COURAGE: 2019

is my word of the year 2019


to step outside the box
to be salt and light 
to give the gospel message
to begin the next phase in my academic career
to live my life as God wills it not mankind
to speak my mind in truth, love, and hope
to know that different opinions don’t diminish my own.
to resist the urge to give up
to act despite the fear
to persevere in my studies
to pray where it is needed
to be a mentor 
to keep on being a
to go where God wants me to go
to stand up for myself
to protect what God has given me
to accept what God says no to
to show love to those who need it most

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https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-courage.html

Joshua 1:9, Printable Bible Art, Watercolor Scripture Art, Be Strong and Courageous
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Joshua 1:7-9 ~ GW
7 Only be strong and very courageous, faithfully doing everything in the teachings that my servant Moses commanded you. Don’t turn away from them. Then you will succeed wherever you go. 8 Never stop reciting these teachings. You must think about them night and day so that you will faithfully do everything written in them. Only then will you prosper and succeed. 9 I have commanded you, ‘Be strong and courageous! Don’t tremble or be terrified, because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’

Control…

Now I’m all grown up… Control… as some of the lyrics to Janet Jackson’s song course through my brain… I am realizing how much control I do not have.

I do not have control of how my Professor chooses to grade and critique my assignments
I do not have control over how long it is taking the online tutoring center  to review final term paper 
I cannot control that it will take possibly until 10 pm Saturday night to have the paper in review form

I can however do this..
I can control my reaction to my frustration levels as it is building more inside of me.
I can release my need for control to God and let Him do all things in His timing and not mine
I know that God is my guidance and for the others who are on my team
I know that I cannot fight but go instead in peace knowing I have done the best I can for now
I can pray for patience, for my anxiousness to subside

I belong to He who made me!
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Ephesians 2:19-22(ESV) 

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. 

#LibertyUniversity #OnlineWritingCenter #ReleaseAndRelax #EasierSaidThanDone #Only9ShortDaysLeft #GodHasGotThis

Gathering, Learning, Giving, & Letting Go

Well after a busy last couple of months, I am back…told you I
would be terrible at keeping this up…but life happens…and we move forward with
new things on our mind…trying to find that one moment in our daily walk where
all is right with the world and we can breathe again.
For me that is my hearts devotion. To find my time with the
Lord, center myself, and claim my space in His vast universe. 
This Fall 2018, this beautiful season that we are heading into…it
is a time for reflection…gathering, learning, giving, and letting go.
Gathering of the memories I’ve garnered over this past year
and making sure that I won’t forget the lessons I’ve learned about myself.
Learning to complete the task that has been given to me. Even
though the process may be hard it is going to be worth it in the end.
Giving of my time to my family, my church, and my community.
Making an effort to be present in each situation. To be that listening ear, to give
my advice when it is asked for…and to make others know that their lives matter.
Letting go…boy this is my struggle…daily, weekly, monthly,
yearly…etc. Let go and Let God is the big one that is said…but in reality, is
it really done? Because…me, myself and I…stew on things, knit pick, try to find
a way around or thru…and place myself where God should be. Lord have mercy, I
really am trying to be better in this. 
I’ve been working through the book of Colossians these last
couple of weeks. And really have come to respect what the Apostle Paul was trying to say to
this city church. I’ve garnered a new sense on what God has given me to do, for
His Kingdom. That this season will not only be one of harvest but planting in
different ways. 
He is writing to the church he planted in Colossae,
wrote unflinchingly to remind the parishioners of their need to get back to
what they have learned. Reminding them all of the Father and the Son have done
for us, and what they deserve in kind from us.
Colossians 3:12-15 ~ Good News Translation
“12 You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for
his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Be tolerant with one another and forgive
one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must
forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you. 14 And to all these
qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity. 15 The
peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to
this peace that God has called you together in the one body. And be thankful.”
May we all be thankful that we are given time to be with our
loved ones and our community. May we
all find ways to gather, learn, give and let go.
God bless,
Lea Marian

WAITING IS THE HARDEST PART

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https://www.facebook.com/RelentlessWoman/photos/a.126040861456071.1073741829.125465101513647/238887373504752/?type=3&theater

there’s a secular song called “Waiting is the Hardest Part” and that is so true. 
the thing is joy can be found in the waiting. 
healing can happen in the waiting. rest can be gained in the waiting. 
hope can be realized in the waiting. 
faith will become fully realized in the waiting. 
and God the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit will be with you in the waiting.
 isn’t that a great set of promises. 
and aren’t we lucky to know there is someone we can turn to when we feel we are in the hardest part of our lives. 
because believe me…there are many others including myself that can tell you the hardest part is being separated from our Lord in our frustration. 
so how do we move past this feeling…it may sound cliché…but… look to the Lord, read His word, breath, get out among community and be with like minded individuals.

MEMORIAL DAY 2018

As I sit here thinking of all the men and women who have died so that I may be free. 

I realize that I am truly blessed to live in a nation where I have the freedom to just even write this blog, or go to any university I choose, or allow my adult-child with a disablity live at home with me. 

Here I am sitting here in the sunshine waiting for my veteran husband to return home with some extra groceries for dinner, and I wonder about the husband and wives whose spouse is not around to run errands for them. I wonder about the mothers and fathers who do have the support of their children’s other parent anymore.

These soldiers, sailors, and airmen chose to enter into a service where they knew they were going to be called up at anytime to go anywhere because their government asked them too. They willing walked into harms way so that we may be free.

From Concord and Lexington to Falujah and Kandahar. From 1775 to 2018.

Memorial Day means so much more than just a three day weekend. So take a moment and think of them before you open that cabin door, or go boating or canoeing, or grill that brat or burger, or play in the yard with your kids.

It should be our honor to acknowledge them for all they have done. I hope that I will always be able to stand for the national anthem, that I will proudly fly the American Flag, and thank God for them everyday.

Star Spangled Banner
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" A Battlefield Promotion " Vintage Memorial Day Post Card. Karodens Vintage Post Cards.
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My Viewpoint is this…

So … I don’t know how consitent this blogging is going to be as my plate is full …  with my full-time school work, taking care of my family, working on my knitting projects (or crochet) and becoming more than just an on-line believer. 
I am grateful for a resource that let’s me express myself in longer written form.
When ever the Spirit moves me I may just jot down a few thoughts on my smartphone’s version of this blog…or I may get on here and make a stand on how I see things and hope they inspire you to think. 


Someone on the news the other day on MSNBC (I believe it was Tiffany Cross) said that Conservatives lacked intellectual curiosity. Well, if you know me…and even if you don’t…this brought my hackles up. 
As a Women, Wife, Mother, and Voter since 1989, I have looked at both sides of the voting coin…and sometimes I have strayed into independent land…but a majority of the time to me Conservatives make intellectual sense. 
They are for smaller government, the soverignty of each state in America,  free enterprise, and independent commerece, right to life from conception to grave, the Constitution and all it’s amendements to be interpreted with the historical content and future consideration in mind, to realize that judges interpret the law they don’t make the law, the seperation of powers, the freedom of religion not from it, the right to fly the flag of the U.S. of A., the respect of all veterans and the sacrifice they and their families made for our country… 


and guess where I learned all this…by using my mind and reading many history books…not just the ones that were printed in the last decades, and working towards my minor in History so that I can work with Veterans and other individuals our country has neglected as a Chaplain. I have been a voracious reader all my life of fiction and non-fiction, I have read autobiographies and romance novels…but still the greatest most educational book in my life will always be the BIBLE. 

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So to Ms. Tiffany Cross and all the other psuedo-intellectuals who say that Conservatives don’t have a mind and that women are cooerced by their husbands to vote Republican (that’s one my favorites) I have a mind of my own, I choose to use it the way that God guides me to use it… and I’ll never be ashamed of who I am or what I stand for…


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