Let the Sunshine In

I went from room to room with a bounce in my step that bright morning, stopping at each and every window.  There was a huge smile on my face as I carefully twisted open the mini-blinds.  Beautiful, glorious sunshine began to pour in. You have no idea how my heart gets giddy in the glow of the sun!  The warmth!  The light!  Sunshine instantly brightens up any room. And it’s different than just turning on a lamp or overhead light.  It penetrates.  It is hard to keep out.  It changes things.  Sunshine causes growth (hello daffodil shoots!) and brings life!

My heart did a little dance in the sunshine for a moment but then my eyes focused on the windows.  More specifically, the dust laden mini-blinds covering the windows.  Then my gaze shot around the room.  There was a ceiling fan with dust-lined blades.  Spider webs in the corners of the room where wall meets ceiling. The smudges and scrapes on the baseboards from carelessness.  All the dog hair that desperately needed vacuumed!

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I like things neat, orderly, and clean. The girls’ toys are put away at the end of the day.  Messes are tidied up.  Bathrooms are clean – usually, lol!  But, there are other household clean-ups where I just can’t seem to get it together. Those jobs somehow get overlooked.  And I think it is because I can’t really see what needs cleaned.  I mean, sure, I can assume that if I haven’t dusted and polished around the house in a while, dust bunnies will take up residence. But isn’t it a shock to really see things in the true, bold, bright LIGHT?!

Do you say these things to yourself like I do??

• I just cleaned that!
• How did I let this happen?!
• Are other people are sneaking their dirty laundry into the baskets while we are not home?!
• We must be the dirtiest people on the planet! How can there be so much dust?!
• No one will be going ________  (insert area here – upstairs, downstairs, in the closet, etc.) anyway so don’t worry about cleaning it!

However, seeing a room bathed in brilliant sunlight changes everything.  Doesn’t it?  And you know what, that made me realize… Seeing our HEARTS bathed in brilliant “SON-SHINE” changes everything too!

Think about your heart for a minute.  Sure it looks just fine at first glance.  But, what happens when you allow the full light of Jesus to completely engulf it?  Do you notice some cobwebs?  Is there a dusty spot or two? Some areas you have ignored?  Maybe a few hurts that you need to allow His Light to penetrate and heal?

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5 (NIV)

Nothing can hide in the brilliance of light.  And I don’t know about you, but I want Christ’s light to shine brightly in me and from me!  I want to see if there is an area that maybe I haven’t fully released to Him yet.  I want to allow His grace and love to transform those little corners of my heart that may have been neglected.   I need His light to shine on the areas where forgiveness is needed.  I want to live life in the “SON-SHINE”! Don’t you??

Ever mess up and feel like, “I just told myself I wasn’t going to do that!” Or maybe you have closed off a part of yourself out of hurt and figure, “I am shutting the door on that part of my heart. I will lock it away so I don’t get hurt again.” Or perhaps you have let some of the sneaky lies of the enemy slowly work their way into your heart.  You may not have even really realized it until Jesus shone His light and you truly saw for the first time in a while what had tried to take hold.

Sweet friend, let’s allow that “SON-SHINE” to pour in today as if we were opening up the blinds on the windows of our hearts.  Let that glorious LIGHT penetrate your heart, warming you with its brilliance and glow!  Don’t be afraid of what you might see. Don’t shy away from recognizing a little dust or cobwebs.  That magnificent, life-changing light is so worth it…

“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” John 12:46 (NIV)

Let’s pray…

Dear Jesus,

Thank You for being the light in my life!  Thank You for lighting up my heart with Your mercy, grace, and love! Jesus, I don’t want any nook or cranny of my heart to escape Your brilliant light!  Reveal to me now what areas may still be in need of healing.  I invite You into those areas that are in desperate need of Your restoration and care.

If there is a sin, Jesus, that I have not brought before You yet, open my eyes to it so that I may bring it to You right now for forgiveness. If there is a grudge I have been holding on to, shine Your light on it Lord. Lead me in relinquishing it and lavishing forgiveness on others just as You have lavished forgiveness on me!

Jesus, if there is a lie I have been believing, shine Your glorious light on it and melt it away.  I pray that I would remember that by Your blood I am forgiven, loved, and set free.  I am forever Yours.  Allow Your grace to flow through my heart and clear out anything I have been holding on to that does not line up with You and Your Word.

I ask too Jesus, please guide me in shining Your light brightly wherever I may go.  May I be like a city on a hilltop shining brightly in the darkness of this world.  May I lead others to You and point them to Your glorious light! It is in Your Mighty Name I pray Jesus…  Amen!

Post by: Marcy Gates

Always Have, Always Will

February is the “Love Month” and shhhhh... Don’t tell my husband but I am pretty sure Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday. I know, I know, it’s all “Hallmark”, commercialized, and money making frivolity but for me, it’s simpler than that. There is something about drawing a red heart on a piece of paper and giving it to the one you, “loved yesterday, love still, always have and always will.” This month I have been thinking about God’s grace and what that means for us, for everyone! It always comes back to grace, the simplicity of grace. 

The Hebrew word for grace, in the Old Testament, is Chesed. I give you this word because it is the very essence of God’s love for us and it is translated to mean lovingkindness. 

“The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)

You see it is God’s lovingkindness that draws us to Him. When we were yet sinners, God loved us. When we were yet sinners, God pursued us. We are drawn to His lovingkindness because it is like no other. Lovingkindness also means “loyal love”. This is a covenantal love. A promise, a faithful promise, a marriage covenant.

“I will betroth you to Me forever;

Yes, I will betroth you to Me

In righteousness and justice,

In lovingkindness and mercy;

I will betroth you to me in faithfulness,

And you shall know the LORD”

Hosea 2:19-20 (NIV)

God never goes back on a promise, He never breaks a covenant. And even when we, like Israel, are unfaithful, His lovingkindness keeps us. 

“Again I build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.” Jeremiah 31:4 (NIV)

His grace, His lovingkindness draws us to Him and restores us! This is a love worth celebrating! This is a love worthy of praise! 

Your love has found us

Your love has found us

We are yours forever

Your love has found us

It's all around us

Holding us together

(“Love Has Found Us” - Gateway Worship)

When I think about this kind of love, I can’t help but be overwhelmed. How about you? It is my prayer that we would be daughters who seek to know our Father’s lovingkindness. Let us be daughters who rest in His lovingkindness. Let us be daughters who let His lovingkindness fill us up and overflow from our hearts and our lips!

Post by: Jimmie Lee DiIanni

Fixer Upper

Photo courtesy of  HGTV

My absolute favorite show on tv right now is HGTV’s “Fixer Upper”.  I am all about shiplap, French doors, and hardwood floors these days! And don’t even get me started on the stars of the show, Chip and Joanna Gaines.  These two make me want to pack up my family, move to Waco, Texas, and raise baby goats after every episode!

If you haven’t caught the show yet (Which, really, we need to talk. I am available to watch a marathon with you on a Saturday afternoon to get you up speed!) Chip and Joanna take prospective buyers through a few really run down houses.  (Get it – fixer uppers?!) As they tour each house, Chip and Joanna (let’s be honest, mostly Joanna) give their clients their vision of what the house could be. (And y’all, it always involves hard wood floors throughout. Lol!) Then the clients decide which prospective home will work the best for them, purchase it, then let Chip and Joanna go to work.

At the end of every episode, Chip and Joanna do the “big reveal”. They pull back a giant poster of what the house used to look like to reveal in highly dramatic fashion the newly renovated and much improved house.  (Kinda like pulling back a curtain or an unveiling.) Their clients freak out.  They gasp, jump and scream with glee, and/or stare with awe.  They are astonished at the transformation that has taken place on the inside and out of the property. These people are absolutely in love with their new/old house!

This reminds me of what it is like with God and how He is transforming us.  We are sorta like His fixer uppers!  We can’t really see it in the beginning, how He will grow us, change us, and mold us like Him.  But we trust Him.  We trust His vision.  We give Him permission to do what He wants.  We give Him full reign in ourselves.

Sometimes it isn’t easy.  There are times when the project goes long.  Often there will be a few snags along the way.  Maybe a detour or new element comes in to play. You just never know with fixer uppers, what you will run into.  There’s such mystery, so many unknowns.  But yet, you keep trusting the One with the vision, the One with the experience in this kind of work.

And then…  At the end of that major event, that trial, that season, that life… We are astonished and in love with what God has done!

 "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

Post by: Marcy Gates

We Need Each Other (How I Overcame My Fear of Friendships)

This is just part of my journey with being a part of small groups and why I think being “plugged” in is an important part of walking with God. 

-Jimmie Lee

I used to be afraid of other women. I was afraid to let them in. I was afraid to try to be friends. In pretty much every season of my life, I tended to keep this extremely small circle of friends. Part of this was my personality... quiet, shy. But mostly it was because I was filled with insecurity. This insecurity had me building up walls, making excuses and keeping me from relationships that would help me grow.  

About 7 or 8 years after I renewed my commitment to Jesus, I got fed up with feeling stuck all the time. Over those 8 years I had a group of friends who were strong Christians but not a whole lot of them were women, because they were mostly my husband’s friends. These friends were a crucial part of my walk with God but I needed women speaking into my life. This would mean I needed to step out of my comfort zone and step out in faith. 

I prayed that God would put women in my life that would love me and not judge me. It still took me a little while to get up the courage but I did end up getting involved in a women’s small group at a church near me. That group of women that God sent me to will always be a part of the tapestry that is my life. They prayed over me, spoke life into me, and all with God’s power; never judging or condemning. They were Jesus to me when I needed Him to break that fear and insecurity. God used that time in my life to prepare me for seasons ahead. He showed me that His daughters are a powerful force to be reckoned with when they join hands and seek Him. And He showed me that other women... are just like me! 

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” (adapted from C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves)

Today I almost crave that time with women and when it’s not there I miss it. My favorite part about coming together to talk about Jesus is experiencing the beauty. It is a beautiful thing that each of us, individually can be so different, but come together for one purpose. Your story, your journey, it matters and it could help another woman find freedom. God made us to do this life together. He created relationships! He made us to be a body and we all have something unique and powerful to bring the table. We are better together. 

“The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense” Proverbs 27:9 (NLT)

My life has not been the same since I stepped out in faith several years ago and joined in a women’s small group. In fact, much of my spiritual growth has been spurred on while being plugged into a small group. I have learned how to pray, speak life, encourage, love and support those around me through small groups. If you are thinking about joining a small group, but there is something holding you back, I encourage you to step out in faith! Don’t let the enemy’s lies keep you stuck. Whatever it is, insecurity, confusion, busyness, cast it aside and step out in faith. I promise you will find encouragement, love and spiritual growth! 

“So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:22-25 (MSG) 


Ladies, if you are interested in joining a small group, Jimmie Lee will be leading our next eight week session... Ever wonder what justification, redemption, and righteousness really mean for us as Christ followers? Join the Women’s Small Group Study on Wednesday, January 27th at 7:00. For the next 8 weeks, we will explore one life changing word per week and how it relates to the salvation we have in Jesus.  You won’t want to miss this time of growth, learning, and fellowship!  For more information and to register visit www.westridge.cc

How I Lost 30lbs. & Then Gained It All Back...

In September 2012, I surpassed my weight loss goal by losing over 30 pounds.  By September 2015, I had gained it all back.  What happened?! Were pizza, French fries and chocolate to blame?  Laziness? Is this just another “New Year/New You” weight loss post?!

No. Not at all.

Let me explain.  

Back in 2012, I was determined to get healthy.  I wanted to lose all the weight I had gained from bad eating habits and three pregnancies.  I didn’t like how out of shape I was and I cringed when I saw pictures of myself.  I found a diet and exercise plan that sounded reasonable.  Even my husband was on board and joined me!

Now, I’m such a rule follower.  In fact, I follow the rules so well that staying on the diet was something I was easily able to do.  Well, okay, maybe not easily. There were times when I was drooling over making my daughter a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while I knew another “carb-free” meal was awaiting me.  But, I had clear guidelines (a.k.a. rules) and I was able to stick with them.

When the diet ended, my husband and I were ecstatic with the results.  I actually had ended up losing more weight than I intended!  In fact, I had lost so much, I almost looked sick.  Like there was something really wrong with me.  My hip bones stuck out noticeably. My kiddos thought my lap was uncomfortable to lay their heads on.  (No more “cushion” I guess!)  Still, I was excited to start living in this “new” body and was enjoying working out daily.  In fact when I looked at myself in the mirror I felt like I had lost so much weight, I could eat however (and whatever) I wanted.  So I did.

There was problem though that I never tackled while I was dutifully eating right and working out.  I never addressed the fact that I use food as a comfort.  If I was stressed, taco dip sounded good!  And after the diet ended, cravings for pizza or fast food were no longer being denied but given in to.  And oh my, when the kiddos started getting crazy and my hormones were going nuts, chocolate sounded like the best decision ever! Snacking at night before the diet started was just part of my usual daily routine.  But while I was dieting, I stopped. Many glasses of water were guzzled in the evenings trying to drown out the grumblings of my empty stomach.

After the diet ended though, there was no “rule” that said I couldn’t satisfy my craving for cheese sticks or cheese curls.  There was no “rule” dictating to me that I must exercise.  So slowly but surely, the old habits returned (food = comfort) and brought the extra pounds right back with them. 

The real issue was that even though I had lost the weight and gotten healthier, I didn’t realize the comfort I was seeking could never be satisfied with food.  30 pounds later I have learned the hard way that my comfort is from Jesus and Jesus alone.  Now one would think, after all this time, after all I have seen God do in my life and in the lives of others this would come easy for me.  One would venture to guess that after all I have learned in my walk with Jesus that I would have grasped this by now.  But I’m still learning.  I’m so thankful that God is not done with me yet.

So that is why I am so eager for the upcoming 40 days of prayer and fasting that West Ridge will begin in the new year. (This special time will run January 3^rd through February 13^th.) I believe that God has asked me to cut chocolate from my diet (One of my favorites!) and to limit my food intake to three modest meals a day (That means no guacamole and chips at 9:00 at night!). And I’m sure there will be some bit of weight loss from this.  However, it’s not about losing weight right now.  For me, it is about coming to God and bringing Him the first of the new year.  There is a purpose for the prayer and fasting.  I want to be pursuing God in the beginning of this new year, this new start.  And in that time of prayer and fasting, I want to be seeking Him and learning how to truly allow Him to comfort me.  I believe that by coming to God first, by earnestly seeking Him and His heart, that our relationship will grow even closer.  I am confident that He will renew my mind, that He will break the yoke that has been bringing me down, and will bring us even closer together in unity. 

Ladies, it will be a good thing!  I’m entering in to this new season with an expectant heart and I hope you will too.  I’m not looking at this 40 day journey as a time of what I have to do without or even a time to follow a “rule” but a time of great expectation!  I’m looking forward to hearing from God, to receiving healing from God, and to gaining His vision of what He has in store for me in 2016 (and beyond)!

Sweet friends, this upcoming forty day journey, is going to be amazing!  It is going to be life changing!  Don’t hold back now.  Please don’t let 2016 kickoff and skip seeking God first!  Bring Him the first part of the year.  Come to Him through prayer.  Allow Him to speak to you in only ways He can! There probably is something God wants you to fast from. Prayerfully ask Him what it is.  It might be food, it might be technology, it may even be dare I say… coffee!  Whatever it is that God is leading you to, I want to encourage you to be obedient and participate in the fast.  God has awesome things that He wants to reveal to you, to speak into you, to show you, and to help you with!  Why miss that opportunity?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you,

and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”

Isaiah 58:6-9(NIV)

Post by: Marcy Gates

By the way…  If you missed Pastor John Goebbel’s message concerning the upcoming 40 days of prayer and fasting at West Ridge, you can catch it right here: http://westridge.cc/display.php?s=79660

A Christmas Prayer - 2015

Ladies, as Christmas quickly approaches, we wanted to just take a moment and invite you to pause and pray with us.  Jimmie Lee DiIanni leads us in a prayer for Christmas 2015...

I am honored to stand with you as one body and lift up this prayer for all of us, daughters of the Most High King!

~Jimmie Lee

Father God,

Thank You for the amazing gift of sending your Son, Jesus! You didn’t have to but You did! Where would we be without Your love? If we climb to the heights, You are there! If we find ourselves in darkness, You are there. You are always there. Thank You that You have made a way for us. Thank You for the immeasurable gifts You have given us through Jesus! You sent Him as a babe, in a lowly manger. But He was our way out, a way out for all!

As we have embarked on this season where the world tends to be more focused on You, I pray that Jesus would shine through each one us. I pray that as Your humble servants, we would be the love that Jesus is to others. Let us shake off the pretense and everything that Christmas is not. Keep our eyes fixed on You, being Your hands and feet.  May we send forth Your love, joy, peace, grace, mercy, and kindness to all.

I pray a blessing over each family. May You strengthen marriages and relationships. May You keep Your hedge of protection around our homes, our hearts, and our minds. May You guide and direct our steps and decisions, giving us clarity and vision. Grant us grace and peace, living in right standing with You, oh Lord. Encourage our spirits as we go about our days serving You. Help us Lord, to be confident right where we are, leaning on You for our identity and freedom! And Lord God, I ask that You would quiet our hearts as we wait for You, speak life into us as we enter into a new year.

You are a good good Father, who sent His perfect Son to make new life for us. You are the Faithful One, the Holy One who calls us His! Thank you Lord!  In Jesus’ name… Amen!

“God you can now release your servant:

Release me in peace as you promised.

With my own eyes I’ve seen your Salvation;

It’s now out in the open for everyone to see:

A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations, 

and of glory for your people Israel.”

Luke 2:29-32 (MSG) 

Ladies, thank you for reading the West Ridge Women's blog!  We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

'Tis the Season?!

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone.  I don’t know about you but I still have turkey left-overs in my fridge.  The feast was days ago and I can say with full confidence that I don’t want to eat anymore stuffing for the next eleven months!

You know this time of the year, this holiday season, really is unlike any other.  The stores are not nearly as crazy at Memorial Day or 4^th of July.  The demands are more complicated.  The preparation is more involved.  The stress level can rise and the faith level can drop.

No other time of the year is as crazy busy as the time from Thanksgiving to Christmas.  And sometimes we can make it even crazier for ourselves.  While we try to cross off everything on our holiday to-do lists, we can forget the true meaning of what we are celebrating.  Then… And then! We feel guilty for not fully grasping everything we are “supposed” to grasp.  Did we meaningfully reflect on God’s goodness to us this past year?!  Are we really ready to receive the most precious gift?! Before you know it, you are staring at your Christmas tree, exhausted on Christmas night after all the hubbub of the day wondering, “Did I miss it?  The trueness, the realness, the faithfulness?  Did it pass me by this year (again?!)?”

So, how do we do it differently this year?  How do we keep this season of gratitude, wonder, and joy from slipping away? This kind of question, it makes me think of Ann Voskamp.  It reminds me of her words in “One Thousand Gifts” defining Eucharisteo:  “Grace, thanksgiving, joy.”

Since Thanksgiving is still fresh on our minds, let’s start there.  One of the best ways to build your faith level up is to look back on the year.  Think about all of the things God did for you in 2015.  The blessings, the answered prayers, the encouragement, the little love notes He placed before you each day. 

Now, I know, you are busy.  I’m busy too!  There are kids to get ready for school, work to do, important things.  But, there are pockets of time in our days (aside from our "quiet time"); that we can pause and remember God’s goodness and faithfulness.  Those times when you are in the car alone, or even waiting in line at Wal-Mart (I’ve done it!).  And as you remember all those things, thank God.  Thank Him for His faithfulness, His goodness, His love, and His grace.

“I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” Psalm 77:11-12 (NIV)

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100:4-5 (NIV)

As you look back on the year and remember God’s faithfulness, your stress will decrease.  I promise!  You can’t look back on what God has done for you and still be tense.  Wrapping paper and bows will fade away as you pause and remember and give thanks.  Plus, you know what dear old Ann has to say about thanksgiving don’t you?  It always precedes the miracle. 

In the pausing and giving thanks, our faith swells.  As we remember each blessing, a brick in our “wall of faith” is laid.  Plus, the act of thanksgiving leads us to recall God’s amazing grace.  The great gift of God’s unmerited favor.  Who couldn’t use a reminder of grace during this season?!  Burnt the Christmas cookies? Grace.  Forgot to wish someone a “Merry Christmas”?  Grace.  Toddler has a melt-down in Target? EXTRA grace ; )  My friends, during this season, grace is a gift we all can use! 

And you know, as we bask in the warmth of God’s grace, we find joy.  Isn’t that what we all are striving for this time of year?  To have joy in the Christmas season?  To be overflowing with joy as worship the miracle we celebrate each December?

So my encouragement for you this year, this holiday season of 2015? Well, just as the calendar begins our holiday season with Thanksgiving, we too should begin with thanksgiving!  Recall how God has been faithful to you this year.  Allow that to build up your faith.  Then rest in God’s grace.  The world’s version of the Christmas season is going to try to wear you out – physically, mentally, and emotionally.  Soak up God’s grace.  And then, then my friends, the joy will come.  Your heart will be ready to welcome the King!

“For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

Post by: Marcy Gates