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Tonya — 02/19/2023 Hello my wonderful friends!!!! So y'all know how much I love Advent, which is the weeks in anticipation of the birth of Christ in December. And it was the best gift ever to read the book of Luke with y'all during Advent! The truth is, while I love Advent, my absolute favorite time of the year starts next week!!!!! Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, and it is the beginning of Lent. It is the 40 days as we walk toward Holy Week and the Resurrection of Jesus on what we call Easter Sunday. For me there is something so intense about the season of Lent. There is a deep renewal in my heart that happens as I embrace, with great humility, the unbelievable love that God has for us to send His only son to die on a cross FOR US. And while so many people skip all of Lent and just go to the Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday, I think they're missing the most profound & special part of Easter which is walking the journey with Jesus to get there. So I would like to invite y'all to walk with Christ during Lent. We want to share just a little reflection or something about Lent each day during the 40 days. I'm inviting y'all to join me. I'd love to hear from you, but I know many said they're more comfortable just coming in here and reading what we share. And that's fantastic too. Alrighty... So here goes the Tonya history lesson on some pre-Lent info to ease folks who are new into the season of Lent. We're gonna start off pretty light. As I mentioned, and will explain more deeply tomorrow, Ash Wednesday starts this Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is the first day of the Lenten journey. Because this is a time of reflection about ourselves and our relationship with Jesus, you've probably heard of people sacrificing during Lent. As I said, we'll get more into that tomorrow. For now, let's talk about today, what many refer to as FAT TUESDAY. Or maybe you've heard it referred to in French, MARDI GRAS. Fat Tuesday is called this because, as I shared, many people sacrifice yummy stuff like meat, candy, butter, cream, chocolate, etc. Because people give up things during Lent, Fat Tuesday is the last day before Lent for folks to "go crazy" on the things they're going to give up. The day is called different things; Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Pancake Tuesday, and Shrovetide (which means Carnival). Whatever it's called in your area, it comes from the same place. It's the final day before Lent. Like many days that started from a Christian history, the secular world has twisted it. (In fairness, we've taken many secular & Pagan holidays and turned them into Christian holy days.) Ok so back to Pancake Tuesday... To prepare for Lent, Christians prepared pancakes to deplete their stock of eggs, milk, butter and fat (things they may be sacrificing during Lent), giving rise to Pancake Tuesday in England. As the tradition spread through Europe, it became Mardi Gras in France, where waffles and crepes are prepared as part of a lavish feast. Now Mardi Gras in France and New Orleans, as well as Carnivál in Rio de Janeiro have become CRAZY parties. Not much reverence or Christianity to be found. So on Tuesday, I encourage y'all to take the day to reflect on what you'd say to Jesus if you knew you were getting ready to start a road trip with Him. Because in essence, that's what Lent is...a road trip with your friend, Jesus. And yeah absolutely... Enjoy some pancakes... for any meal.  Tonya — 02/21/2023 Luciano, Tom & I are enjoying our stacks of pancakes. Yummmmm! What did y'all eat? Let's gets into Lent. I know many of you shared you'd never read the Bible so I'm going to start with, "What is Lent?" Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting (or 'sacrifice' for the Lord), and service to others, that begins on Ash Wednesday (tomorrow) and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday before Easter. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. It's a time to walk with Jesus and deepen your friendship with Him. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Scripture; we serve others; and we practice self-control through fasting or sacrifice. We are called to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will for our lives more faithfully. So how do we do it? Well.... Let's start with tomorrow known as ASH WEDNESDAY. What is it? Ok, so the Sunday before Easter we remember PALM SUNDAY. That is a remembrance of Jesus entering Jerusalem at Passover while many people waved Palms cheering, "HOSANNA HOSANNA," and then turned on Him calling for His death about a week later. Wow! Isn't that insane? So on Palm Sunday we receive Palms in remembrance.  Then the palm fronds from the previous year's PALM SUNDAY are burned. Burning them creates the ashes we use on ASH WEDNESDAY.  So what's up with putting the ashes on our foreheads on ASH WEDNESDAY? In a Communion-like procession at many churches on Ash Wednesday, people are invited to come forward, and the ashes are applied to each person’s forehead in the shape of a cross as the minister says either, “Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15), the usual prayer, or “Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19), the older, more traditional invocation. Ashes symbolize two main things in the Old Testament: DEATH & REPENTANCE. The ashes are equivalent to dust, and human flesh is composed of dust or clay (Genesis 2:7), and when a human corpse decomposes, it returns to dust or ash. For example, Abraham told God, “I am but dust and ashes” (Genesis 18:27), a reference to his human mortality. Jeremiah described death as a “valley of corpses and ashes” (Jeremiah 31:40). Ashes are an ominous sign, and we use them on Ash Wednesday to remind ourselves of our own mortality. Since death is coming, we need to be prepared. The time to prepare for death is now, and the way to prepare is to live according to God’s call on our lives. When the prophet Daniel shamefacedly clothed himself in sackcloth and ashes, they were a sign of his people’s contrition for their rebellion, wickedness and treachery (Daniel 9:3). When Jonah warned the Ninevites that God planned to destroy their city because of their corruption and depravity, the people covered themselves with sackcloth and ashes as a sign of their intention to turn from their evil ways (Jonah 3:6,10). Ashes are a plea to God for mercy and compassion, pardon and forgiveness. The cross of ashes symbolically placed on our foreheads are a public admission of guilt, an expression of sorrow for sins that have been committed, a promise to reform and a pledge to resist temptation in the future. Ash Wednesday is our public admission that we want to be closer to Jesus and we want to hear His call on our lives. We are sinners. When we receive ashes on Ash Wednesday, we are saying that we are sorry for our sins, and that we want to use the season of Lent to correct our faults, purify our hearts, control our desires and grow in holiness so we will be prepared to celebrate Easter with great joy.
 So you're not able to get to church tomorrow to receive ashes? No problem! Do your own cross of remberance. This is between you and Jesus. It's about your first step on this journey. However you choose to put a cross on tomorrow... Go for it. It's your commitment to try to hear God's call to you for your life. That's not easy. It's a process. It's a journey. It means surrendering EVERYTHING to God, admitting we're not perfect, and knowing God loves us anyway. NEXT STEP... Sacrificing stuff for the season of Lent. Ok, I'm gonna give you my hot take on this one. I hear people all the time say, 'I'm giving up chocolate, or alcohol, or smoking, or soda, or the internet for Lent.' Listen... That's great. If those are things that have a hold on your life, or that you use a lot, then sacrificing them during Lent may be real things that will cause some people to pause and think about Jesus' sacrifice for us instead. None of those have EVER been things that sacrificing them would even effect me in the least. Giving up material things doesn't feel like sacrifice for me at all. And I know there are lots of people just like me. So here's my hot take... I choose to think outside the box. What's the one thing I never have enough of, and would affect me greatly to lose more of daily? TIME. I never have enough TIME.  For the 40 days of Lent, I don't think of it as "sacrificing," rather, I think of it as what I want to GIVE to God as a way of saying to Him, "I'm a sinner and I am so grateful for the mercy and grace you have given me. I want to GIVE you my time." So instead of giving up a food or drink, I give to Christ my time. I commit to spending time with God every day. Maybe it's 10 minutes reading scripture. Maybe it's 19 min praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Maybe it's 30 minutes sitting barefoot outside on my swing just listening to God in the nature He created. Maybe it's getting on here everyday and sharing a reflection. There's not a set rule. It's just a commitment to walk with Christ every day and LISTEN to Him, and TALK to Him, or even just BE WITH HIM IN ADORATION. That's it. That's my commitment. What do y'all want to commit? I promise I won't share this much every day. I just wanted to share all the info about Lent so y'all could start thinking about it. Let me know if you have any questions. It was a lot to read, I know, but now we can just focus on the journey of Jesus road tripping with us.  Tonya — 02/22/2023 Day 1 of our Lenten journey The season of Lent is when we focus on building a closer relationship with Jesus. It's an invitation to carve out a focused special place each day for HIM. It's a chance to ask the questions; are we actively living our lives for Christ? Are we growing closer to Him? Are we doing that which imitates HIM? Are we listening to the call He has for our lives and responding with "YES" even when it's inconvenient? Are we following the example Jesus gave us? What does it mean to follow Jesus? In the gospel of Matthew (Chapter 5 verses 1-13) in His famous "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus teaches us the Beatitudes -8 specific statements of how to live life imitating His example. These eight beatitudes are a guide for how to live life most imitating of God. Let's reflect today on the first beatitude. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." Matthew 5:3 What in the world does that mean? POOR IN SPIRIT Jesus isn't talking about being poor in a physical sense. He doesn't mean "poor" by the definition of lacking in material possessions. Jesus was referring to lacking in the fullness of your spirit. Knowing we are incomplete. Knowing we are lacking fullness without His presence in our lives. Knowing unequivocally that we need God's grace in our lives every single day. Knowing we are not Wonder Woman or Superman, and that when people say, "don't worry, God won't give you more than you can handle," that it's absolute nonsense. God doesn't give us bad things. Bad things happen because of the world we live in. But being "poor in spirit" means knowing, I don't have to handle it by myself. Many things are too much for me, but they're not too big for God. As someone who has battled cancer for 11 years now, I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "it's ok Tonya because God won't give you more than you can handle." My head generally wants to explode when I hear it. I've learned to calmly respond each time by saying, "God didn't give me cancer, and this is absolutely more than I can handle! I am at my strongest when I am on my knees confessing to God, 'This is more than I can handle, but I know it's NOT more than you can handle.' Then I give it all to Him. That's what it means to fully surrender my Poor Spirit to Him." Poor in spirit = recognizing I'm not strong enough but He is Poor in spirit = Recognizing His strength Poor in spirit = recognizing my weakness Poor in spirit = recognizing I am incomplete without him Poor in spirit = acknowledging with humility that I am a flawed human who needs God There are so many voices in our world telling us just the opposite. Telling us we are independent, and we have the strength to do it all, and that if we don't then we're just weak people. That's Absolute CRAP! All lies. We need to knock those voices out of our heads. They are wrong! Jesus is the strength that fills our "poor spirit." ONLY JESUS. Being human is hard. It's messy. There's suffering and pain. We can either listen to the secular world tell us we're weak if we can't figure it all out on our own, or we can run to God and let HIM be in charge. I've seen what happens when I try to control everything. What a mess. "Jesus take the wheel!" Lol The Kingdom of God belongs to those who know they are poor in spirit. Y'all that gives me so much joy!! I get to admit, I'm not strong enough and I need HIM. I don't have to beat myself up when I don't have it all figured out. I know the Kingdom of heaven belongs to me even though I am flawed. God loves me that much!!! That is happiness! The choice is yours. Let this sinful world full of disease, pride, anger, jealousy and hatred fill your incomplete poor spirit, OR let Christ fill you with His living water. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." Did you add a cross today?
Tonya — 02/23/2023 DAY 2 OF OUR LENTEN JOURNEY Yesterday we talked about being "poor in spirit" as Jesus shared in His Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew chapter 5 in the Gospels) As a reminder, POOR IN SPIRIT has nothing to do with being poor in a material way. But rather, poor in spirit is a lacking within your spirit. It's the absence of God in your heart. It's the humility of knowing you are incomplete. You may be searching for purpose until you hear His voice calling to you. Humility... I just want to hang right on that word today. God gives us an opportunity to humble ourselves and say "yes" to Him when He calls at our appointed time. When is the appointed time? I don't know. You won't necessarily know either. It's like putting a cake in the oven and after only 60 seconds thinking you can take it out and it will be done. It won't. Sometimes God needs to keep you in the oven a little longer until you're ready for His calling. Other times He pulls you out way before you think it's your time, but you end up finding out He had a different plan and the recipe you thought you were following isn't the one He is following. Life is hard & you will bear the weight of struggles one way or the other. It can be felt in anxiety, fear, uncertainty, disease, addiction, love-loss, financial struggles, etc. The choice is ours to either walk with Christ while carrying that cross or let the weight of it crush us by ignoring His presence. We may never understand how or why, but each of these struggles is part of the recipe God has for you. When God calls each of us, it will be in a personal way specifically chosen for us. Never forget that His promise to us is that when we say "YES" to Him, He will sustain us through all the storms. That doesn't mean the cross you carry is suddenly gone or lighter. I, like many who fight cancer and other diseases, have prayed and prayed, and had others pray on our behalf for miracles of healing. After 11 years of battling disease, I can unequivocally say, I no longer pray for a lighter cross but rather for a stronger back. I know God uses my cross to give me insight to reach others. Healing doesn't always look like what people think it does. My healing has come in my humility of accepting that I am poor in spirit. I encourage you today to spend time reflecting on what cross God has asked you to carry. How might they have been part of His recipe for your life, even though you see them as heavy or inconvenient? What would it mean to your life to just, with great humility, accept the cross you've been asked to carry and see it in a different way? How could that attitude adjustment change your life?  Tom Allen — 02/23/2023 Wow! What a great explanation of what it means to be poor in Spirit.AND IS the first thing we must do when we go before God's throne in prayer. ". . . As the scripture says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6 GNT. And we must not forget Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and a tax collector. While the first bragged to God about how righteous he was, the second knew the best he could do was beg for God's mercy. "Then Jesus said, “When the two men went home, it was the tax collector and not the Pharisee who was pleasing to God. If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.” Luke 18:14 Tonya — 02/24/2023 DAY 3 on our Lenten journey Sarah asked me yesterday, "T, why do some Christians stop eating meat on Fridays?" Great question! In the simplest terms, it is another opportunity for us to do something that causes us to reflect on the sacrifice Jesus made FOR US by dying on the cross. Whether it's abstinence from meat, or any other sacrifice we make for HIM of time, talent or finances, it's all about our intention of why we're doing it. I never crave a cheeseburger more than I do on the Fridays during lent. Where's the psychologist in this group? lol Maybe it's just my brain messing with me, but whatever the reason, it absolutely makes me pause and say, "there's no cheeseburger in the world greater than salvation with Christ." I found an article that explains it clearly so I'm going to copy and paste it below. "Catholics and many other Christian faiths choose to abstain from "flesh meat" on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and the Fridays during Lent. Abstinence and self-sacrificing is one of our oldest Christian traditions. From the first century, the day of the crucifixion (Good Friday) has been traditionally observed as a day of abstaining from flesh meat to honor Christ who sacrificed his flesh on that day. Since Jesus sacrificed his flesh for us on Good Friday, we refrain from eating flesh meat in his honor on Fridays. Flesh meat includes the meat of mammals and poultry, and the main foods that come under this heading are beef and pork, chicken and turkey. While flesh is prohibited, the non-flesh products of these animals are not, things like milk, cheese, butter, and eggs. Fish do not belong to the flesh meat category. The Latin word for meat, caro, from which we get English words like carnivore and carnivorous, applies strictly to flesh meat and has never been understood to include fish. Furthermore, in former times flesh meat was more expensive, eaten only occasionally, and associated with feasting and rejoicing; whereas fish was cheap, eaten more often, and not associated with celebrations. Abstinence is a form of penance. Penance expresses sorrow and contrition for our wrongdoing, indicates our intention to turn away from sin and turn to God. Abstinence is a form of asceticism, the practice of self-denial to grow in holiness. Jesus asks his disciples to deny themselves and take up their Cross (Matthew 16:24). Abstinence is a way to practice simplicity by denying the cravings of our bodies and honor Jesus who practiced the ultimate form of self-denial when he gave his body for us on the Cross. Thus, to give up flesh meat on Fridays, only to feast on lobster tail or Alaskan king crab, is to defeat the ascetical purpose of abstinence. Less is more! There are countless options for simple Friday meatless dinners: pancakes, waffles, soup and rolls, chipped tuna on toast, macaroni and cheese, fried egg sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, cheese pizza, and of course, fish." 
This is something that some faiths have chosen to make part of their tradition. And I say, GOOD FOR THEM! I give a giant thumbs up to anybody who's doing things that bring them closer to Christ. As long as they are biblically based and come from a great place of intention, without getting caught up in so much legalism that they're losing Christ. It's something that I personally do because it's another way for me to be intentional in pausing to think about Jesus' sacrifice for me. That's all. I don't get into a lot of the legalism traditions because I see some of those leading us away from Christ. So I find the traditions that bring me close to Christ without losing my focus on HIM. But I love fish so much that it often doesn't feel like a sacrifice at all. So instead of focusing on the fish part, I try to focus on the simplicity part. I eat cereal, pancakes, eggs, cheese sandwiches, a bowl of soup... Because having salmon, crab and lobster isn't sacrifice to me.  So my thought process in "abstinence" is all about the intention. It's just one more opportunity for me to slow down and do something simple that brings me closer to Jesus. That's what this is all about. Today, I'm going to sit in my swing in the backyard and keep my bare feet in the grass. That makes me feel close to Jesus. So here's the challenge for today... What are y'all going to do today to feel closer to Jesus? What's your one good intention to just slow down and do something more simple that brings you closer to Him TODAY? Tom Allen — 02/24/2023 Another great reflection my dear! I like the emphasis on keeping sacrifice voluntary. 2 Corinthians says “You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”” 2 Corinthians 9:7 NLT Also there are many places in the Bible where God says our sacrifices are of no value if not coupled with obedience to His commands. Well done! tvenezia — 02/24/2023 We have a tradition in our family that I want to extend to YOU, My Discord family. It's called DAAAAAAAANCE BREEEEEAAAK And whenever the message is sent with a link, you must stop and dance! Take 2 minutes from your day and dance your butt off!!!! DAAAAAAAANCE BREEEEEAAAK https://open.spotify.com/track/1k9dLBzwep1k1eGP0Ec8ZK?si=QtZ1NNVqQZq_l_X-4Qmgrw  It's a Friday double feature from Tonya.... I was just reading about the disciples and I came across something that touched my heart that I want to share. "They persevered to live in true humility. They lived a life of simple obedience. They walked in charity and patience. They were intentional in their quest to grow spiritually every day, and they found great favor with God. This is the same life we are called to. A life of self-discipline, intentional sacrifice, a choice to sacrifice in order to make more room for God. A life in which we know, we have no need of this world. We become strangers to the world, while becoming a close personal friend to God. This is why we fast. It's not that food is necessarily bad for us, or that we aren't meant to enjoy the things God has gifted us. It's so we might learn to detach a little more from this world each day, and give ourselves a little more fully to God. Fasting and self-discipline can be hard. We are surrounded by comfort! That's what makes it great." I just love that message so much!!! Not sure why it touched my heart so much but I wanted to share it with y'all. And remember during this Lenten journey.... whatever it is you've decided to try to sacrifice, I'm going to challenge you to do a little bit more. Do something you wouldn't normally do. Get up a little earlier; work out a little longer; go for a walk that doesn't include talking on your phone; read scripture; look at your phone a little less; hold your tongue when you want to lash out; go to sleep a little earlier and give your body the rest it needs; stare at the computer screen a little less often; give up some comfort foods; say a genuine prayer for an enemy. Whatever it is you choose to sacrifice, think about a realistic goal and then push yourself just a little bit further. In Matthew chapter 4 we read about Jesus spending 40 days in the desert fasting so He could be fully empty and let his Father in Heaven fill him. Imagine fasting from food for 40 whole days! Of course Satan has to show up because that's what he does. Satan never takes a day off, remember that!!! Anyway Satan shows up and the first thing he does is tempt Jesus who hasn't eaten in 40 days to turn a stone into bread. What a jerk! He knows Jesus has been fasting for 40 days. But Jesus is so cool that He responds to Satan by saying, "One does not live by bread alone, but rather by every word that comes from the mouth of God." BOOM!!! JESUS IS SO COOL! Jesus fasted in order to be closer to God. Jesus shows us how to do it and reminds us that we live, survive and thrive by our relationship with God, not by the things of this world. Remember that the challenge is between you and God. He knows what worldly connections He wants to remove you from, or that are causing issues and chaos in your life... sometimes when you don't even see it. God knows what attachments you need to be freed from. The Lenten journey is not a one-size-fits-all. Some people are chronically ill or fighting a disease and the sacrifice they make CAN'T be from food or nutrition in any way. Maybe you're breastfeeding or pregnant. Maybe you have personal struggles with food and sacrificing food would be a harm to you. Do what's right for you! I have no judgment on any sacrifice someone chooses to make or not make. This is between you and God. My entire desire here is simply to put a light on your relationship with Christ that's maybe been kept in the dark. Love y'all!!!  Tom Allen — 02/25/2023 Great point in that when we are weakest physically Satan will come knocking, but Jesus showed us how to win. Every single time His response starts with"It is written...". We too can resist the Devil and make him flee by quoting the Bible to him. If we look at the context of the verse that Jesus is quoting, we see the full message is about how Satan wants us to buy into a gospel message that says God just wants us to have abundance and never suffering so that when we encounter adversity we will turn away from God. That's an entitlement gospel that leads to disappointment and bitterness. So Jesus was quick to remind Satan that sometimes God lets us go hungry in the desert to refine and test our faithfulness. I challenge you during this Lenten season to meditate on this scripture below that was used by Jesus to deliver a right hook to Satan. "And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." Deuteronomy 8:2-3 Tonya — 02/25/2023 Day 4 Lenten journey   Tonya — 02/26/2023 HAPPY SUNDAY! Is today Day 5 of our 40 day journey?  Sundays are not in the count. Why are Sunday's not counted???? I'm going to give you 2 explanations. The first comes from the book of Genesis. God created the world in six days, and on the seventh day He rested. Likewise, we say Sundays are a day of reflection and rest. (Saturday if you're Jewish.) The second explanation comes from the New testament in the Book of Mark. Jesus is asked why His disciples are not fasting like the Pharisees and the followers of John the Baptist. Jesus responds, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast." Mark 2:19 While EVERY DAY is holy and sacred as they are gifts from God, we do set aside one day each week as a day of rest, reflection and to be fully WITH Jesus. Many refer to this as Sabbath. One of the Ten Commandments in fact says we are commanded to "REMEMBER THE SABBATH AND KEEP IT HOLY.' There was a time in this country when all businesses were even closed on Sundays to allow citizens to keep the Sabbath. Imagine that? It was a day to do as God taught us all the way back in Genesis... Take the 7th day off to rest and reflect... And say, as God did after He'd completed his 6 days working on creation of the world, "It is good" Take time today to catch up on reading this week's devotions. Dance. Put your feet in grass. Feel the presence of Jesus. Breathe in cotton candy then exhale caca. See God's blessings and miracles, they are everywhere if you look. And then say, "It is good." @LuckyLuchii98 I have heard this since I was young. Many take Sundays off from what they chose to abstain. I personally have never participated because... well I know myself. It is easier for me to stay the course if I keep going rather than taking a break on Sunday. I still acknowledge the Sabbath and thank God for each day I'm here on His earth. Tonya - This is fantastic insight about knowing yourself. And frankly if you ask seven different people their opinions on this matter, you'll probably get 13 different answers on if you should take Sundays off from that which you are abstaining. I'm just going to share what history has told us ... and then tell you 'legal schmiegel beagle!!!!' You do what you know is best for you & God. Tom Allen- Interesting. The Bible says, "But the one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin." Romans 14:23 NASB2020 So we see that each person should decide on their own and KEEP IT because anything done not of faith is sin. However I personally encourage people in matters like this to set a goal, but not to take a vow to God that you're going to do something. Jesus was very clear. It's better to not take a vow than to take one and break it. Some people think if they take a vow it gives them more willpower. Personally I've never seen evidence of this to be true. So it's good to set goals, but Jesus himself encouraged us not to take vows to God when promising to do, or not do something. Tonya - Good point. Don't make a promise to God you aren't going to keep. Tonya — 02/27/2023 DAY 5 Happy Monday and welcome to Day 5!!! Hope everyone had a relaxing wonderful weekend. I was thinking about the scriptures we were delving into last week about Jesus being in the desert and the first person He encounters is Satan. There's Satan to challenge and tempt Jesus after 40 days of fasting. Satan is such a jerk! Satan never takes a day off. You can count on that. He doesn't really care about us. His entire mission is to separate us from God. So he works over time with his minions to do everything in his power to throw every challenge, disease, sadness, addiction, and pain at us. Satan is The Great Deceiver and his lies, manipulations and attacks are never ceasing. I love how Jesus responded so quickly and without hesitation to Satan. And with each temptation Satan threw, Jesus responded with scripture. Jesus really showed us that having scripture so deeply embedded in our hearts is the greatest defense against Satan and all his lies. Now I fully admit, even though I have read the Bible through completely, I don't know all scripture. I am horrible about memorization. I can tell you the gist of stories and know the overall picture but people like Tom who can pull scripture out verbatim deserve a trophy I do not possess. Side note... one year I actually gave Tom a Scripture Champion trophy just because I was so impressed at how he knew scripture so well. It looks like a little league trophy but it says "Scripture Champion"on it with his name. Anyway until I have scripture memorized like Tom, how do the rest of us defend against Satan's attacks? God gave us that answer too. In the letter St Paul wrote to the Ephesians, we're given that exact answer. Here's a couple visuals you can envision of Ephesians 6:10-18   Put on the armor of God. Every morning before you start your day, picture yourself putting on the armor of God. Close your eyes and picture putting on every piece of the armor as described in that holy Scripture. And then picture yourself wearing it everyday as Satan and his minions throw their lies, temptations, deceit and sin at you. Then watch Satan's stuff bounce off of you. Love y'all. Tom Allen — I love that God has given me such an amazing wife that knows about the importance of putting on the Armor of God and teaching others to do the same. RESIST THE DEVIL and he will flee from you! James 4:7  Tonya — 03/01/2023 Day 7 We put on the armor of God daily because Satan doesn't take a break. And boy oh boy can he be conniving and sneaky!!! Sometimes he sneaks in through people and places we thought were safe. That's always tough isn't it? That's why we put on the armor of God everyday. We need it for perseverance when life is good, bad and challenging. I've done premarital counseling for more than two decades. One of the first exercises I have the couples do is to fill out a form I give them where they separately rank what they believe is important for their future. On the list are things like work, exercise, family, entertainment, travel, friends, sleep, God, ministry, pets, children, cleaning, etc etc. They rank those as to how important they think each of those things are in their lives and in their futures. They're asked to rank those based on how much value they think each of those have in them having a successful marriage and a purposeful life. When they're each done, I take them & don't let them see each other's list. Then I ask each of them to make a pie chart regarding their time. I ask them to take the normal week, 7 days at 24 hours, and make a pie graph with what they HONESTLY do with their time. How much time is devoted to work, eating, sleeping, exercise, gaming, household chores, friends or family, etc etc. After they each complete the pie chart, I flip over their previous ranking lists and ask if they're rankings lists match their pie graphs. Guess what? They never do. What they claim is important to them, is never what they're spending their time on in real life. So putting on the armor of God is important because Satan will come at us through people and places and things that we didn't see coming... and he'll also sneak in when we aren't prioritizing that which we know we should be. Today's challenge Sit down and make an honest pie graph of what you're doing with your time. Do it for yourself, and ask if you need to reorganize some things in your life so your pie graph will match the things you know you should be spending more time on. Now I need to go make a pie cuz this is way too much talk about pie.  Tom Allen — Wow! What a great challenge. Reassess for success One of my father's things to say when I was a teen and responded with "I don't have time", was "you HAVE time, for what you MAKE time son." LuckyLuchii98 — I will not lie I have really challenged myself this year by giving up meat all of Lent, but I feel strong that I am taking on this year with so far success!! Tonya - PS. I didn't make the pie ;) Tonya — 03/02/2023 Day 8 My apologies for my late arrival today. We started the day with a phone call that Tom's Aunt died this morning. Aunt Helen Beth was an amazing 93 year old woman who raised her family on the farm where she and Tom's dad were raised, and then she continued to live there even after her husband died. She was just the kindest and most God-centered woman! It's sad for all our family, but we have no doubt she's reuniting with her husband, her daughter who died of cancer 6 years ago, and the rest of her siblings and parents in heaven. What a party! Tom's dad, Eddie, is now the only remaining member of that family. It's been a tough day. And then I remember what Jesus taught us in the Beatitudes just after He said, "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God,"... His very next words are, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" Jesus doesn't want us to be hard, heartless and lack empathy. He wants us to feel. The rainbows come after the rain. So there will be storms. There will be pain. AND for those in a relationship with God, there will be comforting. He promised. Maybe He'll send you or me to comfort someone. Maybe it'll be His word that brings the comfort. I don't know. But I know His promises are always fulfilled. We love you Aunt Helen!   Sage Julie — Love this! I've never done lent so it will be a first time for me... Hopefully I'm not too late to the 40 days.... I heard about aunt Helen as well and I pray for the immediate family and everyone mourning the loss as well, and amazing scripture for those in mourning. Sage Julie For lent I will be reading a chapter a day of Matthew. I felt the closest to God when we were doing advent and reading a chapter a day and I also feel that I never have enough time like Tonya mentioned. So I will be giving my time to God by reading scriptures and being with him. @Sage Julie Love this! I've never done lent so it will be a first time for me... Hopefully I'm not too late to the 40 days.... Tonya — NEVER too late!!! Jesus is always available and always on time. Tonya — 03/03/2023 DAY 9 While you're walking you're Lenten journey, you may stumble or want to quit... What about those moments???? To those moments I say, GOOD! Let those moments remind you that you can't do this alone. Remember the theme last week was HUMILITY. If this is too easy, then you're not pushing yourself enough. Challenge yourself. Every time you want to quit, remind yourself to rely on God and let HIM give you the strength to put one foot in front of the other. Persevere in humility and reliance on Christ. CONTINUE TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT  Sage Julie -- When you talk about the theme of humility, where are you getting these awesome themes from? Just a curious mind trying to pick your brain about how you are doing lent as well. I got to catch up on the messages you've posted since the 19th and I've definitely learned a lot! When you talk about the theme of humility, where are you getting these awesome themes from? Just a curious mind trying to pick your brain about how you are doing lent as well. I got to catch up on the messages you've posted since the 19th and I've definitely learned a lot! Tonya - I decided to focus this channel the same way I start all of my new small groups... The Beatitudes. The very first of the eight directions, or promises, given from Jesus in the Beatitudes is about being "poor in spirit," which we talked a whole lot about during that first week. Go ahead and take a look at those daily messages and it will answer, I think, all of your questions about how the Holy Spirit led me to write each days reflection. And if you want any deeper explanations I'm happy to share those to the best of my ability. The flow each day for me during Lent is that I pray and pray and pray LITERALLY from the moment I open my eyes, and then I ask the Holy Spirit to guide my words. So I don't mean to sound weird when I say this, but the truth is, I don't always know how I'm able to come up with the things I write. I trust the Holy Spirit to guide my words. I'm just not as smart as most of the things I've written. So I know it's not from me. I know that sounds strange but it's the absolute truth. I definitely don't write the monthly letters we share in our ministry either, and I rarely feel like I'm actually leading any of our small groups. I've tried to do those things and I'm usually pretty bad at it. The answer is, it ALL comes from God. My first prayer is to ask God to empty me of ME and fill me with HIM. Then I generally have to come back and ask Him to take my tongue too because it can be very sharp. Being a Christian doesn't make me smarter or perfect. It makes me a person who is fully aware of what a sinner I am. And there it is again. That's the perfect explanation of being "poor in spirit"  Sage Julie — Ok yes I do remember mention of this! It was a lot of information to take in haha I'll have to read it a second time to really take in the information. Wow really amazing to read all of this! Tom Allen -- It's amazing that my wife is posting about perseverance even as she just came from a very gruelling cancer treatment that makes her feel like garbage most of the time, but especially right after the treatment, which also has a side effect of grand mal seizures. So I appreciate her own perseverance in fighting this disease where many would just give up saying it's too gruelling and hard to put up with the pain. So thank you T for continuing to fight. She is a warrior as she perseveres through great pain every day. Tonya — 03/04/2023 DAY 10 We are 10 days in and I just want to say THANK YOU for all of the beautiful messages that were sent to me privately these past few days. God hears your prayers and so do i. I'm right here whenever you need me. And God is too. I was such a mess when I was young and to see how God emptied me and refilled me with Him... There just aren't words to express how different you feel after you remove yourself and let HIM fill you instead. My challenge for you this weekend is to just listen to the song below and let Him wash over you. Will you do it? "...Who I was and who I'll forever be, And He was the in between. I was one way but now I'm different, there was a clear change in a holy collision.... and He is the in between." https://youtu.be/fMuEnwvsyY8 I truly pray y'all are enjoying these daily messages Tonya— 03/05/2023 DAY 11 ON OUR LENTEN JOURNEY "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." Matthew 5:5 Happy Monday and welcome to Day 11. We've meditated these past two weeks on the first (poor in spirit) and second (those who mourn) of the Beatitudes. This week, let's move to the third group of people Jesus mentioned in His Sermon on the Mount: the meek. Let's start with a definition because He's not referring by name to the rapper, Meek Mills. (Are you impressed I knew the name of a rap artist?)  There is much confusion about the word, meek. Often those who do not understand Jesus and how He spoke, lean on a negative connotation of the word to mean "weak and grossly submissive, even to the point of being walked on." I don't think that's what Jesus was saying at all. Meek: an adjective for those showing humility, gentleness, calm, a willingness to be submissive; slow to anger 'But Tonya, you just said it means what you said it doesn't mean.' Yah I kinda did. Let's dig deeper.  A meek person, as Jesus describes, is one who isn't seeking power to dominate. Can a leader be meek? Absolutely! A meek leader will display attributes of humility and self awareness. They get the job done, not by screaming, but rather with an attitude of kindness. Meek leaders inspire those around them. They aren't seeking world domination. So is it just humility? No. Humility refers to an attitude towards oneself. Humility is a restraining of one's own power so as to allow room for others. In contrast, Meekness refers to the treatment of others. Jesus displayed meekness when He washed the feet of the Disciples. Does that make sense? Have you ever watched someone remain completely calm in a heated argument? You could see they weren't being just passive but rather, they had the self-awareness to know screaming and intensifying the situation would only cause more harm.... That person is displaying meekness. Their quiet, gentle ways can be mistaken for weakness, but they are actually fully in control of the situation by being fully in control of themselves and their mouth. The meek person is acutely aware that the tongue is the mightiest sword, and they are not interested in slicing everyone. In times of conflict, the meek CHOOSE to act with gracefulness and an attempt at understanding the other party rather than show dominance. So the meek aren't weak. It takes great strength to be meek. Let's say that again for the folks in the back... The meek aren't weak. It takes great strength to be meek. Who is stronger? Those who can't control their reactions and behaviors, or those who can? The meek do not allow themselves to be consumed by anger & bitterness. They aren't seeking dominance and power over the world or the people in their lives. You've all seen it. Social media is not a place where much meekness is displayed. These sites are filled like a cesspool with attacks on people and a giant game of one upmanship. Choose not to participate. Deleting my Fakebook account was SOOOOOO freeing. To those not yet married... You know that "list" of attributes you look for in a spouse? You would be wise to be sure MEEK is high on that list. To those already married... Are you displaying meekness? Your spouse is less likely to yell if you bring an attitude of meekness to a disagreement. In submission, let your strength be used to serve God's will, not your own. When you find yourself standing in a confrontation, seek to understand first, never reacting with a fast temper, ugly words or hatefulness. Don't seek to humiliate someone to make yourself look better. Think about the last time you got really angry. How could being meek in that situation have changed the trajectory? Does it not harm your relationships when you respond with anger rather than gentleness in your words? Could you choose to remove yourself from the situation or do you thrive on winning the fight? Your challenge this week is to be slow to anger, and quick to submit to God. Seek to understand the other person by being quiet and listening rather than slicing them with your tongue. Know their heart even if they've made a mistake. Afterall, hasn't Jesus done the same for you? Imitate the examples Jesus showed us. Be meek. Sage Julie — Love the daily message for today! I personally also saw that same message in today's scripture when I read Matthew 5:46 "for if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collector's do the same" I find myself being very quick to have a sharp tongue at times and through the years I've had to take the time to stop and chose to listen and think about what I say more rather then just get angry or upset over a situation and thought that was in the realm of chosing to be meek as well, amazing to see this message! (edited) Tonya — Love this! Yes it's about recognizing we do NOT walk alone. Our journey in life is a path we must walk with God leading. The sooner we realize it, the easier it gets. It doesn't mean life won't have struggles and challenges. God doesn't promise "happiness" here on earth. But He does promise eternal salvation if we walk with Him. Tom Allen - What a fantastic description of meekness. Very well defined and quite challenging to do. Makes me think of how Jesus was silent as a lamb before the slaughter to his accusers. He didn’t need to defend himself or react to the injustice. Just entrusted the outcome to the Almighty God and let the chips fall where they may. Thanks for a great admonition to be meek and inherit the earth. Sage Julie — This last verse in Matthew 6 today stood out to me :)  Tonya - If this spoke to you... The Chosen season 3 will blow you away! It is a VERY prominent moment when Jesus teaches this. Tonya — 03/07/2023 Day 12 I've had a very long day in cancer treatment so forgive my late post. I want to clarify something about being meek. One of my oldest and closest friends is in what I believe to be a mentally abusive marriage with a narcissistic husband. For her privacy I am not going to give details. Suffice it to say, the spouse has shown behavior, even in front of me, that I would describe as evil. His manipulative words include telling her that she's not Godly because she's not being submissive to his authority as prescribed in the Bible. Let me address this very directly and clearly. Being meek, as we discussed yesterday, is NOT the same as being weak. Being submissive to your spouse is NOT about living with abuse. Let me say it again, JESUS DID NOT TELL US TO BE WEAK OR ACCEPT ABUSE. It takes a strong person to be meek. It takes a Godly spouse to receive a submissive spouse. The scripture does not ONLY tell women to be submissive to their husbands...The end & nothing else. NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! A husband who genuinely understands and is intimate with the one true God will not treat his bride in harsh or destructive ways. As Ephesians 5:25 makes abundantly clear, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” More so, a Christlike husband gives, sacrifices, nourishes, and places his wife above his own needs and desires. In fact, in the next verses (Ephesians 5:26-33), a man’s loving covenant to his wife is revealed in how Jesus Himself loves His bride (us): by sacrificing his life, by washing us with His words, and by nourishing and cherishing us as the Holy Spirit does. A man’s true theology is best displayed in how he treats, speaks to, and sacrifices for his wife. The same is true in how a father engages with his children. A man or woman who claims to love and know the God of the universe will not mistreat, demoralize, or abuse. For a Christian to have the mind of Christ demands that he/she think of others more highly than oneself (Philippians 2), and in no human relationship is this truer than in the covenant relationship of marriage as designed by God. God did not provide scripture for people to twist His Word and use the submission and meek passages to insist that the abused “suck it up and take it.” God does not receive glory through people being abused. All relationships that are exercised in biblical wisdom have submission, humility, honor, and love as the central features. The husband places the value of his own life under that of his wife’s soul; he makes himself a living sacrifice just as Christ did for us. Philippians 2:1-8 provides a detailed perspective of Christ’s heart in his husbandry, which men are to embrace in their hearts and live out with their own bride: "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross..." Philippians 2:1-8 My point is this; do not let the secular world (that has redefined words so much these past 3 years) pervert the word "submission" in Christianity. Do not let anyone think that being meek or submissive is equal to being weak. It is an amazing position as a wife to be submissive to a husband who loves you as Jesus loves His whole church. I am stronger for it, not weaker.  I think being meek and holding my tongue about the insanity we see in the secular world today is the hardest for me. But then I remember that you can't get mad at a snake for being a snake. These crazy people are unbelievers, so why am I judging them against standards of a believer? Now before anyone says we're not allowed to judge, I'm saying, go read your Bible because it 100% says that Christians are called to lovingly rebuke fellow believers who have lost their way. Remember that I said LOVINGLY. But my judging a non-believer would be honestly just stupid and a waste of time. I mean, come on, do we judge Satan? No. We just know that Satan is Satan and he's gonna do his Satan stuff. In the same way, why judge an unbeliever who is acting like an unbeliever? Kind of seems dumb Just to keep it real, these are the things I tell myself when I am calm and level-headed. But truth talk.... Y'all, when I see or hear the absolute evil and debauchery of our world, it's a whole lot harder to be level-headed. I have to control my sword-like tongue and not become that which I am disgusted by. Pray for me and my sharp tongue.  Tom Allen - Like my grandmother always said "kill them with kindness" Just make sure you don't name your sword "kindness" LoL  Tom Allen - Id also like to address displaying meekness towards another type of much talked about abuse today. That is, rather than physical violence, a person finds themselves' dealing with mental/psychological/emotional abuse. Because there is no physical bruising from this kind of abuse it is much more difficult to quantify thereby easier to invoke against another person. The problem I have when people compare this, to physical abuse, (lending equal footing with physical abuse) is that you may not be able to become physically stronger than your abuser (we all love the story of the woman in the movies who takes boxing classes, lifts weights, and then shows her abuser she can hulk out too and then shows him what's what!) But this isn't the movies, and real life is often very different. The difference, with mental abuse is that it is much more feasible for a person who is weak physically to become MENTALLY stronger than the other person. Now, someone might argue "but I don't want to become like them". Notice I didn't say become as nasty as they are. Either way, a person should always seek professional, Christian, pastoral counsel when making such a decision. Of course, if the abuser reacts negatively to getting outside counsel; to me that is a clear sign that at the very least, significant time and space apart should strongly be considered. Again, each person must decide for themselves, by faith, where that line is. A good book to get mentally stronger is "BOUNDARIES" by the Christian psychologist Henry Cloud. https://www.hpb.com/products/boundaries-9780310350231 Tonya - DAY 13 Some things to ponder          Tom Allen — DAY 14 Hi everyone. This is Tom. I wanted to ask for prayers tonight. As Tonya mentioned, my Aunt Helen died last week. I came to Oklahoma City for the funeral. Tonya stayed in San Antonio to continue her cancer treatments. Tonya had an ugly seizure today. She's ok and resting now. Luciano is with her and she is safe. Unfortunately, this is one of the side effects of the treatment she is undergoing for spinal cancer. She is home tonight but very tired. Please keep her in your prayers. Tonya — DAY 16 THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS. Let's jump back in with Day 16 and the next verse in the Beatitudes: BLESSED ARE THEY WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS, FOR THEY WILL BE SATISFIED (Matthew 5:6) What is righteousness? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...” The word “righteousness” occurs five times in this sermon (Matthew 5:6, 10, 20; 6:1, 33). So the best way to catch on to Jesus’ meaning is to look at these other instances of the word righteousness. It helps to see the structure of the Beatitudes. There are eight Beatitudes with verse 10 as the last one, and verse 11 as an expansion of it. The first Beatitude (verse 3) and the last Beatitude (verse 10) give the same words of assurance: “...For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” It looks kind of like a sandwich with the top piece of bread and the bottom piece of bread both saying, “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Next thing I noticed is that there are two groups of four. The first four and the second four end with a reference to “righteousness.” The first group of four ends with verse 6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” And the second group of four ends with verse 10: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.” Do you see the structure? The first four Beatitudes describe the broken, grieving, quiet person who hungers and thirsts for righteousness. And the next four Beatitudes describe the merciful, the pure and the peacemaker who gets persecuted for his righteousness. Doesn’t this structure give us the definition of righteousness? If we were hungering for righteousness in verse 6 because we were empty, and then we get persecuted for righteousness in verse 10 because we’ve been filled, isn’t it correct to define righteousness as that with which we've been filled? So according to the Beatitudes, seeking righteousness is when we are striving to be meek, pure, peacemakers, and those who show mercy. When we are spiritually dehydrated, we experience symptoms of fear, anxiety, anger, loneliness, jealously, pride, and more. We have to constantly fill ourselves with God’s truth in order to be spiritually healthy, because the world will try to fill us with lies. Remember Satan NEVER stops doing Satan-stuff. So it's imperative we stay the course and create habits of filling our lives with Jesus. We MUST make our relationship with God a priority. There will be times when we see ourselves slipping out of the routine of Bible study and quiet time with God because we are so busy with twenty other commitments, but eventually we will feel the effects of it. Thankfully, like drinking water and keeping a balanced diet, diving back into God’s Word can cure us of the symptoms of spiritual dehydration, but we have to do the work. Deep and lasting satisfaction for our souls comes not from the delights of the world nor from a merely religious or vertical relationship with God. Satisfaction comes from God to those whose passion in life is to know Him fully. (Matthew 5:48). Jesus tells us that the ones who are blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. In other words, the blessed ones are not those who think they have righteousness, but those who feel they lack righteousness and are continually striving for a closer relationship with Christ.   Tom Allen — That's really interesting. I don't think I've ever seen that pattern before. I really like the part "So according to the Beatitudes, seeking righteousness is when we are striving to be meek, pure, peacemakers, and those who show mercy." And also "Satisfaction comes from God to those whose passion in life is to know Him fully" Great stuff T! Tonya - Oooooh and one more thing.... Just a loving reminder, we lose an hour tonight.  And that means it's also time to change the battery in your smoke alarms... Even if they're not yet beeping!!!  Sage Julie Ugh I've been sick so I haven't been able to read but I'll catch up soon Tonya — 03/13/2023 DAY 17 - MONDAY Yesterday in our small groups we were discussing the comparisons of the Ten Commandments given by God and spoken by Moses to the people in the Old Testament vs The Beatitudes given by Jesus in the New Testament. It was a really interesting and deep conversation. One area we discussed at length was the 10th commandment that says 'we are not to covet that which our neighbors have.' After admitting none of us use the word "covet" in our regular conversations, we all agreed the commandment was telling us not to envy. Don't envy other people's marriage, their home, their property, their life, their pets, their farm, etcetera etcetera etcetera....(That's my nod to Yul Brynner from one of my all time favorite musicals THE KING & I from 1956. The King cracks me up every time he says "etcetera etcetera etcetera" whenever he can't explain something  Anyway... Our conversation about envy was deep and very thought provoking. I was asked, what is the difference between envy and jealousy since they're often mistaken as being the same. Here's the best definition I've been able to find. "Jealousy is, I want what you have, while envy is I don't want you to have that which you have." Struggling with envy is nothing to take lightly. As a society, much of social media has become a cesspool filled with very little besides envy & jealousy. Here are 4 things you can do to overcome feelings of envy.
Envy can ruin your life. I challenge you today to end all envy in your life.   Tonya — 03/14/2023 DAY 18 For those unaware, I had a Grand Mal seizure last night during Luciano's live streaming event. I had a good appointment with the doctors today and we are making decisions as to how to move forward with balancing the continued cancer treatments with the seizures they are causing. We'll be praying about the best course of action. I thank everyone for their prayers. I thank Luciano for his handling of the situation and keeping me safe while Tom has been in Oklahoma for his aunt's funeral. And I thank God for carrying me right now while I am weak. Love y'all. -Tonya  Tonya — 03/15/2023 DAY 19 - Wednesday So this week hasn't gone as I planned. I don't like admitting that I need to slow down. It's not easy to face the challenges involved with another cancer battle. There's so much to say about it. But so little I like to talk about. Most days I try to ignore it and pretend it's not real. Then that giant cross I'm carrying pounds me down to my knees. I am quickly reminded, we don't always get to choose the hand we're dealt. We simply must play the very best hand with the cards in front of us. My doctor, who has ZERO patience for me pushing myself, took every opportunity to let me know that I'm not doing what I'm supposed to. He reminded me REPEATEDLY that I must allow my body to rest, and that resting my body is part of the healing process. It all reminded me of our relationship with God. In the same way that I must let my body heal with rest, we also must release control of our lives and, as the song says, let Jesus take the wheel. How many times has God diverted our path and we've ended up far from what we thought we wanted, yet it's exactly where we needed to be? How many times has God removed toxic people from our lives? How often does our life take an unexpected left turn, only to realize God was protecting us from what we didn't realize would've caused us harm? My challenge to everyone this week... Slow down & see the miracles God puts all around us. Don't get angry when things don't go as we planned; instead Thank God for the path He chose for us instead.      Tom Allen — Yes it's been a busy week and though it's unnerving for Tonya's seizures to start up again while I was out of town I'm grateful it worked out for her son to be there nearby to help when needed and also for her service dog Duke to sound the alert when a seizure is coming on. I'm also thankful I've been able to be on the phone talking to her when they come on. I am excited to return to San Antonio tomorrow. Through it all, God has blessed is in so many ways to face this challenge. Though the world could look at our calm and say that it's from denial or ambivalence, we know that it comes from the peace that passes all understanding that Paul talks about in Phillipans 4:7 Thank you all for your prayers for us! Tonya— 03/16/2023 DAY 20 - Thursday It's official!!! We're half way to the finale of Lent!!!! Hope you're spending time with God each day. (edited) Aaaaaaaaaand today began the NCAA MARCH MADNESS!!!!!  Soooo... That got me thinking. In today's first first round of games, it happened just like it happens every year... A team ranked number 1 or 2 invariably gets beat by a team ranked 15. OUCH! So sorry Arizona. The March Madness tournament is what we refer to as "one and done," meaning that losing one game is all it takes to be knocked out of the tournament completely. So it doesn't matter what you're ranking is, as we know, any team that comes in with big heart can win. In comparison, our Heavenly Father does NOT play the "one & done" rule with us. And aren't we glad?!?!?! In the gospel of Matthew, we read that Peter asked Jesus, 'how many times do I have to forgive my brother?' Jesus is very clear in His answer. Just as we are forgiven over and over and over and over again by our Savior in heaven, so are we called to forgive one another. No 'one and done' in forgiveness either.  Now let me be clear, forgiveness does not mean you are saying the offense done against you was okay or that you have to invite the person back into your life. Forgiveness is between you and God. It's about you releasing any anger or bitterness you are holding.  I understand, and have experienced, situations where I've chosen to forgive someone yet recognize that I can't have their toxicity in my life. So yes it's an interesting balance to forgive someone. I've also had to learn that being bitter, angry or sad is my giving the offender power over me. And I don't want to do that either. I also know, bitterness is me turning away from God. I definitely don't want to do that! Forgiveness means loving someone enough to know that I'm giving them the opportunity to hurt me again in the future, but I'm going to choose to know their heart and see God in them.  My grandfather said something to me when I was 9 years old that has stuck with me my whole life. We were outside looking at the stars one night and we saw a shooting star. We stopped and made a wish on that falling star. Grandpa turned to me and said, "we saw a star fall and we stopped and made a wish hoping for a miracle on that falling star. Remember to do that for people in your life when they fall too." <Sigh. Thanks Grandpa for the HUGE life lesson.>   Tonya— 03/17/2023 DAY 21 - Friday  Let's start today with an Irish Blessing   So who is St Patrick? One of the most well known saints, he was born in 387AD in Roman Britain, and when he was 14, he was captured by Irish pirates during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to tend sheep for the Druids. At the time, Ireland was a land of Druids and pagans but Patrick turned to God and wrote his memoir, The Confession. In The Confession, he wrote: "The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did my faith, and my soul, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same. I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain." Patrick's captivity lasted until he was 20, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to escape Ireland at the shore. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britain and was reunited with his family. A few years after returning home, Patrick saw a vision he described in his memoir: "I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: 'The Voice of the Irish.' As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea-and they cried out, as with one voice: 'We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.'" The vision prompted his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained and sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. Patrick arrived in Slane, Ireland on March 25, 433. There are several legends about what happened next, with the most prominent claiming he met the chieftan of one of the druid tribes, who tried to kill him. After an intervention from God, Patrick was able to convert the chieftain and preach the Gospel throughout Ireland. There, he converted many people -eventually thousands - and he began building churches across the country. He often used shamrocks to explain the Holy Trinity and entire kingdoms were eventually converted to Christianity after hearing Patrick share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Patrick preached in Ireland for 40 years. He worked many miracles and wrote of his love for God. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461. He died at Saul, where he had built the first Christian church in Ireland. One of the most famous prayers he wrote is known as the Lorica prayer. Lorica means breastplate in the Irish language. The prayer is about putting on the breastplate and armor of God. St. Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer originated in 433 AD when St. Patrick wrote it to ask for God’s help before he met with Irish King Lóegaire to share the Gospel. Patrick had reportedly heard that the king had ordered his men to ambush him before the meeting, so he wrote this bold prayer asking for God’s protection. Patrick’s meeting with King Lóegaire went well, and Patrick went on to lead the Irish people away from paganism and into relationships with Jesus.  Tonya — 03/18/2023 Day 22 - Saturday  How's everyone doing? We're over halfway through Lent. Are y'all still hanging in there? I love the messages some are sharing how this time has made you slow down and really think about your lives, how you spend your time, and what your relationship with God needs. Keep the responses coming. I'm here for you anytime. LuckyLuchii98 -- I feel proud that I am sticking with it! Tonya -- Do you think the daily sacrifice you've chosen to follow makes you think about God more often than you did before Lent? Luchii98 - I definitely think about him more when I'm really craving meat. Then I think, he's got me.  Good morning! As we begin this new day, let's take a moment to reflect on God's faithfulness and goodness. He has brought us to this moment and given us the gift of another day to serve Him and share His love with those around us. Let's be intentional about seeking His presence and guidance throughout our day, and ask Him to use us as vessels of His grace and mercy. Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for the gift of this new day, and for the assurance that You are always with us. Help us to be mindful of Your presence throughout our day, and to trust in Your guidance and wisdom. May we be vessels of Your love and grace, sharing Your goodness with those around us. Thank You for Your faithfulness and unfailing love. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.  Sage Julie -- amen!! Tonya — Day 23 on our Lenten journey Happy Monday! Let's take a moment to remember the Beatitudes. I want to talk about the next Beatitude in the sermon Jesus spoke. BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL, FOR THEY SHALL OBTAIN MERCY. Let's get into it....   What is the definition of mercy? Mercy is the compassionate treatment of those in distress, especially when it is within one's power to punish or harm them. The word “mercy” derives from the medieval Latin 'merced' or 'merces,' which means "price paid." It has the connotation of forgiveness, benevolence and kindness. Mercy is a characteristic of God, that He has blessed us with, and that plays a role in our salvation. Mercy has to do with kindness and compassion. In the light of our sins, we deserve the punishment of death. GULP! Yet God shows us mercy by withholding punishment. In other words, He didn’t give us what we deserved. Instead, He showed us kindness and compassion by allowing Christ to take our place. Because of God’s undeserved mercy towards us, we can now live our lives for His glory and honor. Part of that includes showing mercy, compassion, and kindness towards others, just as He did toward us. The best place for us to learn about God’s mercy is through scripture. There are many verses that talk about God’s mercy and compassion, here are 35 verses for you to meditate on.
 Alright that was a lot of scripture digging. I'll leave this here for today and tomorrow so we can just meditate on all this scripture. Remember, this journey is about spending time with God; getting deep into scripture, hearing His words, letting His messages of love, mercy, grace and salvation wash over us... THIS IS THE WAY. Tonya -- Day 25 - Wednesday 3/22/2023 Sovereign: supreme power; no higher authority Today let's just sit in God's presence and thank God for His Sovereignty. While the work of God’s unseen hand is all around us, it’s something to give God praise for even when we don’t actively see it. God is always working things together. He knows the end from the beginning and has His way as He wills. Too often when things aren’t going our way, we wonder if God is hearing our prayers, or working at all. Rather than worry, we could change our perspective and remember to thank God for His sovereignty. Romans 8:28 - “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” I heard a message this morning from a minister who said, "People love to point out that it says, 'be not afraid', or some version of that, 366 times in the bible. One for each day and an extra one for a rough day." Then he went on to dig a little deeper. He said, "Be not afraid" does not mean there's no reason to be afraid. It's completely unrealistic to say we will walk through life without fear. Of course we will have fear. It's human nature. And of course there are reasons to be afraid in this world. We live amongst sin. That is scary! But what God tells us when He says "be not afraid," is to hold His hand and do it anyway.' If God called you to it, He'll get you through it! It may not be the way You think, but it will be His will. John Wayne has a famous quote to back this up:  Dear God, Thank you that even when I cannot see it, you are at work. Thank you that even though I don’t always feel it, you hear my prayer and know my need. Thank you for your sovereignty over my life and each step I take. Please keep leading me. Tonya — DAY 26 - Thursday Today I want to share a message from a prayer app I use daily to keep myself centered in Christ Jesus. This message comes from Jrue Holiday.         Tonya — DAY 27 - Friday Praying everyone's had a blessed week, and y'all have continued to challenge yourselves to find new ways to put God first. In what ways have you surrendered to Christ? When have you handed Jesus the compass to your life and trusted Him to lead, even if it meant taking a right turn in places you thought you were going left? Have you spent time being fearless for God? Are you seeing His miracles of life all around you? What do those Holy Moments in your life look like? Have you consciously been meek when you wanted to lash out at someone? Are you trying to see the best in others and offer them mercy, in the same way God has shown you mercy? Have you found ways to be of service to others?  CarrieI don't type a lot but I read this channel every day. It's really helped keep me focused so thanks T!!!! I've been in one of Tonya's weekly small groups for over 5 years. I remember back in 2018 or 2019 when you hosted a retreat weekend for us. That weekend changed my life. Growing up my dad talked about God and tried to keep us in church. But my mom was always depressed and rejected God. The older I've gotten, the more I see, my mom's depression came from her leading a life where she always made bad choices, pushed people away, and blamed everyone else for her junk. She always thought the "cure" was going to come from the next thing that caught her attention. That could be prescription meds, another job, or even a man who showed her a little attention. She had affairs and blamed my dad. She NEVER admitted anything was her fault. She found excuses to stay away from church, and even made fun of my dad's relationship with God. She would say terrible things about my dad to make him look bad to me and my sister. My parents divorced after another of her affairs. She was sure her life would be perfect after that. But I bet you can guess what happened. A relationship that starts with an affair has no foundation and that man quickly saw who she was too. High school was rough as she bounced us all around chasing her next cure. My dad stayed true to his relationship with God and as the years passed, I learned more and more that my dad was a man to be respected. He was nothing like my mom described. Now I'm in my mid-20's and have been dating the man I want to spend my life with. Growing up I never thought I'd want to get married. Marriage looked like a prison sentence. And my mom had twisted my thinking so much into thinking men were the enemy. She had me buying into all that "toxic masculinity" crap. Then I was invited to an Innovative Truth small group with Tonya. EVERYTHING CHANGED. I'd never known a woman older than me that I could really talk to and trust. I never had a woman cheer for the best for me. I'd never known someone who could show me God in everything, stand up for truth, and be so unashamed to call Jesus her Savior. She showed me what a strong woman looked like while proudly explaining the importance of being submissive to a Godly man. Tonya untwisted my brain about toxic masculinity. Now I'm excited to have a Godly husband in my future. My future husband and I have been talking a lot about what we want our traditional roles to look like and how we want God to lead us. Of course, even trying to ask me to marry him, my mom tried to pull us back into her bad thinking. I said something about Joe asking my dad for my hand and my mom blew up. But after years of learning to put God first, I stayed strong and told my mom, respectfully, to stay in her lane. Tonya — I'm speechless!  Tonya -- GOD DID ALL OF IT!!! Tom Allen -- Wow! what an amazing story! You have no idea how much that ministered to me. Thanks SO much for sharing that! Tom Allen — Also, what a fantastic devotional by Jrue Holiday. I really needed that. I had no idea Jrue was such a devout believer. Tonya -- DAY 28 - SATURDAY I really enjoyed Jrue Holiday's message the other day. The first message fit beautifully with our goals of surrendering to God and admitting to being POOR IN SPIRIT. His message today is about assisting others. It's another great fit with the Beatitudes. Let me know what y'all think.          Tonya — DAY 32 - THURSDAY       Tonya -- DAY 33 - FRIDAY  I listened to a minister this morning whose message I haven't been able to stop thinking about. That's usually a sign, I should share that message with others. I wish I knew the name of the minister. I apologize I do not know his name but if I find it, I will come back here to edit and give him credit. His message fit perfectly with the 6th Beatitude of being PURE OF HEART. "This week I memorized a verse I never memorized before, and have been meditating upon it for several days. You might want to memorize it too. “REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE” (Luke 17:32). Because Jesus is the one who told me to “Remember Lot’s Wife”, I thought there was something I needed to recall, ponder and apply. My thoughts wandered back to the biblical account of “fire and brimstone” destroying the wicked Sodom and her sister city, Gomorrah. Some describe the appeal of these cities. It was a regional capitol city. Huge, fortified walls and towers. Prosperity. Relative safety. The Arts. Commercial center. Lots of activity. Located in a lush valley. The problem is these things alone can never satisfy, and these cities developed a darker and darker underbelly. Without God, you look to other things. Sin compounded. Wickedness flourished. The land near Sodom was high on Lot’s bucket list for living locations (Gen. 13:10). It was like living in a garden paradise. The problem was Lot’s family went from living near Sodom, to living IN Sodom, to ultimately having Sodom live in them. God eventually decided to destroy these cities (Gen. 18:16-33). Angels told Lot’s family, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back.” As the fire and brimstone rained down, Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” Ouch. Jesus tells me, “REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE.” Why? 1. After Jesus tells me in Luke 17:32 to “Remember Lot’s Wife”, He says in the very next verse, “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”
BLESSED ARE THE PURE OF HEART, FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD  I loved, '... need to make sure the blessings I have do NOT have me' YESSSSSS! Say it louder for the folks in the back! I read a book based on a true story about all the lessons a homeless man taught a wealthy man. One of my favorite parts was when they were sitting having coffee and the homeless man saw all the keys on the rich man's keychain. He asks, 'do you own something for each of those keys?' The wealthy man responds, "yes." The homeless man reflects for a moment and then asks, 'are you certain you own something for each of those keys, or do they own you?' It's a beautiful thing to have blessings and "things" but remember Lot's wife, and never be afraid to walk away from all of it when it becomes sinful. This is true of material things, talents, money, locations, hobbies, games, collections, your time, etc. Stay PURE IN HEART.  Aiden -- Do you remember the name of this book Tonya -- Yes sir  I heard they made a movie from the book a few years ago but it's NO WAY as good as the book. It's one of those books that rocked me. I've never been the same since reading it. Phillie0403 -- Tonya -- PERFECT PICTURE PHILLIE!!!! WE ARE HERE!!! THIS IS IT!!!! WELCOME TO HOLY WEEK!!!!!!!  Let me start by saying, THIS IS THE MOST SACRED TIME OF YEAR FOR CHRISTIANS. THIIIIIIS is our week to be most revenant and attempt to be at our absolute most aware of being Christ-like. Know my heart when I say that. I'm certainly not saying we should be heathens the rest of the year. I'm saying each year we take the Lent opportunity to draw closer to Christ and remember that we are called to be Christ-like. Yes, we should do it all year. Of course! Yet, the reality is, many of us need redirecting, and this journey was our time to do just that. Being Christian is acknowledging our weaknesses and faults, then choosing to make it right. Make sense? Ok, now let's get into Palm Sunday. Jesus has been teaching the word and doing miracles for 3 years at this point. Hellllloooooooooooo.... Let's pause right there... THREE YEARS! THAT'S IT! His entire ministry here on Earth lasted three years... And 2000+ years later, He has still impacted civilization more than any other single individual. WOWWWWW! Back to Palm Sunday. Today marks the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. First, riding a donkey rather than a horse was considered a sign of His coming in peace rather than a military General who would ride a horse. And second, His arrival on a donkey was the fulfillment from the Old Testament in Zechariah 9:9-12 where the prophet foretold, "9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. 11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. 12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you." Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy that day. Remember, thousands and thousands of people had become believers and followers of Jesus during those three years. So His arrival into their city was a BIG DEAL. Many had already heard that just days earlier, Jesus wept after learning of the death of his very close friend, Lazarus. By the time Jesus arrived to the place where Lazarus had been placed in the tomb, four days had already passed. Yet Jesus is a God of hope. When He called for Lazarus to walk out of the tomb, HE WAS ALIVE! They'd seen Jesus heal the blind, the deaf, the sick, the lepers... now He brought His friend back to life. This wasn't the first time He'd brought someone back to life, but Lazarus was well known. So many people gathered to see Jesus as He entered their city. Let's read the account direct from the Gospel in the book of John. Gospel reading from John 12:12-46 "12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: 15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” 16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. 17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!” 20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. 23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. 27 Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said the sky had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. 30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. 34 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?” 35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them. 37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. 42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God. 44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.  Today's narrative in the Gospel is long. Take your time reading it to really allow it to sink in. This is heavy stuff. Try to picture yourself there as Jesus entered the city. People waving the palms and shouting joyously, "Hosanna! Hosanna!" How many were true believers of Jesus vs how many were there caught up in the moment of a "superstar" entering their city? How many cheering "HOSANNA" on Sunday were angrily screaming, "CRUCIFY HIM" just days later? Yikes! Talk about Cancel Culture! Jesus didn't come and do and say exactly what they wanted or how they wanted so they turned on Him. Let all this just sit on you today. Have you gotten caught up in the craziness of today's culture? Have you been meek and kind, compassionate and loving? Have you focused on drawing closer to God? What can you do to imitate Christ? This is a BIG week. Let's walk it together slowly and in reverence as we focus on the sacrifice God is making as His only begotten Son will be crucified FOR OUR SINS. Thanks for taking this journey with us. Tonya -- DAY 35 MONDAY Let's set the scene for today as if we are there. Yesterday, the rabbi known as Jesus of Nazareth has arrived in Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The city is packed with people because it's the Jewish festival of Passover Week. Stories of Jesus' teachings and miracles have created a lot of controversy. Many love Him, believe He is their long-awaited Messiah and are excited to see Him. Others are like "Instagram followers"; they're interested in Him, get super charged up by the crowds when they see Him, but are not yet sure if He's a prophet or Messiah. And still others think He's a false prophet & lunatic. They sneer and yell at Him. They despise His challenges to their Torah teachings. They are looking for any reason to throw this man they think of as an insurrectionist to the wolves. How dare Jesus challenge what they've been told! (It's ok Jesus, I've been called a troublemaker too) Passover week was always a crazy time in Jerusalem. The city swelled up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Every house was full. Every bed, cot and couch were filled. Every gathering room was rented for the Thursday evening Passover meal. Reservations were made months in advance. That's not how Jesus rolls. He calmly trusts that His Father in Heaven will provide. Jesus uses an unconventional approach to securing a room. He goes all cloak and dagger with counter-intelligence secrecy. Jesus sends Peter and James out on their assignment to get a room for their entire group. Little did the team know that Judas was considering his time to betray Jesus whenever he could identify the right moment. Jesus’ instructions to his trusted pair of disciples is outlined in the gospel of Luke 22:7-12:
 Now understand, waterpots were women’s jobs in the first century. Peter and James saw dozens of ladies with waterpots. The pair thought, “What self-respecting guy is going to have a waterpot?” Then...Wait. Look. There is a guy. They trail him. They are thinking, “Should we follow him right into the house?” WOW! This is all so odd! But indeed! That's what Jesus directed. They'd been with Jesus long enough to know they should trust Him. They knew, in moments like this, give Jesus the compass and TRUST HIM! It all worked like clockwork. The owner of the home took them to his upper room. The upper room was perfect. Jehovah Jireh!  My message is that it is always right to step in the direction of obedience of Jesus, and trust Him for the results. This is true even when some things do not make sense. Just ask Tom about the day I was called to the Redwoods in California. I was battling stage 4 cancer. I was under hospice care. Tom already had been given the medications to ease my suffering at the end as the doctors said I only had weeks to live. We'd met with the funeral director. I assured my will and finances were all taken care of. I went to see Luciano at his college to say goodbye. For my family I wrote all my wishes in a book I was given called, "I'm dead. Now what?" I believed the doctors were correct that my body was failing. I also knew, I'm not a Christian in name only. My faith is strong. And whether I died wasn't frightening to me. I danced in my storm. Aaaaand I KNEW UNEQUIVOCALLY that God had called me to meet Him in the Redwoods. Friends, family, doctors... All thought I was nuts. Yet, so many of our ministry partners understood what it means to have God call you. They generously donated funds and never stopped praying for me as we left San Antonio and began our journey to answer God's call. I am the queen of planning trips. I know our route, where we're staying well in advance, and precisely what we will see and do. Not this time. I gave God the compass. My only plan was to be God-centered every moment of every day so I could hear my Father in Heaven. I'm so blessed I have a husband who understood, supported me, and took every turn God called us to during those sacred weeks. What happened on that trip is NOTHING less than a miracle. I cannot even think of it without crying. God called. I answered. He met me where He'd called me. After being told by my doctor's that I had less than 4 weeks to live in Jan 2020, it seemed cancer got me. Checkmate. God said, "Not so fast. The King has one more move." Even when obedience does not make sense, is God asking you today to look for the guy with the waterpot? Have you unashamedly and without reservation handed Him your compass? Even when the game looks over, do you know, unequivocally, with faith, and no fear, that God loves you and He will carry you? You didn't earn it. You aren't owed it. But He loves you anyway! The King has one more move. The King has one more move   Tonya -- DAY 36 Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week are always so deep for me. I try to imagine what it possibly could've been like for Jesus. He KNOWS what's coming. He KNOWS Judas, one of His disciples whom He has loved and brought into His inner circle, is going to betray Him. He KNOWS Simon Peter, who has been with Him seeing all the miracles and learning from the Messiah everyday, is going to deny Him in His darkest hour. He KNOWS His disciples will all scatter in fear leaving Him to face the cruelty alone. He KNOWS the crowds that had just days ago cheered for Him, yelling, "HOSANNA! HOSANNA!" are going to be viciously screaming for His death. He KNOWS He will be beaten, scourged and ultimately crucified. And yet, instead of snapping His fingers and making it all go away, He stays the course. Jesus continues teaching and loving them all on Tuesday and Wednesday knowing what's coming. He does it for them. He does it for me. He does it for you. Wow.  
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