Slow Fade

This is for Elisha Reagan and Ryan. May no one else hurt you again.=)

This song is so powerful... how many families have crumbled... how many daddies have left. It is such a slow fade. It isnt like one morning a man wakes up and decides he is going to walk away from his family. It starts with an attraction to someone.. then a smile returned from that person, then a conversation that goes a little to long. Then it turns into texts and calls... trying to hide it and then lying. It starts so innocent. So when should he have known that he was falling over the edge. It is hard to say... but I would say the moment you are attracted and can feel any sort of emotion above a friendly level. There are going to be times that you are attracted to someone else. It is human nature but when you long for that person. When you see them you feel happier, when you talk to them you have butterflies. That is the time that you need to walk away. There was a time that your wife made you feel that way, she still should. But once you get those happy feelings with this other woman... that is when you start to see the faults in your spouse. She isnt as pretty, she isn't as skinny, she doesnt nag me, she does all these fun things. That is how you saw your wife before your lives got involved. Like the song says it is a slow fade... Daddy used to be here everyday, then he was gone 3 nights a week working late, then he was home every once in a while.... and eventually he is gone. It is a sick sad world that this happens... but it does everyday.

The devil is more cunning than anyone can imagine. All he needs is one foot in the door and then he is like a theif and will push his way into your house. He is a seducer, he is a dancer, he waltzes with you..."she is pretty" "wow I can't believe she was talking to me" "I think she is flirting with me" "hmm I will tell my wife I was talking to Bill... she will never find out" "I bet we could meet up out of town, I am sure I can get away for a day".... this is how it goes. It is a dance and you think if you just dance on that edge you will be fine. You would never go that far.... I dont think anyone who is cheating meant for it to go that far. But it does.

This is out of The Message Bible

Proverbs 5
1-2 Dear friend, pay close attention to this, my wisdom; listen very closely to the way I see it. Then you'll acquire a taste for good sense; what I tell you will keep you out of trouble.

3-6 The lips of a seductive woman are oh so sweet, her soft words are oh so smooth.But it won't be long before she's gravel in your mouth, a pain in your gut, a wound in your heart.She's dancing down the primrose path to Death; she's headed straight for Hell and taking you with her.She hasn't a clue about Real Life, about who she is or where she's going.

7-14 So, my friend, listen closely; don't treat my words casually.Keep your distance from such a woman; absolutely stay out of her neighborhood.You don't want to squander your wonderful life, to waste your precious life among the hardhearted.Why should you allow strangers to take advantage of you? Why be exploited by those who care nothing for you? You don't want to end your life full of regrets, nothing but sin and bones,Saying, "Oh, why didn't I do what they told me? Why did I reject a disciplined life?Why didn't I listen to my mentors, or take my teachers seriously? My life is ruined! I haven't one blessed thing to show for my life!"

15-16 Do you know the saying, "Drink from your own rain barrel, draw water from your own spring-fed well"?It's true. Otherwise, you may one day come home and find your barrel empty and your well polluted.

17-20 Your spring water is for you and you only, not to be passed around among strangers.Bless your fresh-flowing fountain! Enjoy the wife you married as a young man!Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose—don't ever quit taking delight in her body. Never take her love for granted!Why would you trade enduring intimacies for cheap thrills with a whore? for dalliance with a promiscuous stranger?

21-23 Mark well that God doesn't miss a move you make; he's aware of every step you take.The shadow of your sin will overtake you; you'll find yourself stumbling all over yourself in the dark.Death is the reward of an undisciplined life; your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end.

Overcoming... from a somewhat guest blogger

My boss/coworker/friend/surrogate dad in NC Mike received a word from God the night before last for me. I will not write everything that he had told me but I will put some excerpts...



You name came to my mind along with the word "Overcoming". You have had many trials in the 29 years that you have lived. For many years you tried to overcome these trials under your own power, strength , and wisdom. In recent years you have realized the futility of human wisdom in these circumstances and have started to trust God with your trials. By trusting God, you are seeing that His wisdom and particularly his timing is always best. The name God has given you is Overcoming... not Overcomer because you are still a work in progress. There are wounds that you carry that still need to be healed and not covered over. Forgiveness is especially important for you to both understand and to show. Because of the faith you are demonstrating in your life through your tirals and as a witness for Christ to others, God will continue to help you to overcome. God has given you the type of personality to draw people to you and to enjoy to be around you. God wants to use that gift for you to show Him to others. He wants you to be his mirror whereever you are, at home, at work and even on the soccer field. God's words found in the scriptures will be the anchor that will stabilize you when things get rough.



I am always excited to hear what God says to others about me. It is a nice verification of what God tells me. I know that I still have alot of stuff still to overcome. But to look back at the person I was before I was saved.... and the person I am now....There is no resemblence. That Susie is gone. When I was baptized... I rose again and have never wanted to be the person I was. I am a Christian first, a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter and a friend.... these are my life titles. And I constantly try to strive to live up to all of them. Do I fail at times?... yes of course, but that will never stop me from trying to be the best at everything I am.

I was read the book of The Revelation last night and Apostle John was told to write a letter to each church... and this is in the end of each letter..

To Ephesus
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
To Smyrna
He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
To Pergamum
To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
To Thyatira
To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery - just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give him the morning star.
To Sardis
Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
To Philadelphia
Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.
To Laodicea
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

I shall overcome... even if I only get one of these blessings to these churches! To all who I have sinned against I am truely repentant, those who have sinned against me... you are totally forgiven. And for those who I sin against often I would like for God to assist me in the release of the pain and anger I feel against you. My main sin is to love my enemies as I love myself. I pray for their salvation often and hope one day we will walk side by side in heaven by our Lord.

Worry

I have always been a worrier. I would worry about everything, what people thought of me, what would happen to me if... what would happen about this, how am I going to pay for this or that. As I worried nothing was accomplished. Nothing was gained except me having a insecure notion that I may be able to change what was going to happen. I have gotten better with this lately, I have have just come to accept what will happen... will happen and I have faith that God will not give or take anything that I can not handle. God gives me scriptures to guide me thru life and to hold on to in times of storms. I have Psalms 37 printed out and it is hanging right by my desk... so anytime I get worried or have any doubt in the ways I am going I look at it and remember the promises it stands for. I will NOT be bullied, I will NOT be worried, I WILL live with my head held high and know that the things of the earth are fleeting, including the worrying I have done in my life. The things I worried about have come and gone and all I did was cause myself to be sad or anxious. But that will happen no longer.

Phillipians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

God does not disappoint!

Romans 5:3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 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.

I will rejoice for the way my children are used as pawns against me to make me suffer. Because I have hope in God and He does not disappoint.



Psalms 37: 1 Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.