Today as I sit down to write  and wonder what to discuss, I think of me growing up going through life. Believing in Jesus with all my heart, loving Him and not really understanding where He was and what He was up to……Have you ever felt that same way? As you think of your own life, let me start at the beginning.

I remember being a shy little girl in a house full of boys. On Sunday’s you would always find us at the soccer field with my brothers. One day, when I was 4 we were driving by a church and saw all the other kids playing outside. I turned to my mom and asked her why I couldn’t go? Well, from that time on every Sunday my mom took me to church and was able to go to Sunday School with the kids!  I loved going to church, doing art, hearing stories of Jesus and playing with the kids. As you already know with your own life, our journey with the Lord is not that easy. I was always ill as a kid with severe allergies, asthmatic  as well as epileptic. I was that kid that needed to go for weekly allergy shots and make sure I took my medicine.

I always felt not part of the crowd ( which now I see was my biggest blessing and saved me from so many things  like drugs, etc.) At the time though, felt like I was unworthy never good enough to fit in. Then, when they supposedly were trying to include me? it was to be the butt of the joke in front of everyone. Thank God He gave me a few good friends that were real and accepted me for me. As I got older I started getting interested in guys. Having crushes on them but being too shy to do anything about it. Well, this one day my crush came up to me which he never did and said he wanted to tell me something. I told him he could tell me right then and there. He said no. lets meet.

Something felt off, but I lied and went anyway. That night on school grounds after hours I got raped. If I would have listened to my gut feeling(God’s little nudges) and not went? I wouldn’t have been raped. I was so scared when my dad found out and asked me that I lied. God often uses gut feelings to let us know something is not right and should listen. Another time, I was in the shower with shampoo in my hair and heard get out of the shower. I did, with one foot out I fainted falling on the floor. Had I been in the shower? I could have possibly drowned. God speaks to use in a gentle sweet voice.

He also gives us little nudges by our gut feeling and something not feeling right. I told my friend in high school I heard my angels protect me! She said she never heard hers. That is when I told her mine had to be loud on account of me being stubborn! In reality, God uses nudges to get our attention. Another time I had gotten out of junior college early. I could have been truthful and go home or go see my boyfriend. I decided to go see him. I was on the freeway in the slow lane. To the left of me was an 18 wheeler. I heard speed up or slow down! I argued with my angels which i did quite regularly unfortunately, and thought I wanted to go the speed limit.

Well, the 18 wheeler started coming over the metal hitting the metal on my car. They went back in their lane. I heard speed up or slow down again! I thought, no they know I’m here as that is why they went back. They came back over with a vengeance knocking my car off the freeway teeter tottering over the edge of the freeway looking down into a ditch. I called on Jesus to help me and He sent an older couple in my opinion my angel to talk me out of the car. She had the most calming voice and reassured me it would be okay. When the police came? He told me if i had been in the car when it went down the ditch I wouldn’t be alive. For most of us our daily prayers are for protection, guidance and help in our day to day lives. We often think where is God? What is He doing? Is He listening? In all reality though He is listening, paying attention and trying to help direct us in life. He gives us warnings, guidance and trying to lead us in our journey.

But are we truly listening, paying attention, and taking heed? As we go through our week this week let us examine our lives. what the Lord might be trying to tell us in gut feelings, little whispers and even louder ones we accidentally think is ourselves. Lord, please forgive us for the times we don’t listen, don’t recognize that it’s you and do our own thing. Wash us, cleanse us , purify us so when you are trying to get our attention  that we are able to recognize it’s you and listen. As we do and follow your nudges it is then we will see your protection, peace and  true joy despite circumstances in Jesus name amen. God bless you