He Giveth and Giveth

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,

He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;

To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,

To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources

Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,

Our God ever yearns His resources to share;

Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;

The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,

His power no boundary known unto men;

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus

He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
~Annie Johnson Flint

We sang this song in church yesterday. The Lord touched my heart so deeply as I heard these beautiful words. These words came from a lady plagued by rheumatoid arthritis who was a "shut in". She lost her family and was alone in the world, except for her sister and her Lord. She witnessed the Lord's infinite power and mercy and the Lord used her mightily to minister to others.

This encouraged me, because, sometimes, I don't feel like I have much to give and I am so overwelmed with burdens that I bear, but Jesus comes and giveth and giveth and giveth again. This too is my testimony. May you too come and give all your burdens to Jesus and experience the rest and peace in Him.

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. "
Matthew 11:28-29

(Picture from All-Posters by Annie Henniker)

Drawn by Him

"Draw [Lead me away] and we will run after thee:"

Song of Solomon 1:4

The Lord has shown me with all of my "perfectionist anxiety" that not an ounce of my efforts are enough to bring me closer to Him. It is because of His "drawing" powers that this daughter of "weakness" can run after Him. He must draw and I must follow. When I see things from this light it takes all the pressure off of me and frees me to truly bask in the Light of my Savior!

But like a block beneath whose burden lies

That undiscovered worm that never dies,
I have no will to rouse, I have not power to rise.
For can the water-buried axe implore
A hand to raise it, or itself restore,
And from her sandy deeps approach the dry-foot shore?

So hard's the task for sinful flesh and blood,

To lend the smallest help to what is good;
Ah! if but only those who active be,

None should thy glory see, thy glory none should see.
Lord, as I am, I have no power at all
To hear thy voice, or echo to thy call.

Give me the power to will, the will to do;

O raise me up, and I will strive to go:

Draw me, O draw me with thy treble-twist;

That have no power, but merely to resist;

O lend me strength to do, and then command thy list.

Secure in My Savior's Love

The Lord has been revealing so much to me lately about my relationship with Him and the Love that He has for me. I realize that how much my heart overwelms with love for my Savior is all because of His undying love for me. I am so secure in His love for me that I can truly give everything that I have and everything that I am in service to Him!
This song is truly my love song to Jesus!

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

~William R. Featherston

I so await the day when I can look into my Precious Jesus' face and sing about my love and adoration to Him. It truly "will be worth it all" when I see Him!

Nothing Ever Felt So Right

I have just recently finished the Girl's Study Group Classes at my Church.
Upon completion I have had an overwelming feeling of satisfaction. Satisfaction, not in myself, but in the Lord.
So many people have told me that when you're right in the center of God's will, it just feels so right! I have never had such peace, such a feeling of "right" as I have had since completing these classes. My parents have always told me that everything I had went through when I was younger, such as my father leaving when I was little, self esteem problems, etc., would all be worth it someday when the Lord would use it for good. I have had faith in that for so many years and now I am able to sit here and testify with all my heart that it is so true!!!!!!!
When I was able to finally share parts of my story and testify of what the Lord can do; when I heard the voice of Jesus say, "Kayla, this is it, this is what I've promised you all of these years-- that all things would work together for good because you love me, it's happening." (Romans 8:28)
I can testify to that verse so much more now and I can now say that nothing, nothing has ever felt so right as when you are in the middle of God's will. There is nothing that this world could offer that could give you as much peace or satisfaction as what comes from my Lord!

All praise to Him for blessing me so richly!

What's New...

...with Sewing Seeds & Seams?

Well, a lot of changes have been going on and I figured I needed to post a quick update.
The Lord has slowed my pace down quite a bit as far as the Sewing Classes go. I am, at this time, no longer teaching at the Homeschool Co-op and I have not been teaching regularly at home either.
The Lord has had me focused more on my family-- teaching homeschooling, and ministering to my family in various ways.
I've also been teaching girls at my church things that the Lord has/had revealed to me to encourage them to keep a deeper walk with the Lord.
I feel that the sewing classes prepared me to speak as the Spirit led me, and to feel comfortable teaching and talking to girls.
This new phase of encouraging girls and helping my family in more and more ways is very exciting for me and I look forward to posting more.
As far as sewing goes, I'll still be sewing on my own and finishing projects for others, which I'd still like to share with you all!

Many Blessings in Christ!

Basking in the Son

Today the Lord gave me a unique picture of living in His presence. Lately, I have had a feeling of discouragement when I read the Lord's Word. I knew that this was not right and I got on my knees and sought the Lord to find out why.

I tend to be a perfectionist in areas in my life; this is something the Lord is trying to weed out in me. I know that the Lord created me with an attention to details, but I allow Satan to get a hold when I take it too far. The Lord showed me that this is what I was doing in my time in His Word. I became so caught up in trying to be "perfect", that I missed out on the truths the Lord was trying to show me. He wants me not to just read about Him, or work for Him, but to walk with Him and talk with Him, cultivating a sweet relationship. I was so caught up in an agenda of what I needed to become rather than enjoy my Lord.

That's when the Lord gave me the picture of the lizard. A lizard is cold-blooded so it has to spend time in the sun to regulate its body temperature. The lizard could spend time in his little underground hole studying about the sun and drawing pictures of the sun for the other lizards to see, but he's going to die of hypothermia if he doesn't get in the presence of the sun.

That's how we are, we can learn about the Lord, minister to others about the Lord, and try to develop Godly qualities, but we will wither Spiritually if we are not "basking" in our Lord's presence!

I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Revelations 2:2-4

(Photo credit- Allposters.com)

Dust of the Actual

In reading Things As They: Mission Work in South India by Amy Carmichael, I came across a phrase that has radically changed my thinking. It has caused me to more clearly see things in the Spirit rather than in the flesh.
Although, Amy Carmichael uses this phrase to describe her mission work and the struggles that she faced; I believe that it is very applicable to our lives. She first heard this phrase in a poem and a portion of that poem is written in the quote; but she puts the meaning into the phrase that gave me insight.

"Finally, I should explain the book's character[poem portion] "Tell about things as they actually are; so said the Two with emphasis. I tried, but the Actual eluded me. It was as if one painted smoke, and them, pointing to the feeble blur, said, "Look at the battle! 'the smoking hell of battle!' There is the smoke!"

The Poet's thought was not this, I know, when she coined the suggestive phrase, "The Dust of the Actual," but it has been the predominating thought in my mind, for it holds that which defines the scope and expresses the purpose of the book...It does not show the Actual Principalities, Powers, Rulers of the Darkness, Potentialities, unknown and unimagined, gathered up into one stupendous Force-- we have never seen it. How can we describe it? What we have seen and tried to describe is only an indication of Something undescribed, and is as nothing in comparison with it-- as Dust in comparison with the Actual."

In another place she writes:

"These deep-rooted ancient and strong philosophies are formidable enough, when rightly understood, to make us feel how little we can do to overturn them; but they are just as "Dust" in comparison with the force of the
"Actual" entrenched behind them. Only superficial Dust; and yet, as in every other case, nothing but the Breath of God can blow this Dust away."
(emphasis and things in brackets added)

These quotes and more have taught me to see past what I can "see" with my physical eyes to what is really there-- the Actual. That in all situations of life,

"...there is Something greater behind it. It is only the effect of a Cause-- the Dust of the Actual."

The "Actual" is the Lord and His army, Satan and His army, and the souls of men.
I have learned to look past the "dust" of others (there flesh and actions) and to look to what is really there, the forces behind what they do and to them as a person.
I have learned to look past the "dust" of situations and seek the Lord to see what is "actually" there, the root issues, the will of the Lord, the workings of the Lord in bringing about His kingdom, and the vices of Satan.

We need to start living in this Heavenly mindset, because this earth and
all the things of the physical nature do not matter; only the things of the
Actual do!

" For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Ephesians 6:12