You Have Captured My Heart

You Captured My Heart

I see you in the morning…I don’t have to search far….some men go great distances with great expense to try to find their prize!                                                      

                                                         

                                              But You are in my Heart….You are My Precious.

I am transformed by Your greatness. All I want to do is know you more and more.

I am so impacted by knowing you.

How can anyone see you, feel you, and walk away the same?
You captured my heart Oh God!
Nothing is the same for me, because of you.

I lay myself down, at your feet and I cry, “Have mercy, Oh God…for I am a sinner?!”

I see You, even in my sin. You are Holy and Pure.

You are Full of Love and Compassion.

I see You in my life.        

                               
I am completely humble, crumbled on the floor in a heap of broken-ness.
I raise my face to see You.
You say to my life….”Child, My Sweet Child.” “I have loved you with an everlasting Love.”

    "Come to me, you who are weary and broken hearted and I will give you Life.”

                                                         

You have taken this discarded life…picked me up out of the mire of my sin….

                                          I am resting at your side…close to your beating heart.

“I Am the Father to the Fatherless. A Husband to the widow. I am the Redeemer and Life Giver.”

My Father says, “I bind up the wounds of the broken hearted. I Am your Healer.”


I rest beside Him and I am safe.
I am His Daughter. I am because of Him.

Lord, may I live to give you the honor for my life. May my life be the reflection of your heart. I am so in love with you. I don’t ever want to be apart from you.
                                               Your Light chases away all the dark shadows.

I rejoice in the knowledge of You.                             

   My Father, I pray to be beautiful in your image. I pray to love with your love.    

          

  I see how beautiful you are in all your ways.

You have the Perfect Heart.

   Your Love for me is from Your Perfect Heart.

Kim Wenrich
2 Corinthians 5:17
Psalms 139
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gods-Girls-Most-Honorable-and-Beautiful-Among-All-Women/248867505178819

Jesus Calms The Storm

Today before I even got out of the bed this morning, I felt my heart stirring inside me. I felt tears in there before I was fully awake. I laid there in the quietness for a little while. Pondering what was in my heart on purpose. I must talk to God…I don’t know what this day is going to hold for me, but I feel I must talk to Him about it.


So I lay there in the still and the quite and I talk to My God.

“God, I don’t know what this day holds for me, but You do. I trust You with my life. I trust You with this day.” I know you will take care of me.”


I look outside, it is sunny and everything is started to spring up in nature.
But, it feels dark and stormy. Why?

                                                                         

So I cry. I need to cry.
It feels like a sweet release, even though my heart feels broken.
It feels this way, because my heart matters to God.
It feels this way, because I matter to God. 


Today, I pray and I cry. I cry and I pray.

No one can offer me the comfort my heart needs.

There is no tangible circumstance for it.

It is between me and God.



It a time of pulling weeds and replanting.
It hurts. He is drawing me closer to Him,
To become less of me and more of Him.

He has to work on me on the inside. Revealing His truth into my life and my heart. Getting rid of the things that tarnish His image of who He is inside of me.

When this understanding comes to me. I cry more, because of the constant Love and tenderness of my God in my life.

Oh, how I love Him.
He loves me so much, He continually searches my heart. Keeps watch on what is in there.

I need Him. I want Him. I desire more of Him.
I want to see Him more. Know Him more.

He offers me what no man can.
He offers me more than the world has to offer.

I know this and I am blessed to know it.
To experience the deep loving things of Him.

Who can separate me from His love?
No one and nothing.

Where could I go to hide from His love?
No where.

He is my Friend in my storms. Whatever they are.
Whenever they happen.

Have you ever noticed, when there is a storm coming in the horizon, you can sense it and feel it. After that as you look toward the skies you can see it coming.

My body even feels different as a storm approaches. My bones ache a little. I feel apprehensive and even a little scared.

                                                                        
Sometimes storms take us by surprise too though…One minute a clear, beautiful day, sun shining bright. Then suddenly a cloud is over you. The skies above you roar and thunder…the earth feels like it is shaking and the rain pours down all around you.             

  
Have you ever noticed, that those unexpected storms, they don’t last long…only a few minutes and then the sun come right back out like it was just before that storm.



God is in those storms. He is our shelter. Our refuge.

We are never left alone in any type of storms.

Private ones, personal ones, unexpected ones, ones you felt coming, ones you saw coming, and even public ones. He is there. They will all pass.

The clouds will break and The Son will shine around your life.

                      
                                                                       Then I rejoice! 

                                              For This Storm Has Passed From My Heart!
Psalms 126:3 and 5
"The Lord has done great things for me; whereof I am glad."
"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."

“For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance results in spiritual death.” 2 Corinthians 7: 10

“Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.” Ecclesiastes 7:3

1 Samuel 16:17
“For The Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but The Lord looks on the heart.”

Psalms 139:23
“ Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts.”

Kim Wenrich
2 Corinthians 5:17
Psalms 139
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gods-Girls-Most-Honorable-and-Beautiful-Among-All-Women/248867505178819

Thank You God For The Food and Don't Forget The Potatoes

This is a true story. It happened sometime ago. But IT happened.
A few of my dear loved ones know this story.
I felt it needed to be told again. I want to share it with everyone.
I will tell you this. This story does not belong to me. It belongs to God.

This was at a time, where I was really struggling with my emotions and talking a lot to God about my feelings. I was feeling frustrated and angry.
I was letting my feelings get in the way of what God needed to do in me.
I was feeling upset about some things that was going on in my life at the time and questioning God concerning those things and what He wanted for me and how he was going to help me.
I felt mad and hurt about those things that was happening.

My normal reaction to these things, was to eat. Now at this time, I was trying not to do that. I was just starting to learn how to go to God with my feelings instead of to food.
I was on a journey with God and I wanted His healing in my life.

I couldn’t understand so many things and wanted to know why, for everything.
Because so much damage, hurt, and lies were done to me.
I got desperate to know truth. His truth into my life.
Food just did not give me the answers I desperately needed for my life.
I was at a cross road. God met me in the middle.


Now at this time I also was thinking about making a meatloaf for my family.
I was thinking about how my mother-in-law made hers. She put potatoes and string beans around it, as it cooked. It was really good. So I decided to give it a try. I am not a good cook. Never have been. So I begin to pray about the food turning out good, before I even went to the store to get all that I needed to make this. I kept on praying for it to be blessed and to taste good as I prepared it and cooked it. Prayer over the food I cook serves a good purpose for those who will eat it!

We were on a very tight budget and I only went to the grocery store every 2 weeks. So I had to make certain of my list of needs and that the things I bought would last 2 weeks. If I missed something on the list….then I had to do without it.

The evening I was preparing to make the meatloaf. I noticed I did not have the potatoes. I was very upset. I complained to my husband. I shoved the 2 little cans of string beans in my husband’s face and said, “See, no potatoes!“ I complained a little bit more about it, as he moved back away from me.
“I planned this meal and forgot the potatoes!”

My husband comforted me and told me it would still be good without them.
I told him, that it was not going to work out at all. I was so disappointed.
He gave me a “I am sorry for you look,“ and then told me, he and my son were going to go over to his dad’s house to help him mend a fence.

When they left, I turned my attention, half hearted, to my supper plans and I put on the radio to listen to some Christian music.
I begin to sing as I cooked and felt better.
But I still didn’t feel especially happy about making this meatloaf without the potatoes. I was also still thinking about the frustrations I was feeling about the hurt in my life and wanting to know what God was going to do about it.

An Amy Grant song, came on, ‘Love Will Find A Way.’
She started singing,

“Here I stand an angry young woman taking all the pain to heart, Love will find a way.”

Hear it for yourself and you’ll see with your heart, how God spoke to mine through this song…right then and there in that moment!
http://www.lyricstime.com/amy-grant-find-a-way-lyrics.html

As I listened to this song. I became overwhelmed. Tears fell from my eyes, like a steady rain on a windshield.
I felt tingles and my heart squeezed. I knew God was loving on me, relating to me, showing me He cared.
I began to cry and I lifted my hands up to Him and prayed. I told Him, I was sorry for my attitude and thanked Him for caring for me and being there for me.

I felt better as I was cooking.
It came time for me to put the string beans and NO potatoes with the meatloaf.
My Heart got okay with that, I would have been an idiot not to get over that now.
I accepted we would have a good meal without the potatoes.

I got out a can opener and the 2 cans of string beans and a bowl. I opened the first can and poured out the string beans.
I opened the 2nd can of string beans and poured out……………………………POTATOES!

YES! P-O-T-A-T-O-E-S!

Beautiful white little round ones! They seemed endless, coming out that little can!

Filling the bowl, over flowing!

I praised God and thanked Him, right then and there.
He did that!
He is so in the details!

I decided not to cook them right away, I covered them up with a dish towel and waited to show my husband.

I couldn’t wait for him to get home. I kept saying to God, “Please hurry him home, I can’t wait to show him what You did!”
I thought he would never get there! I was acting like a little kid that had to go pee really bad and had no bathroom to get to. I couldn’t hardly stand it!

He barely got in the door and I was on him, like white on rice. Jumping up and down, acting like a woman gone crazy!
I kept saying, “You gotta see this!” “You gotta see this!”
“You gotta see what God did!”

I whipped off the dish towel from the top of the bowl. He looked astonished, his mouth was wide open….He said, “Where did those come from, we didn’t have any potatoes.”

I held up the little green bean can and thrust it toward him and said, “From this can!”
He said, “That is a string bean can.” (like I didn’t know that)
“How can you get potatoes from that?!”
I said, “I knoooooooooow!” “God did it!”
He began to cry. He was very moved with overwhelming feelings of emotion.

We sure had a great meal.
And everything tasted so good.


There is just a little more to this story….
At the time, I was attending a women’s class one night a week at the church we were attending at that time.
The next day, after God gave us potatoes for our meal. I pondered in my heart all day about what happened.
I said in my heart, “God, this is mine, what happened here last night is mine, not anybody else’s.” “It is between You and I. It is my story.”

Oh, you know what? I bet when I said that in my heart. God just smiled at me. Cause He was going to set me straight on that in a quick minute!

I think He takes a little joy in our stubborn-ness. He does His best work in those times!

I went to my class.
After the leader prayed us in, to start the class, my heart begin to stir in me something fierce!
I am not kidding! Then all the sudden the leader said, “Does anybody have something they would like to share, before we get started?”

“What in the name that is all holy?????” “She never asked that before!”

My heart kept squeezing in a way I never felt before.

I heard the Holy Spirit tell me, “Tell about the potatoes.”
I said, inside myself….”No, it is my story.”
He said, “No, it is not your story, it is My story.”
I sat there, determined not to tell it.
I wanted it to myself.

All at once…I felt a heavy pressure on my head, gently pushing me down and down and down. I am talking literally. I was going down for the count!

I was slipping out of my seat and onto the floor!
I thought, “Good Lord, I am sliding right off this chair in front of all these women!”
Just before I hit the floor. I said in my heart, “Fine.” “I will tell it.”
I pulled myself back up in a sitting position and opened my mouth.
The words just poured out.

There were tears and laughter everywhere in that room.
Amazement!

That story touched each one in there in a different way and meant something different to each of their lives.
One lady who was there, who is now a best friend to me, she said, “I bet when you opened up that 2nd can and those potatoes came out, an angel up in heaven saw the look on your face and said, “Now that is a Kodak moment, I’m taking a picture!”

Later that story, was printed in short version form in another Women’s Bible study in that church. It was shared with many others. I learned from many women, how it touched them personally in their lives.

It is not my story. It is God’s story.

After that class was over with…some time later. I was at the dollar store. I saw a white gift bag with big potatoes on the front and written across it were these words, Thank God for the food and don’t forget the potatoes.
I bought the bag.

Kim Wenrich
2 Corinthians 5:17
Psalms 139
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gods-Girls-Most-Honorable-and-Beautiful-Among-All-Women/248867505178819

The Lion Of Judah Roars When His Princess Cries

         

                                                                          

How can it be again Lord?

This life is so hard. It has so many hurts. All I want to do is know you better.
Live life loving others, be a blessing to my family.
Sometimes life feels like a rug pulled out from under me. All the sudden I am on my face. Crying.

                                  
Every time I think I got a hold on things….I don’t.
I cry.
I get overwhelmed with life at times, what it throws at me and I get on my face and I cry.
“I need you, My God. My soul gets tired. I feel discouraged. What is next? How much longer can I do this? I want to feel better. I want to feel assurance, joy, encouraged. I feel afraid right now.”


I wipe my tears and I take a moment and go outside. I see you in everything. I think of You My Lord.
I remember how You have placed the simple things in my life to give me joy and I am so amazed.
In that moment I am still and it seems Holy.
A song comes to my mind. “Oh Lord, my God how majestic is Your name in all the earth.”
I sing it softly to Your hearing.
A moment just between God and me. I think of the depth of this and I am moved in my heart with emotion. “You my God are bigger than my heart. I love you so much.”
“I see your ways in our lives and I remember them all. I seek You in my mind. In my thoughts.
 In my heart. I think about how everything about me matters to You. I forget the depth of my distress. But You remind me of Your goodness with the simple things. Your beautiful ways are all around me. You bless the weak ones. You are the strongest in those moments.
You rise up those who feel down.


God hears the cry of His Own.
He knows when you need Him. He rushes in to cover you. He stands in front of you. He roars at your adversity, those who want to harm you, those that hurt you. He roars at the source of your pain, tears and sadness.
He tells them all,
“Stay back, this is my girl!‘ “No harm will come to her!” “She is mine!”

When you cry out, He hears you. You have His attention, when the things of this world have pressed in….He arises to your pleas.


“MY PRINCESS, HAS NEED OF ME!”


                                                         Nothing gets in His way of you.

                                                                          
It is the cry of His Princess.
This Princess needs help.
This Princess needs hope.
She needs to be rescued.
She needs to experience the Love of Her King.


He hears your cry.
God heard it the moment the cry impacted your heart.






Before the tears had a chance to reach your eyes and fall down your cheeks.
                                                  
He heard you.                                         

Before your lips gave your cry words.
Before your voice was raised to the heavens.
He heard you.
He heard you when your whispered your words.
He heard the depth of your words, when you had no words.


Your King loves you. He roars for you and when He does, time stops around you.
All things are in awe and tremble under it.
Your cries are all that matters to Him.


ARISE PRINCESS, YOUR GOD IS HERE.
“NO HARM TO HER.” “THIS IS MY GIRL.”


“I Am here to take care of you.”
You feel the reality of this. You are completely comforted and surrendered to this Love.
Like a little girl who runs into her dad’s waiting, outstretched arms; He picks you up and holds you close. Your sorrow turns into joy and He lifts you up, twirls you around in the air. In a dance only He and you share. A Princess and her King.

                                                      
Your King is Faithful and Good. His promises last unto generation to generation. He is your Everlasting Love. He roars for you. For you belong to Him. You are His.





Kim Wenrich
2 Corithians 5:17
Psalms 139
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gods-Girls-Most-Honorable-and-Beautiful-Among-All-Women/248867505178819

What Is That Smell?

Lately I have been getting devotions to read concerning words that are spoken. It seems where-ever I turn…I am reading or hearing something about this subject.
I just received something else about this.
This one I read and re-read.
So I am now sitting here really thinking about it.

“God, what is it I need to get from this?” “What is it I need to receive in my spirit concerning my words?”

It dawns on me. You know what that means?
That means the sun came up and darkness went away.
This means to me, The Son shined His light into my heart revealed the darkness of some of my words that I have been speaking lately.

For awhile I have been complaining too much about past hurtful memories of things said and done to me. The ball on this got rolling in me, when someone in my life, said some very disturbing hurtful things recently. This was like cutting open an old battle scar.
Giving my fear, pain and hurt a voice. Sounding like a wounded animal, about to die.

My husband and son said to me,
“Can’t you talk about something good?”
“Will you please talk about good things.”
“Will you please just enjoy this day.”
It took three times for me to get it.

I was going on and on and on like the desert.
I was drying out their spirit and they needed some fresh water fast.

I realized how easy it is to focus on pain and hurt. How easy it is to be negative.
Words give life or take it away. Words can dry out a spirit or refresh it.
I know how words spoken to me, have almost killed my heart.
But I also know how it feels when words have given my heart, kindness, acceptance, love, happiness and even Life.
Words have helped me to grow too, giving me knowledge and understanding as well.

I announced to my family, “I am going to make an effort to focus on the good in my life.” “On all that God has done for me and is doing for me.”
Smiles cross their faces. I just gave them a drink of water. We are at an oasis.
Thank you God.

I am going to be strong in His might and in His power.
I am going to embrace the good that God has graced my life with.
I am going to ask God to help me, remind me, whenever I get an unexpected hurt, pain, sorrow, a mean spirited word spoken to me or an old fear knocks at the door of my heart….

”God, You are my healer, I need Your Spirit to guide my reaction to this, in my words and my deeds God I pray I honor you with my life. I need you to fill me with Your life so I can be a life giver to others.”

My Pastor talked about the power of the Holy Spirit. In his sermon he said, “When you walk in the Spirit, you are full of the Fruit of the Spirit.”

Galatians 5: 22.
“The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

I find other scriptures that go hand in hand with this. 1 Corinthians 13. The Love Chapter. Then Ephesians 4: 29-32. It states in there not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God in our actions and words.

As I read and am filled with an awe. It is as if I am reading it for the first time as a dry and thirsty flower. I just keep needing to be watered by God’s Spirit.
I am glad His Spirit is the One that waters my soul.
My soul longs for Him, as a deer that longs for water.

In Ephesians 5: 1 and 2, God’s word says that I am to be a beloved Child of God, reflecting His Spirit in my life to others, to Him, walking in the Love Jesus gave for me, by giving Himself as a offering and sacrifice to God as a Fragrant Aroma.

Our words, even our actions…Can be as a sweet fragrance unto our Lord.

OR

As Romans 3:13 and Psalms 5:9 states our words, (even or actions) can make our throats stink like an open grave.

I am going to be blunt here.
Have you ever smelled what a dead, rotten animal smells like?
I have…sometime ago, in an back field my husband and I were following this trail to a pond to go fishing. We walked past an old dead animal. The smell gagged us. Our walk turned into a run to get away from the smell. We were pinching our noses and trying to keep from throwing up. We took a completely different way back. To avoid that smell.

At times, going down the road in the car, we smell something dead on the side of the road, that some car or truck hit and killed. Those smells are repulsive.
After we pass smells like that, I am relived and I say, “Is there some other way we could get back home, beside that way,”

I am sure you can imagine what I just wrote and your stomach may be turning sour a little and a grimace is on your face.

Imagine now, what our ungodly, words or actions may be like to God.

I admit, there are times, in my raw emotions of hurt or anger, I have said some mean things about someone in my family in response to some damage done to my heart.

I ask God to forgive me. He doesn’t leave my heart untouched by His Spirit. I will feel convicted and remorseful. I have to get that right with Him. I got to get that stink out, so I can smell good again. I need to let the Holy Spirit give my life on the inside a bath.

What does our life say to others?

What about riding down the road with your church name on the bumper sticker of your car or the sticker that says, “Real men love Jesus,” and suddenly a car comes to close, almost runs you off the road or cuts you off. Suddenly the bird on your hand called the nasty finger flies sky ward, facing your offender.

How about that scowl on your face and maybe even a bad word or name came from the pit of your throat and crawled out of your mouth before you could stop it?

They look at you, they see the look on your face, they see the mouthed word, the finger and then as you pass by The Bumper Sticker.

What is that smell?                                        

Every time, we say or do something that we know that makes Our God want to gag or grieves His Precious Holy Spirit, we need to have a funeral, cause something has died in us and it stinks.
Dig a hole, put it in there, pray over it.
Ask God to forgive you. Plant flowers on top. So something good can grow out of it and walk away. That thing is dead and gone. Not apart of you anymore.
Invite the Holy Spirit to give you life in your deeds and words.

Here is a true story. It is familiar to some of you. New to most of you.

One Night my husband and I were asleep in bed. We woke up at the same time in the middle of the night and while laying there, we just started talking about God. About all kinds of things about Him. How good He is, all the things He does for us, how grateful we were and how much we love Him.
It seemed we talked like this for hours.

Suddenly, there was a great sweeping aroma that was all around us and in the room. The smell was so sweet, like a room full of the best flowers and best fruits, mixed together. The smell was not a sickening heavy smell.

But A Perfect Smell.                                           

We both just stopped talking and was still.

After a moment, David said, “Did you just spray perfume in here?”

I said, “No, honey, it is the middle of the night. I am laying here right next to you.”

He said, “Do you smell that?”

I said, “Yes.” “It smells incredible, like nothing I have ever smelt before.”

He said, “I know, I have never smelled anything like that either.”

Then we heard Him…He said, “Your words are a sweet smell unto my nostrils.”

Both my husband and I cried and thanked the Lord for His great love for us.
We were grateful to please our Father.
We then held hands and prayed together and went into a peaceful, restful sleep.

The next day…I was thinking on our experience of the night before and I wondered this…If our good words are a sweet aroma, then what are our ugly words like to God????

The Holy Spirit said, “As the smell of an open grave.”

I told my husband this…after that we have never forgotten to be careful with our words.

When we do speak ugly words or act ugly, we are reminded by the Holy Spirit of how it effects Him and we are quick to say I am sorry to each other and to say I am sorry to God.

Kim Wenrich
2 Corinthians 5:17
Psalms 139
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gods-Girls-Most-Honorable-and-Beautiful-Among-All-Women/248867505178819

Pu'rpura Mariposa-Purple Butterfly

Pu’rpura Mariposa

                                            
I do not know her name, I don’t know who she is. But God does, completely.
He knows her so well, He knows that her favorite color is purple and that she is a Butterfly in her home to her family.

This is how I know this…..

The Women’s Bible that I attend at Valley Church, was having a Christmas party the week before Christmas. The Leader of our group, Amanda, let us know what we are going to be doing…finger foods, making an Advent Wreath to remember Jesus in the season and we were going to play a “White Elephant” gift exchange. That is when you bring a gift anonymously and place it in a pile. Then each person draws a number. Starting with the person with number 1 to the last number of the person participating, you get to pick a wrapped gift in the middle or you can steal one that someone has already opened.

That week,
I told my husband…I wanted to get a gift, but had no idea what to buy. I thought of many different things. We were told the spending limit was up to $10. I ran by my ideas to him. I still was undecided. So while we were out, we prayed together and I said this to God, “God, I don’t know what to buy as a gift. I don’t know who will pick this gift at the party. But You do. Lord, I pray You will help me pick the gift for that person. I pray it will bless her and be personal to her. I want her to know how special she is to You in a personal way. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.”

We were going on down the road and my husband pulled up to Pier One.
I said to him, “What in the world are you doing here?” He said, “I know you don’t like this store, but be patient with me. I think you are going to find the gift for that person you prayed for here.”
I was very unsure of that. I do not like that store and my husband knows that.
But I decided to trust the idea.

I have learned, we make our plans, but God does direct our paths.
Proverbs 3:6 “In all you ways acknowledge Him, And he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 16:9 “The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”

I went in, standing just inside the front door, I looked all around me and wanted to turn right back out and go somewhere else…but something in me pulled me right on in….I ventured in, looking at the unusual things in there. I said out loud, “God, what could be here, for the girl You have in mind?”

Then, THERE IT WAS!
I saw it and I was drawn to it.
I looked up and hanging from the ceiling was a beautiful purple butterfly. It had purple ribbons that trailed down below it.
I looked down at the table, searching for a purple one….I found a pink one, yellow, blue, green…every color of the rainbow. But I couldn’t find purple.
I had to get purple.
There in the back of the pile on the bottom was ONE PURPLE BUTTERFLY.
I felt my heart jump and squeeze with the assurance. Yes, that is it!
I then saw a pretty purple flower pen. I said, “I got to get this too. The lady that gets this might feel like a princess.”
I also had a purple little card that said, “God’s Girl.” I taped it to the package of the butterfly and put the pretty flower pen beside it and wrapped it up.

I said to my husband, “God sure did lead me to this and purple seems to be the theme.”

Now I think the purpose of this gift exchange thing, is that others don’t know who gave what. But I wanted the lady who got this to know God had her in mind specifically and personally. Not me….God. From my heart I wanted and prayed for it to be that way.

The time of the party came. I laid the wrapped gift down and went about doing party things with these wonderful women in this group.

God worked out many little intricate details…during the gift exchange…I understood this later, as I reflected in my quite time what exactly took place. Your going to like this.

Weeks before this…my son and I went to a craft fair. There I saw a tiny Christmas village. The person that had this, took 3 little buildings, one a church and placed them in a basket, glued down fluff for snow and tiny white lights in the snow and under the little buildings. She added a few little statues of people and trees. I looked at that really closely and I liked it a lot. A whole lot.
I saw the tag on it and saw it was way too much for my budget. But thought it looked worth the price, considering.
I thought in my heart…”maybe one day, I can make one for myself.”
And off I went about my day…not another thought of it.

But you have got to know this…God was there.
He knows my thoughts, my heart’s desires. Everything about me. He loves me and cares about the details of my life.

Because during the Christmas party, one of those sweet ladies, had bought a village kit, 3 little buildings, one a church and wrapped each and every little piece, included a box of tiny white lights and the white fluff for snow! She had placed it all in a big Christmas bag.
I saw this when a lady picked this gift and opened it.
My eyes got big as half dollar coins!
I thought, “Oh yes, I am going to steal that one when it is my turn!”

I even went out of turn, by reading my number wrong. I didn’t have my glasses on. When the number I thought was mine was called, I went right up to that prize and started packing it up for myself.
Then another lady said, “You might not want to pack that up so fast, what if one of us wants it.” I stopped in my tracks. I felt instantly very selfish and bad on the inside. I stepped away, and said, “Oh, I didn’t think of that…I am so sorry. I will share. If anyone else wants it, that is okay.”

Then right beside me was Frances. I have grown to love this precious lady since I met her. She is such a sweet loving soul, full of grace and gentleness. I can’t imagine my life with out her imprint.  She said in such a sweet soft voice, “Excuse me Kim, are you certain about the number you have, I am sure I have that number.”

I took another hard look at my slip of paper and there it was, the wrong number.
I was actually 2nd to the last of us all.

I was so embarrassed. It seems, I never can do anything in a quite way.
I seem to stand out all the time, everywhere I go. I ask God all the time, “God please make me quite, not so loud and bold in my ways. Sometimes I think I should just tie bells to my heels where ever I go. I am that obvious and I don’t like it.”

I am starting to think, He likes me the way I am. Because nothing has changed about my personality or character no matter how hard I try and pray about it. Maybe I should just be who He made me to be and Thank Him for it. He will work on the areas that need His touch. I am sure of that.

As the gift exchange went on, I noticed no one was stealing the village. Then I wondered if they were all being nice cause they knew I wanted it.
I couldn’t believe no one else would want that! :)
I am not implying that the other gifts were not nice. They were all very nice. My heart was just set on one. The Village Set.

I also saw how the gift I bought was being left each time in the pile. No one was picking it. Even though no one knew who brought what, I felt indifferent, like the kid who got picked last at school cause no one liked her/him. I was getting a little hurt feelings, to tell you the truth.

But as I felt that, I begin to watch something dynamic unfold.

It finally was my turn. Yes, I got my village!

Then it was the last lady’s turn. The gift I brought, still sat all alone. Nobody picked it and she didn’t have a choice. It was all that was left. But I forgot she got the option to steal. And she left that gift on the floor and went to each person in the room to see which one she wanted. That meant that the person she took the gift from, would get the last gift laying in the floor.

She took a gift that was picked earlier from a girl that was sitting near a corner of the room and sat down with it. That meant that girl had to take the last unwrapped gift in the floor.

So she got it. Unwrapped it and held it to her chest. She is of Spanish nationality. She said, “Don’t steal.” “Do not steal.”

But the thing is…no one had the option to steal a gift. It was over. She was the last with the last gift.

I could hear her talking to her mom, in English and then in Spanish. I wanted to get closer to hear her. I wanted to know what she was saying.

I wanted to know what God did for her and how He answered my prayer.

I heard her say…”Purple and Butterfly and I am God’s Girl.”

So at the end of the party, I went to her side and I told her, her gift was so pretty and the ribbons were pretty that hung down from it.

She said, that Purple was her favorite color and in her family she is known as the Butterfly. She said it in Spanish to me too, Pu’rpura Mariposa.

I don’t know her…I didn’t know purple is her color and that she has a nick name of butterfly at home by her family. But God did.
He knew her favorite color and all the sweet details of her life.

He knows that about you too. That is how much He is into you.
Don’t think for a second you don’t matter. Everything about you, is everything to Him. You are perfectly and wonderfully made. He created everything about you. As my Bible Study Leader, Amanda says, “It is a great joy to delight in the things of Him.”
So delight in Him and rejoice in His great love for you and all that concerns you.
You are His favorite.

Kim Wenrich
Pslams 139
2 Corithians 5:17
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It Was A Good Moment

It Was A Good Moment


The other day I was reminded of how attentive my God is to me.
I wanted to share that with you.

My husband and I were in the car discussing Christmas a few days ago.
It seems the older the child, the more expensive the requests get.
The wishes seems shorter, but the cost seems more.

I remember when my son was 3, 4 and 5 years old. I found great deals at thrift stores. Incredibly, what he wanted I usually found there and could make them look clean and new. I would wrap them up and put them under the tree. He was so excited and happy with those things. He would open them up and be wide eyed and filled with joy. Giving us hugs and thank yous. Saying, “this is the best Christmas ever,” in those little years. He’d play for hours until he feel asleep right there by the tree on the floor.

Oh the memories. It was a good moment.

Our best memories were at this little house we lived at in Ruther Glen. We lived there from when my son was 3 until he was nearly 8 years old.
Every one of those Christmas’ there, is remembered in our hearts.
We talk often of them at this time each year, with smiles and with tears of gratitude in our hearts.

I remember one in particular that will never leave my heart. It was our first year at the little house. My husband and I got up early, before light.
He started a fire in the wood stove. I turned on the Christmas lights on the tree and on the green garland across our entry way between the living room and the kitchen. I lit some candles and together my husband and I started coffee and breakfast. Our sweet little boy, 3 years old, still sleeping all snug and cozy in his bed.
My husband’s birthday is the same date as Christmas day. So this day is extra special to us.

As my husband and I were in the kitchen finishing up with things, we planned to call his parents to come over before Jonathan was awake, so they could see him when he gets up and starts his Christmas adventures. What a joy for us all to share in that moment together.

Before David called them, he and I prayed together. We held hands in the kitchen and bowed our heads. We asked our God to be apart of this wonderful day. We asked Him to bless the day and to keep in our hearts the real reason we were celebrating this day.
To make it alive and real in our hearts and to each one there that day.
We thanked Him for Jesus and giving His only Son for us. We asked Him to bless our time together with our family.

As my husband said Amen. We began to feel something extraordinary. Suddenly the room felt warmer, more bright and we could even smell the goodness of our Lord as He swept His Holy Spirit around us like a hug and moved into our hearts the reality of His love and sweetness for us. We could not help but stand there in that Holy moment.

We thanked Him for this out loud and our hearts filled will wonder and excitement like we have never felt before.
It was a good moment.

Each Christmas after that, had the same atmosphere for us there at the little house.

Until we moved.
Each year since we moved…I think back.
I want to recapture that time in my mind.
That experience. No man can give us that experience we had there.
It came from our God, not man.

I carry it in my heart wherever I go.
That Holy moment is within me, my son and husband.
God takes good care of His own.

So whoever is reading this, you maybe wealthy, poor or just making it. I don’t know.
It doesn’t make you better or worse for it. If you are a child of God, you have the perfect gift to offer and that would be Jesus. It was paid for by a price that can never be repaid. The most valuable of gifts is Jesus. Let us focus on what Christmas really means.
Not in what we can buy and get.

God will take care of you in the ways that you need Him to. Need a job, food, needs met,
ask The Great I Am. He does greater things then these.

Just the other day…my now 16 year old son, was excited about putting up a tree this year.
He talked about it for 3 weeks. He wanted a 6 foot multi color pre-lit white tree.
Kind of specific huh? He wanted to put it up the day after Thanksgiving.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we did not have the money to get him a tree. We talked to him and told him, “maybe by the week of Christmas we would see what we could do.”
I know there are people that put up their trees even on Christmas eve.

But Jonathan is different. He is a Christmas person. He is thinking about Christmas in November and playing Christmas music all the time. He is just that way.

I had just had surgery in the beginning of November, I was in no mood for anything.
I am just wanting to heal and get over myself and my crazy hormonal emotions.
But I got my boy to think of. So I pray.

I don’t know when, but apparently some time ago, I mentioned buying Jonathan that tree he wanted to my friends right down at the bottom of our driveway.
They showed up the night before Thanksgiving with a new 6 foot white multi-colored pre-lit tree for my boy. What a beautiful surprise. It brought tears to our eyes.
We were so touched by their generous gift.

Jonathan was so excited and happy about it. I knew he would put it up as soon as possible. Before I knew it, he had the tree up and our Christmas boxes of decorations everywhere. Things scattered and pulled out.

You see, I know God spoke to their hearts for us. I just know He did that. And they responded to His prompting to love on us.

God uses us all in different ways for all kinds of reasons.
We are to love one another, show generosity. To be kind and thoughtful.
Can you put those things in a box and wrap them up? No, but you can give it away from your heart. Priceless.

As we are going about this season with whatever is on our minds…lets not forget to let our hearts speak to us. In all circumstances, let peace and love abound.
Sometimes all someone else might need, truly need is a hug or a kind word.

Let someone go in line in front of you. Hold open a door. Move a grocery basket to the right place that someone left thoughtlessly in the middle of the parking lot.
So what if it is not yours.
If you see a person that has pretty hair, a nice shirt on, or a nice smile, tell them so.

Think a minute or two before you go out into your day…sit in your car and ask God to bless your day and to help you see with His eyes today, to see others as He sees them, to help you watch out for someone to bless.

I have heard before, that a kind word has spoke healing into the lives of others and also I have heard a kind word or act has even saved a life. You just never know. But God does. Trust Him to lead your heart to love others.

Buy lunch or dinner for someone you don’t know. Someone you don’t know. Let me repeat, how about someone you don’t know. Let your heart speak to you.
Let the God of all gods lead you toward goodwill to others.

I know this has got long…but I want to tell you one other story.
Last year in early November, I had $20 left from my budget until pay day.
I said in my heart, “God, I know I only have $20 left…but I really want to have a good meal with my son out today. I really want to go to Cracker Barrel for dinner.”
(God knows that is my favorite)
I said, “God, I hadn’t been keeping much down and I know a good meal from there would hit the spot and I would get to have some quality time with my son.”
Well I went and picked him up from school that afternoon when school let out.
I announced to him. “Guess what, you and I are going to Cracker Barrel for dinner!”
He said, “Can I get what I want.” “I want to eat until I am full.”
(he has always said that)
I said, “Absolutely.”

So we went. We had good conversation and good food. We talked about memories of him as a kid. Of what he was like when he was little and how he is such a joy to his dad and I.
I thanked him for being good and for trying to live a life that pleased God.
I sang to him a song, my mom used to sing to me, “You are my sunshine.”
We even played a paper game, the one called the dot game. You try to see who can connect the dots to get the most boxes. We had a nice time. We talked about so many things and ate well. I didn’t even get sick. I felt refreshed. It was a good moment.

Later I noticed the waitress never brought us our check.
You know, they always put it on the table after they give you your food.
We were way done. So I asked the waitress for the check.
She said, “Oh, I forgot, your ticket has been taken care of. It has been paid.”
“What!” My mouth was wide open in amazement. I looked at my son, he was grinning ear to ear.
I said to her, “Can I know who took care of us?”
She said, “The kind people that was sitting right next to you.”

They were gone.

I tried to rack my brains to think if I saw them, or even noticed them.

I did remember. Because when we sat down. I remember seeing a couple that may have been in their 50’s and I noticed they had a big spread of a harvest type meal.
I remember thinking, “that sure looks nice.”

I said to the waitress, “Well I don’t know who to thank, so I will thank God.”
“Thank you God.” “That was sure nice of you to take care of us like that.”

That was a good moment.

Ever since then I look for an opportunity to return that kind act.
It is harder for me, because I have agoraphobia and panic/anxiety disorder. I don’t go out much. But my husband sure does. He has loved on many people. Even given his own lunch away.
We all should, just do our best to love on others.
That can be our gift to Jesus this season.

Kim Wenrich
2 Corithians 5:17
Psalms 139
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