[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px 10px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]The theme of our first Ladies’ Breakfast in Florence, SC was: “Don’t fall apart” but I would add “…in a world that is falling apart”.

It is impossible not to think about what will happen to us, having all these natural disasters coming our way…
Everything is so confusing nowadays, a lot of definitions have changed, people’s hearts have become harder, addictions have become stronger, selfishness is ruling the world and it just seems like everything is falling apart.
But beside this, we also have our daily routines and lives, which get so busy that it turns out that we become slaves of our schedule instead of us controlling our schedule. Without realizing it, we end up watching how our lives fall apart.

We feel like we being pulled from everywhere! Kids need our attention; husbands need our attention, work requires our time and energy, studies demands our focus and concentration, aging parents need our care, friends need our time, unexpected situations like sickness, accident or tragedy suddenly happen…I mean, the list could go on and on and on! Life is not an easy path.

More and more women nowadays end up crying, depressed, exhausted and fussy… I don’t know how many of you have felt that way. Maybe some of you have never fallen apart like this, but maybe some others have and probably more than once.

So how do we do to NOT fall apart?[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: -50 0px 10px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ class=”cs-ta-center” style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_alert heading=”1. GET CLOSER TO GOD” type=”warning” close=”false”][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: -50 0px 10px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]

Come near to God and he will come near to you.
James 4:8

You don’t need a third party to come closer to God. What I mean by that is that you don’t need to wait for a priest, a pastor, a saint, a friend, a statue or a husband to come closer to Him. Jesus opened the way when He died on the cross for us, so that we could have a direct relationship with Him.

I have a friend whom I encourage to seek the Lord, but she tells me that her husband doesn’t care for that. Well, the good news is that you don’t need to wait for your husband to start seeking the Lord! Isn’t that good news!?

In my first year of marriage, I struggled a lot. I had that ideal and unreal thought that my husband would now be responsible for my spiritual life. So my personal relationship with God slowly vanished… to the point where I became frustrated and depressed, putting the weight of guilt on my husband’s shoulders instead of being a supportive wife. And obviously I felt that God was far from me… but Psalm 145:18 tells us that

“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”

During that time, my call was: “Lord, what’s wrong with the husband you have given me?!” My call was always to try to fix him… my call was not in truth, ready to hear that I needed to fix my relationship with God first.

How about you? Do you call on God in truth? Are you willing to hear what He wants to tell you?[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: -50 0px 10px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ class=”cs-ta-center” style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_alert heading=”2. PUT YOUR TRUST IN GOD AND NOT IN MAN” type=”success” close=”false”][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: -50 0px 10px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]If we put our trust in man, we will often be disappointed, which can lead us to bitterness and depression. But we when we put our trust in God, we have much less chances of falling apart. Because we do things for God and He is Faithful!

Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.

4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. 5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. 6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them— he remains faithful forever.
Psalm 146:3-6

When we put our trust in God, our perspective changes. We see our situation differently. We understand that God allows things to happen for a purpose, and for our good. We are able to embrace the hard times and see it as an opportunity to grow and to know God in a way we hadn’t been able to before. Believe me, God is good and faithful, put your trust in Him. Did you know what verse is in the center of the Bible?

It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in humans.
Psalm 118:8

Let this be our strong foundation in our lives.[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: -50 0px 10px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ class=”cs-ta-center” style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_alert heading=”3. HOLD UNTO GOD AND NOT UNTO YOUR PLANS AND DREAMS” type=”info” close=”false”][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: -50 0px 45px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]Planning ahead is good but when we follow God, we realize that His plans aren’t really what we had planned.

In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps. Prov.16:9

As a human, I had planned my course, and my plan was to never be a pastor’s wife. When I met William, I made sure to ask him if being a pastor was in his plans… and he said “no”. So everything went according to my plans and we married!

Well, many of us know those verses in Isaiah 55:8-9

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Five years into our marriage, William was ordained as a pastor… and alter a time of denial I finally accepted and embrace God’s calling.

It is so good to know that there is actually Someone who knows what He is doing… because we don’t! We think we do, but we definitely don’t know what is best for us.

I’ve learned that God doesn’t really want us to follow rules, what He desires from us is a shapable, flexible and willing heart. A heart that trusts Him and follows Him even when things don’t make sense[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: -50 0px 10px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ class=”cs-ta-center” style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_alert heading=”4. MOVE ONE STEP AT A TIME” type=”danger” close=”false”][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: -50 0px 45px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]When we want to rush, things usually don’t go well. But God is perfect in timing and He usually moves slower than we would like, because I think we are impatient in nature.

How is multitasking going for y’all? I know that as women we are pretty good at multitasking but there is a risk to it… hasn’t food burnt sometimes because you were multitasking? Or a baby fallen from the changing table? Or offended the husband? Sometimes we need to multitask but we also need to learn to take one step at a time, one decision at a time.

You know, God won’t tell you to do something long term and leave you alone while you figure out how to do it… He shows you step by step how to accomplish it, and He is by your side throughout all the process. We are blessed to have His Word, which is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (psalm 119:105).

Now think about a light unto your feet… what does it light up? Your next step, right? It doesn’t show you where you are supposed to go in 5 years… but it does show what and where you are supposed to go or do NOW.

When you know that you are doing what you are supposed to do, and that you are where God wants you to be, Peace will just fill your heart and you won’t even worry about the future, or if your life is going as you planned.

When God called Abraham to leave, He didn’t show where is had to go.

When God called Saul (Paul) he told him to go to the city of Damascus and said that he would be told what he had to do next.

When God guided the people of Israel in the desert with the column of fire by night and the cloud by day, they had no idea if they were going to move or stay the following day.

We have so many examples in the Bible where we see how God guides us one step at a time. And God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He wants to talk to you too, but you need to seek Him!

God cares for us and He is right here with us, right now!
Don’t wait until things start to fall apart to come to Him, come to Him now that He can be found!

Seek the Lord while you can find him.
Call on him now while he is near.
7 Let the wicked change their ways
and banish the very thought of doing wrong.
Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them.
Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
Isaiah 55:6-7

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