It Starts with Your Mindset!

I'm sure you have heard everything happens in God's perfect timing. Some days that is easier to swallow than others! We are so conditioned to want what we want and we want it right now that patience has gone right out the window for many of us!

Instantly I am reminded of the quote from Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God". In other words, "Stop Fretting!" So much easier said than done!

My go to verse last year was Proverbs 3:5 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

It may seem silly but it helped me stop the "whys" . . . it's not my place to question God.

So here I am again on Tremendously Thankful Thoughtful Thursday and it was put on my heart to share a trick that I began this year. The renaming of the days. Here is how I greet each one of them:

Good Morning Father, What do you have in store for me on this:

Simple Sincere Seeking Sunday

Marvelous Magnificent Miraculous Monday

Terrific Testimonial Tell-All Tuesday

Wild Wacky Wonderful Wednesday

Tremendously Thankful Thoughtful Thursday

Fantastically Fun Family Friday

Singsong Smiling Sensational Saturday

No longer do I find myself dreading any day of the week. I embrace each one of them. It keeps my mind focused on happy thoughts, praising thoughts, thankful thoughts. I hope it helps you with your focus as well.

Here is my Post around the world today: Today is "Tremendously Thankful Thoughtful Thursday" with that in mind I proclaim today I am thankful for the Grace of God. . . I am thankful for fellow believers who help encourage me. I am thankful for healthy children and abundant laughter. I was sharing a cup of coffee with a friend of mine and my grandma this morning and I mentioned a conversation about "days of despair" she said, "YOU? Little Miss Merry Sunshine have dark days?" which almost made me spit out my coffee . . . I am thankful today is not a day of despair. . . I am thankful that others see me as a bright light!!

Very recently I was challenged  with Three Questions:

1. What do I think about?

2. How do I use my money?

3. What do I do with my time?

I highly suggest you take the challenge yourself and put some deep thought into these 3 life changing provoking questions.

Today I pray for protection over all believers. May the evil one not penetrate our skin or afflict us in any way. I pray we are a beacon for others. I pray we show Love to all who come in our path including those that tend to ruffle our wings the most! Let's be colorful and bright ensuring that others recognize our beauty that stems from understanding who God is and who I am in Christ. May His Grace shine through our behavior. Amen.

Wendy, Mom of Many

Copyright © 2013 Wendy L Glidden. All Rights Reserved.

Terrific Testimonial Tell-All Tuesday

Sometimes I catch myself laughing so hard when it comes to the way that God works. Yesterday I was sharing this letter about the evil one and how he gets us busy being busy with everything but God's purpose for us. In the midst of that Jordan, a wonderful brother in Christ, had called to check on me to make sure I had managed to get my car back. I was at work and busy but wanted to tell him something. I quickly typed him a message. Then about an hour later I received an email from Bridget, the Leader of my Great Banquet. I wanted to share my news with her too. Since I was in a crunch on time as well as energy I simply went into my message from Jordan and pasted it over to her . . .  I was so tired I then went about pasting what I thought was the letter about the evil one. This morning I checked my notifications on Facebook and saw another friend of mine had liked a comment I had made in a group room on Facebook that we are both in. I was confused at first as it was my message to both Jordan and Bridget. I busted out laughing wondering how many places Our Father had me share it. Who am I to object? So today my this is my testimonial tell-all! 

Jordan, I wanted to tell you that when I was in my prayer circle with our Shepherd I prayed for strength through the ridicule I was sure to face come Monday morning.

Sure enough I came in quietly because I wanted a moment to myself before I faced my earthly father, however you know how hilarious Our Heavenly Father is . . . I brought some of my books in with me . . . as soon as I walked away from my desk to check on the credit card machine I heard one hit the floor . . . I whipped around as the final 3 hit the floor right behind the first.

My father called out . . . "Who's in there banging stuff around?" 

I said, "It's me" and I walked back to his office to say good morning and give him a hug as I do every day. 

Two of our foremen were back there with him. In front of them he asked, "So how did your religious outing go?"

I said, "I didn't go on a religious outing." 

He looked confused and said, "I thought you went to a church event."

I said, "Well . . . kind of but not how you are thinking." He looked at me confused and I said, "Sheesh dad it's not like I went off to learn how to be a Pharisee . . . I just hung out with the hands and feet of Christ and learned about God's Love. That's cool right? You do think I deserve to feel the Love of God don't you?" As I said those last two sentences I walked around and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. Then I turned and walked back out to my office. The back room was completely silent for an entire minute.

Thought you might enjoy that. Thank you for checking on me . . . sorry my phone is off . . . the battery is dead. Haven't had much time other than for work and responding to letters I received that I am able to write back. I set yours and Chalices to the side as I wanted to put more thought into my responses . . . God already let me know what to say to Chalice . . .

I am ready to drop as I type this . . . funny to think I'm going to the Y after work to check it out and possibly work out a minute or two. I bought a family membership.
You and your wife have taught me so much in the last year and a half and I love you like family. I am praying on what to write back to you. I am humbled by your letter.

2:54pm

Jordan Dailey

Wendy there is no need for a response to my letter. Just knowing you enjoyed yourself is a huge blessing to me. I'm glad this weekend wasn't Pharisee training for you, but instead a time to draw closer to God. I'm glad you made it home ok. Much love and prayers headed your way. Love Ya

So, again it was God's strength and knowledge and words that helped me when I came face to face with what I knew would happen I just didn't know how it would come to pass. No since in playing anything out in my head. Pointless . . . I simply prayed for strength and I was given it and the perfect thing to say. 

Today I pray you find a fellowship of friends and begin your own journey getting to know Our Father.  I pray I am able to be a Fisher of people. I pray I walk as close to Jesus that my light shines bright enough for others to long to follow me and learn what I am up to! I pray for healing of hurts of the heart and the opening of eyes who have been blind to the Grace being offered to them. May I be a perfect representation of the Glory of God. I pray I never lose sight of my purpose. I am a servant of the Most High. I pray he finds Joy in Me.

Wendy, Mom of Many

Copyright © 2013 Wendy L Glidden. All Rights Reserved.

Have a Tremendous Thankful Thoughtful Thursday!

Good morning my friends! I hope the day has found you smiling and drinking in the beauty of life itself. What a blessing we have been given! on my ride to work, I was listening to Moody Radio. I was in the midst of reflecting on my last 24 hours and talking with Our Father on what I was to do today when this song came on. I think the title is "One Thing Remains" . . . I found it by typing in the words 'his love never fails never gives up never runs out on me' into You tube. Love seemed to be the continual theme for the past 24 hours.
You see, yesterday I had taken a picture of a gift I had won the night before. It's a little plate with a verse out of the Bible on it. The Book quoted is First Corinthians and the quote itself is from Chapter 13 verse 13:

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I love my MacArthur Study Bible. My footnote goes on to explain: The objects of faith and hope will be fulfilled and perfectly realized in heaven, but love, the God-like virtue, is everlasting (cf.1st John 4:8) Heaven will be the place for the expression of nothing but perfect love toward God and each other. 

You know I cannot go on without taking a look at what the Book 1st John, Chapter 4 Verse 8 has to say:

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

So there you have it! God is Love. Love is God.

As often happens, when I am going where I am led by the Holy Spirit I am led to expand on the reading. My MacArthur Study Bible in the notes regarding Chapter 13, it shares this: Spiritual gifts were present in Corinth (1:7); right doctrine was even in place (11:2) but love was absent. This led to the quarrels and exhibitions of selfishness and pride that plagued the church - notably in the area of spiritual gifts. Instead of selfishly and jealously desiring showy gifts of which they don't have, believers should pursue the greatest thing of all - love for each other. This chapter is considered by many the greatest literary passage ever penned by Paul. It is central to his earnestly dealing with spiritual gifts (chapters 12 - 14), because after discussing the endowment of gifts (chapter 12) and before presenting the function of gifts (chapter 14) he addresses the attitude necessary in all ministry in the church (chapter 13).

With that insight, I say let's dive into Chapter 13 completely. I am quoting out of my MacArthur Study Bible.  Many of you have most likely heard or seen some of this content:

The Excellence of Love

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love it profits me nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

I think that pretty much sums up Love. I don't know what one could possibly add to that to make it a larger statement! With the title of the day being "Tremendous Thankful Thoughtful Thursday" I guess I should end with one of those. Today I am thankful that when God leads me I am aware enough to listen and follow. 

May you take a moment today to bask in Our Father's Love for you. Open yourself up to the fact that you can do nothing to lose his love. We all have done wrong in our life. Our Father has already forgiven your trespasses . . . isn't it time you forgave yourself? You Too ARE Worthy. You just need to believe. I pray that you begin to feel God's love for you. I pray you begin to seek his Word. Romans is a great Book. I pray you  make the effort to what it says about you and who you are in Christ. I don't know where you are at in life or what you are struggling with but I pray you begin reading the bible. I pray you take the time to look up the topic that best deals with whatever is currently troubling you. Amen.

Have a Tremendous Thankful Thoughtful Thursday,

Wendy, Mom of Many



Copyright © 2013 Wendy L Glidden. All Rights Reserved.

Wild Wonderful Wacky Wednesday!

Good morning! I am trying to rewire my brain to associate each day of the week in a positive manner, hence the title! This month of February has been a rough one for me. I have barely blogged . . . I think this is my 3rd one this month. Yikes! So much for sticking with that blog once a day goal. Regardless I have learned to not let my daily failures keep me down for long. This morning I was praying on what to write on . . . so many things make wonderful topics but that's not how this works for me. I must be in tune with the Holy Spirit for the words to flow like water.

I have made it a habit to start out my morning hanging out with Our Heavenly Father. I know when I am in tune and when I am simply too caught up in worldly things to really hear what He has to share with me. I am my own worst enemy at times. I have surrounded myself with great friends who also believe. This is a wise thing to do for we were meant to encourage one another. One of my favorite things I read in the Bible ( so funny to say because I Love anything I read and "GET") regardless, I had a friend who was struggling with her walk and I was seeking what God wanted me to share with her and that is when I found it.

Romans, Chapter 1 verse 12: When we get together I want to encourage you in your faith,

 but I also want to be encouraged by yours."

Right there you see how important encouraging one another is. I know I have days of despair and worry and stress and chaos and it's so easy to get stuck there . . . in this self made whirl wind of hopelessness . . . when you find yourself there, pick up your Bible. At the very least reach out to a strong friend. There is no reason for you to fight alone. Sometimes we pray for things God has already given us . . . we are too blind to recognize that we already have it! Today make an actual inventory list of positives you have in your life. Be detailed about it. For instance don't just list "Friends". That would not have the same impact as listing each name of each Friend you have. I hope this will help you shake the clouds of negativity and cause you to gain a bounce in your step. 

I have a friend that is always posting uplifting phrases or comments. Today however she let the world know she needs some encouragement. I am impressed with her courage. It was in my response to her that my creative juices began flowing. In my heart I know it was my sincere Love for her that turned on the faucet. I even thanked her in my reply! You know how I love to rhyme after all! With that being said, here is the gist of how things went: 

She was basically saying, "I'm in pain. I'm having trouble staying positive. I need encouragement. Help."

Instantly I felt my heart ache for her. She is such a bright light in my life. I let her know this:

I am praying for you.

I know you KNOW Jesus is your Savior, And your Faith is strong

But we all have days of despair and weakness when we feel we don't belong.

We let the negative side of things penetrate our skin.

It's really all the evil one needs to begin.

He fills the room with darkness and tries to block out the sun

Before you realize you're in the battle 

The Fight has already begun

You are wise in your defense

Reaching out to your friends

I pray that you feel Peace and Joy

And that your healing begins.

As it often happens, I write something for someone and it helps me. I hope this little snippet for the day helps you in some way too. I pray we go about today encouraging one another. We have all heard the phrase "Paying it Forward". There are even some really cool inspiration videos on You Tube of the ripple effect of acts of kindness. I say let's start a ripple that becomes so big it causes a wave of Hope and Love to wash over the world! ((hugs)) to all who go about doing good today.

Wendy Mom of Many

Copyright © 2013 Wendy L Glidden. All Rights Reserved.

How I Became a Single Mother

Good morning! How have 13 days passed since I last blogged on my own life. In my heart I know the answer. These next 5 years are like swimming across treacherous water. I have remembered so much. Some things so awful I am impressed with myself for actually moving beyond them. I say that for at this stage of my life I hold no grudge against Jeff. Many times in my life I have felt sorry for him. With that being said, let's get through this and beyond to better years!

I was 19 years old. I had two babies. One was 6 months old and the other was 20 months old. My husband thought our youngest was not his because of the color of his eyes. His mother along with her friend had planted that seed. I'd been yanked out of bed by my hair and thrown on the floor. It ended with me escaping to the car with the babies and him pulling a gun on me. By the grace of God I'd gotten away alive.

I did not call the police. I honestly was numb. How do you ever get beyond something as dramatic as that? Without God you never could. Jeff and I did not have God in our marriage. I don't know to this day if Jeff even believes in God. This entire next year is kind of a fuzz for me. I thought perhaps if I reflected on it I could remember it all better. I did remember things down the road but this year must have been dark as night for the details are dim.

I think because of the situation I was in and the lack of support from family and Jeff's plea that he would never touch me like that again, I believe I went back home. I do know it was at that time I made a pledge with myself that I would never allow myself to become dependent upon another person. I was not making enough money to be able to save a single dime. Without any savings I was trapped or so I felt like it. I was working at Dairy Queen and had just been promoted to Breakfast manager! The new position came with a raise! Things were beginning to look hopeful for me or so I thought.

During this time Jeff's parents had moved to Noblesville. He spent a lot of time with them. That was fine by me as it gave me space. Seeds when they are watered and nourished will grow. This is the case with the seed that Jeff's mom had planted. Jeff was now being told that they had seen me in our car with another guy driving through Noblesville. When Jeff came to me with this I was dumbfounded. I told him it was all lies and nonsense. I offered to take him to work with me and I'd show him my time card. I don't know why he refused to take a look but he was convinced somehow I could get around a time card. Without trust you really have nothing. I knew in my heart I had to get away before this got nasty again. I wasn't sure how I was going to achieve this but I was working on it. It was during this time frame that Chris Glidden came through my drive through and informed me she was looking for office help. She offered me $1.50 more an hour than I was making. I took her up on her offer.


One day on my way to pick the children up as I crossed SR 32 to the other side of Springmill the traffic had stopped. As I came to a halt I glanced over to the car in the next lane. Low and behold it was Jimmy. Yes the Jimmy I'd kissed in the cooler when I was only 16. Our eyes locked. I think he was just as shocked as I was. We both had our windows down. At the same time we said each other's name in surprise. He asked me to pull over up the road and he'd turn around when the traffic moved again. I did. We stood and talked for about 15 minutes catching each other up on our lives. He told me I looked great for our age. I was like, "Our age! I'm only 18 . . . 19 . . . 18 . . . no 19 . . . how the heck old are we?" He laughed at me. He told me if I ever left Jeff he'd love to take me on a date. We went our separate ways that day but honestly Jimmy did not leave the back of my mind.


It was not long after that that Jeff and I had another fight. As I sit here I know things were rocky before I ran into Jimmy. With the realization that another man still found me attractive and worthy of his time in my head, I know this did not help our chances of making it to happily ever after. It is as close to cheating as I had come in my marriage. You see like I mentioned before abusive men beat you down verbally before they take that first swing. My confidence in myself was close to non existent before my run in with Jimmy. His invite to date me had give me some added courage to walk out the door empty handed. I went to my mom and explained to her how dangerous my situation was and that I needed a place to live. I was already paying her to babysit for me. I just needed a place to stay until I could get on my feet completely. I told her I was going to find a second job and I thought I might be able to get out on my own. She agreed to let me come live with her if that was what I felt was best. It was after William's first birthday that I finally moved in with my mother. She was in the process of planning her wedding to the guy who lived behind her. We were discussing me purchasing her home. I was excited for the first time in forever. I could afford to rent my mother's house on my own with a roommate easily. The thought that after a year or two I could also purchase the home from her thrilled me to no end. Things were looking up for  me.

I found a second job at night waitressing at a Steak n Shake in Nora. Jimmy had contacted me through Glidden Fence and we'd started dating even though I had not filed for a divorce yet. I had been shopping for a lawyer and I was working on accumulating the $500 I had been told I'd need to file. Jimmy made me feel beautiful and smart again. He made me laugh. He had an inner struggle regarding sleeping with me as his family and him were very Christian. It didn't take long to get beyond that hurdle. Here I was still married and I was now sleeping with another man. I justified it because I had left Jeff and if I had the money I'd have filed for divorce already. Regardless all of Jeff's worries of me being with someone else had finally become a reality.

One night when I came home from my second job I walked in the front door and low and behold who is sitting on the couch but Jeff. I froze in the doorway. My mother was in her chair and she said, "Wendy, Jeff came here to talk to me about you and him. I know you are set in your divorce but I think you should listen to him. After all you two have children together. Do you really want to short your children of a life with both parents?"

Somehow I managed to move. I closed the door and sat down at the other end of the couch. The gist was this. Jeff loved me. He felt awful about all that had gone wrong between us. He wanted another chance. If I still decided I wanted a divorce this time next year he'd pay for it. No questions asked. I was told to sleep and think on it. My mom really pushed me to give him another try after all what did I have to lose. Was I going to be selfish like my father or would I put my family first? I caved under the guilt. Jimmy bowed out of the picture and wished me luck with my marriage. He did not want to be the one to blame for it's failure.

There was one major problem with this plan. Jeff was an abusive person. He didn't love me anymore than I loved him at this point. I had been with another man and he knew it. This did not help. I honestly could not stand for him to touch me in the bedroom. I did not feel loved by him in the least.

The girl I had run away with was pregnant with her own first child. I knew she was around 5 months along when she arrived on my doorstep crying one night. She asked if we could go somewhere and talk. She saw the hesitation in my eyes and whispered. My baby is no longer alive, please I need someone to talk to. I told Jeff I had to go with her. He was not happy to say the least but he allowed it. You see Donna was currently dating a man of color and Jeff was as racist as a person could be. He did not want me associating with Donna but with the news he was allowing an exception.

I took her down to the Pizza Hutt and we ordered some bread sticks. I guess I was gone with her for too long. When I came back home Jeff attacked me from behind screaming something like Nigger Lover at me. I ran down the hall way to the bathroom and tried to lock the door. He was right behind me. Somehow I escaped the bathroom and ran to the other end of the house to our bedroom. Again I was a second too slow on getting the door closed. He picked up the lamp that had no shade or shade holder as that had been broken off of it and launched it at me. I tried to jump out of the way but the lamp landed on my foot burning it and cutting it in the same instant. I screamed in pain. It was my howls that stopped Jeff from hurting me further. Instantly he was crying and telling me it was all a mistake. I was numb. I had heard this too many times. He called my mother and informed her we'd had a fight. He asked if she'd be willing to babysit the next night so we could have some alone time and work things out. She agreed. I pretended to agree. I was done. I went to bed. The next morning I got up and pretended I was okay. I rode with him to work and when his crew pulled out I went home packed up everything that was important to me and I took it to my grandmother's. She of course was on Mackinac Island for the summer but she told me I was free to use her house.

Over the course of the next couple weeks Jeff was not allowed near me at work and he did not know where I was staying at night. I did not keep him from our children, he could visit them through my mother.  He knew I wanted a divorce. Seeing how I had not stuck to my end of the agreement . . . sticking around and working on my marriage for a year, he was off the hook for having to pay for our divorce. Again I was shopping for a lawyer. Lena found me one for $250 total. I met the man paid 1/2 down to get the ball rolling. All I wanted was my last name and my children.

One night after work there was a knock on the front door. When I went to answer it, Jeff was standing there. He had followed me from a distance. I never noticed. My heart lurched. I slammed the door and locked it. Refusing to let him in, he went home and called my grandma's house. This of course is in the days before caller ID and I answered the phone. It was Jeff. He informed me if I did not come home and talk to him he was going to set everything I'd left behind on fire. I told him to enjoy the blaze. I had all that was important to me already and I hung up.

I finally got my own apartment in the fall of 1989 and my Divorce Decree was finalized on December 18, 1989.

I am happy to have made it this far in my retelling. I again am out of time to write and this is as good as any place to stop. Today I pray for anyone who is in a dangerous situation. I pray you seek outside council. Get yourself some help. Things will never improve on their own. You need God.

Wendy, Mom of Many

Tuesday's Tidbit . . . a Little Rhyme to Pass the Time!

For those who follow as I blog, I am thrilled that the words are once again flowing. Hope washes over me. It may seem silly but I too dread the times of 'silence'. I once read another girl's blog and she was talking about her walk with God and she made the statement about the dreaded times of dis-connect. I get them myself. Moments of silence are when I seem to allow self doubt to creep in. I try to remember that thoughts that aren't full of love and hope are not thoughts from God and when I focus solely on the dark thoughts well . . . it's hard to hear outside the buzz. So on days like today when it is God that stirs me awake I can not help but feel on top of the world. I try to stay here. On top of this mountain I have found myself on today. That is why you, my friends, are so important to me. You encourage me! I hope I encourage you! In hopes of bringing you a little encouragement, Here is my Little Tidbit Rhyme for the day:

I awoke today with something to say and now a smile is upon my face.

Nothing in this world can do it for this girl like Our Father’s Love, it holds first place.

If you give thanks and sing songs of praise, I tell you your eyes will often be amazed!

Miracles I’ve retold that have happened in my life at times leave me completely dazed!

I Pray for wisdom, I pray for truth, I pray for the lost, I pray for our youth,

I Pray for mercy, I Pray for Love, I Pray for Friendship with Our Father Above,

I Pray for eyes to open and hearts to feel, I Pray for protection and for all hurts to heal

I Pray for you, I Pray for me, I Pray that we stand firm in our faith and live abundantly!

If there’s one thing we do well on our own, I declare we know how to wallow!

If you walk along your own path without God’s guidance you’ll find life is quite hollow.

It’s a fact, when you can’t stomach the truth, you’ll find it hard to swallow.

It’s also true if you Seek first the Kingdom of God, everything else will follow!

If you want joy you can have it, you see, it’s yours for the making!

Without God though you can’t have Joy. It’s the evil one who’ll do the taking!

I pray you Put on your full suit of armor and stand firm with me in this fight.

Why sit in the shadows of darkness when there is so much abundant light?

Have a wonderful day everyone! Love,

Wendy, Mom of Many

Copyright © 2013 [Wendy L Glidden]. All Rights Reserved.

Evolution verses Creationism . . . It Never Stood a Chance!

Good morning! I have not written in over a week! Just goes to prove I do not write on my own! I have lofty goals of writing daily . . . sadly I am only human . . . I can just as easily get sidetracked from what is most important in the day. Taking time to get into the word. I pray every day. . . at least in it's simplest form. I talk to Our Father. I ask, I ponder, I think, I reflect. Sadly I find when I don't actually pick up my bible and get into the word I feel like I am missing something. Today I know what that something is! It is a piece of my armor. When evil is what you fight against from morning to night, I think it is in our best interest to dress appropriately for it!

So there I was . . . life was beginning to get crazy . . . my next verse on my alphabet picture was from Psalms 100, verse for 4.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

I don't know why I struggled with this so much. I give thanks and sing praises daily. It's become a habit of mine. If nothing else it will help you find joy in the midst of chaos and misery. That alone should make this count as wise council!

As I often do, I like to read the entire Chapter that a verse comes from. Psalms 100 is short, sweet and to the point. Here it is in it's entirety:

Shout with joy to the LORD with all the earth!

Worship the LORD with gladness.

Come before Him, singing with joy.

Acknowledge that the LORD is God!

He made us and we are His.

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving;

go into His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the LORD is good.

His unfailing love continues forever,

and His faithfulness continues to each generation.

I will admit that I read this Psalm out of two Bibles. My little one that I reference in my blog and my bigger study bible: The MacArthur Study Bible (New American Standard Bible). I didn't just read it once from each one. Nope. I actually read it several times. I would get done and just sit there with a blank mind. I had no idea how I was to blog on this verse. I asked Our Father again and again, what do I do with this? I have been kept quite busy over the last two weeks so to the back burner this went.

This morning I awoke to another topic that has been running a muck in my brain. Darwinism and Evolution. Take this and couple it with the fact that we teach this in our public schools and you could paint me in the turmoil I was very aptly in. You see, I feel for those who have yet to find belief, let alone Faith. From the jump, many are taught about everything but God in our world. It's so sad how far we have come. The only truth to evolution is this . . .  if we insist there is no God we have lost the battle and we are no wiser than the primates we seem to long to be connected to.

The sad truth of the matter is, Darwinism has been dis-proven yet our Government insists on teaching this as fact to our children. If science and math really are the subjects of importance when it comes to staying up with the world why are we cutting our feet off? I am going to reference several interesting articles regarding the truth of the matter. From one extreme to the next. I hope you take the time to do a little research of your own. 

Even in all aspects of all sides I believe in studying the competition. Hence, I read their practices, ideas, theories. By doing this you expand your mind. It also helps you understand where others come from and how they came to their beliefs. If you have doubts about Our Father being the creator and you prefer to believe we came from monkeys, I challenge you to read my listed articles. Please feel free to respond with links supporting your beliefs. 

I will share this though. After a one year deep dive into the gospels it will be impossible to shake my faith that Jesus is God's only begotten Son and He came here for the purpose of saving us all. 

You could say in the beginning we were promised a rose garden and granted free will. We were warned to stay away from one item . . . just one . . . we were even warned of the consequence of disobeying. Yet the very first of us chose not to heed God's advice. He could have washed his hands of us then. He did not. He sent prophet after prophet. He gifted us His word. We, here, in the United States are free to read it anywhere, anytime. What a gift! I will be the first to admit that I steered clear of the Bible almost my entire life. I felt I knew and believed in God and I didn't need to attempt to read something that others much much much smarter than me argued over. In a way I feared it. Over the last almost two years now I have been all over the bible. I honestly cannot get enough of it. I find it absolutely the most amazing thrilling exciting series of books I have ever picked up! If you are a natural reader, what are you waiting for?

Before I get sidetracked, here are the articles I was talking about when it comes to the truth regarding evolution and Darwin:

1.  http://www.creationworldview.org/articles_view.asp?id=31
2. http://free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9694.0
3. http://www.nmsr.org/Archive.html
4. http://www.jameswatkins.com/evolution.htm

All of these are easy reads. I referenced these 4 because they hit the argument from various sides yet all draw to the same conclusion in the end. I hope you find them as interesting as I did!

Somehow an entire hour has flown by and I must close and get ready for my day. Today I thank Our Father for helping me when I am lost and confused on how to proceed with something. I am thankful for my belief and my faith for even when I cast God to the side in my own human foolishness He waited patiently for my return. While I have been unfaithful, He has not. We are so blessed to have such a loving Father. I pray that those who are in the midst of this inner struggle stumble upon the light and the truth. Our Father is our creator. He loves us. While we may not understand all that goes on around us may we have peace in knowing He understands it all. God is good. Amen

Wendy, Mom of Many



Copyright © 2013 Wendy L Glidden  All Rights Reserved.

Staring Down the Barrel of a Shotgun!

Before I start on this journey and it is longer than I remembered. . . harder in many ways . . .for it goes on much further beyond this tiny chapter . . .  I ask you NOT to feel sorry for me. This is for those of you who are here . . . on this same turn in the road . . . I'm here to let you know a lot of us have been here . . . way too many of us . . . I'm coming back to help . . . I don't know completely all the ways God is going to use me, but I'm humbled to be his vessel. If you are in a situation of utter hopelessness, please, reach out to someone . . . if you feel you have no one . . . reach out to me. I make a great friend (((hugs))). . .

I am not going to go into great detail on my abuse. Jeff never considered what he did to me as abuse for he never outright punched me. I'm of the belief a push is too much. There is no cause to get physical with another person.

With that being said, I'm a planner. I knew the odds of someone who had been abusive in the past to be abusive again. From what I had read, until you become familiar with why you behave certain ways, you are bound to repeat them.

So, for fun, I would run this escape drill. I think I had myself convinced it was really in case our house caught on fire. Regardless, I practiced fleeing my home with two children in hand. I had a set of keys over the back door on a nail. I would start at my room run down the hall into the first room, grab Billy, run into the back bedroom and grab Cassy and then I'd grab my keys hit the door and race to the car. I'd put Cassy in, tell her to get in back and I'd get in lock the door and put Billy in his pumpkin seat, snap him in and then I'd put the key in the ignition and fire the car up. My heart is racing as I recall this in more detail. Obviously, one running from a fire only would not have to practice to this extent. I find it funny how we trick ourselves into not seeing fully what is going on in our world.

I don't know if Jeff and I could have made it with a ton of counseling as well as a healthy relationship with God. I never wanted to marry him to begin with. When you couple that with everything else, we had a rather large hurdle to overcome. Perhaps the knowledge that I honestly hadn't wanted to marry him to begin with was what drove him to behave the way he did.

Regardless of what the driving force was, one night his mother planted a fatal seed into Jeff's mind. I think it was around the end of  May beginning of June because there was no snow on the ground and it was warm enough that having no shoes on my feet didn't bother me. Jeff had been gone all evening. He was in town visiting with his mom. I'm not sure if his parents were living in Noblesville yet or if his mom was up visiting and looking for a place. Whatever the reason was, Jeff had gone to see her. He still was not home by 9 and I had gone to bed. I knew I would be up at the crack of dawn with the kids. I am not sure when he came home. I just know I went from a dead sleep to being ripped out of bed by my hair. I hit the floor and somehow managed to come up on my feet. I don't think I even knew it was Jeff attacking me yet. You can't imagine the heart explosion that causes someone.

Somehow I managed to get my bearings. Jeff was yelling at me. He was calling me awful names and insinuating that William was not his child. His mother and her friend had been showing him baby pictures of a childhood friend of his and saying they thought this guy was the father. They had informed him that because William's eyes were Hazel and not brown Jeff couldn't be the father. They were convinced I must have slept with this other guy. Jeff was out of his mind. He actually attempted to kick me and would have nailed me full force in the stomach had I not evaded the blow. By the grace of God his foot went into our stereo system. My album in the top . . .yes I did say album . . . shattered. He was stuck. I didn't hesitate. Like I'd practiced I ran down the hall way, grabbed William, to the next room, I snatched Cassy. Like a pro, I snatched the keys and raced down to the car. I put Cassy in and she hopped in the back. I sat in the car, locked the doors and put William in his pumpkin seat. I snapped the harness put the key in the ignition, fired up the car, looked up and found myself staring into the barrel of a shotgun. Jeff was 8' in front of my car gun drawn. My breath caught. I knew he was dangerous. I had no idea until this moment how far he was willing to go. I dropped my shifter into 2nd gear and gunned my car, yanking the steering wheel to the left, I spun gravel like none other.  As far as I was concerned it was him or me. I never heard a shot and I didn't feel a thud. I raced down the road without a clue as to where I could or should go. I didn't stop until I was at the stop sign by US 31. I put the car in neutral pulled my emergency brake and sat shaking like a leaf. I was alive. It was all I could think. From the back seat Cassy asked, "Mommy are you okay?" I somehow managed to get a grip. I put on a fake smile glanced at her and lied. I told her everything was fine.

I had no idea what time it was other than it was very very late or very very early. I drove to the closest house I knew. My friend's house from high school, Aretha. She was still living at home. She let me in and we talked. Her mom was wonderful as always. I don't even remember what she said but she allowed Aretha and I space.

I really can't recall much more about that day. I don't think it matters a lot. I would like to say that I never spent another moment with Jeff after this incident. Sadly that is not the case. It is weird how 25 years later I can still be drained by reliving something traumatic like this but I am.

Today I pray for all those who are in an abusive relationship. May you have faith in Our Father and walk out that door knowing that you will be better off. May you open yourself up to strangers who long to help you. I pray you recognize you do not deserve to be treated like this. I pray you are able to open your eyes to the truth. Amen

Wendy, Mom of Many