31 Conversations...Practical Truth For Everyday Issues.
What people are saying...
“Sometimes in life you need motivation, help to improve your understanding of what you think are the curve balls of life. This book takes how we all feel, puts it into words, and teaches us how to look for God’ why. It serves as an inspiration that what we are doing in life is great and that God is truly with us.” ~ S. Bulluck
“Sip slowly, and savor the beautiful truths Kimberly shares in thirty-one heart warming conversations.” ~ S. Darrah
“31 Conversations is a great book to start out your day. Each chapter will enhance your daily walk in God’s Word. You have to be in it to live it. So grab a cup of coffee, your Bible, 31 Conversations and nourish your spirit.”
~ B. Hart
“Words of wisdom” Simple truth which can have a powerful effect on how we see & treat others. After reading one chapter I was eager to read them all! This book would be beneficial for anyone to read and “chew over!”
~ M.E. Bonds
“Beautifully written collection of stories with Biblical truth. I love the realness and authenticity that Kimberly shows and I honestly believe this book will bless anyone who reads it.” ~ E. Lee
Take a look inside....
Redirected...Being late is one of the most difficult things for me as a person. I have drilled it into my children that respecting a person’s time is so important. But, even in the best planning things happen. Life is unexpected, so when life steers us off course we have options. We can feel overwhelming stress trying to get back on our intended course or we can open our eyes. We may see being off course is exactly right on course; A better course.Not so ironically, when I began to embrace being off course I also began to see my new path had a purpose. My new path crossed with the needs of others I could help. Sitting stuck in traffic became a bonding time for us as a family. An unexpected visitor kept me from being somewhere that could have ended in tragedy. I saw re-direction has a purpose.
This truth hit me square in the face years ago. I was having one of those unexpected trips to the grocery store because I forgot it was my turn to bring snack to baseball. Strung out on stress, I ran through the store in order to get to the ballpark on time. A man, who seemed to come out of nowhere, asked me if I knew where the frozen fruits were. In my hurried state I point him in the right direction and say, “Have a good night,” To which he replies, “That would be hard.” At that point I am thinking I do not have time for this and almost walked away. My heart, thank goodness, took over and I stopped, turned back and asked, “Why not?” My new friend began to cry telling me how his daughter had run away and he had no idea where she was or even if she was ok. I stood in the frozen food section for 20 minutes listening, and trying to offer some encouragement and hope. Reassuring him that there is a God who knows where she is.
I walked out of the store my head hanging low and feeling completely convicted. I just about made bringing Gatorade and snack on time more important than a human life. Then, the light bulb went off. Baseball was the door God used to place me where He needed me to be. There was a reason I forgot to pick up snack the day before when I was at the store. My friend would not be there the day before. God brought snack to mind the moment He needed me to be at the store. Everyday my path has a bigger purpose that I don’t even see. I just need to stay focused and know there is a bigger picture.
Seeing my commitments in life as a tool or door for something bigger keeps my eyes open and my heart from the burn out and burden of just meeting the commitment.
Believing that life all happens for a reason will give you more energy. Life with a sense of purpose, it just feels good. Yes you should still be tired at the end of a day, that is by design.
Truth: Don’t hold on to tight to your plan. We Are Not in Control Anyway. Everything in life has a purpose. If things start to go off the agenda, look around you may be redirected.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight” Proverbs 3:5 - Sometimes “straight” means a different way than what we thought or planned.
Wait...No one likes to wait. Even though waiting is a part of all of our lives and we have to do it all the time, we for the most part, are not very good at it. Even if we endure it, we don’t like it, constantly hope the end is coming, worry about it, and engage in some form of pacing, either mentally or physically pacing a room.
We try and encourage one another with, “Good things come to those who wait,” which is only partially true. A more accurate truth is; “Perfect things come to those who wait for God’s plan.” We may wait indefinitely for something that may never come or happen if God is not a part of it. When we wait for the impossible and it does not come to pass we lose hope and live discouraged.
If while waiting we place our faith in God, then we have the assurance He will bring it to pass at the right time and in the right way. Fully trusting God is not easy. Waiting when there is an uncertain amount of time ahead is far more difficult than waiting in a line where you can see the end. When we cannot see the end we need to focus our attention on God, our day at hand and not the uncertainty.
When I run up a steep hill I always look down at the road. Why? I can’t see the hill then. When I only see the black section of road below me I stay focused on what I am doing; putting one foot in front of the other. From my perspective the ground is flat. I do not need to worry about trying to make it to the top, I just need to worry about staying straight. If I look up and see the whole hill it makes me question if I am capable of making it, I start to feel overwhelmed and defeated before I hit mid-point. I think God knows our “hills” in life and keeps us from being able to see how far we must go until we get to the top. He only allows us to see the small section of road that we need to travel on for that moment. It is for our protection. We do not need to worry about what is ahead. He has plans to work it all out. We need to focus on what is happening today. Trusting Him with our journey and focusing just on what has been made known to us keeps us from worry while waiting. We will get to the top when we get to the top. Every step is one step closer. Every step we take is a necessary one to get us there. As long as we do not turn around or sit down and quit we will get to the appointed place exactly when we are meant to get there. God knows our pace and keeps us on track.
I like to tell my zit story. This all took place a short time after I felt God reveal something to me that was to happen. I worked so hard to get everything all set and lined up in my life, I was ready. I remember standing at my stove and telling God, “Ok, I am ready now, I have everything all lined up.” What I heard back in my heart was, “I do not need your help.” Then, my chin hurt. I went to the bathroom already feeling a bit stupid for thinking I could possibly know God’s timing and looked at my face. I had a pimple; the kind of pimple that is really deep and cannot be popped. I started to attempt to rid myself of this most uncomfortable bump on my face and I heard, “You cannot do that right now, it is not ready, you will only make a mess of your face and make things worse...just like you cannot rush my timing or you will make a mess of things.”
WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! I could tell you story after story of times I have waited for things to happen. One of the hardest waiting periods of my life was the 7 years for my daughter. God told me she was coming, gave me her name and then I waited. She was born the 7th month of the 7th year. That was a long wait.
During times of waiting there are truths I have learned. First, pieces of the puzzle were always being positioned even if I had no idea what was happening. Second, most times it was me who was not ready for the top of my mountain. I was the one God was changing in order for His plan to come to pass. Third, God never fails; we never get a plan B from God.
Nothing in life takes Him off guard. He never needs to regroup. Even when we get off course His plan never changes for us. He may need to change us or get us back on track, but plan A is still in place.
Truth: When we are waiting we need to stay focused on today and trust God is working everything out.
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”. Matthew 6:24
“For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.” Habakkuk 2:3
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8
God’s Voice...There are times in our lives when we know God’s voice moving us to do something or showing us what is to come. There are other times we have no idea what God is saying or if He is even speaking. He is always speaking even if we do not hear it. Since most of us will never hear God with our ears or see Him with our eyes, until heaven, we need to learn how to hear Him and how to see Him at work here. Without exception we can know His voice in our lives. I like to call it using the eyes and ears of our heart.
God is always talking, showing and revealing. The more we understand His ways the more we can see Him in things. Sometimes my amazing, wonderful children will say, “But I didn’t know you wanted me to.” To which I reply, “I told you myself and left you a note on the counter.
What more do I need to do”? I think often God speaks to us and leaves notes for us. We are the ones who did not hear, see, or understand what He was telling us.
How do I hear God? That is a very good question. We all want the neon sign with flashing letters saying, “This is what you should do...” For most of us a neon sign won’t just appear in the sky. We need to stop wishing for a way God does not work and look for a way He DOES work.
Visions.
We can read about them all over in the Bible. He still gives visions today. Often a vision will come after intense prayer and time with Him. Sometimes it will be random, and I have heard many stories of individuals who have seen a vision before they know Him in their lives. This is an awesome experience. People who do not yet know God and have a vision, KNOW without a doubt it was God. It is life changing. I get chills listening to those stories and love it. In my own life I have had multiple visions of things to come.
Other People.
God uses other people to be His mouthpiece here on earth. The people He chooses can be a pastor, friend, co-worker, someone on the radio, random guy on the street... When another person is talking and it is Him using their words, our heart feels pricked and we are on high attention. Things seem to fade except what we are hearing. The same thought or message will often happen over and over. Someone says something to us at work, we drive home and someone else says something on the radio, then later a friend calls and says the same thing. PAY ATTENTION this may not be coincidental.
Nature.
I love this one. The more I learn about His creation, the more I see Him and understand His ways. Here is an easy example. Plants need carbon dioxide and give out oxygen as waste. We need oxygen and give out carbon dioxide as waste. In the order of creation God made the universe plants came first. We came last. He provided everything we needed to survive before He created us. He knew what it was going to take for us to survive and He had what we needed ready for us upon arrival. God did not create people and tell them to hold on oxygen was coming tomorrow. Everything we need to survive was already given when people came. Since God does know what is to come He moves things today so that things are all in place at the time it needs to be.
Bible.
I sat in class at a church once and the teacher said, “Come back next week and I promise you will hear God’s voice audibly”. We all left with chatter about what this could mean. How can he say that? I can assure you the class was packed the following week. He opened up saying, “Are you ready”? Not only were we ready, most of us were on the edge of the seat holding our breath. He opens the Bible and starts to read. We all let out our breath and sat back. THAT’S IT? Seriously?
If the Bible is God’s words, we just need to open it up to hear His voice. I felt let down. Then, I felt empowered.
OF COURSE! God gave me 66 books of His words, His thoughts, His ways, His heart, and His plans. I am going to learn them all.
Not reading His words to us is no different than my kids walking right by a note on the counter and not stopping to read it. If I put a note on the counter it is for a reason. If God gave us the Bible it is for a reason. He does not leave us to guess His ways. He wrote them all down. If we choose to not look, we choose to be left in the dark. It is a GREAT book, the more you read the more the hard stuff makes sense. Why? Because, He also gives us the Holy Spirit who reveals all truth to us. He teaches us the meaning and opens our minds to the things that don’t make sense.
Prayer.
When we are in prayer God can speak to our hearts. We can hear Him speak inside of us. When we pray we need to still our hearts in order to hear. When we pray we should not just run the list of requests and needs to Him, say AMEN, and walk away. We need to wait, listen and pay attention!
These are some of the ways God does speak, but He is not limited to just these ways. He has revealed Himself in a burning bush, fire, cloud, smoke, thunder, a hand writing on a wall, dreams, angels, donkey, star, miracles...When we keep our eyes open we begin to see God all over. When we focus on Him and not ourselves we can see His work and fingerprints all around us.
Truth:
God is always speaking. We need to pay attention and listen if we are going to hear His voice.
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you unsearchable things you do not know” Jeremiah 33:3
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” John 14:26
“Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants and prophets”
Amos 3:7
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” Romans 1:20
