I have so many more "refreshing" posts that I should be sharing right now, but only one thing is on my mind today.  Since most of you have been following this roller coaster of a journey, from all the health issues to the financial struggles to the drastic "rescue" from God Almighty to TODAY, I wanted to share my heart.  My struggle for today.

Wade had his 6 month review this morning at his job...  The company that hired the man that came out of "no where", started two weeks later and uprooted his family from a different city just 2 months after selling a home that "couldn't be sold".  God has been busy in just the Nagy family alone and I am forever grateful.  So this is not a post that is a "pity party" nor am I trying to be unappreciative of what He has given us.  But I do have a request...

Our financial struggle has been changed drastically and our dependence on the Lord has stayed constant throughout.  He has taken us on a unimaginable journey that has been exciting, unexpectant and supernatural and my faith in His provision stands firm.  So what is my prayer...

Although we have not hurt for anything that we need, because God has provided through other means of income, we have yet to make it work "on paper."  Our budget is clearly over that of what we bring home and to be truthful, that's not even including food and gas.  So are you questioning whether our God is good...  ABSOLUTELY He is.  He has provided us with a way of making it work every month.  BUT my prayer is that this won't be a worry for us for a while.  My prayer is that for the first time that our income, our budget, our way of life would work "on paper."  That God would supply us with a consistant income that we can see each month.  That He would relieve the questioning on our minds each month and allow us to just enjoy that monthly paycheck increase.  

I know that this may not seem like I should be writing about this, but this is my heart today.  It's my prayer that as we play the waiting game again today, that God would supernaturally invoke a need for his company to bless us beyond the normal range of "raises." 

I know there are so many needs in the world...  But I am asking you join me in prayer today for this one small thing.  I am asking that you pray for me to have peace regardless and to not grow weary while we wait. 


Do you have any prayer requests that you would like me to pray for?  Just email me!  It is God's desire that we lift each other up... so let me hear it!

Thanks :)
Tiffany

FYI...  We started our mom's group today and it was awesome!!  Having a group of Christian ladies to support, love and lift you up is so crucial in your daily walk with the Lord.  I encourage you to get involved and find that place where you can grow and experience all that Jesus has for you.

I confess.  I made a deal with God.

I use to do this all the time.  "God if you do this... then I will do that..."  or even better, "If you get me out of this mess, I will never do it again, promise!"  I am sure we can all relate to that one!  I have learned now that this is not always the best approach to prayer.

Last night, Wade and I went on an evening run.  Before my feet even hit the pavement, I already had it in my head that I was going to do 8 miles.  Well, 3 miles into the run, I looked over at Wade who was bouncing with insane energy and said, "I think I have set my goal too high."  I was exhausted, discouraged and I felt just plain defeated.  I mean how am I supposed to do a half marathon in October if I can't even run 3 miles. Seriously.  At this very moment, I made a deal with God...


I can't say that it was immediate, but I can say that somewhere around 4 miles, Wade looked over at me and said, "You got your second wind."  That's when I knew that I was not going to give up until my feet literally fell out from underneath me.  By mile 5, I had smoked Wade.  This is how I knew that God was doing this.  You see, I am not a solo runner.  I have to run with a "talking buddy" if I expect to get any mileage in for the day.  By mile 6, I realized I was in robotic form.  Literally.  I found myself repeating the lyrics from a song, that had the words, "God is able" over and over and my pace was as steady as a clock.  So steady, that my body seemed to keep one position and that was a constant pace of running.   Honestly, wiping the sweat from my forehead, seem to bring more pain that actually running.  If I looked at the traffic beside me, my body would seem to stumble.  I began to pay no attention to anything around me.  My eyes were on the sidewalk, my mind was focused on God and my body was doing exactly what it needed to without very little effort. 

I ran 9.35 miles in 2hr. 9min. 24sec.

CRAZY!!! 

I stopped at the car and my body fell to the ground with thankfulness.  Wade finally caught up with me and when I saw his face I knew that he was amazed.  He honestly looked at me and said, "Who are you?!?!" 

So here comes the Glory.  I was replaying all of this in my mind today while I was soaking my still sore muscles.  Why was God so insistent in helping me with something so insignificant.  That's because He is a good God.  He wants to get all of the Glory in everything we do, even running.  I ran the farthest I have ever ran in my whole life last night and even exceeded my initial goal.  My body took form of a runner, my muscles yielded to what they needed to do and I was focused.  So how does this relate to my Christian walk.  If I can set a steady pace, block out all of the outside noises around me and focus my mind on a God who is willing and able, then I will stay on the course He has set for me.  Not only will I stay on the course, but I will finish the race beyond my own expectation and succeed at His. 

So God... You get all of the Glory.  You did this.  Not I. 

I do have to tell you...  my praises were soon distracted when I got out of the car and felt the sharp pain in my legs.  Reality of what my body had just done... was now settling in.  After a hot bath, an Ibuprofen and a long night's sleep, I woke up this morning and I felt like I had been hit by a Mack truck.

The "race" may make you sore, but the reward is much greater!

I am going to be truthful this morning... My intentions of writing this blog was to cheerfully write about the Joyce Meyer Conference that I went to this past weekend and about the amazing experience that I had last night at Vesta Village with LCC.  But right now at this moment, my heart is heavy.  I recieved an email from a dear friend this morning who is having a difficult time in their life.  This person is struggling with their purpose in life and all of those famous questions that your mind begins to ask when you are faced with circumstances that you dont want to face.  My heart hurts because I too, have been there and I know what it is like to be in a "dark" place where there seems to be no way out.  I am sure that if we all think back in our life, we can all remember a time when we needed help, comfort, salvation. 

What I want to say is that salvation is more than just giving your life to Christ.  Yes, it is the the most important part of your faith walk, but there is so much more that Christ wants to save you from.  Christ wants you fully, because that is what he did for YOU.  He fully gave himself on the cross so that we could have a better life.  A life full of complete salvation, complete healing, complete restoration and most of all, complete victory.  You see God never intended for us to be seperated from Him.  When Adam and Eve allowed sin and death to come into the world, the plan of redemption was already in the making.  God sent Christ so that we would not be eternally seperated from Him.  So what I want you to know is that Christ is with you and He is FOR you. And if He is for you, then NOTHING can stand against you.  If you are a child of God and have fully accepted Him as your personal Savior, then you don't have to be alone in that dark place.  Cry out to Jesus.  Literally.  Right now, speak HIS name, Jesus, and feel the peace come over your body. (John 16:33)  Speak it.  He was sent for YOU.  He died for YOU.  He paid the ultimate penalty so that YOU wouldnt have to.  Focus your mind on Jesus.  You dont have to be a bibical scholar or someone that knows every scripture in the Bible to be able to call upon Jesus.  Maybe you are someone that barely lives the "walk" and you have never felt further from Christ.  He is waiting with open arms for His lost son or daughter to come back.  He is running to you.  Call out His name.  Seek Him.  He is ready and waiting.

Life has been busy.  You know the weeks...  where you seem like you have done everything and you have accomplished nothing.  I have had one of those weeks.  One would think that with Ej having gone to VBS this week, that I would have accomplished the world, but quite the opposite has happened.  By Wednesday I felt like my head was spinning, our laundry was taking over the house and I couldn't find a free second to do the mounds of "orders" I had piling on my desk upstairs.  My kids were crazy and I think I was possibly even crazier.  I had numerous doctor appointments and although I am grateful that I can freely go, we all know how time consuming a check-up can be.  Getting blood work with a kid on your lap... highly stressful.  So by Wednesday, I was exhausted and by 5:00pm when the babysitters came over to watch the girls for church, all I wanted to do was go eat with my hubby and rest.  But we didn't give into that temptation... at least not this time.  We went to church, were 20 minutes late and stressed when arriving but frantically sat down anyways.  Boy, am I glad we did. 

Church was amazing, refreshing, energizing and full of hope... all of which I needed.  We all need.  It supplied restoration during the mid-week slump that we so often find ourselves.  I have been feeling like the Lord has been telling me to "rest" for a while now, but Wednesday night it was confirmed.  I must find rest.  Not just physical rest, (which I will definitely take when I can get it ), but spiritual rest.  Resting in His presence while I am still "working."  This I do not do.  There are days where I find myself at the end of the day emotionally exhausted, sometimes frustrated and even worse, full of tears and it is then that I call on the Lord for help.  Don't we all do that at times?  We wait until we can't handle our dilemma ourselves and then we finally turn it over to the Lord.  It's God's dilemma too.  So yesterday I practiced "resting in His presence." 

This is what it looked like...
Praise Music playing in the background most of the day, reading my Bible or a good book while I sat with the girls to finish their lunch (they listened while I read out loud...amazing!) and listening to sermons while I sewed during nap time.  Most importantly I prayed a lot more.  I prayed for everything.  I prayed for the clock to slow down so I wouldn't be late to pick up Ej at VBS (I was still late).  I prayed for the slow person that didn't see the green light until in was yellow.  I prayed that God would help me with my pillowcase dress... and for once I didn't screw it up!  I prayed my Ej would get off of the floor and stop screaming in the middle of the mall.  I even prayed for my husband as he walked out the door to head back to work.  You get the point.  The more I prayed, the easier and less thought it took. 

I had the best day yesterday.  Everything was chaotic and crazy as usual, but I had a inward peace.  I rested in HIM, which in turn provided me with much needed rest.