Dina Martin

11 articles

11 Cups of Water by Dina Martin 2011-04-04

Benjamin looked at the boxed cake mix and decided he would surprise everyone and make a cake. He had seen how effortlessly Whitney had done it. It would be easy. As he began to pour the mixture in the bowl, then eggs, then came the water. It read 1 1 / 2 cups of water; and his inexperienced eyes told him that he needed 11 cups of water, wondering why that “/2” was there---so onward he poured; cup after cup of water into that bowl---until Whitney walk up and asked “What are you doing?” She saw the box alright, but didn’t understand why he was pouring all that water in the bowl! When she discovered his misunderstanding of the numbers, she proceeded to take as much of the water out of the bowl and the cake was saved. Benjamin will not make that mistake again!

It seems that the zealousness of youth tends to these kinds of mistakes. Excitement to serve and desire to please the Lord has us more often doing much more than required. We end up having many a mess, but our gracious Heavenly Father saw our hearts, and He came alone side, and took out all the unnecessary ingredients. Our young eyes were looking more intently at the “box” than to Him to understand the box.

Each cup I poured, I knew was vitally important for what was going to be offered up to Him. In the end, the cake was still made, the mess was cleaned up, and I learned a valuable lesson with Benjamin about how I look at things.

So what side of the kitchen counter are we on? Do we criticize or come along side? When Whitney saw the mistake of her brother, she was reminded of the mistakes she had made. We all remembered the times when her baking projects totally flopped. Now, we are thankful for what the mistakes have taught her! It would seem that we all learn in this walk of faith, as we do, watch and wait. May our lives be a testimony of not only what the Heavenly Father is calling us to do, but what He sees we will be!

Crossing over into Womanhood by Dina Martin 2011-04-08

There are special bench marks in every young woman’s life that are remembered because of significant steps of growing in grace before God. As mothers, we find ourselves taking a step back as we witness the lovely touch of womanhood begins to surface. A step away from childhood dreams to a mature understanding of eternal value.

Anna and I will soon enter one of these bench marks together, as she turns sixteen. Several years ago, I remember journaling my daily struggles with Anna’s special needs…

Entry: I just can not figure out how to do this…and I’m despairing over the thought that she (Anna) will never be out of diapers. Alan told me that some people see their conflicts as mountains to scale; mine is in the shape of a toilet seat.

I found myself at this point, no different than any young woman who unwisely places her focus on “earthy things”, thinking “if only this were accomplished, I could move on in life.” This marks the difference in one who understands the value of allowing “patience to have her perfect work” (James 1:4) and the one whose purpose is centered on self achievement (James 4:3). The world tends to set its bench marks of growth by ages, but our Heavenly Father looks for a yielded heart; one who seeks first His kingdom. I know women far older than 16 who still need to grow up in eternal truths of death to self. The true celebration of womanhood begins here!

Mothers who spend time consecrating before celebrating give a priceless gift to their daughters. The songs our daughters hear us singing will have a powerful effect on their hearts, especially in the context of suffering. Any one can sing and dance in seasons of abundance, when hardship is not present. If all we have taught our daughters is how to pour a cup of tea correctly, yet when conflict comes they collapse, we all lose and our ceremonies of womanhood do nothing to grant motivation to maturity. Instead they give a false sense of confidence that will not hold them in the hour of pain.

When I look for readiness for marriage in a young woman, my first questions are; How do they handle conflict? Do they know how to reign in their emotions? Have they understood faith as a daily dieing; apart from feelings or sight? Does a song rise up in suffering? These qualities of character are not taught, but are the overflowing evidence of Christ reigning in a heart.

It was a glorious day when the daughters of Zion took up their tambourines and celebrated the crossing of the Red Sea. But this celebration did not prepare them for the wilderness that they were about to enter. Our daughters need to learn to cultivate faith in difficulties because if Christ is not learned in conflict; our daughters will not cross over into true womanhood. Anna’s presence with us has brought home the reality of the Heavenly Father’s call to my own heart; “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:16 ) Crossing over is coming to HIM, and this is where the celebration begins.

This year we will all be together as we celebrate Anna’s 16^th year of life. My daughters and I will see this bench mark, not so much in Anna’s growth, but in our own. A friend recently shared something that dawned on her; “Dina, you will always have Anna with you.” The statement seem monumental to her. I smiled inwardly, remembering the toilet seat, and in my heart began to celebrate the thought, “Yes, but I will also have Christ with me, and as I continue to cross over into true womanhood, Anna gets to go along for the ride! This coming July 19, Anna will be turning 22 years old.

Musical Beds by Dina Martin 2011-04-08

It’s happened for a while but sometimes the activity of it comes more to my own attention. I walk out to see one of my children on the couch; one has switched rooms and one coming in from next door due to the need to care for some one else during the night. I’m glad to see that Anna did not roll off the air mattress on our bedroom floor. In times past, I’ve almost stepped on her sleeping body. We call this musical beds and due to the increase of visitors and ones that come with needs, it happens on a regular basis. The shifting of rooms and the blowing up of air mattresses has become the ebb and flow of life at the Martins.

It’s just a place to sleep; I want to keep telling myself, as I struggle at times with the constant need for my children to rotate places of sleeping. It would appear that the struggle is my own, and not theirs. This is the new “ground breaking” in my own heart. It requires releasing of a different kind. The patterns in which I was raised in, may take a different shape in my children. It is the more that God has required of them, which I have never had to experience. When they were younger so much of my time was tending to their needs, or seeking to teach them to help serve when there was need. Now I find myself as a silent observer, watching them move with the Spirit in ways that I would have never pictured.

This is where I must be careful to not lay a standard that would block what my Heavenly Father might be calling them unto. A standard as simple as: “Every one must have their own bed.” It dawned on me one morning as I’m stepping over sleeping bodies, that this flexibility that they are being called to live out, might be preparing them for something more in His kingdom.

Are my songs His songs? What comes from the melody of my life? John says “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) What songs do my children see me singing, when life takes a turn to what appears to be unplanned and chaotic? I’m learning a new way to spell faith; SURRENDER. I can only sing with David “…lead me to a rock that is higher than I…” as I’ve learned to release to my Heavenly Father all the things I do not understand. This is a place that is unmovable, unchangeable and a steadfast love that holds me, when I see nothing “physical” to hold on to. We give our children an immeasurable gift, when we ourselves willingly embrace all that the Father gives, in both pain and joy, when we are on schedule and when all our plans have been interrupted. It’s easy to dance to the melody of joy, but how are we doing when the minor keys flow?

His songs often do come in the night, and He does give his beloved sleep (there is no mention of beds ) The musical melody of bed swapping will only continue in my home, if my heart is willing to allow His Spirit to lead in the chorus.

Written in 2006

Pitchin' Fits or Pursuing Faith by Dina Martin (For Women Only) 2011-04-08

Watching a young child kicking and screaming because he does not get what he desires is a marvel to witness. It draws out in all who watch a distaste for selfishness, for it is a demonstration of self though pitchin' a fit! Its blatant expression of ugliness reveals of the one kicking, that they are desperate to come to this last fit of emotions! Reward should not be given for this action or you will have the making of a monster. “Self” will never be satisfied!

There is one thing, more devastating than a child who always gets his way, a wife who allows her emotions to lead her.Pitchin' fits in wives looks far different than the child kicking on the floor. This woman is full-grown, and has learned other methods of getting self's way. If seeing a child reeling on the floor is a marvel,watching a woman get her way is a wonder of deception that carries destruction like the world has yet to see and understand. Solomon saw it when he wrote in Proverbs 14:1 “A wise women builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.” In the original language the words “tears it down” means “undermines it”. The questions we should ask ourselves are: “Are we pitchin'fits or pursuing faith?” How can we recognize the difference?

For some of us, who came into our marriages with the spirit of independence, we have learned all too well what this fosters in a home. “You just don't understand,” probably ranks top of the phrases used by ladies pickin' fits. It can come in tears, or an angry glare, or a quiet defiance. The one stating it has not spent time with the One who does understand, because if she had, she would need no one else to understand. He would be enough. This is why our Heavenly Father shows great wisdom in placing us in all kinds of circumstances to draw out this heart of mistrust and wanting control. When we are pursuing faith, we are learning what it means to have a surrendered will.

Can I mention, one more way we show an unyielding heart? When we do not welcome our trials and conflicts as friends, and instead seek control by pointing our fingers with an ultimatum to stop them. Our Father is always faithful to give us a choice. And to the one not yielding, it looks like options of our own making to avoid difficulty. He sees our fearing unbelieving hearts. He wants to set us free so we can be mature and complete, lacking nothing. This emotional fit cries, “This conflict would not be here IF...” because the one crying, has not understood the PRICE that comes when SELF is given PEACE, instead of DEATH. We must learn quickly to see the Hand of God in all things, to reveal our hearts and teach us to trust.

Oswald Chamber states it beautifully:

“Resting in the Lord does not depend on external circumstances at all, but on your relationship to God Himself. Fussing always ends in sin. We imagine that a little anxiety and worry are an indication of how really wise we are. Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way. Our Lord never worried and he was never anxious, because he was not “out” to realize His own ideas. Fretting is wicked if you are a child of God.”

We are in need of courageous women with sound minds, who walk by faith and not by emotions or circumstances. They do not shirk back at signs of conflict, but “laugh at the days ahead.” They walk with such hope and faith in Christ that their lives show how all things work together to conform them to His image. Like Paul, can we say follow me as I follow Christ? Can we say to the world (our children and friends), watch me respond to this trial by counting it all joy?! See how I am anxious for nothing, but in everything praying and thankful...This is expressed in the one who is pursing faith, and learning daily what it means to die to self. If we equate pursuing faith with activities we deem spiritual and miss the moment by moment choices of yielding, we miss the whole picture of this life of Grace. Pursuing faith is much more than a quiet time in the morning or prayer time at noon. It has feet that obey, hands that serve, eyes that have hope and a heart that surrenders. It's following the ONE who does understand, and finding all we need for life and godliness IN CHRIST.

We must not forget that our pursuit of God will mean that He will be much more concerned with our character than our comfort. He will especially touch those areas in our lives where we have worn a cloak of weakness over willfulness and pride. Most of the time He will use imperfect vessels to reveal this dross in our lives. It does not matter what's used, as long as we deal honestly with the overflow of our own mouths and actions. A young single mother was in the midst of what seem to her, many hard choices to make. These choices would mean less independence, and more dependence on God. Her troubled heart was in confusion and without knowing it, she began to pitch an emotional fit! She had asked her three year old boy to do something, and with both hands folded around his defiant chest, he said NO, and then began to pitch his fit! As she wrapped her arms around him, to restrain him from hurting himself, she heard a still small voice saying, “Daughter, this is all I am wanting for you...to be still and yield to my will.” It is a very heavy and weary task to resist your Heavenly Father. His yoke is easy and light! He said learn of me, for I am meek and lowly, and you shall find rest for your souls.” He yielded to the yoke of His Fathers will. Remember, the difference between rest and resist is (the S I) selfish independence.

Showing Struggle by Dina Martin 2011-04-08

Have you ever stopped to consider that there will be a harmful splashing effect on others when our own personal struggles manifest themselves in an inappropriate manner? Often this occurs when instead of first taking our struggle to the Lord, we take it directly to the nearest sympathetic ear. This habit becomes very counter-productive, especially when our primary aim is sympathy rather than salvation from self.

The easiest time to recognize “elusive"self is when struggles arise. Its first response is always personal “relief”, to remove the difficulty rather than to go through it. Self builds its support walls so as to say “NO STRUGGLES ALLOWED!” - and then we wonder why true peace and joy are lacking.

Sounding boards (sympathetic ears) may offer struggle some temporary pain relief, but they provide no cure. The true remedy is always found in His presence; that’s where there is fullness of JOY. When HE stands with us in the midst of our trouble, no words are needed, He is enough.

Be still O my soul, so the reflection of His light can be seen.

“Whatever the difficulties of the times, and our sorrow because of divisions in the church and a corrupt gospel in the world, it is ever open unto us to please God. If this great success of pleasing God be not ours, in ourselves lies the hindrances.” “Humility is the secret of fellowship, and pride the secret of division.” ~R.C. Chapman

The Length of the Valley by Dina Martin 2011-04-09

“Lo though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil, Thy rod and thy staff shall comfort me.”

Talking about the length of a trip is far different than actually spending over 5,000 miles in a car driving it. On this trip we saw valleys that gave new meaning to David’s words from the Psalms. These valleys were no quick day journey for those early pioneers who went before us. Some of them may have never even made it through the length of these valleys or might even have set up camp for months before eventually passing through.

We often spend a long time in the spiritual valleys designed by our Father. Why does He lead through the shadows in theses valleys? It seems He has designed them to conform us into His image and purpose. The duration of our days in these valleys is often determined by the time it takes for us to learn how to yield joyfully. Some of our valleys take us longer to pass through than even our Father intends. Still, He will keep us in His valleys until we begin to experience contentment with the direction and even the degree of difficulty. His will is for us to come to all endurance and all longsuffering - with joy! Those who have traversed many valleys will tell you the secret to joyful longsuffering. It's the same secret David discovered - "for Thou art with me." Once we have learned that as long as the Father is with us and that His presence gives us light even in the shadows, we are soon ready for more open Sonlight.

“God gives us the vision, then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into shape of the vision, and it is in the valley that so many of us faint and give way. Every vision will be made real if we will have patience. Think of the enormous leisure of God! He is never in a hurry. We are always in such a frantic hurry. In the light of the glory of the vision we go forth to do things, but the vision is not real in us yet; and God has to take us into the valley, and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the place where He can trust us with the veritable reality.”~ Oswald Chambers

Psalm 23 by Christ Our Life

Let it Rest... by Dina Martin 2011-04-23

It's amazing what time and the touch of my Father's Spirit will do when I'm "all wet." Clean clothes that are still wet must be readied for wear by hanging for a while in the sun and breeze.

The wind simply does wonders to make us “ready.”

While some of our trials may need a little more time than a gentle breeze will take, it’s this place of quiet waiting upon the Lord where we learn to say, “He makes all things beautiful (ready) in His time.”

It is in this place of rest where most things receive His finishing touch. “Those who wait upon the Lord will renew “their readiness.” Renewed strength means we’re “ready for action.”

“Thinketh no evil.” 1 Cor. 13:5 “Let it rest!” Ah! How many hearts on the brink of anxiety and disquietude, by this simple sentence have been made calm and happy! Some proceeding has wounded us by its want of tact; let it rest; no one will think of it again. A harsh or unjust sentence irritates us; let it rest; whoever may have given vent to it will be pleased to see it forgotten. A painful scandal is about to estrange us from an old friend, let it rest, and thus preserve our charity and peace of mind. A suspicious look is on the point of cooling our affection, let it rest; our look of trust will restore confidence. Fancy! We, who are so careful to remove the briars from our pathway for fear they should wound, yet take pleasure in collecting and piercing our hearts with thorns that meet us in our daily intercourse with one another! How childish and unreasonable we are!

The vents made by Time will soon mend if you will let God have His way. GOLD DUST~Streams in the Desert

“The clearest indicator that healing rest has occured is renewed joy in serving.” ~anonymous

Resentment by Dina Martin 2011-04-23

I have been pondering another way to describe resentment - "Re-send it -ment" “I don't want this trial.” “I did not plan this situation” To walk in resentment is to refuse what the Father has sent us. Webster defines it this way:

…passion which proceeds from a sense of wrong offered to ourselves, or to those who are connected with us; less excitement than anger, though often synonymous with it; exasperation, and indignation; not the sense or perception of injury, but the excitement which is the effect of it.

Resentment is really just another form of resistance. Relinquishing, on the other hand, is the opposite of a “re-send it back” attitude. It is holding out our hands (with a smile) even when there’s nothing really appealing in the mail. It’s letting go, renouncing our claim, relinquishing a debt. The temptation to walk in resentment is only there when we are holding something that was never truly ours from the beginning. Remember, not even our children fully belong to us - we are merely stewards of them. “Resist” and “Rest is” use the same letters but they are ordered differently and they have a very different meaning. Getting the “i” and “s” in the right place will result in the spiritual “rest is” of a surrendered life.

When God sends us a special delivery, or even just the bills, the key is to NOT write “return to sender” on His envelopes. We must learn to receive His packages and stop placing so much importance on our own preferences and priorities.

“Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.”

“Don’t bother to give God instructions; just report for duty.” ~Corrie ten Boom

Living Words by Dina Martin 2011-05-28

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

Prov. 25:11

Words can become something that can bring life and healing.

When our hearts are filled with good things, this is what will overflow unto others. This morning I see the importance of a grateful heart, because there are times when this will need to come from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, especially in the times we live in. When touched in this way, we have something to offer that is “food” for others...to bring life and peace.

Gratitude is the inspiration of heaven's most melodious anthems. Its fruit is joy in the time of mourning, courage in the day of despondency, security in the hour of loneliness, peace in the midst of battle, and satisfaction in spiritual or physical famine. - Dorothy Kelley Patterson

I was struck recently with the realization that the Living Water that will flow out from our inner most being will take the form of LIVING WORDS that we speak. "The tongue of the wise commendeth healing." "The lips of the wise are a TREE OF LIFE." Even Jesus said, "My WORDS are SPIRIT THEY are LIFE."

When we are abiding in Christ and being filled with the Holy Spirit, the ministry of truth and life at work within us will overflow in the form of LIVING WORDS of truth spoken in love that will produce life in others.

LIVING WATERS BECOME LIVING WORDS!

Words spoken from our flesh have the power of decay and death!

Words spoken from the Holy Spirit have the power of fruit and life!

The true indicator that we are being filled with the Holy Spirit

is our overflowing with LIVING WORDS!

(E-mail sent by Alan)

His Nearness Is My Good by Dina Martin 2011-07-08

In the beginning, my children heard music in my womb. Their Daddy would sing over my belly to them. He wanted to make sure they knew him when they came out. They came, he called, and they knew him. It did not stop there, because throughout their life music was always a part of us. I know they heard because I keep hearing the melody of their own songs and I still see them responding to his voice. Most of my family has an ear for music, except for Anna and I, we just love to listen. It dawned on me, as Anna and I passed through her 21st year together, that her special needs have become an integral part of the music in our home. Her presence is her voice and her spirit adds to our melody even though she has no words to offer back. It’s like I'm just now learning to hear the chords and understand the powerful effect of these Living Words and Songs. Often you will not know when it happens, but somehow what you have learned to embrace, suddenly embraces you. We discover the living symphony, this natural rhythm of life, when we stop resisting and start listening. Inconvenience becomes invitations to intimacy, hurts become habitations of healing, needs become His Nearness and our Good.

How did this happen? When did the repetition of doing the same thing over a thousand times become like the melody of a song?

G.K. Chesterton says, “Children want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again’…(It is) grown-up people (who) are not strong enough to exult in monotony But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon…The repetition in nature may not be mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore.”

I think I’ve realized something about those things that are always with us: the monotonous duties that greet us each morning, the conflicts, and inconveniences that do not ask our permission but barge in anyway. They are my Daddy’s voice coming in whispers that I often times do not understand. I’m sure my un-born children were just hearing sounds at first, but in time those sounds became a person, and then the music became personal. I believe in many ways our response to the “sounds” (ie struggles) in our lives show just how personal our Heavenly Father has become to us.

There is a difference in doing something because it is the right thing to do and doing it from a heart overflowing. One gives only the appearance of good; the other has the powerful affect of good. No one had to tell us to sing, singing was like breathing to us. This goes for any area where we long for righteousness, peace, and joy to reign in our homes. Our children will know the difference! They will see whether submission to my husband is out of performance (ie the right thing to do) or the true overflow of life in me. They will see my devotion by the fruit of a thankful heart. This does not mean that it is always easy. Anna at 21 years old is a lovely young lady that still needs my assistance in many basic areas of her life. Anna and I became one heart and one mind as the revelation of her weakness brought me nearer to my Heavenly Father. My weaknesses have become my “calling card” to His strength. I’ve noticed something as I draw near to HIM, the distant sounds that I had been hearing all along started making more sense. He was becoming much more personal to me. I hear Him a lot clearer, when I draw near.

Many are sadly content to live their Christian lives on the distant sounds,others fill their lives with such noise that they can not hear what the Father is saying.They have falsely comforted themselves in“good doings” instead of the overflow that comes from being close to their Father’s heart,having only a form of godliness without the power thereof.One thing that has not changed in Anna’s years with me is that she still likes to get as close as I will let her. Face to face, cheek to cheek, in my lap if I will let her. She offers no words, but she loves to hear up close. We have a very personal relationship and sometimes no words are needed. There are times in our walk with the Father, during some of our deepest struggles, that no words are needed. His presence is enough.

We have older children now, and as I look back on the most subtle and powerful “worldly” effects on my home, they would not be as obvious as you might think.They would be the little things that kept us from hearing His voice and His songs being sung to us, those distractions sent to keep us from drawing near. At some point in our children’s lives, if this relationship is not learned by them, everything that their Heavenly Father seeks to use to teach them will be misinterpreted. F.W. Webster expresses this so well : “The disciples thought that that angry sea separated themfrom Jesus. Nay, some of them thought worse than that; they thought that the trouble that had come upon them was a sign that Jesus had forgotten all about them, and did not care for them. Oh, dear friend, that is when troubles have a sting, when the devil whispers, “God has forgotten you; God has forsaken you”, when your unbelieving heart cries as Gideoncried, “If the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?” The evil has come upon you to bring the Lord nearer to you. The evil has not come upon you to separate you from Jesus,but to make you cling to Him more faithfully,more tenaciously, more simply.

Our natural tendency is to stay on the outside rather than drawing near, because His light always shines on the darkness within us. It is a tactic of the enemy to make us shun dealing with our sin. We are much more apt to see it in someone else than to look within(because satan helps us see others faults clearly). The defining moments in our lives have been how we have responded to trials, sufferings, and discipline. Unborn children hear sound with little understanding, as children grow up they begin to understand more fully what sin does to a relationship. Learning not to excuse ourselves, but to look fully into the mirror of His Word and recognize we are the problem is the sign of maturity. This has been the Holy ground of my daily walk with the common, unchanging events that call out, “Do you hear what I’m saying?” “Are you seeking wisdom as treasure?” “Will you come, when I call?”

We all desire an overcoming life, but do we understand the price? Our response to difficulty will tell whether we do. The violin will not share its beauty until the strings are straining.

Oswald Chambers states it this way, “God does not give us overcoming life; he gives us life as we overcome. The strain is the strength. If there is no strain, there is no strength. Are you asking God to give you life and liberty and joy? He cannot, unless you will accept the strain. Immediately you face the strain, you will get the strength. Overcome your own timidity and take the step, and God will give you to eat of the tree of life and you will get nourishment. If you spend yourself out physically, you become exhausted but spend yourself spiritually, and you get more strength. God never gives strength for to-morrow, or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the minute.

Father, grant us ears to hear Your voice. We want to get up close, and hear Your heart and grow in Your love, as a clear testimony for Your Name Sake. We receive all that You give, to teach us to draw near, because Your nearness is our Good.

Crossing over into Womanhood by Dina Martin 2012-01-09

Anna and I will soon enter one of these bench marks together, as she turns sixteen. Several years ago, I remember journaling my daily struggles with Anna’s special needs…

I found myself at this point, no different than any young woman who unwisely places her focus on “earthy things”, thinking “if only this were accomplished, I could move on in life.” This marks the difference in one who understands the value of allowing “patience to have her perfect work” (James 1:4) and the one whose purpose is centered on self achievement (James 4:3). The world tends to set its bench marks of growth by ages, but our Heavenly Father looks for a yielded heart; one who seeks first His kingdom. I know women far older than 16 who still need to grow up in eternal truths of death to self. The true celebration of womanhood begins here!

When I look for readiness for marriage in a young woman, my first questions are;How do they handle conflict? Do they know how to reign in their emotions? Have they understood faith as a daily dieing; apart from feelings or sight? Does a song rise up in suffering? These qualities of character are not taught, but are the overflowing evidence of Christ reigning in a heart.

It was a glorious day when the daughters of Zion took up their tambourines and celebrated the crossing of the Red Sea. But this celebration did not prepare them for the wilderness that they were about to enter. Our daughters need to learn to cultivate faith in difficulties because if Christ is not learned in conflict; our daughters will not cross over into true womanhood. Anna’s presence with us has brought home the reality of the Heavenly Father’s call to my own heart; “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:16 ) Crossing over is coming to HIM, and this is where the celebration begins.

Anna is now 22 years old, and the ride has been sweet!

*******

A special quote for any young single woman, “A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.” ~Max Lucado

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