RESCUE ME LORD!

LORD , I DON'T FEEL WORTHY AND I'M DOWN ON BENDED KNEES.
MY LOAD HAS GOTTEN HEAVY....TOO HEAVY FOR ME.

I KNOW YOU ARE MY SAVIOR AND YOU PROMISED YOU WILL ALWAYS BE.
LORD, I'M BEGGING YOU. PLEASE COME RESCUE ME.

TAKE ME FROM MY PIT AND POUR YOUR MERCY OVER ME.
GIVE ME ALL YOU HAVE TO GIVE, LORD RESCUE ME I PLEAD.

I FEEL I CAN'T FIND MY WAY AND I NEED YOUR HELP TODAY.
LORD I CRY, RESCUE ME, RESCUE ME LORD I PRAY.

RESCUE ME LORD, PLEASE CARRY ME TODAY.
MY HEAD IS BURIED IN MY HANDS AND I FEEL I'VE LOST MY WAY.

RESCUE ME LORD, I KNOW YOU HEAR MY CRY,
AND I NEED TO FEEL YOUR PRESENCE STANDING BY MY SIDE.

I'M STANDING ON YOUR PROMISE THAT IN YOUR WINGS I CAN HIDE,
UNTIL I'M WELL AND ABLE TO STEP ON OUT AND FLY.

I'M HIDING IN YOUR PRESENCE UNTIL I'M STRONG ENOUGH TO STAND,
AND I KNOW WITH YOU LORD JESUS, AND WITH FAITH...I CAN!

YOU ARE MY SAVING GRACE, MY LIFE ETERNITY,
AND I KNOW LORD JESUS......THAT YOU'LL RESCUE ME.
                                                                              Denise Rochester

NOT PERFECT

Today I did "IN HIS PRESENCE" at church. I gave a devotion on how Christian's are not perfect. This is a piece of what I said;

When I say...'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean living,'
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.'
When I say...'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say...'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need his strength to carry on.
When I say...'I am a Christian 'I'm not bragging of success...
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
When I say...'I am a Christian' I'm no claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.
When I say...'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain...
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name..
When I say...'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner who received God's grace, somehow!

A good verse to go along with this is 2nd Corinthians 12:9

Although some of us would like to think we are perfect, none of us are. God takes us as is. With all our flaws He loves us. What an amazing love!! I'm so glad I don't have to be even close to perfect to receive the love of God. I hope you had a great day in the Lord's house. God bless you!

Who is in the mirror?

My mom text me today and said; Denise, I have the perfect subject for your blog today. She said; I got up this morning and looked in the mirror and thought, who is that woman looking back at me? I laughed it off but later on I got to thinking about what I see when I look in the mirror. Time changes us all. Sometimes not just on the outside, but on the inside as well. I thought about the person I used to see when I looked in the mirror. I did not like the person I use to see. Not so much the outward appearance, but when you look in the mirror there is something about looking in your own eyes that reaches your soul. I use to see a lot of pain in my eyes when I looked in the mirror. I did not read my Bible very often, was not attending church like I should have been and strayed away from God's direction for my life. It was only when I reevaluated myself and what God wanted for my life, instead of what I wanted, before I found peace in my life. I did not like the person I use to see in the mirror until I came back to God. My friend is trying to lose weight. Most of you who look in the mirror see more weight than you want, maybe more wrinkles than you would like, but I challenge you to look in the mirror a little different next time. Look in your eyes and just stare at yourself. What will you see? Will you like the person looking back at you? God loves you no matter what you have done. He created you and he loves you as you are...inside and out. Amazing unconditional love. You can't find that anywhere else, except through God. May God bless you!

FOR EVERYTHING GOD CREATED IS GOOD, AND NOTHING IS TO BE REJECTED IF IT IS RECEIVED WITH THANKSGIVING, BECAUSE IT IS CONSECRATED BY THE WORD OF GOD AND PRAYER.
                    1 TIMOTHY 4:4

GOD CARES FOR YOU!

Be still and KNOW that I am GOD! What else do you need to know. God is there to take care of every pain, every worry......EVERYTHING! I woke up this morning and started thinking about some of the kids here. I layed in bed for an hour and a half just thinking...what can we do to make their life better??
I know that God has the ultimate plan and I am praying that his will be revealed for these kids lives. I love each of them so much and I just want to see them happy. There are some who feel that they are not worthy of being loved. I would like to know that when they leave, they KNOW without a doubt that they are worthy of God's love and ours. Sometimes Christians are the first ones to cast stones at others. My prayer is that we can evaluate our own life and work on our own flaws before we cast stones at someone elses. It's not about teaching perfection....it's about teaching them they are loved. It's about teaching them how to love. It's about teaching them they are so worthy of having the love that they deserve. Go out today knowing that God loves you more than anyone will ever love you. Know that God thinks your worthy of his love. What better joy is that than to be loved by someone so mighty and forgiving as our Lord and Savior. God bless you!

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD; HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.
Psalm 118:1

AND HOPE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT US, BECAUSE GOD HAS POURED OUT HIS LOVE INTO OUR HEARTS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHOM HE HAS GIVEN US.
Romans 5:5

Let me know what your favorite verse in the Bible is on God's unfailing love.

MEETING A MENTOR

God blessed me and let me see something beautiful yesterday. Most of the kids on campus have someone that sponsor's them and sends them cards and things. One of our boys in the Senior Cottage has had his sponsor since he came to the campus in October 2010. We had a church group come yesterday and I was showing them around the cottage and all the boy's rooms. When we got to one of our guys rooms I watched an older gray haired man pick up a Bible off of the bed. He turned around to me and said; Hi. I'm Mr. Yarberry. I bought this Bible for this young man and I am so glad to see that he is using it. I immediately recognized his name from all the kind card's and gifts that he sends to this kid. I said; Oh, stay right here. I know he is going to want to meet you. I sent someone to the park to grab him. When he came in I told him who the man was that was standing in his room. This kid embraced this man with a Hugh hug and the older man started crying. I told him he has made a Hugh impact on the life of this kid and we really appreciated him being there for him. He said; I have waited so long to meet him. It was a beautiful moment. I will never forget it. Our student and the man hung out together the rest of the day getting to know each other. He even sat and watched a video on the first sermon our kid preached. I was so glad to be able to see them loving each other through Christ. It was almost like a long lost friend that he had finally found. I hope when I get to Heaven God just grabs and hugs me, never wanting to let me go. I know that's what I desire to do. Have a great day. God bless you!

HE IS COMING BACK!

Well, I guess Jesus decided he was not ready to take us home yesterday at 6:00 PM. It's kind of funny. Me and all the boys were in the living room at ten minutes till six. We were holding hands and counting down. 6:00 came..... but Jesus did not. God had a better plan for us than the man that said he knew when God was coming. All in God's perfect timing. I was ready to go yesterday if that's what God decided to do, but I will be ready to go any other day as well. Will you be ready when God calls?

God has blessed us with another day to live for him and witness to those who don't know him. Sure, God could have called us home yesterday, but look at all those lives left behind because of our duty of spreading the word. We need to touch every life that crosses our path. Use today wisely. Live it like it's your last. Because you never know when that trumpet will sound. God bless you!

CHANGED BY GOD

When we first came to the children's home we didn't know quite what to expect. We had a kid here that wanted to ask God to let him be one of the devil's demon's. My son was so afraid of him. He slapped my son in the face once and threatened to do it again several other times. We had to push Ethan's bedroom furniture in front of his door because he was afraid this kid was going to come in and hurt him in the middle of the night. That was almost 9 months ago. We slowly worked with this guy on how to treat smaller children and how to become a Godly man. Over this month's, this man became saved, started witnessing to other kids and has preached in a couple of churches. Not only did God change him for the ministry, he changed him for Ethan. Ethan calls him his brother now. They hang out and love on each other. Last night me and Ethan were laying in bed. Ethan said; 'Mom, I'm so glad God brought us here. Some days I like it and some days I don't, but I am glad God gave me Jackie for a brother. If we ever leave, I am going to take Jackie with me, because he's my brother and I love him so much!'

That was pretty powerful coming from an 8 year old. He has seen the change God made in Jackie's life and he gave God credit for it. God can do amazing things! He took a kid that my son was scared to death of, and turned him in to his brother in Christ. He is part of our family now. I love how God work's! The "I AM" is awesome! God bless you!

GOD'S PERFECT TIMING

Please continue to pray for one of our house parents. (Actually we all could use prayer.)  He is going back to the doctor because his heart is not working properly. Thank you for being so faithful to pray for us. This ministry would be impossible without the power of prayer! God bless you.

LORD, AM I PLEASING TO YOU?

Man, I seen this picture and I thought; WoW! I would love to hear God say; Son, go get my children!! I hope that day is soon. The earth is in pitiful shape. People are getting to where they have less of a heart for other's and seem to focus more on themselves. It's all about what will make us happy, not what we can do to help someone else. Can you imagine God standing and looking at the earth. I know he has to be so sad. I just see tears falling from his face. It's not a nice feeling knowing that my heavenly father is sheding tears over what he is seeing. We have really messed this place up. His beautiful creation destroyed by lack of love. Today I was on my daily walk. I didn't even make it out of sight of the children's home before a dog bite me. The police came and told me to go to the doctor because the dog had not had any shots. While I was at the doctor one of my friends text me. I told her I was at the doctor and would text her later. Of course she asked what was wrong and I told her. Her reply was; sue them! I didn't reply back but it just made me sad that people's first thought is what they can get out of something. I felt sorry for the poor man who had his dog taken away. Yes, he should have obeyed the laws, but suing him was not going to make my leg better. I want to try and focus more on what will make my father happy. What can I do to please him? What can I do to make someone elses life a little bit easier? Lord, I pray that I'm always on the path you chose for me. I pray that whoever you place in my life, I am able to make them a little happier than they were before I met them. I pray that they see you through me. I have to go to court from the dog bite. The police officer said they would order me to go because this man has had warnings about his dog already. I pray that something good comes out of this. I hung out with the youth tonight at church and one of them said the closing prayer. He said; 'Lord, please help us to know everything happens for a reason. Good or bad, there is a reason and you know what that reason is.' I thought, this dog bite happened for a reason. Maybe God is going to put the owner of this dog in my life to witness to. Who knows? God knows. God knows all. Think about what you can do to make your father smile today. What can you do that will be pleasing in your father's eyes? If you are focusing on pleasing him, you may be surprised how many opportunities he gives to you. I would love to hear about some of them. Please be sure and tell me who God put in your path today to do something special for. God bless you!
AND A VOICE FROM HEAVEN SAID, THIS IS MY SON, WHOM I LOVE; WITH HIM I AM WELL PLEASED."        Matthew 3:17

(Wouldn't you love to hear your father say; I am so pleased with you?) In everything you do, let it be pleasing to the Lord)

MISSING YOU

It's our first weekend on duty at the senior cottage since one of our boys left. I have really missed him not being here. I didn't realize how much I would miss him when he left. I know he is doing well though. I have talked to him and he is finishing school and trying to stay out of trouble. That does not relieve the missing part though. I could talk to him everyday on the phone, but not being able to give him a big hug makes it hard. The hardest part of this job.....missing them when they leave. Nathen, I know that God is going to take good care of you. God bless you, love you always and stay strong for Jesus!

 ALWAYS TAKE TIME TO STOP AND SMELL THE FLOWERS..............AND ALWAYS.............REMEMBER WE LOVE YOU!

We do serve a mighty and awesome God. We have had a very good weekend. The weather was beautiful, though a bit chilly and the kids have been good. Gary took the boys fishing yesterday and Lyndsie and me went and painted our music minister's apartment. It took us a while but the apartment turned out very nice and he was very pleased with it. One of our boys is spending a week with his mom this week. He got a cell phone yesterday. He graduated this week and when you graduate you are allowed to buy a cell phone. I took him to buy the cell phone yesterday and he has been texting me like crazy! LOL  He has even done a couple of prank calls on my daughter. He's having fun and he deserves it. Graduating high school is a great accomplishment. I am very proud of him. I hope you are all having a good weekend. The weather is nice again today. Go outside and enjoy God's beautiful creation. God bless you!

GRADUATION!!

We went to one of our boys graduation tonight. It was great watching him walk down the field and accept his diploma as they called his name. We are so proud of him and wish him well for the future. We pray that God will do great things in his life. Jason recently surrendered to the music ministry and plan's on going to college to pursue his music interest. We wish Jason the best of luck in the future. We love you and we will always be praying for you!

PRAYER REQUEST...

One of our young men left yesterday. It's always sad to see them leave when you don't feel like you did everything in your power to help them. That's the hardest part of this job. Watching the children leave that you know God is not finished with yet. Lyndsie also lost a cousin this week to sudden death. She was only 32 years old and had 4 children. I am taking Lyndsie to the funeral tomorrow. Please pray for comfort for the Crone Family. Pray that they know God is holding them right now. Please pray for comfort for Lyndsie as well. She is really stressed out right now. Realization of leaving her friends at college and a death in her family has really taken a toll on her emotionally. God bless you all and thank you so much for being so faithful to pray for us!

WHO LOVES YOU MORE THAN ANYONE...GOD DOES!

God loves you more than anyone on earth will ever love you. He loves you more than your mom, your dad, your spouse.....more than anyone you will ever know. God has an unchangeable love for you. He will love you regardless of who you are or what you have done. And God is very forgiving. You ask for forgiveness and he remembers your sins no more. What a forgiving God! I love you Lord. We have our banquet with the boys tonight. They are getting awards for doing well in school, being most Christian like and most friendly. It should be fun. I think it will be nice to recongnize the kids for what they have accomplished. I am looking forward to seeing them smile and have fun. I hope you all have a great evening. God bless you!

I AIM TO PLEASE YOU!

As I normally tell you, I talk to God as I exercise on my daily walk. Gary and I get a little discouraged sometimes at this job. The kids may be misbehaving or we feel like we are not able to please anyone. No matter how hard we try, sometimes it's just not enough.  And then today, on my walk, I thought; why? When did our job become about pleasing everyone but our God? When did we start working to please someone other than the one who saved us from a Devil's hell? Gary and I are here, not to please the children, not to please our co-workers, but to please God Almighty. If our work is pleasing to God, then it should be pleasing to everyone, right. Well, everyone but the Devil! I was walking today and was about 1/2 mile away when I looked down the road and seen Mr. Carpenter. He is an older man that walks in town and people give him money and feed him. (You can read more about him on this blog: Christmas shoes.) He is pretty old and not able to walk well. For the first time since I've been in Monticello, I seen him with his thumb out. He was wanting a ride. I watched one by one, each car pass him by. I thought, what makes our life so busy that we can't stop and give an elderly man a ride down the street. I watched as each car passed him while I approached him. I stopped and asked him how he was doing. He said he was doing fine and he reached out to hug me. I gave him a hug and asked him where he was trying to get to. He told me he was going to the Huddle House to get something to eat. The Huddle House was only about 1/2 mile from where we were standing. I hugged him and told him I loved him and I hoped he got a ride soon. He just smiled. I walked away and I kept looking back as I got further down the road. He still stood there, waiting for a ride. One by one, people passed him by. I prayed to God to please never let my life get so busy that I can't stop and please him. I don't want to ever pass someone by that needs a friend. I don't ever want my actions to be unpleasing to God. He gave me life, eternity with him awaits for me. The least I can do is try to live a life pleasing to him. A life to please my Savior!


MAY THE GOD OF PEACE, WHO THROUGH THE BLOOD OF THE ETERNAL COVENANT BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD OUR LORD JESUS, THAT GREAT SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP, EQUIP YOU WITH EVERYTHING GOOD FOR DOING HIS WILL, AND MAY HE WORK IN US WHAT IS PLEASING TO HIM, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, TO WHOM BE GLORY FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN.               
                                          HEBREWS 13:20-21

Lord you know my heart. Please let everything I do be for your Glory and pleasing to you, God. I love you Lord! Thank you for my Salvation and the tool's you give me to work for you.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU BEAUTIFUL MOTHER'S

Today we are celebrating Mother's Day. Some are getting to spend the day with their mom's and other's are not. I pray for comfort for those of you that are not able to be with your Mother on this special day. I pray for comfort for the one's that want to be a Mother and it just hasn't happened yet. And I also pray that for some, precious memories will get you through your day. Your mom would want you to be happy. I would like to say that I love my Mother very much! I am so glad that God gave her to me. God knew when he was going to send me to this earthly home, and he knew who to entrust me to. God knew that my mom would take care of me and raise me in a way that I would be able to serve him best. Thank you mom for helping be the person that I am today. Thank you for giving me a good raising and teaching me right from wrong. Thank you for kissing the boo-boos and hugging away the pain. Thank you for skipping meals to make sure we had enough to eat. When I was little I actually believed you weren't hungry. Thank you for always being there when I needed a shoulder to cry on. Thank you for being there to hug me when I needed a hug. Thank you for being there when I was bringing my children into the world. Thank you for showing me that I was worth loving. And most of all.....Thank you for always taking the time to listen to me. No matter what you were doing, you are always ready to stop in your tracks and listen to me. Thank you for always believing in me even when I didn't believe in myself. Thank you for putting your life on hold so I could live mine. I love you so much and I am so proud to call you my mom! I LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH!!!!!

WALKING WITH GOD

I just got back from my walk. I really enjoyed my walk today. As always, I talked to God. I can really listen to him when I don't have radio's, TVs or kid's interrupting. LOL God tells me a lot when I am willing to listen. God loves us so much! No matter who we are or what we've done, he will forgive us, pick us up and carry us if needed. Jesus died for us and called our names one by one as he hung on that cross. Just close your eyes for a moment and picture Jesus hanging on that cross. Now picture him whispering your name as he breathed his last breath. That's what he did for you. Talk to God today and listen to what he has to tell you. He loves you! God bless you and I hope you have a great weekend and a happy mother's day!

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!

Well, it's upside down but I hope you can see it. I was on my way home from my mom's today and was pulled over by a policeman for speeding. He said; ma'am, you were doing 59 in a 45 zone. I said, oh, I'm sorry. He asked for my license and registration. I was sitting there thinking, man, we can not afford a ticket! A few minutes later, the policeman walked up to my truck and said; Mrs. Rochester, I'm going to give you a warning. Just slow down for me. I said; yes sir. And thank you for not giving me a ticket!
Wouldn't it be nice if God gave us black and white answers? If I was thinking about doing something against God's will he could say; Denise, slow down. This is your warning. Punishment comes next. It would be nice but that's not how it works. God gives us the choice to make our own decisions. We just have to pray that we are always in his will. Thank you Lord for not letting me get that ticket today. God bless you all. Have a good night!

Thank you Lord for all your blessings. Big and small!

BLESSINGS COME IN MANY WAYS

I got pulled over by a police officer today. I consider myself blessed. I will tell you more about it later though. God bless you!

HOME IS WHERE YOUR MOM IS

I have come home to visit my mom and just have mom and me time. It has been much needed. I have not gotten to spend quality time with her since I started working at the home 8 months ago. I miss my mommy! When one of our boys left Tuesday night, I was very sad and I just felt like I needed a break. So home is where I went. It has been very nice visiting with my mom and just hanging out. It makes me really sad to know that the kids we have who would love to spend time with their moms, are not always able to do that. I do feel better knowing that for the little time that we have them, they know that we love them and would do anything possible for them to be happy. I would take them shopping, go to their ballgames and watch movies with them all day everyday if that was what they needed to make then know they are loved. Today my mom and me went purse shopping. She bought a purse. And then I said; Mom, let's go look at new cars. We don't have to buy one, let's just go drive them. So, my mom came home with here new purse and this...

Yes, she bought one. It's beautiful and I am very happy for her. She works hard and she deserves it! Lyndsie, my daughter, took her last final in college today. She is packing today and headed home in the morning. I am excited to have her back at home and not so far away from me. Congratulations Lyndsie! You have done very well and I am very proud of you. You will always make me proud and I will always love you...no matter what! It's taking a while to clean her dorm and pack her up though. She is kind of messy. Don't tell her I said so though. :)  I hope you all have a blessed day. If you can, call your mom and tell her you love her. God bless you all! 

IT'S NOT GOODBYE....IT'S SEE YOU LATER

I have a saddened heart today. One of our boys has chosen to go home. He will leave today. I pray that it was a decision based on his head and not on his heart. The heart can be so deceitful and let us make bad decisions sometimes. This kid is a great kid! I pray that he will be a leader for Christ when he returns home to his family and friends. We love you and you will be missed dearly. I feel like I am losing part of my family. You will always have a special place in my heart. God bless you where ever you may go.

TAMABLE

Wow. We have had such a busy weekend. It's been a nice weekend though. Fortunately, for us, the weather has stayed pretty. Yesterday we took the boys to a movie and then had our music minister over for dinner. It was really nice getting to visit with him and learn more about him. I love making new friends and getting to know people who are in love with God. This morning we all got ready and went to church. Gary and I have been contemplating joining the church but had not really made the final move yet. I told Gary, I'm not joining on a Sunday morning, there are too many people who attend in the morning time. I will join on a Sunday night. (So I said) Well, God showed me who was boss. When the invitation song started my feet were headed to the preacher. We joined church this morning. Yes, on a Sunday morning that I had told God I could not do. He showed me I could. Isn't it nice how God just pulls you out of your comfort zone when he is ready for you to move! Thank you Lord, because you know I'm stubborn. That was kind of the final step for us committing ourselves to the ministry here at the home. Joining up with 2nd Baptist in Monticello. We started our revival this morning. Rev. Billy Graham is preaching it himself. No, not "the" Billy Graham. But they both preach about the same Jesus. This man is older, in a wheel chair and blind. He recites the Bible word for word. It was a great message and I am looking forward to hearing him again tomorrow night. After church we went to a choir concert that 2 of our boys were in. That was really nice. The kids did a great job singing. We came home from that and had to leave for a horse ministry event that we were going to watch. The man takes a untamed horse, and tames it while you are watching. While he is taming the horse, he talks about how the horse is relevant to our lives with God. He talked about the horse being stubborn and unmovable, kind of like we are when God wants us to do something and we say no. (Like joining church on Sunday morning) Eventually, the horse decides he has to move to get somewhere. Just like us. Eventually, we get tired and worn down and just say God, here I am. Move me at your will. It was pretty neat watching the show and realizing how much the horse to man, is like the man to God. We all have to be tamed. The young girl that was helping tame horse's made me cry. She started talking about how close she is to her dad. She and her dad tame these horses together. She said that her daddy is always there whenever she needs him. It got me thinking about my dad and how much I miss him. I always said; My daddy could fix anything. Then I started thinking about the kids we are with. I started wondering what was going through their minds when she was talking about how close she is to her daddy. I wondered if they were thinking the same thing I was. Sometimes we also have to be grateful for what we don't have. I hope you all have a good night. God bless you and sleep well.