He Will Never Leave Me Nor Forsake Me

We live in a world where it seems like Perfect is what people expect. Well I am not crazy enough to believe that anyone is perfect nor will I ever be. Even though I know this I am still struggling with letting go of trying to be that way. Don't get me wrong I will always try my hardest to be MY personal best. More than anything I will try to be perfect according to God's way. However, I am currently struggling with the "Why Am I Not Good Enough" syndrome. It ranges from why can't I do this right, why is this not enough, and what am I not doing right? As I have shed some tears over the issue today, I still came up with no answers. I know it is Satan trying to attack and he is using my insecurities to get me. When I got home tonight I turned on my itunes and the first song that played was one that starts out with this line " So I'm Going To Believe HIM When He Tells Me That I'll Never Stop Loving You" There it is my answer....He will ALWAYS LOVE ME...He will always think I am enough, He will always SHOW ME the right way, and he will let me know when I am not doing things the way HE had intended for me to do them. With all this said I am going to pray that Satan stop attacking me with insecurities that MY FATHER has already defeated him and taken away from me. What an AMAZING feeling...He WILL NEVER STOP LOVING ME!!

Blessed

I could title every blog BLESSED because I am, far more than I deserve. However, there are little moments that make all of us realize more and more just how BLESSED we are. Last night was the last night of our Bible Study. I debated even going because work has been killing me but I knew if I did not go I would be so disappointed with myself. We ended up eating dinner and just sitting around an Olive Garden table talking. I love my Bible Study girls and I am so thankful to have been a part of such a great group of ladies. The one thing from the whole night that stuck out to me was my friendship with Amy.

As many of you know Amy and I met in the dorm our Freshman year at BAMA. We have remained friends and have lived together going on 3 years now. We are really hoping our future husbands come along soon so we are still not living together when we are 30 ...however at this point its not looking so bright haha!

Amy is my Best Friend from college and I am once again so BLESSED to have her as a part of my life. Some of my BEST and Worst days have been spent with her. She knows all of my flaws and still some how loves me. Better than that she cleans up after me and can some how still love me ...ITS GREAT!

The past 2 nights we went out for dinner. Night one was to Wintzell's and I knew before we even sat down that she was going to get 1 of 2 things. The JO Platter her favorite or the Choose 2 and of those 2 options her favorite thing on there are the crab claws and the stuffed crab.

Well the told her they were no longer doing the stuffed crab until things get better in the Gulf. Night two we went to Olive Garden for the Bible Study. I knew she would order "The Tour" as she calls it. (Have ya'll noticed that she is the size of my big toe and orders the BIGGEST thing on every menu...I know gross right) Well what she orders is beside the point. The fact that we know each other that well is what I consider the BIGGEST BLESSING in our friendship.

When someone can know what you are thinking before you say it, when they can order for you if you are in desperate need of running to the bathroom, when they can simultaniously vomit with you, when they know that on the worst day at work all you want in a ICE DREAM CONE from Chick-fil-a to make it all better, when you can go to them and know that they will always have you in their prayer list, but most of all when they can see you at your worst and still think of you at your best ...well thats a BLESSING.

So AMY BYRD.....I think your pretty awesome. I really like that you clean up after me, touch my dirty dishes, you love JESUS with me, I can talk to you about anything, you have learned to stalk amazingly(if that is even a word), you love OPI as much as I do, you have a MN twin, and most of all you let me turn on the AC even though you freeze! Yep your the BEST roommate and friend I could ever ask for.....but most of all you are one of the BIGGEST BLESSINGS the Lord could have ever put in my life! PS the WOODPECKER is HILARIOUS...even if it does drive me crazy!

Love You Leslie

Matters of the Heart

As I mentioned in the last blog I am part of an amazing small group that meets once a week. Well tonight was the night and it was great! My eyes are opened more and more as the weeks go by as to how BLESSED I am to be a part of such an amazing group of women. Being able to pour into each other's lives is such a great feeling. Leaving the ladies tonight my heart was just aching for some of the situations we are all going through. I will never mention the situations but my heart is just hurting for some of these women.

More than anything this group has helped me realize that we need to look at our brothers and sisters in Christ and encourage them. We sometimes just assume everything is going great for everyone. Just because we have on a happy face does not mean that our lives are happy. We need to take time to check on one another and show each other love. Just because we go to Church together does not mean that everything is perfect. PRAYER is the key. God works in mysterious ways and we never know what our prayers could be doing for the people around us.

I also have another situation going on around me that I am really not sure how to handle. This is a FIRST for me because I usually have some sort of a plan for everything. Even if I don't have a plan I can always come up with some words to say. Well right now I have nothing. I have some guys that I KNOW without a doubt God brought into my life through my job. This is one of the many reason that I KNOW God placed me where he did. He knew that he could use me in any area where I can talk to people. Back to the story.....these young men won me over from the start and I knew a great friendship was in the making. Through getting to know them I have found our some things that are very disturbing to me. I obviously told them what I thought about the issue...you all know that, that is how I am. I don't want to push them away but at the same time I am HEARTBROKEN over some of the issues and I feel they need to be addressed.

The whole thing shows me just how much we INFLUENCE others. It makes me think about all the people God has placed in my life and if I did what I was supposed to, to influence them in the best way possible. We are held accountable for those that come in and out of our lives. That is CRAZY when you think about it that God depends on us that much! Just be praying that God guide me in helping these young men find their way back to HIM. Let them be seeing the Lord through me in some way, shape, or form, and not in a way that pushes them away.

I have work in the morning so I need to be going. I also have PINK EYE...pray for that too!

Life Lately!

My does the time fly by. The last time I updated this blog was in March ....I seriously only thought it was a few weeks ago. Needless to say there has been so much going on that it will take me a while to catch up the world on the life of LALA! I will try to give the CLIFF NOTES version!

First of all I GRADUATED from THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA!!!

and these 2 people could not be happier! Their checkbook finally gets a break!

She read through the whole thing....but she is a BIG part of this Woman's life and who I am today!

I also started working the Monday after I graduated with Sealy Realty in Tuscaloosa! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job and I am so BLESSED to have it!

I took a trip with a few of my girls to Atlanta for the 4th of July! We just wanted to get out of Tuscaloosa for a few days. The original plan was to go to Chicago and then my car was flooded in a rain storm here is Tuscaloosa. Crazy huh? It's ok everything happens for a reason....or at least I am telling my self that everytime I try to make a turn in my dad's work truck. I have not mastered the "don't hit the curb" part!

Land of the Brave and Home of the Free...Thank you Military for all that you do for us!

Nothing like a little 3-D FIFA Movie..and we don't even really like soccer.

Yes she is my roommate, one of my best friends, but most importantly she is my sister in Christ and I am blessed to have her as a part of my life!

So I guess the most EXCITING things that have been going on in my life are with my Church! As many of you know I have been attending Church of The Highlands for some time now. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Church, Church Family, and everything about it! I think if you ever find a home in a Church that you are always challenged, can grow spiritually, and have a family that you can go to with anything then you have accomplished something that will forever change your life. With all that said I am PROUD to say that for the first time in my life I am a MEMBER of a Church Family. I became a member on Father's day June 20th. I am so EXCITED about this and the impact that it is going to have on my life!

http://www.churchofthehighlands.com/

Check it out..you can also watch sermons online!

Also this summer for the first time I went to a small group that I was not leading. I LOVE leading small groups because you have the chance to talk and pour into others like never before. Well this summer I decided to just attend and not lead. I am so happy with my decision. It is a group of 8 AMAZING women and we are reading the Beth Moore book "So Long Insecurity You Have Been A Bad Friend To Us." Let me tell you YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK! I am amazed more and more with EVERY page that I turn. Even more it is so amazing to me that 8 women who don't know each other can come together through Christ and open up about things you would not even tell your best friend. This small group is healing women and setting them free from baggage and insecurities that they have been holding onto for years.

With this said the Lord is opening up my eyes to things that I have known my entire life. However, he is showing me that more and more I settle for things that he did not even intend to be a part of my life. Yes, it hurts to let go of these things but if it is not of the Lord then I don't need it in my life anyway. Many of my insecurities are obviously involved with men but there are many other things that I am seeing through this book that I need to work on. Funny Paster Chris said to us today in Church that in order to start the process of getting close to God we must ask him to SHOW ME....Show us who we really are so that we can begin working on the things in our life that need to be removed. Not only do we have to work on the problems we have to LET GOD tell us what to do to work on...not just us try to fix the problems on our own. That is the problem to begin with. We try to fix all the things in our life instead of let the Lord work on them.

Throughout this message the thoughts going through my head were "TRUST ME, DON'T DOUBT ME...TRUST ME AND I WILL DO THINGS THROUGH YOU AND IN YOU THAT YOU NEVER IMAGINED" I am ready God... SHOW ME ....USE ME....and LET ME TRUST YOU WITH EVERY OUNCE OF MY BEING!

As you can probably tell I am so excited about the things taking place in my life. I have been going through a dry spell I guess you could say in my relationship with Christ. Not that I stopped loving him and wanting to have a relationship with HIM. Just it was hard for me to open my Bible, and hard for me to do the things I know help build my relationship. Well I think its over and I am so excited about it. Satan will always try to pull us down with BAGGAGE and INSECURITIES. MY GOD IS BIGGER than he is. THE ENEMY HAS BEEN DEFEATED and I am SECURE in my FATHER!

Until next time and I can PROMISE it will not be this long EVER again.....Try Trusting in the Lord....He has BIG BIG plans for each and every one of us!

Blesses Beyond What I Deserve,

Lara Ellen