Conquering WELL..... the return of a GUEST blogger -- Eunice

So, today a sweet woman of God wrote me again.  I have  to share.  I am not even asking her permission!!   She knew when she sent me the email it would probably be shared.  She is a mother.  She is a wife.  She is conquering  WELL right now. 

Let me explain that ...she is in the middle of a trial and a fight for her family and her future, but she is NOT giving up and she is not being intimidated by the enemy.  Satan.  Believe me, he is trying to kill her - but she is conquering well.  Period. 

I am going to call her Eunice. 

 Eunice is referenced in the bible in Acts 16: 1-3, 2 Timothy 1:5, 3:14, 3:15, and 14:5 .  Her name...implies...  'conquering well -- expressive of a good or happy victory'. 

THAT is why I  titled this - "Conquering well!". 

Conquering well is HARD.  I would always say to myself, " I CAN do hard!!  ..but Lord... I need some easy". 

Eunice is the mother of a famous evangelist!   Her mother was Lois.  Timothy was indeed a special man of God, one of Paul's favorites and his inspired words from God are indeed  chapter s of the Bible that I read often!     My friend reminds me of Eunice.  She has been raised by godly family and has lead a life -- wanting to be God's best.  She has children.  Younger and older and like me...struggle at times --

thinking  to ourselves....."did we do the right thing?"
  "I wish I would of been more strong in the Lord back then ...it would of been different!"
"Lord, forgive me .. I have messed up, please protect my child"........


But God....   
I believe God brings beauty out of those ashes if we give them to HIM. And I believe HE covers us when our hearts and intentions were of His love ....and/or of our ignorance when we did not know better.   Let's face it -- didn't we all set out to be 'better parents' than our parents and yet... we failed too...???   I have not seen a perfect parent.  It is by the grace and mercy of God that my own two even are alive.... much less adults now that know God!!    But anyway... 

Back to my Eunice...

She is presently in a FIRE STORM....but she is trusting God to bring everything full circle and she intends to walk out of this fiery furnace...without smelling like smoke.  IN the meantime...in the God time... in the waiting time, as you read below, she is walking this out.  She knows that on the other side....there is a little Timothy that she gets to still tuck in bed and I believe that  he will indeed be a favorite of God's as well!  

So, how about you?   Are you conquering well?   Are you in the middle of something right now??   Well, like my dear friend here .. I pray you have some godly counsel that you can pray with and seek encouragement from.  Like my friend here - I pray you are connected to a church family that is loving on you in the meantime... and like my friend here -- I pray that you are praying through this trail and praying for that husband or wayward child.... as that is what I know Eunice did....  

So here is her blog - I pray it blessed you as much as it did me!!  

BTW...   As I read it, I asked God... "did I conquer well?".   "Did I display THIS Much faith when everything looked and appeared hopeless?"    And I felt that by the end of reading her blog...  I felt a tremendous peace and blessing from GOD....to share this...  as I know -- there are many of you OUT there... waiting on that answered prayer and that 'changed' man or child... don't give up ...  GOD is still on that throne...and GOD wins!  

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He will build:

 

A few weeks ago I promised God the first of me.

 

This was not a meaningless promise.

 

This came from the heart of a deeply grieved soul.

 

I was convicted how I put God on hold. Giving him the leftovers of my day instead of the first of me fresh in the morning.

 

Don’t get me wrong, He is the first one I talk to in the morning. And I spend daily devotion with Him.

 

I have made this my habit for years now.

 

When I don’t do it, my heart feels it.

 

But deep fellowship with him early in the morning was often lacking because I am up and running the minute the alarm goes off.

 

Preparing breakfast, packing lunches, setting aside dinner for the evening, getting ready for work and my little one off to school.

 

There is a rush in the morning and one day it was like God said why settle for a cordial hello each morning when I can refresh you with a wonderful conversation to get you started.

 

In finding my self worth, my ultimate pleasure of serving my husband and children, I forgot my first and biggest priority is my relationship with God.

 

The conviction. The grieving in my spirit. Our God is a just God but He is also a jealous God. He is the lover of our soul!

 

My promise - God, I’m going to give you the first of me each morning.

 

At first this did not seem like a hard task or promise.

 

For a few days God would wake me to get up, to spend time with Him, to pray for my family and loved ones.

 

Instead of getting out of the bed, I would lay there and pray in bed. Too tired to get up.

 

I read in Ecclesiastes 5:4,5 where we must not make foolish promises to God. We should not make a promise we do not follow through. If you make a promise to God and you don’t keep it, He becomes angry and He might wipe out everything you have achieved.

 

You see, I am in a valley. The enemy is trying to destroy my family of all of the mercy and goodness God has bestowed upon us and my promises must be like the ones God has given me and my family, honest and true. Sincere and solid. Bold and infused with HIS faith.

 

For a few weeks, I set my alarm to be certain I got up in time to give him the first of me. Then something started. He started waking me earlier. Sometimes, my heart is heavy and grieved. All I can do is intercede in prayer. Crying out to Him. Other times, it is spent with worship music, reading my Bible, waiting for Him to reveal something to me in those early morning hours. A treasure. A nugget.

 

Where all is quiet and the lover of my soul wants to speak to me.

 

You see, He is there. He wants fellowship with me. He wants to love on me. Comfort me. Hold me. Guide and direct me.

 

It takes spending time with Him to go from knowledge of Him to a relationship with Him.

  
 
 

Nobody can do it for you.

 

This is for you and God. Your walk with Him. Your relationship with the creator of Heaven and earth.

 

I still have my alarm on to get up with God but He usually wakes me well before it goes off. He usually wakes me in the wee hours of 3-4 each morning.

 

I started with one hour with him and it’s turned into two or more. There have been a few times I’ve been late to work.

 

Last night though, I felt different.

 

Wrestled.

 

You see, I’m in a valley right now where my faith is under attack. The enemy wants to steal the faith my family, my grandmother, my husband’s family fought hard to plant.

 

Last night, I was battle weary.

 

No prayers to pray except The Lord’s Prayer and speaking in my prayer language until I finally drifted off to sleep.

 

I didn’t have a peaceful sleep.

 

Most of the time when I am restless, I’d get up immediately and go into prayer with the Lord.

 

This time I didn’t.

 

I was in and out of sleep. I had a few text messages from loved ones who know I’m in a battle and for some reason their messages were coming though in the stillness of the night.

 

They had no idea I was awake. Why did God have them up? To love on me?

 

My husband and I bought a house a year ago.

 

It is a foreclosure and while we’ve made renovations to it, there is still a lot to be done.

We have what will one day be a very beautiful swimming pool.

 

When we first prayed over and for this property, I looked at it broken and abandoned, overgrown with weeds, envisioning what it once looked like before it was left empty and desolate.

 

How pretty is must have been and how pretty it will one day be.

 

For the time being my pool is what my son and step son call ‘gator water’. It’s a nasty mess covered over.

 

I don’t mind that they think gators are in it because it keeps them away from it.

 

But there are frogs. Disgusting big frogs that love that pool. I’m terrified of them and on countless times I’ve almost completely put myself in the hospital trying to get away from them as I feel their chasing me.

 

Last night as I lay there in my bed listening to the croaking of these frogs, I was hearing the lies of the enemy try to seep into my soul.

 

This sly thief trying to steal the promises God has given me and my family.

 

‘you don’t have faith, it’s not going to work out, it’s too far gone, it’s too hard, you’re not worthy, nobody cares….’

 

Oh the lies, they were tormenting me.

 

Each croak was another lie trying to penetrate my heart.

 

Then in a sweet silent whisper like God wonderfully does He started reminding me, ‘My beautiful daughter, you, your husband, your family, are just like this beautiful home I blessed you with. You were once radiant and beautiful but the sin and hurt of this dark world got you down. It left you feeling broken and abandoned, overgrown with weeds, murky gator water; empty and desolate. That is where I AM. I come into those broken places and I clean up the mess. I restore your soul to be clean and overflowing with MY abundant love! Don’t doubt I’m not here. Don’t doubt I’m not working out the promises I have made to you for your family. This cleaning, this refining is a process. You must not resist it but embrace it. Your faith is building. How else could you and your husband leave a legacy without it? You cannot labor in vain, this is a solid foundation I, YOUR LORD, am building.’

 

Yes, Lord, You are working this out. You have promised to keep, protect and prosper my family. I will rebuke the lies of the enemy and stand on the dwelling of Holy Spirit within me and the power of the blood of Jesus Christ to fight a good fight and declare the victory.