We've all messed up in life.  Some more than others, including myself.  But, thank God I serve a God of second chances.  

Throughout the Bible, God proves over and over again that He is a God of second chances.  Now, this is not to say that we can deliberately commit a specific sin every day and God will gives us another chance tomorrow, or is it?


Think about this.  If you were working for a company that required you to perform a specific task every day and you repeatedly didn't do it, do you think they'd keep giving you another chance?  Probably not after the first few reprieves.

God has a way of giving you a second chance, yet allowing you to learn and grow in relationship with him.  You see, if we are a child of God, then we love to please God; we live to please God.  So I know that if there is something that I'm doing over and over again that is not pleasing to God, I need to stop.  Why?  Because I love God and I know He loves me and wants nothing more than to please me; give me the desires of my heart.


Just as God is patient and forgiving to us, He also wants us to be patient and forgiving to others.


A second chance is giving a person another chance to earn their trust.  Reach out to someone that has done you wrong and offer mercy; another chance to entrust them with your heart.


1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Wow, what a year 2018 has been for me.  I'm thankful for so many things, but most of all for God.

God has been so present, so close to me and I just want more of Him.  God was with me in 2017.  He carried me through a rough year, and I was never alone. 

I'm thankful for His blessings every day.  God is good. 

Two thousand eighteen was a very memorable year.  I went on my first mission trip.  I made new friends from my church.  God used me in the mission fields of Peru. I went to Israel and saw the hand of God touch my life like never before. I actually walked where Jesus walked.  I was baptized in the Jordan river, WOW!  My 3rd grandchild was born in November.  And finally two days ago I self-published my first book.

Thank God He never gave up on this small-town West Virginia girl, who although started out on shaky ground, is now God's disciple.  God has and will use me for some mighty works in the mission fields.  He knows my desires and I trust His plans for me.

Looking forward to 2019 and all the blessings ahead.  Thankful for God's favor on my life and I pray that He continues to use me as His Hands and Feet.

I can relate to the above statement.

If you're like me, you grow up thinking of this perfect little life that you'd like to live.  And, if you're like me, you'll soon realize, it's not happening.

Although I was saved and baptized at the age of 16, I lived my life far from holy.  I was a rebellious teenager and ignored God most years after that.  Oh, I would pray to God when something came up that was stressful or difficult.  Or, if there was something that I really needed to happen, He would hear from me.

Because of all this, my life was not what I imagined.  But, because of all this, God chose me.  He chose an unlikely girl from West Virginia to show what He can do with someone's life.

He never left me, ever.  I'm so thankful that God chooses the unlikely.  The person that no one could imagine would ever make something of themselves. 

He appointed you and me to change the world.  He knew all this even before we were born.

Jeremiah 1:4-5 – " Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Any carpenter knows that to do a good job, you must possess the tools needed.

As a Christian, for me to start my day I must possess God's Holy Spirit.  I must start each day reading, learning and using these tools to help me throughout the day.

In the world we live in today, if we're not fully equipped with God's tools, we're so susceptible to Satan's schemes.

Being equipped allows God's grace to keep us focused on our purpose here on earth; to do the great commission.

Stay equipped for God's purposes on your life.  We are His disciples, let's be prepared and start acting like it.

2 Timothy 3:17 – " That the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."

Have you ever found yourself trying to put God in a box?  I know I have.  I get into a situation, or something comes up that catches me off guard and I try to tell God what to do.  I tell Him how I want this to work out.  It never works.

We will never fully understand the fullness of God.  We can trust that God is limitless in his power and His love for us.  If we truly understand this, we should never be afraid of anything in our lives.

Because of sin, we will never fully comprehend all that God is.  But, as a Christian, I am looking forward to Heaven where sin will no longer ravage our minds and when He will most likely share some of His secrets!

Matthew 10:28 – " Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

If you've ever hiked or walked out in the wilderness, you know that to reach a mountaintop, you go through a valley or valleys.  The same way with life.  To achieve something that you've been working towards, you have to sometimes go through some heartaches, setbacks or even detours to accomplish your goal.

The great news about those of us who are Christians is that we don't have to reach the mountaintop alone.  We have God, the Creator of the Universe that is with us, throughout the whole journey.

God promises us that no matter where we are in life, or where we're going, He's right there with us.  What a great comfort!

Psalm 23:4 - " Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.  For you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

If you're like me, it feels good to be in control.  You feel powerful and confident, but if you're basing your situation on your own strength, your own control, then you might be fooling yourself.  


It's easy to trust and believe in God when things are going good, but when things take a turn for the worse, we tend to think that we can rely on ourselves.  These times are all the more reason to trust God, to stand firm on His promises. This journey can be a tremendous blessing and a great reward, if we give it all to God.  You have to do your part and give up any semblance of control that you think you might have.


Walking by faith and not by sight or feeling requires us to go to a place that we do not know.  A place that God will reveal to us as we walk in obedience.


This walk of faith requires a strong determination to follow God's plan regardless of what life is throwing at you.


Trust Him.  He's got this!


Hebrews 13:5 - "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Have you ever been in a relationship where your love for another person or someone's love for you started to vary a little bit?  If you have, you know what I'm talking about when I say, 'it stinks.'


But, on the other hand, if you're a child of God and have given your life to Him, then you know that His love for you never changes, is never lost, or never varies depending on your circumstances.  

I have been through times in my life where I felt distant from God.  I felt like He wasn't listening to me, or feeling like He may have even abandoned me.  But, even though I was distant, God never was.


Thank God He doesn't give up on us when we give up on Him.  Thank God His love never varies just because we put Him in a box or forget about Him.  His love for each one of us is unconditional, unwavering; not subject to variation.


God loves you like no one else does.  His love endures forever!  His love has no limits!


Romans 8:38-39: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."