Lara Love's Blog, page 392

Yummy Distractions

Did you ever notice how tasty and delicious distractions are? They can look good, sound good, feel good, and taste good, can't they? But they do have an intention, you know. They aim to distract. Seems pretty obvious, huh? But that's the thing about distractions, isn't it? They oftentimes don't look like distractions at all. They often look perfectly reasonable, and seem perfectly acceptable. But how reasonable, and how acceptable, can they really be when we go running and leaping and scurryi...

Time to Make a Change?

We always want to know the plan ahead of time, don't we? We want to know God's will in advance, right? We deserve to know what He's going to tell us to do, isn't that what we think? After all, we want to know if we're going to be happy and comfortable with what His plans are for our lives. That way, we can decide whether or not we will obey. But what if God wants to send us somewhere without telling us ahead of time what He wants us to do when we get there? Do we so trust Him, and are we so y...

When God Gives You Another Chance

When God gives you another chance, do yourself a favor. Don't look away. Don't turn away. Don't walk away. That's how it all gets started, doesn't it? It begins with a look. God gives you another opportunity to do something He told you to do before. You refused the first time. And maybe the second. Who knows how many times. Now He gives you your next chance.

You look in another direction. Next, you turn in the direction of where you are looking away. The next thing you know, you are turning. I...

When You're Ready to Quit

God gave me some really good advice recently. But then, His advice is always good. He is God, after all. Nobody in the universe gives advice as perfect, and timely, as He does. He knew exactly what advice I needed, why I needed it, when I needed it, when I would need to be reminded of it, and when I would need to follow it. He also knew the strength I would need to take His advice, and that I would get that strength from Him. And when He reminded me of the advice, I thought maybe this advice...

Banging on Closed Doors

Knock. Knock. Knock knock knock. Breathe. Okay. Try again. Knock. Oh, there's the doorbell. Ring. Ring ring ring. Knock knock knock ring ring RING. Pretty please open the door? Never mind. OPEN THE DOOR. BANG BANG BANG. Open that door or I'll take it down - God? Is that you? Ever found yourself banging on a bunch of closed doors only to discover God had His reasons for keeping them shut?

Despite a way-too-long track record of frustration, impatience, and self-pity-party temper tantrums through...

Are You Living Your Dream?

I can honestly, definitively, assuredly, positively, absolutely, confidently, without an iota of doubt declare that I am NOT living my dream. Not even close. So do you wonder why I am more hope-filled, joy-filled, peace-filled, satisfied, fulfilled, and blessed than I have ever been in my life given there is nothing about my life that even remotely comes close to the dream I set out to live?

photo courtesy of ear153 via morguefile.comOkay, admittedly, my dream changed along the way. Sometimes...

Come Here and Hold My Hand

The father stood outside the massive electronic store holding his baby in his arms. I probably wouldn't have noticed as I hurried in to get a new computer printer, but the words he spoke to his little boy who stood a little ways away caught my attention. "Come here and hold my hand," he told his little boy as he held his baby. He had his hands full, and he wanted to keep his older child from running into the street.

"Why?" I heard the little boy retort as I got ready to enter the store.

photo c...

Suicide Was All I Could See

When a man found my ministry online and told me he shares my background of wanting to commit suicide, it made me realize how incredibly much I take for granted what a long way I have come. After all, I wanted to die for years. I did a whole bunch of stuff that by all means could, and should, have ended in death, I thought about suicide so often for so long it's a wonder I had time to think about much else, and several times I actually decided to take my life. If you have ever wanted to die as...

Humble Pie Anyone?

If you have an insatiable sweet tooth for home-baked, orchard-fresh apple pie, steaming hot truly blue blueberry pie, too-delicious-for-words, or just-out-of-the-oven, made-by-Granny, old-fashioned cherry pie, let me advise that you take a precautionary measure before you go diving deep into an oh-so-thick slice of humble pie. But why? Because when God serves up His homemade humble pie, like He did just around my breakfast time this morning in fact, it's best to remember just what humble pie...

Demanding God for Stuff

It's the biggest rage again, it seems. Or maybe not. But lately I've been running across the same teaching I was exposed to when I began my relationship with Jesus. I loved it, of course. Who wouldn't. I was taught essentially to demand God for stuff. I should just wave my magic wand, and boom. God would answer. If He didn't, I didn't have enough faith. After all, God put me on earth so He would be at my beck and call, right? Wasn't He here to serve me instead of me here to serve Him? Not. No...