not. Sometimes I think it’s a curse, like when I go through the difficult times and think “Well, you should have seen this coming! Why did you not see this coming before now?”

When people fail me, I am reminded of what is important in my life.

Christ and Christ Alone is what is important to me!

The one and only man who saved me from myself.

He never gave up on me.

He is always there by my side, to pick me up. I have a picture in my head, my Father walking beside me, I’ve fallen, He grabs my arm and lifts me back up to where I was before the fall.

He is that constant whisper I hear in my ear, “Delinda you are worth so much more than you think are! I created you in *MY* image and you are destined for big things!”

He is my cheerleader.

When these types of things happen in my life, I feel as though I’m on this constant roller coaster of emotions and I always try to figure out “Why?” Why am I like this God? Why did you make me this way? I hate this about myself. Couldn’t you have made me to be stronger with my emotions like so –and – so? You made her strong, look at all she has done in her life? This or that doesn’t bother her.”

But here I am again, comparing myself to someone and that is right where Satan wants me – so that I’m not doing God’s work. Helping the lost!

I think I just have to have these moments in my life, to get to the next phase of life, or to get to where He wants me.  On my knees again, face to the floor, crying out to Him. Humbled. Quiet. Ending in a peaceful situation. Ending with me talking to Him, like I talked to my Dad – even better though cause this Dad is PERFECT! It's just MY process of learning and I realize this. Do you do this, too? Or is it just me?

One of my goals in life is to tell every woman I come in contact with about our Dad's love for her.  It’s my calling.  I want women to know this Dad, this Dad before us – God – He is the “PERFECT” Dad. He is the one who won’t hit us, hit our Mom’s, verbally abuse our Mom’s, our siblings….nothing of the sort will happen with this Dad. He is what you are longing for, even though you may not know this – He is it!

Do you ever feel Him with you?

If you don’t, you just whisper His name, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus….please come and sit with me.” Like any GOOD, GOOD Father, He will be there in a matter of minutes. When His children call on His name, He hears all and is right there with you. And if you show up, you will hear Him, you will see His miracles and He will help you.

He does it for me every single stinking time. It never fails. I call on Him. He helps me, He picks me up and we walk together again.

If I am not in His word, or reading His love story to me – routinely, I sometimes forget about His love for me. That is why I try my hardest to do this daily. I am reading the bible “As it Happened” and I’m in such awe over what I’m learning. When I was in my twenties, I used to always read Danielle Steele romance novels because that is what my Mom read, so I followed.  Well, now I know and have read the best romance novel of all time. The Bible.

This is why I am so excited for the opportunity to start serving in our jail with the Faith Unit @ Together Church.  I get to take the bible to the inmates and let them know about our Dad’s love for them.  I am so very excited to do this. If you know me, you know I live with a lot of fears but for some reason I am not fearful of this. I know many would be, I’m sure if I asked my Mom she would be fearful for me. I’m not going to tell her and cause her to worry.

Fear is such a liar!

I trust in the Lord, to take care of me.

I’m taking His word, His love story to some women who may have never heard about Him before. The possibilities are endless for these women. Once you turn your life over to Him, there is a shift. He starts healing you, healing relationships, healing areas of your life that you may not even know you need healed – but He does just that.

It isn’t all at once, just little by little He works on you. He perfects you. That’s how He sees you – perfected. He doesn’t see your Sin, it’s washed away, long gone down the Yakima River, like my fears of floating the river.

I’m no longer afraid!

I did it!

At 46 years old I finally floated the river with my husband and daughter, and none of us drowned!

How did I do it?
Well, I started my day with my bible study because I thought, “If I die today God, I want to know more about you before I drown.” Silly, I know but that’s just a glimpse of the fear that was inside me.

I wore a life jacket. I was the only adult wearing one but I felt safe with it on. I am not the best swimmer.

Then I kept reminding myself I was making memories with my family and my new church family, that this was gonna be fun and He would take care of me.

And my daughter reminded me very abruptly, “Mom, you actually think He would take you out of all He has taken you out of but then let you drown in the Yakima river?”

She was right.

I taught her well, what can I say?

God also gave me a very patient and loving husband. He loves me like Christ does, THANK GOODNESS! Even with all my little hang-ups and habits, little tweaks here and there. . . he just keeps loving me, calming me or staying close by my side when he knows I’m fearful. He’s a good swimmer too, so there’s that. J I KNOW he would help us too if we were drowning.

And God placed me near more people who gave me His peace. They told me if Logan cramped and could not swim, they would get her and pull her in. See how crazy the fear just takes over your thinking?

I even watched her cliff jump at the Pac-man, I only watched her one time but then she went to do it again and I couldn’t watch her the 2^nd time around!

I was calm.

I had no fear.

I’m not sure why, other than Him & the people He placed in my life that day, there are no other answers.

I mean I’m 46, come on people, this was a fear that was instilled in me a long time ago. I was 4 years old and in the Yakima river with my Mom and Dad. My Dad told me to not cross the river, he was going to cross over but said “stay right there, do not move, do not cross until I come back for you.”

Well, I was 4 and didn’t listen. It was fast and swift. I was so scared.  It was getting deeper and deeper and finally, I just stopped. I knew

(yes even at that age) that if I kept going, the river was going to take me down it. I cried out to my Dad to get me, I mean I was BAWLING I was so afraid. He was on the other side trying to get me to come to him and I couldn’t move. I just knew to stay put or what was going to happen. My Mom was crying, I was crying, & my Dad was very angry because I didn’t listen to him. It wasn’t a good situation.

Then while growing up our neighborhood boys would always hold me under the water, thinking it was funny, “Oh let’s see how long Delinda can hold her breath for.” I was little. This was awful and instilled a fear of water that has been with me since I was 4, so 42 years!

Gone.

He took it.

I prayed.

He did it, He kept me safe and I’m no longer afraid.

He is the answer.
Just like my earthly Father, picked me up out of the Yakima River and saved me. . . God saved me too & He continues to remind me just how blessed I am by His love & how He cares for me. From His daily reminders, to the people He has strategically placed in our lives.

My life verse:

Psalm 40:2New Living Translation (NLT)

2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
    out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
    and steadied me as I walked along.

I will be forever grateful.

My prayer is, I never forget this. It’s only been 3 years that we have been saved but every day I remember how I used to feel without Him in our lives. I never want to go back to that life.

FYI: People will always fails us, it’s inevitable because we are all human beings & you know what? Sometimes them failing me is because of me and my expectations that I have placed on them, and they don’t even know I did that! Which isn’t right either!