Living His Plan

Dear Girls,

I’m sitting having some quiet time with God and this verse in Psalm stood out to me, so of course I wanted to share it with you.

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my
life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid
out before a single day had passed. Psalm 139:16 (NLT)

Tonight that verse really caught my attention. Can you imagine, a day by day account of our life was written before we even existed. There is nothing you and I will ever experience in life that is a surprise to our Heavenly father. Isn’t that great? He loved us enough to plan our lives before we were even born.

I know I don’t always live up to His master plan for my life, however ultimately I would love to think that, I am living His plan… What about you?

God bless,
Bernadine

A Mother's Example

I'm over here today.

Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. Genesis 5:24


Enoch was one character I didn’t relate to at first in my Old Testament reading. It seemed impossible for anyone to have such a close intimate walk with God, but as I thought about my mother’s life Enoch was the Old Testament character that I thought about most. He doesn’t have a whole book in the bible, just a few verses. However, the verse above could have been written about my mother. ..

Stop by Laced With Grace to read my Mother's Day devotion

Nice Matters

A few weeks ago I went on an outing with several young ladies. We had a fun day exploring our beautiful island, being tourists at home for a day. We stumbled across, Caribbean Lighthouse, a quaint little souvenir store in the Port Lucaya Marketplace. The store was filled with beautiful and interesting Bahamian made artwork, jewelry and other souvenir items. The girls and I were quite intrigued as we looked around the store, admiring the different items each one with its own unique features.

All of the girls saw things that they wanted to purchase. However, by the time we stopped in the store most of our money had been exhausted on other things, like daiquiris, video games, sunglasses, earrings and a few other things we thought were absolute necessities.

The fact that we were simply “window shopping” did not deter the sales consultants. They went out of their way to show us their products and pleasantly answered our endless questions. In fact, after they noticed that the girls were interested in some of the smaller souvenirs they gave them such a good discount that they were able to purchase something in the store. One of the sale consultants even went outside and patiently took photos of our group with about four different digital cameras.

We left the store thinking, “Wow! What nice people. I’m definitely going there again.” Hopefully, we’ll have more money next time.

So if you're ever in the Port Lucaya Marketplace in Grand Bahama, be sure to stop in at the Caribbean Lighthouse, and do take a few dollars with you. I assure you, you'll enjoy spending it.

Weekend Fun

Earlier this month six girls descended on my house for a Girl Talk weekend. The weekend began with lots of talk and laughter as the girls hadn’t all been together for quite a while. Here is our weekend at a glance

Friday

Gifts and makeup tips, with laughter and fun thrown in the mix.

Saturday

Sippin' & Posin'

Playin' & Shoppin'

Sunday


Off to church,then lunch with some family and friends

Before church five of the girls allowed me to film them singing a song... be sure to take a minute and listen below.





Monday morning,
Tired goodbyes as we went our separate ways for school, college classes and work...

Because He Lives

It was Friday evening. Heads were hung low. Unanswered questions echoed through troubled minds.

“Did we make a mistake in following this man?” Is he really the one prophesized about by the prophets of old?” “What is he doing hanging on a cross?”

I can only imagine the questions of the disciples as they watched the events that took place unable to intervene. I’m sure Peter wanted to take on everyone on Jesus’ behalf and he did try;

10Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear.

However,

11Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" John 18:10-11

Whenever I read the Easter story I am always in awe of the depth of God’s love for us. Jesus didn’t want anyone to fight this battle, to step in and be His savior because he was The Savior.

I can picture the disciple that Jesus loved. He must have felt helpless, lost, even forsaken. This man was probably a big brother, maybe even father figure to him and now there he hung beaten, bleeding and seemingly defeated on the cross. Probably knowing his sense of helplessness Jesus gave him an assignment, one that He would only give to someone He trusted completely.

26When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," 27and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home John 19:26-27

That beloved disciple must have held his new mother close and comforted her as Jesus cried It is finished." then bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Darkness, despair, discouragement, total hopelessness… this is how that moment must have seemed to those who loved Jesus, the moment where all hopes, dreams and expectations came crashing down. We’ve all experienced those moments in life. But I am so thankful that moment on the cross was not the end of the story. I’m so thankful for resurrection Sunday, that an empty tomb stands testament to the fact that He rose again, that my Jesus lives.

10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there… John 20:13-14

Oh the joy of that moment when a ray of hope cuts through the darkness, when the impossible becomes possible, when hope springs anew…

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth a living, just because He lives
Bill Gaither

Broken Training

I'm over here today

I searched eagerly through the dictionary to find the word that I had heard echo through my mind as I spent time in prayer...

Stop by Laced With Grace to read the rest of this article

Walk of Faith

Dear Girls,

I’ve been thinking lately, (yes I do that sometimes:)). I’ve been thinking about you and your walk with God.

A few weeks ago I started writing the series “So I’m a Christian… Now what?”, and I haven’t completed that yet. I do plan to at some point. However, I don’t want my thoughts to seem too simplistic, as if this Christian walk really is piece of cake, because it’s not. There are days when it gets difficult. There are days when you question your faith, and in all honesty, there are days when God seems far away. But, he never promised that we would not experience difficult times in our lives. What he did promise was that He would be with us through them. Hence, those tough days are the days when your walk with God really becomes a walk of faith. When you can’t feel His presence but you know He’s there because He said in His word,

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

As a Christian you will experience different things in your life that sometimes shake your faith. Fortunately, just because it’s shaken doesn’t mean it’s lost. That’s why it’s important in the early days of your walk with God to develop a strong relationship with Him. Talk to Him, spend time in his word and get to know him. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to really get to know the God you gave your heart to. The stronger your relationship is with him the less likely you are to turn away from him when you experience tough times.

Let’s be like David, one of my favorite biblical characters. When we’re discouraged or facing things in our lives that cause us distress, let’s find our strength in the Lord our God.

David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the LORD his God.1 Samuel 30:6 (NIV). (emphasis mine)

As always girls, I want you to remember, that your heavenly father loves you with an everlasting love. He loves you so much you are engraved in the palm of His hand. There is nothing you can ever do that will change the way He feels about you. There is nothing that concerns you that does not concern Him. Talk to Him always. Don’t ever give up your relationship with Him. He is the friend that you always want in your corner.