PRAISE AND COFFEE

I often get asked where I’m going to church, *smile* I’ll get to that. When we left the church in 2000 that we had helped plant in 1996 (let me be completely honest, we were kicked out for disagreeing with the pastor and “causing discord”), I was so hurt. I felt discouraged, displaced, and completely destroyed. I have to add here…there was a day when I couldn’t admit that we were kicked out, I was ashamed and I would feel the need to explain, but not anymore. I will explain i

He never intended you to dance alone. Trust Him. Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Proverbs 3:5 The Message Bible #womensministry #depression #MOPS #encouragement #brokenheart #frustrated #trustGod #SueCramer

I look at my life and never could have imagined the journey that brought me to this place in my life. I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t love every twist and turn and re-route along the way. I took some detours and jumped right into a few ditches along the way. BUT I love that God has been with me through it all and when I look back on even the most confusing and painful times in my life, I see Him. I see His hand, I see where He was loving me and guiding me towards His plan. Ta

Our past is a huge part of our future…our stories shape us and we become a women of our individual journeys. I don’t believe we can or should leave our stories behind us and think that we can just forget where we’ve been or what we’ve done. But let’s not let our mistakes or sins keep us from the beauty that God has before us. The ashes are a necessary part of the beauty, but don’t let the ashes direct us, let hope and trust in the Father direct us. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the

Freedom: the condition of being free, the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints. Does fear keep you restrained from stepping out with power to do the things that burn in your heart? If fear did not hold you back, what would you do? What would you say? What would you create? Freedom always costs something. Jesus came and paid for our freedom from the power of sin and death. I’m hoping you’ve experienced that freedom. But even after receiving s

Don’t let fear keep you sitting in front of an empty tomb, the joy came as they ran to be in His presence. Fear, apprehension and anxiety will keep us stuck in a stale, dead, hopeless place. Jesus promises a full life to those who will seek Him and rest in His presence. Are you sitting at a tomb that is keeping you from having the joy a relationship with Jesus can bring? Maybe you need to get up and run from the person, place, memory, fear or vice that keeps your life stagnan

Galatians 4: 4-7 4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Orphanages have an ov

A piece of what I’ve been working on… It’s new life, a new day. It’s hope. Please don’t give up. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do. Romans 4:18 The Message And be careful not to paint hope with one just color and brush, often new life looks different than we imagined it would. I have experienced this kind of hope, I’d love to hear your stories of new life if y

What will make you happy? What do you really want? More of __________________________. Less of ___________________________. And how much more or less will be the indicator of your supposed happiness? If that which is outside us could fulfill and bring us joy, it would be evident in those who have so much and are so happy. No, we see a world filled with an excess of things and yet empty of joy. The only true source of joy is found within. It’s found in the quiet place of our h

Who are you? I spent years disciplining my personality away. Yes, self-denial in the face of temptation that shifts us from God’s plan is beneficial. Disclipling ourselves to avoid sinful actions and attitudes will help us from taking our lives down a path of brokenness. Sacrifice can be honorable; Abraham and Isaac come to mind. But I sacrificed my truest self at what I thought was the altar of obedience only to find that I was being manipulated and moved by guilt to fit int

Your mind reels with memories that imprison you. You rehearse the events like Groundhog Day, each time inserting a new response in your mind of things you wish you’d said. If only you’d told them this or reacted like that. But at the end of your minds’ spiral, life is not changed, the facts cannot be undone. Have you ever been tormented by your own thoughts? I’ve spent far too long in this life rehearsing pain from my past. Betrayal, regret, even abuse, and I can’t think hard