"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".........when Charles Dickens wrote these words in the Tale of two cities, he did not realize how many time they would be repeated over the years. After celebrating eighteen years of marriage I can truly say these words about Jeff's and I's time together. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Today I look back over those years and I know that I am truly living a fairy tales. Does that mean that it is all flowers. It has required lots of hard work and dedication. We also give thanks to our Heavenly Father who has been the center of our life together. As we set up our little one bedroom apartment in Miami, I am reminded of our early days to together. We have left our family home, and are on our own. We have started this new journey and God is and has already been moving. He is showing off and we able to boast about Him in all things.

Next Chapter

On Friday morning, sitting in the school's yard praying; after dropping Jeff off at work. I am looking at the students arrive and parents leave for the day and begin to reflect on the days we were also dropping off our kids to school and leaving for the day, or all of us arriving together and beginning the school day together because we were also teachers at that specific school. Those days have changed, we are now in another city than our kids. We are what has been deemed empty nesters and like I have told Audra, our daughter on a number of occasions recently we are all learning to grow up and be adults.
This next chapter, is one of excitement, trepidation, longing, fulfillment, anxious thoughts, proud moments, too many feelings to begin to articulate. We, officially began this leg of bobbing weaving 33 days ago and we trekked 920 miles from Virginia to Florida. Now, as I sat in that school yard, so much has changed we are no longer dropping our daughter to school. She is now entering a school, to work along with a seasoned teacher, as part of her degree program. She and her father both are in the process of instilling truth into young minds.

One can never fully imagine the day, that you leave them to their own devices and pray that all that you have tried to instill takes effect. She is noticing things about the house now. For instance, last week, she called and said; "Mommy, I can't believe it, someone has put another satellite dish in our yard. Can you believe the audacity of people."  I said, "really, are you sure?" She said, "yes, there are two in the yard, DirecTV and Wildblue." I begin laughing inside and then I said, " Audra, those are ours and they have been there for three years." And then it hits me, how good children have it, and the realization that they really don't take notice of things around them. She said, "It was never any concern of mine, aren't you glad I am noticing now?" I said, "Yes, my darling......"

How many times, have we not taken notice of what the Father has done or is doing for us. We take it for granted that it will be done. Let's not ever forget,  "God sent his Son into the world. God did not send his Son to judge the world guilty. God sent his Son so that the world could be saved through his Son."
As we move to this next chapter, we are ready and prepared to partner with God to save the world........what does your net chapter hold?

Bobbing and Weaving!

As I talked with my father today and recall previous conversations to others my mind thinks about bobbing and weaving. Many people have been looking in on our lives; that is my husband's and I life and believed that we have been bobbing and weaving. What does this mean exactly? Well, it means wandering aimlessly, changing courses without a specific destination in mind; it could also look like someone going and going and just unsure.

The beautiful thing, is that once someone sits down and really looks or takes the time to connect they become fully aware of our destination. That what looks like bobbing weaving to them is really a following after what God has ordained in our lives. It is a time of preparation for the tasks that are to come. It's a recovery time after completing an assignment. I characterized our lives after trusting Christ as a couple as a roller coaster ride. Why? Because we gave god the reigns, we said to Him, "Your will be done" and we did not consider this place our home.

Our journey has been one of learning to trust God, implicitly. When we choose to follow his leading and go to University, leaving our jobs to study the scriptures; we had to believe that he would take care of our family. That He would provide, care for us. And He Did! His word tells us that He can and will do "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us," this blew me away because I always thought that my thoughts were always abundant. My sister, Yvette, says that I have the robin Leach's dreams, "champagne wishes and caviar dreams."

I smile, because she is right but also wrong! My thoughts and dreams are abundant because I know who my Father who is!! I know what He has done and is doing in my life. That, He is Creator God! I am convinced that "I AM' has and is ordaining our steps........We are in Miami now and looking forward to the work He has for us here!!

From the land of the lost.........

It has been a while since I have posted to this blog. My life has been busy and crazy and filled with so many things. Since I was last here my daughter has graduated from high school, she is now a sophomore in college, my son is in the Bahamas and my beloved husband has finished Seminary and he and I have moved to Florida. He has began a Bible teaching job at a school and I am following a dream to pursue my writing and speaking calling! Changes! we have had so many of them over the years and we have allowed God to lead us to places and paths we would not have taken on our own. I intend to share some of those times and also the present happenings here. I pray that as you follow these musings that you will be moved to follow after Christ, to seek his face, to take his hand and to trust his heart. As a wife and mother, I have sought to put my family first and to follow after God's heart. For a strong woman that looked extremely difficult especially when it came to submitting to my husband. I had no true picture of what this looked like and, the messages I was receiving were not appealing. I had to return to the scriptures and I found what I needed in 1 Peter 2 and 3; where we learned that Christ was our example. Each day I choose to commit to the truths of these scriptures believing that Jesus Christ took so much for me. I will say that my husband's heart enabled me to do the right thing because he also honored the scriptures by loving me as Christ loved the church. Although, there were times where this did not seem so and then I had to look to God and ultimately submit to Him as my head. I encourage each of you wives to follow after God with all your heart and mind....He will care for you!

The Battle

"The mind is a great battlefield. The Bible tells us that we have the mind of Christ because we have a personal relationship with Him, but we still have to allow or choose to "let" the mind of Christ be in control. Every day we are at war for the control of the mind. Who wins that war is up to us and the choices that we make.
Proverbs 23:7 tells us, "For as he thinks within himself, so he is" (NASB). In other words, what we think about powerfully influences who and what we will become. Our actions, our attitudes and habits are born in the mind, an offspring of the thought life we entertain. Our actions, our attitudes and habits are born in the mind, an offspring of the thought life we entertain."
"We can literally change our life by changing how we think - but we cannot do it alone. God's standard and guideline for our thought life is very clear and demanding. In fact, it's completely impossible without God's power at work in our life.
"Think about the things that are good and worthy of praise; think about the things that are true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected" (Philippians 4:8, NCV)"
Mary S

Created for this purpose!

November 2, 2010 by Jory · 1 Comment
Do you ever wonder why you are alive–who you are and what your purpose is in life? Do you feel as if you have nothing positive to give? Do you sometimes feel like giving up? In order to answer life’s biggest questions, Rhonda Darville boldly proclaims that first we have to understand who we are. We often hear that to pursue our future, we have to know our past. Rhonda takes that even further. She says we need to look at what we were created for and who we were created by. Through examination of the truths in her own life and ultimately the truths in Scripture, she has been able to help others fulfill their purpose. Rhonda has discovered that even though we may take significant detours, we can return to the path we were created for by returning to our Creator.
About Rhonda Darville
First and foremost, Rhonda is a follower of Jesus Christ. Originally from the Bahamas, she is a speaker, writer, and advocate for the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center in Lynchburg, Virginia, teaching young women who they are, what they were created for, and how they can make positive changes in their lifestyle.
Rhonda has served as a high school teacher and has been involved in women’s ministry and youth ministry for many years. Her work today is to inspire young women with the truth of who they are and to enable them to fulfill the plan God has for their lives. She seeks to bring glory to God through her story and through the work He has done in her life—work, she says, that only He could do.
Rhonda’s Coaching Suggestions
1) Seek God first. Find out who He is by reading Scripture and reflecting upon His creation.
2) Love others. Look into their hearts and discover the good they have to offer. Connect.
Rhonda’s Scripture for Today
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11


To hear my interview with Jory follow the link below.

http://womenfindpurpose.com/created-for-this-purpose-rhonda-darville/

THE FIRING SQUAD How much do you have to hate someone to watch them confine themselves to a fiery eternity?

A young woman enters a church; she is known to have lived a life that is not pleasing to many in the church. A mother grabs her daughters by the hand and tells them,”you see that woman over there have nothing to do with her, she is a bad woman”; another mother grabs her son and says if you bring that kind of woman home, we will disown you. A group heading to Sunday school looks at each other and subtly close their ranks, concerned that she would want to be a part of their class. All day at the church, no one wanted to make contact with her eyes, no one asks her how she doing. THE FIRING SQUAD

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. 37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house; she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, and she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner." THE FIRING SQUAD
40Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.
41"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[d] and the other fifty. 42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
43Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.
44Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.
47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
I choose these words and this verse to give you a picture of my life. I am a wife and mother; I have been saved for many years in my life. I have been on staff at a few churches, I have taught Sunday school, I have instructed teens on right living and led small groups, I have been in the choir, and in other words I have been very involved in my church and the spreading of God’s word. But there is something else; you see I have been that woman in the verses above. I had committed many sins and would not allow anyone to know my sins because I was afraid of the firing squad. Remember I am actively involved in the church, I am accepted but I felt the same way the woman above felt. I felt small, I felt unworthy, I felt condemned, and I felt I had no voice. You see I was not able to have a “life more abundantly” because I was afraid.
You see I was afraid of judgment from the church just as the Pharisee (remember Pharisee’s were the leaders in the church) in the verses above was ready and did condemn the woman. "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."
I am a sinner, but a sinner forgiven just like the woman in the verses above. You see my dirty laundry was that I had had not one but two abortions during my teenage years and because of that made many more mistakes/ sins for a few more years. My laundry is not dirty anymore because I went to Jesus’ feet and asked, no begged his forgiveness and HE gave it to me. I have not been able to share this for many years because of the anger from many who believe abortion is wrong. Please do not misunderstand me I FULLY AGREE…..ABORTION IS WRONG! No one could shoot bullets at me better than I could shoot bullets at myself. I still see myself as a murderer, worse I murdered my own children. God has chastised me but he has also forgiven me.
This of course is a generalization, and of course I have looked at others from a point of judgment, how they could do that, what they are thinking, that kind of behavior will send them to damnation. I experienced freedom through a post abortion study at the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center, freedom to speak, not about me but about what God has done in my life; about God’s ability and, desire to clean up a life heading to damnation. I am now assisting at this crisis pregnancy center. I put myself in each person’s shoes I come into contact with, knowing there is hope and I am not better than them because of my salvation but desiring the same freedom for them. I am now living abundantly because God has granted me the opportunity to reach young women and men before they make a choice that will change their lives, but also to offer compassion to one who has already made a choice they cannot change.
As we seek to get the message out, that abortion is wrong. Let us remember Christ did not come to seek those that are well but those who are sick, those who are lost. How can we reach them, by our love? By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." This “one another” means all God’s people. We must speak the truth in love or we risk being just like the Pharisees and helping someone to fiery eternity because they did not see or feel our love for them. Let, therefore brothers and sisters in Christ speak the truth but always in love. The book of Hebrews, tell us that Christ is the better choice, better priest, better example; he has allowed us the opportunity to reach us for eternity during times of great crisis. We can look again at the verses above; his example was love and forgiveness. The Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center strives to provide that atmosphere of love and safety and no condemnation and I am a testament to that. May God Bless You All!