Freshman and sophomore year of high school Mrs. Shaggetz would cup my face in her hands and squeeze my cheeks to help me say, Je m’appelle Bianca. Je sui de California. Two years of French 1 and 2 and all I earned was a few phrases to help me find the restroom and how to perfectly say Je ne parle pas Francais. [Which, by the way, the good ol’ I-don’t-speak-French works well too.]
While staring at my lotion bottle the other morning, I remembered another lesson from Mrs. Shaggetz’s French 2 class. In Latin based languages (Italian, Romanian, Spanish, French, et al), the noun comes before any other information. Basically, you know entirely from the beginning what the subject is about.
Example:
Mineral Body Lotion
Lait Mineral pour le Corps (lotion mineral for the body)
I laughed to myself because wouldn’t it be great if God spoke a sentence to determine my life in French? You know, like He would tell me from the beginning why I was suppose to do something, who it was to be done for, and how it would be accomplished.
Example:
Opportunity amazing serve God’s people. Provide everything I will. Trust me you must.
But noooooo, God speaks to me in English and the only thing He’s told me is, You must trust me. Trust. Yes, that ambiguously faith-ridden word. Trust for a control freak is like a profane word. But Solomon clearly spoke to Dana* and to me in plain English when he wrote Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Though it may sound trite, simple, and boring, it’s 100% true. Something happened yesterday which is case-in-point of God’s blessings for following Him. I’ll post about it at a later time, but after reading Ali share her story in the comments section yesterday, I thought it would be good to hear how God’s blessed you for walking in His ways and acknowledging Him. This is your chalkboard. Write away!
Back in high school I thought I had my life planned out–well, at least the four years after I graduated. Through a series of events, many prayers, and many tears, it became apparent that His plan for me was different. Without going into much detail, I can truly say that in trusting Him, I have experienced more blessings than I ever foresaw or dreamed. Yes, life is still sometimes hard. Business doesn’t always boom. But I’m at peace, so content, and excited about the future! I can hardly believe that this is my life. I am so blessed!
I love that verse so much. I have trouble not leaning on my own understanding…big time. Jesus so gently reminds me day after day that he is control of my life and has so many tremendous things he wants to bless me with. Like my family, it means a lot to me growing up with a single mom, no dad…now God has blessed me with a wonderful Godly husband and two beautiful girls…he is amazing!!! Especially since marriage was not something that I thought I desired, I had career motivations, and God got a hold of my heart and showed me that my family is my ministry…this is where he wanted me all along. It was hard to let go of where I was headed especially since I worked so hard to get into law school, and felt that tugging on my heart to wait, and follow Him. Now I am so blessed that I did š Thank you Jesus <3
You are such an inspiration and I’m honored to have been mentioned on your blog! God has/is truly blessing me. Trusting in Him has been the biggest stress reliever for my life! I say that verse every morning when I wake up and every evening before I go to bed – it is truly my Mantra!! Thank you again for the honor of being mentioned on your blog! You totally made my day!! =) Many blessings to you!!
yes, this verse is so encouarging…
I feel as though God has rewarded my faithfulness(imperfect and sometimes failing) to Him with a new husband…what I mean is that, my husband and I have had a seriously rough ride the last twelve years, but we never walked away from the marriage…we love eachother, but there were times that we hated eachother…mix that up with any kind of fiery dart the devil could throw at us and that is how we spent the last twelve years…this year it feels as though i have a new husband…i think he finally gave in to what God was asking of him…(my husband was a always a believer, just stubborn)and of me…i finally stepped out of the way so God could deal him (ok,with us) individually…
plus I am blessed with three awesome sons,(3,6,13) and a loving family and wonderful friends…i am so looking forward to a new adventure with whatever God wants to throw us…
I love this verse. I’ve had it written everywhere since i was young. Great post Bianca! š
I was totally thinkin’ Yoda too! I’m such a Star Wars Nerd…
I am overwhelmed and so thankful that my story has encouraged folks š It is a testimony to God’s goodness when we trust him…he so SO faithful!!! Even when we are not.
That season of my life was for sure one of THE MOST difficult times that I had to trust Him. I learned then (and need a reminder now) that when I don’t trust my awesome Heavenly Dad, I kind of “tie his hands” so to speak.
Trust = faith that God is going to take care of me.
Lack of trust = lack of faith.
No faith = Almost certain doubt.
God cannot work on my behalf if I don’t believe He will do what He said He would do…ya know? He reconciles broken hearts, He provides when I am in need, He’s “Number 1 Dad.” (Luke11:13) *I have this funny picture in my head of God wearing one of those cheesy T-shirts they sell at Old Navy around Father’s Day and sportin’ the HUGE foam finger hahaha*
Anyhoo, Bianca, YOU are such a blessing! I am always so flippin’ encouraged when I read your posts. I think it’s so cool that we can all lift up and be lifted up. Seriously, I woke up not AT ALL feelin’ “the joy of the Lord” today…but all of your comments have reminded me what a awesomely cool God we serve!!! And that, for shizzle, fills my heart with joy š Thanks for the reminder…Thank you a bajillion times š
I say I am simple however when I really try to analyze myself I find it hard to find the simplicity in my type A personality. I sometimes imagine God looking down and shaking His head and saying ā seriously mon is it really that complicated?ā I am like a train going 100 miles per hour forgetting to stop and check out the scenery on the cross country trip. Only I am not the passenger on this train I am the driver, I donāt have time to stop, I gotta keep moving, there is money to make and higher positions to obtain.
Perhaps it was time to slow down this train. My route detoured, the train slowed down, and I became a mom. In the two years I learned that the little control I thought I had I don’t. I learned that my faith isn’t as strong as I proclaimed it to be. I learned that ābe stillā and being meek doesnāt mean I am weak and defeated. I learned that being weak really means that He is being strong. I learned that my relationship with God doesn’t need to be complicated. I learned that He just wants me to love Him like I love my husband and child, but a little more. I learned that He wants me to trust Him like I trust my husband but just a a little more. I learned that He wants me to rely on Him for advice like I do with my closest friends but coming to Him first. I learned He wants me to pray and talk to Him like I talked to my husband when we first met and spent hours on the phone with each other.
I am blessed by Godās gentleness, love and Mercy that He has made simple for me to see and understand. I would like to say I am no longer a freight train on a mission however I am not. My mission has definitely changed and I am a work in progress that will be perfected.. in Heaven of course!
Trust. There are days when I’m not even sure I completely know what that means…what that looks like in the life of a believer. What does faith really, truly look like? This year has been one of faith being tested and trust broken. It was there, being completely shattered, that I suppose I learned (am learning) how to walk again. If I had all the answers given to me, I wouldn’t have hope, faith or trust in Him. But I don’t know what tomorrow brings and that woos me to Christ in a way like no other. It was in my darkness I learned to trust Him. The darkness of a broken and contrite heart. Glory to God, HE is faithful and trustworthy. For so many years, I knew who I was… what I wanted… how I would get there… what I could accomplish…but God spoke ever so gently as if to say, “Now I am going to show you who *I* want you to be…” And truth be told – that process is hard, so very hard. But I trust the road He is leading me on is far greater than any path I could create myself…
Thanks for allowing us to share this here.
I’m blessed because I have a husband. But I was blessed without him.
I’m blessed because I have a child. But I was blessed without her.
I’m blessed to have a job. But I was jobless.
I’m blessed because God loves me when I’m ugly and unworthy and undignified. When no one else loves me, I know God does.
I’m blessed.
If we’re correcting you today, then it’s “je suis” (vocally the consonants are silent if they are not followed by vowels, ‘member?) =]
I love reading the examples you posted; made me think of God speaking like Yoda, “Trust me you must.” “True my word is.” “Life I am.”
Then Yoda made me think of the Christmas comedy which reminded me to think of where Jesus is in my mind, heart, and every waking moment.
Thanks for the reference to Ali, both her comments and your blog posts have helped put my heart a little more at ease. *hugs*
@harry: you’re right! i changed it š thanks for the editing! i love when mistakes are caught š
@cristina: TRUST. ain’t that the truth! i’m praying for you š
God in French sounds a little like Yoda š
I was literally just repeating Proverbs 3:5-6 in my head over and over again the last few days. It just popped in there and stuck. Maybe God is trying to tell me something.
aaaaaamen. After devoting my whole month of december to digging deeper in the word, I came out with some pretty neat things.
1. TRUST (how ironic eh?) not only trust with my life and everything in me, or just my future (and that He’ll tell me soon because I’m getting left behind… well not really, but trust that He will do or provide for whatever (or tell me what the world I’m doing in 5 months when I graduate), trust that He will change hearts of others. and on and on and on.
2. With God, there are NO coincidences. They are merely DIVINE APPOINTMENTS. From the smallest things to the big things. From random verses you read, to your family hating on you for the day.
3. There’s a certain point where you can’t just wait for more signs from God. If you keep waiting, then how much faith do you really have in God?
4. People will let you down, but God is always (with me at least) always standing right behind those people who I put before Him, so that when they’re gone, guess who’s there?!
There were a few more things, but I just wanted to share that I TOTALLY know what you mean when you say I wish I just knew the details before hand… Be blessed!
1 Corinthians 1:7-9
So that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Hey,
You mean “noun” not “adjective” :)).
Great blog, nonetheless š
hahahaha
Did you thought this post would have been read by a french???
Actually I am french š
OUi je parle franƧais et trĆØs bien mĆŖme puisque c’est ma langue maternelle depuis que je suis nĆ©e. J’habite aux usa depuis 2 ans seulement… š
Just want to say that in France we would need a lot people like you to help us (french people) believe in God… did you know that we were in europe the most athĆ© country? If you visit a church, you will be sorry to see that only old people are going š
So you have to learn french, cross oversea and help us to love and believe in Him…
Laetitia
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