Your heart is broken, torn and bleeding and you wonder if you could ever possibly heal? The loss/heartache you just experienced has your mind reeling with questions and you want answers. Perhaps this particular season of life is extremely hard, the storm is real and you hardly have the strength to keep your head up.

We have all experienced pain, pain so deep that it threatened to steal everything within us, even our joy. Loss, loss so great that it seemed that our hearts would never heal. Trials, trials so hard that we were shaken to the very core, perhaps there may even be a little seed of doubt being planted in mind, whether God really cares about what we are going through.

Dear ones I know the pain is real, the wound is deep, and the storms harsh, but may I encourage you with the words from Deuteronomy 31:8:

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

I can not possibly fathom the pain of loss and suffering you may feel at this very moment, but my heart aches with you. I pray that Abba Father would hold you close and begin to heal what was broken and that on this journey God would reveal to you greater things of Him.

God is Father of redemption, He Restores, He Heals, He Redeems and that my friends is quite a wonderful, encouraging thought during this difficult season you may find yourself in. And when He brings restoration, Healing, and Redemption He does it such a way that is beyond our comprehension.

He brings forth Beauty from the Ashes and paints a beautiful picture on the Canvas of Life. He takes the broken pieces and forms them into a beautiful journey, that is a testimony of His Mighty Hand, to bring Him Glory.

So wherever you find yourself as you read this, be encouraged dear one, that altho it hurts, there are millions of questions, and the pain is real. Abba Father does care and He loves you beyond what you can possibly imagine. And He will:

“Console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord , that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3

Because of Him,

Vinny

•||Father||• a man who gives care and protection to someone or something.

To each one of us, Father’s Day means something just a little different. To many, its the day that you celebrate your Dad, you dote on Him with lots of special things and I bless you in that. Don’t ever take that relationship with your earthly Father for granted. Tell him you love Him, that you appreciate His Godly Example of Love and Leadership.

To others, it’s a heart aching reminder that your Father is no longer here on this earth. My heart aches with you, I am sorry for the loss you have experienced and may you experience a fresh anointing of the Heavenly Father’s Love and Grace today, as you remember what a great Father your Dad was.

And to others, today is a day that is a reminder that your relationship with your earthly Father is far from ideal. May I encourage you, please don’t ever stop praying for Him. He may have made many mistakes, maybe even hurt you physically or emotionally, and for that my friend, I am very sorry, pain from such a hurt is deep. May God’s Loving arms hold you close and heal that broken part of your heart. The Heavenly Father is the best example of Love that has ever existed and I pray that you would experience that Love today.

And now, to each and every Father, may I just say Thank you! Your example of leadership, Courage, and Love is greatly appreciated, and as you provide for and lead your Family in a way that Honors the Heavenly FATHER, I pray for a fresh Annointing of Boldness and Strength for you. May the FATHER who is the greatest example of Love, give you much wisdom and courage to lead your Family. And may the words from Ephesians 3 be an encouragement to you.

•I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit, and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ~Ephesians 3:16‭-‬19

Blessings,

Vinny

Time goes on, yet our hearts ache, our emotions are still raw, and a hundred questions tumbling in our mind. Reality seems so harsh, so real, and so bleak in such a situation where it seems impossible to go on. It seems everyone around us is carrying on with life just fine, but this storm, trial, and heartache has us hurting, hurting with a pain that we never dreamt possible.

My dear fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, my heart aches with you. Our individual trial, storm, or heartache may look completely different, but there is a common bond that binds us, and that is because of Our Heavenly Father, He is the One who cares about each trial we face, and He is the One we must look to, to find Strength and Courage to keep Going. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

To the one who is grieving because of loss, my heart goes out to you. I pray specifically that The Father would bring comfort and healing to your heart and even when the pain and loss seems too great to bear, may these words in Isaiah bring comfort and encouragement to you. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Isaiah 43:2

And then the words of Paul in Ephesians, wow, what a powerful message of blessing is packed in this short passage. My prayer for you, as you walk through this storm, is that you would be filled with the fullness of God, and that can then be used as a ministry to other hurting souls.❤

That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16‭-‬19

And then finally, from the ashes comes beauty, just like the sunshine after the storm. God can use every trial, every hurt, every storm to make something beautiful and Lets give him all the Glory🙌 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20‭-‬21

And so when the storm seems to be shaking you to the very core, look to the One who will give you strength and Peace. May God’s presence be ever real to you. And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39

Blessings,

Vinny

On this life’s journey we will face trials, we will face loss, we will face heart aches and pain. And if we are honest, none of the above feel good at all. Why? Our human nature or flesh hates change, it despises pain, therefore; there will be a conflict between the earthly and the heavenly. Reality is, it doesn’t feel good, we become weary and discouraged and we feel like giving up.

So to the one who is weary and tired of the battle, I speak life and encouragement to you and May these words from Isaiah 41:10 be like a breath of fresh air to your weary soul: Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.

To the one who finds themself in a situation where it appears all you do is unnoticed and unappreciated. Please listen and hear these words: But as for you, be strong; don’t be discouraged, for your work has a reward.” 2 Chronicles 15:7

To the one who is struggling, you are Not Alone, God loves you beyond what you can possibly imagine. And may I encourage you to keep going, keep your eyes on the Heavenly Prize. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:9

And to all of you may you receive a fresh anointing from God as you serve Him in whatever way He has called you. May you be the hands and feet of Jesus to everyone you meet. May it be through His eyes that we see every person we meet.

Keep shining, and Don’t ever Give up!!
Blessings,

Our hearts hurt, our emotions are raw, our mind is reeling with a hundred different questions, but somehow words cannot possibly express what we feel. We look outside and the world doesn’t stop, the road is still filled with traffic, the stores in town still open, and the clock ticks onward. Our feeble minds cry out, “how can things possibly go on, don’t they realize just how much it hurts?”

To the one who is hurting, I cannot take the hurt away, but I am sorry for the pain you feel, my heart aches for you and with you. May God’s loving arms be wrapped around you and May God’s presence be more real then ever before. “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

To the one who is grieving, I am sorry for the loss you have experienced, my heart cries with you. I can’t possibly not fathom the ache you feel from losing someone dear to you. But I know that Abba Father in heaven cares deeply for you and He loves you beyond measure. Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! 1 John 3:1 HCSB

To the one who is questioning “Why”, I pray that God would reveal specific things to you, and May the Holy Spirit bring comfort and peace to your heart, mind, and spirit. May God be the One whom you run to in the tempest and the trial.

To the one who is weary in Body, soul and spirit. I speak encouragement and life into you, May your eyes be fixed on Jesus and may His Holy Spirit bring rest to your soul. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:30

To the one who feels all alone, like no one could possibly feel what you are feeling. I speak to you, these precious words: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, yes, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

So whatever you are experiencing, my heart aches with you, and tonight may God’s loving hand begin the healing process in your current experience. I pray a blessing of comfort and peace upon you,and may you experience rest, sweet rest that comes only from God who loves you and cares about you!!

You are Loved and your Name is written upon the palms of the Father!

Blessings,

Vinny

  Just coming through Mother’s Day and I having the special privilege to celebrate my own dear mama.  I was reflecting on how special Mothers really are and how they are so worthy of being celebrated.  I personally have the privilege of having many dear friends who are Mothers and it is such a blessing to me, watching them serve and love their children.  Motherhood is such a high calling andd today, I want to bless you in your calling.

   So to the Mother who is exhausted and spent, because she was up most or all night taking care of her child that would not sleep because of sickness or whatever the case may be. God has given you this child to nurture, love and care for, and you are doing this to the best of your ability.  May God be your strength and remember in God’s word He says: My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.   2 Corinthians 12:9   

  To the Mother, who has lil ones that always want to ‘help and yet it would be faster if you just did it yourself.  You give those precious lil hands an opportunity to help you and in the process, you are making memories with your lil ones that will last a lifetime. May God bless you richly with much patience, love, and wisdom for these precious souls He has gifted you with.   

  To the Mother who wonders if her son or daughter will ever ‘get it’ , be it a math problem or something else they are attempting to learn.  You as their parent, have the special privilege of encouraging them and teaching them to not give up.         And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.                         Galatians 6:9

   To the Mother who is wondering whether it really matters or if anyone notices what she does daily.  May I just say Thank You, thank you for serving your family, thank you for loving the way you do, thank you for not giving up, thank you for being a shining example to those around you.  May God renew your Spirit and may His loving arms be a warm embrace to your heart. 

  To the Mother who has taken in the ‘orphans’ and loved them as your own, to you I say, Thank you, it blesses me to see You taking others under your wing and loving them as they were your very own. May God richly bless you for your kindness and love.  

  To the Mother whose heart is burdened for her child, because of choices they have made.  Please don’t ever stop praying for them, a Mama’s prayers and her unconditional  love have spoken loudly to many a prodigal son and daughter.          The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.                        James 5:16 

 To all Mothers, thank you for all you do, Serving, Loving, and being amazing! Your example of being Jesus speaks loudly and I appreciate you.  May God continue to give you strength, courage, wisdom and much love as you continue in life, you truly are an inspiration! 
Blessings,

Vinny 

  So about two weeks after I got home, I began to just feel this burden on my heart to really seek God’s direction for my life.  This was like the first time I had ever felt such a strong sense to pray and seek God’s will.  Never before had any of it really made sense, but this time it was different.  

  I continued to pray and seek direction, and I knew that God was asking me to move somewhere.  About the same time, a dear friend came to me and without knowing any details of what I had been praying about, told me that she believes God is going to open doors for me to move to another state. Wow, was I ever speechless, I praise God that she told me this, as I was waiting on confirmation, even though I didn’t know how it was gonna come.  I just knew in my heart that God was going to show me the exact place he wanted me to go at just the right time.  There were two different states that God laid on my heart, but in time God revealed that the doors were opening in GA for me to move there.

 So even before I knew I would be moving, I had planned a trip to GA to visit some very special people, and then two weeks after I booked my trip, I knew I was going to moving to their exact area. So once again, God worked out alot of Lil details, and I was able to meet some of the people here and also have a job interview in that first visit.  

  There was of course, Lots of planning that needed to happen but God took care of every thing, and I mean every tiny detail.  From figuring out how to move  my stuff to where I was gona live. Praise the Lord for that!!!  

 Oh, and obtaining my job in GA is another favorite part of the story, simply because How God worked out the details there too.  So I had always had this dream of being a secretary, I even took classes to help me learn more computer ish type things(cuz obviously I knew nothing about techy stuff, but it just seemed the doors would not open for me to get a secretarial job.  Well, once I knew I was moving here, the people here informed me of a secretarial job that would be available and they didn’t even have a clue that it was a dream of mine to be a secretary someday 😊  Hallelujah!!

  When I left Indiana that morning in August for the last time as a resident there, I don’t think I really had any idea, of the journey I was about embark on. It’s been an incredible 18 months of living here in the south, altho it definitely has its challenges too. I thought being homesick was bad the first couple months, I think it’s even worse now, but God is always faithful, and I am so glad He led me here and I can hardly wait to see what the future holds.

   Thanks for joining me as I shared my journey, there’s lots more I could have shared, and that may be in a future post😉 

Thankful for Grace,

Vinny 

  So it’s been several days since I felt inspired to write but now I am anxious to get back into it. So we left off at the end of the retreat, where I was just overjoyed with the new freedom I had just found and overwhelmed by God’s amazing provision and love. 

  So I leave that retreat a completely changed person, I am serious, I felt and even thought like a new person, I can’t put into words how much change entered my life.  And I think i mentioned in the previous post that I went into this retreat with the mindset of ‘having my life together’ and God uprooted it all in a good way.  Thank you Jesus!! 

  And so, I am now going back home, back to life as I had known it before, yet it was completely different now.  After a couple days of being home, I knew that what God was asking me to do, was not going to be accomplished by mere human strength, but only by leaning on Him and allowing Him to do His work.  I knew I needed to be obedient and meet with the very person who had caused me much pain in my life, God gave me two things to tell him.

I needed to tell him that I forgive him and that God loves Him. 

 I will always remember that ride to meet with Him, the Song, No Longer Slaves, was playing as I drove and the words just ministered to my Spirit and I just wept. 

You split the sea
So I could walk right through it
My fears were drowned in perfect love
You rescued me
And I could stand and sing
I am a child of God…

 I knew then, that as difficult as it was going to be to face this person, God was going to provide a way to share the Love of JESUS with him. 

 We met and the tears flowed freely as we talked,there was tremendous healing in the words,”I forgive you” and “I am so sorry, for all the hurt and pain I caused you”. God did a work in my heart and Spirit, as broken as I felt, I could feel God’s love surrounding me and His hand upon me. 

I am surrounded
By the arms of the father
I am surrounded
By songs of deliverance

We’ve been liberated
From our bondage
We’re the sons and the daughters
Let us sing our freedom

   And to this day, every time I hear this song, I rejoice in how it ministered to me that day.  That day, the chains of fear that had held me captive for so many years, were broken and I was FREE!!! 

 No longer did I have to feel that I was the one responsible for having caused myself so much pain. Neither did I think that I was the one that deserved the abuse, cuz of who I was!! The enemy had to flee, cuz where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Freedom!!! 

    My heart continued to heal, the dry bones were coming back to life, and there was Freedom! Thank you Jesus!! 

 But there’s more…. 

 Thankful for Redemption! 

Vinny 

So, as I was saying in the previous post, that it was a night God intervened in a way that still gets me all excited and covered in Glory bumps! This was probably my favorite part of my journey so far, because God’s love became so real to me that very evening and I received a spiritual understanding of how much God really loves us.  

   The speaker had given the opportunity for those who felt God is wanting to speak to them, to gather in a big circle. I wanted to hear God speak and without second thought I got in the circle right away.  And what God did in that circle, is/was the most amazing thing ever! 

  So there were others, that were assigned to come speak to us as they felt led. So there was this very special couple that God had laid a specific message on their hearts for someone, and when I got up to speak earlier, God revealed to them that I was the one they were to relay this message to.  

  The message was one specific thing: 

 She needs to experience the Love of Jesus, and not only experience but believe it as well.  

    Up to this point in my life, I had read, heard, and had a very shallow understanding of how deep God’s Love is for us, but in my mind that was only for ‘good’ people, I didn’t consider myself one of those people. 

 My friends, when you understand how much God really loves you, things start to make sense and I felt like the most loved person in the world, it felt as if the Father had His arms around me and was just pouring out Love like I had never known before.  It was absolutely amazing, and when they told me that God had given this message, I just wept. To know that God orchestrates each tiny detail just blessed me so tremendously.  

Truly the love of God is greater far then tongue or pen could ever tell!!! 

  As we began talking (and remember we had never met before, but it felt safe) I shared with them, some of the hurtful things that had happened in the past and how much it still hurts me, even though I pretend everything is good.   These dear people felt the Holy Spirit prompting them to tell me, that God wants me to go face to face with the very person who had initiated the abuse and tell Him I forgive Him.  

  Now of course, in this situation there was spiritual warfare going on, but Praise God!!  I agreed to it anyway, which was definitely the work of God once again. And after I agreed to proceed with it, it felt like a ton of bricks fell of my shoulders.  I could hardly stand still, I was so excited! 😊  I felt like a brand new person! 

  “Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I am found, twas blind, but now I see”

 As we sang the song:

“Amazing Grace, My Chains are Gone”

 I could truly sing that song from my heart for the first time ever! Oh my heart leaped with Joy! And I knew that I was forever a changed person!! Hallelujah!!

 But there’s more to the story, so hang tight for the next post☺

Grateful for Grace,

❤ Vinny

So the journey continues…. as will some of the ‘hard to talk about’ truths that will be addressed in this post.  

  As time went on, I could feel that God had really healed a huge part of me, but there was still one part that I didn’t feel quite right about and that was forgiving the person who had initiated the abuse, I often prayed about it but it didnt feel heartfelt or like it really meant anything, but God was working on changing that too.  

  So like I mentioned in my last post I had a tough time of trusting people again, especially men (and I am not trying to give men a bad rap here,my personal experience with men wasn’t always so good, therefore I put them all into one category and it wasn’t good) anyway God has healed that part of my heart and I learned that people can be trusted, but it took me awhile to learn that; in fact, God is still teaching me things in this specific area. 

 And the loneliness was something that I needed to deal with time and again, living alone wasn’t exactly ideal for me at the time, but I made do. I hated being alone and yet, I didn’t ‘Wana bother’ anyone, so I just tried to cope the best I could. A kind friend helped me understand that ‘not wanting to bother’ anyone could actually be a form of pride. The truth is we all need fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ and my pride was keeping me from admitting that I needed people to encourage me and help me keep going on the lonely days.  

 In this time of healing, I began to understand the power of prayer and how much comfort is in the Word of GOD, like there were so many things I could find in the Bible that spoke to me about the very thing that I was dealing with. Hallelujah! It was like a switch was flipped, I loved reading scripture and talking about spiritual things.   

  So about 15-18 months later I was asked to attend a youth retreat, but I declined twice, finally after being asked the third time, I decided maybe I should go. So I checked with my work schedule and it looked impossible, but God intervened and it worked out so that I could go. I knew that after that much indecision of going and then God intervening like He did, there was something special going to happen, I just didn’t quite expect it to all take place like it did. 

  So leading up to this retreat, I had kind of developed this mindset of; I have quite a testimony, my life is in order, and so I am just gona go enjoy this retreat. Well God intervened once again and totally uprooted my so called ‘orderly life’   

  So this retreat is pretty amazing, the speakers were incredible and the presence of God was definitely there.  So the third night, as the speaker was preparing to share the message with us, I was praying that God would open my heart and ears to receive what He wanted me to hear. Suddenly God spoke to me, and the command was so clear, 

“I want you to share your testimony with this crowd.”

   I was so startled by it that I actually started shaking. I knew I had to be obedient and so at the first opportunity there was, I stood to my feet, shaking like a leaf, faced the crowd and shared parts of my journey with them. I had horrible stage fright, I was crying and I could barely talk, but I managed to get some words out.  I sat back down, feeling pretty vulnerable and odd, and if I only knew what was ahead, I would have probably felt a lil better about it all.  

  Anyway, I managed to collect myself as they dismissed us for a short time. The best was still to come and I can’t wait to share that with y’all.😊 

To be continued…

❤.. Vinny