One Pebble at a Time

"Never stop praying." 
1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT


Over the years, many people have called me a prayer warrior. The name seems overwhelming and unattainable. Yet, as I began tossing each pebble size prayer at God I suppose I was building prayer warrior skills. They were not pretty prayers and many times they were more like inaudible groans from a dying animal or a flood of tears from a broken damn. They were my prayers to a loving, gracious, and merciful God; a God who sent His son to save and restore me to the person He created me to be.

Each person who prayers and seeks God is a prayer warrior. Our prayers range from fragmented pebbles to giant boulders as we continue on our journey through this life. We must warrior on, one pebble at a time.

One pebble at a time
We build
We grow

One pebble at a time
We live
We know

One pebble at a time
His love
We show

One pebble at a time
With grace and mercy
Our prayers go

One pebble at a time

By His mercy and in the grip of His grace,

Andrea Bowling Perdue 

New and Exciting Ministry

I am excited to share a new ministry site with each of you,  Women Walking With Jesus. You will find daily encouragement, love, and much more through real life stories from women around the world. I am thankful to be a part of this uniquely designed group of ladies. May the love, mercy, and grace of Jesus be your constant blessing as you visit Women Walking With Jesus!

By HIS mercy and in the grip of HIS grace,
Andrea Bowling Perdue

~ Needs

Thought for the day:

~When you don't have everything you need.......all you need is what you already have!

By HIS mercy and in the grip of HIS grace,
Andrea Bowling Perdue

MUD PUDDLES!

After Sunday morning church, Savannah and Elijah climbed a big hill. I thought I would take their picture by the "three wooden crosses" standing atop the hill by our church (New Life UMC), with my I-phone.

On the way back down, they began to stumble. Stumbling became rolling and rolling became crawling out of the the only mud puddle in sight. At least and acre of land around the crosses and they land in the only mud puddle we could see.

Lauren (our daughter and Elijah's mom) and I laughed hysterically as did Savannah and Elijah. Both children were muddy and wet from head to toe. Elijah's little wool dress coat will be going to the dry cleaners, today. Lauren and I could see it was going to happen, but there was nothing we could do to stop it.

Isn't that the way life is sometimes? We are moving along, making wise steps, climbing mountains hand in hand with those we love, and the next thing we know we slip and fall into a messy mud puddle. It's in that moment we have two choices:

1)Get angry and wallow in the mess flinging mud on all those around us.

2)Help one another out of the mud puddle, clean up the mess, and move forward with hearts full of love and laughter.

So, the next time you unexpectedly land in one of life's mud puddles, clean up the mess and embrace the next step God has for you. Life's too short to linger in the muddy places consumed with anger and/or guilt about the fall. Be thankful for the journey and watch your step.

Remember, we are all one step away from a slip-sliding mess. Keep your eyes on Jesus and enjoy the journey.

"Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow."
Psalm 25:4 NLT

By HIS mercy and in the grip of HIS grace,

Andrea Bowling Perdue

~If you are wondering, the series of pictures I took did not come out. Too much glare! 

Loving the "Bad Apples!"

Remember the seemingly wise words your parents or grandparents  use to admonish you with?

"All it takes is one bad apple to ruin them all!"

For me this implied one of two things:

1) Don't be the bad apple and lead others to ruin.

2)Don't socialize with bad apples or you might become one.

Lately, I've been thinking about how this applies to my walk with the Lord and the church (fellowship of believers). Let's presume our church (fellowship of believers) is a healthy spiritual community. Now, what happens or what should happen when we have one apple exhibiting unhealthy choices?

While there are admonitions in scripture for those who offend and directions on how to handle ourselves, rarely do I see them carried out effectively. There are cases handled beautifully and lives are redeemed, but I find those few and far between.

After much prayer and thought, I believe the radical difference is actually very simple. It's all in the heart and attitude of the community (fellowship of believers). When God speaks to my heart admonishing me the first thing I hear is "how much HE loves me and will continue to love me whether I choose to make wise decision or I choose sin!" Once I've felt the presence of the Lord's love, HE begins to radically work within my heart cleaning up the mess I've independently made of things.

If that's how God approaches us, shouldn't we approach others in and outside the fellowship in the same way? Shouldn't we continue to love while setting healthy boundaries?

We can "lovingly" stand firm!

Many times I've messed up.
Many times I've sinned.
Many times I've been in a pit of my own choosing and in some cases a pit caused by others actions.

I will be forever thankful for those who loved me through life's messes whether I caused them or they were the result of others actions. They loved me when I wasn't capable of being lovable. At my worst moments, God sent earthly angels to stand alongside me, pray for me, and most importantly love me.

Today and every day, as we ( fellowship of believers) face the unlovable what will we do?

Remember: NONE of us started out with a strong faith. We start as babies and grow daily into the people God created us to be.

By HIS mercy and in the grip of HIS grace,

Andrea Bowling Perdue

Normal or Not?

Normal, what does it look like?

To most of us, normal means fitting in; being a part of; a look-a-like. Normal seems to be associated with a steady, unshaken state where everyone does the same things, wears the same styles, and doesn't disagree. Now, I know this is not the Webster definition for normal, but when I listen to others say, "you/they aren't normal," I realize normal is in the eye of the beholder or group of beholders.  We humans often deem normal as a state of comfort or a safe place. Normal in these terms doesn't really exist and when it does it is both boring and does NOT promote spiritual or emotional growth.

I don't know about you, but in my world  normal is usually no where in sight. In fact, the more abnormal the circumstances the greater God's presence seems to be. I, too fall into the trap of longing to be surrounded with people who agree with me at all times. I'm reminded, Jesus was found time and time again with people who were "different/not normal."

God continues to pour Himself out to me as I step out of my comfort-zone and into uncomfortable situations. He is stretching and growing me in different ways than those around me, but just maybe He is using my presence in their lives, too. God uses "the not normal" to grow me and help me stay the course He's called me to.

So, if someone says, "You are NOT NORMAL!" It's a compliment. You are probably stretching them. Evaluate your decisions based upon God's word and what He's called you to do, NOT what others think is normal or not normal.

Now, get out there....walk, run, grow, and don't forget to stretch! Stretching is good for all of us whether we like it or not.

By HIS mercy and in the grip of His grace,

Andrea Bowling Perdue