The Blessing of Impact

Greetings,

Have you ever really thought about the impact you can have on those around you?

It's not something that we typically think about in our daily lives, is it. Most of the time we are so focused on ourselves that we don't really see what’s going on around us.  This week I was reminded of that through one of the guests I served in the resort I work in.

I won't mention any names, but this guest was a gift and a reminder of what it *The Blessing of Impact* truly means. This guest never really asked for anything, but made it a point to come spend some time with us in the lobby each day.  Whether they were speaking about their day touring the Dana Point Area or simply getting to know my coworker and I, this guest visited us every day, *sometimes twice*.

 For me this is a two-fold reminder. My coworker and I were there to listen to what this guest had to share and the guest's willingness to take time out of their day to visit with us, *not many guests do this*. In a strange sort of way the three of us had an impact on each other though the conversation we all shared. Now, this may not seem like a lot, or even that meaningful to those that read this post but it was something special for us.

It was a huge blessing for a guest to actually want more than the keys to their suite and a map of the resort from us in the lobby. I also believe that it was a huge blessing for this guest to have someone who was willing to share with them in their vacation.

"Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed," (Psalm 34:5 ESV.)

 All in all, the entire experience has reminded me of how much joy I receive from serving God and others. It reminded me that even the simplest act of kindness can impact another. We are all in need of small acts of kindness and have the potential to use these acts for Gods Glory. If each of us took a moment today to embrace an opportunity to be kind to someone else or to actually listen to them when we ask *How are you doing?* who can imagine the impact it might have on the world we live in...

Thanks again for visiting "The Gathering Room"

Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you... (2 Thes. 2:15b NCV),

M.E.

The 'Secret' Rest

Greetings,

Today as I side in the midst of the night and as my family rests their weary hearts, I am reminded of the song “Secrets” that is played by the Piano Guys. If you remember though the actual song was first written by OneRepublic. 

I don't really know much about either of these bands but the music in this song has always spoke to my heart and honestly, I am still trying to figure out why, LOL.  It could be that there is something I need to get off my chest or the fact that I am really working at spending more time growing in my faith journey. It could have something to do with what the world is facing right now. Either way, I thought I'd share a few Lyrics from the song with you before I continue this post...

Tell me what you want to hear
Something that will light those ears
Sick of all the insincere
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away

This time don't need another perfect lie
Don't care if critics ever jump in line
I'm gonna give all my secrets away

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/onerepublic/secrets.html 

There are more lyrics to this song but these lyrics speak to the message of this post. 

God wants all of us to be sincere in our faith. This doesn't mean that we "tell him what he wants to hear" because he already knows. It means that we choose not to hold things in. Instead we can "give all our 'secrets' away" to him.  

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Have you ever really read this verse in Matthew?

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light,” (Matt 11:28-30 NIV).

 When I first read this verse I thought it meant that if I go to Christ with my concerns that he would simply take them away and nothing would ever go wrong. Honestly, it always frustrated me that he didn't just "take them away." As I have grown in my faith through I have learned that the "rest" Jesus was referring to when he gave this message what "the resting of His embrace upon our weary souls."

Being sincere in our faith requires that we give everything completely to Him "who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think," (Eph. 3:20 NLT). I believe with all my heart that God longs for us to be close to His embrace.

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When one hugs another it does one of two things, it brings comfort or vulnerability. While it is not always comfortable to open ourselves up so much, once we do there is always, and will always be, that little feeling of relief to comes. When we "give all our secrets away" the same feeling that awakens within the very depths of our soul, awakens His loving embrace. This is the rest Jesus was speaking about.

So don't hesitate to give your secrets away to Jesus, in giving them to him and embracing a sincere faith, we will indeed find rest for our weary souls.

Thanks again for visiting "The Gathering Room"

Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you... (2 Thes. 2:15b NCV),

M.E.

What is Seen and Unseen: The Masterpiece of Moments

Greetings, 

There are moments in life when all you can do is stare in AWE!!! These moments aren't always that predictable though and they tend to reveal themselves in the strangest way. Personally, these moments have always shown up at some of the most inopportune times. 

Sometimes they appear when I am in a rush, other times they show up when I really don't want them too and still there are other times when I really need them and don't really realize it.  Today one of those moments came and to be honest, I really didn't want it too.  However, God works in mysterious ways doesn't He?

I was reading in the book of Isaiah today while at lunch and found a little gem of a scripture that reminded of a talent that is all too often, overlooked,  and forgotten by many; God's Handiwork. It is one of the most amazing talents He has and many times we leave beautiful moments, like the one pictured above, completely unseen. Instead we only see what we want to see. I have to tell you this picture doesn't do this moment justice.  It was a masterpiece...

“...Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior..." Isaiah 43:1b-3a NLT)

 In the moment I read this scripture today, I felt a desire to turn around and look behind me. The sunset I saw was truly a masterpiece unlike anything I could have imagined. As I upon the waters, I saw glimmers of hope and reassurance. As I looked towards the mountain, I saw AWE and the wonder of Gods' grace. As I looked at the sun setting, the beams of light that broke through the clouds brought me a peace I would not have experienced otherwise. All I could do was stop in AWE!! of Gods amazing masterpiece. (I was almost late clocking back in at work)

It is these moments that motivate me to spend time "bringing you what God brings me" as my tagline has said for so many years.  The scripture from Isaiah reminded me of this, "we belong to Him" and no matter what we face in life there will always be a masterpiece hidden somewhere in the moment just waiting to reveal itself to us. God has called each of us by name and has given us all specific moments to remind us of this. Today I share this one with you.

Thanks again for visiting "The Gathering Room"

Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you... (2 Thes. 2:15b NCV),

M.E.

What is Seen and Unseen; Peaceful Melody

Greetings, 

Have you ever felt as though everything is going wrong? 

Did you feel like no matter what you did you weren't doing anything right and that people were getting all over your case because of it?

It's not easy is it?  You do everything you can to do things the right way and the result is always the same (or at least it feels that way in the moment, right?).  For me, it's been like that for the past few days and I'll be honest, it’s been a bit hard to work through...

found on mykneeguide.com

There is no need to go into any details, but let me just say, It has gotten better and the hard moments made it possible for God to send me a Peaceful Melody of a reminder today...

I was on my lunch, reading my daily Jesus Calling Devotional, and I was reminded that I needed to focus on finding my quite place.

"I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from Him" (Psalm 62:1 NLT).

In the Jesus Calling Devotion it stated to "Sit quietly in My (Gods) presence while I bless you." At first I refused, but as I continued to read it stated to "rest in My sufficiency as you consider the challenges this day presents." Talk about a rude awakening, as that moment all I could do was as the devotion instructed. 

As I sat quietly, I began to think about the verse I just quoted from Psalm 62. In that moment I was encouraged by the fact that even though I could not see where God was in those harder moments, He was there, struggling to get my attention.  For me to realize this, I needed to find the peaceful melody of God’s grace in the midst of what was going on around me.  This realization changed my whole perspective on the past few days. It helped me find what was unseen in the chaos surrounding me.

I share this briefly, to encourage those that may read this post.  In the midst for the chaos surrounding you, seek to find the peaceful melody of God’s grace. Take a moment to breathe so that God may bestow a blessing upon you, I have no doubt that He will.

Thanks again for visiting "The Gathering Room"

Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you... (2 Thes. 2:15b NCV),

M.E.

A Long Awaited Update....

Greetings,

Life in California is a lot different, but we are enjoying being closer to Traci's Family. My time at the resort has been very eye opening and I am learning much about being a worker in the harvest of the world, to paraphrase a letter in our book. 

Recently, I was given the opportunity to co-write a book with someone in the Dominican Republic. This book will be released in 2016 and tells the author's story from a cosmic view point. It's entitled, Cosmic: A Rise into Greatness.  You can find more details about this book here.  I post spiritual warfare articles on this website regularly, under the spiritual warfare tab, that will hopefully teach others what spiritual warfare is all about and how to overcome it.

We have spent a lot of time refining our vision for the ministry we feel God has placed upon our hearts and feel God has something wonderful he wants to do through the end result. We will begin posting updates on this vision here in the months to come. We ask that those that are willing begin to pray for God's direction in our hearts with regard to this dream of ours. I have also been spending time refining my Devotional Blog and experimenting with new avenues for my ministry there. I try to post something at least twice a month.

Our children are growing more every day and it has been simply amazing to see how God has been at work in them. Leyla is using more words every day and Caleb is almost walking. Crazy, huh? Needless to say, God has opened some doors for us here and I, for one, am pretty excited to see where God will take us.

That's all for now,

For those that are interested here is a link to our book's Facebook Page...

Ahavah Writings for the Journey

Blessings in Christ,

The Elliott's

What is Seen and Unseen: The Library Affect

Have you ever wondered if you were on the right path with God?

   I have asked myself this very question many times in my life and still it, on a daily basis. Yesterday, as I watched the facebook feeds begin to focus more on political endeavors (that is a post all its own) this question came to the forefront of my mind. As I pondered where I was in my own life, I felt the LORD told me to wait and trust that he would reveal the answer to me in time.

   This morning, I believe God gave me a dream to answer that question. This dream was quite eye opening. In the dream, I found myself walking along a path. This path was no ordinary path by any means but it was a path that, as a writer and partial visual learner, really made since. As I walked upon the path I found that is was made completely of Books/DVD's, much like I see in an actual library or book store. This may not seem very insightful at the moment but as I continue I hope you will see where I'm going.

   The odd thing about this path was that it was created by numerous bookends (short ends of a book) that were only a few inches long, so there wasn't much leeway when it came to finding the right balance. As I journeyed upon "The Bookend Path" I saw on either side of me mountains of other Books/DVD's on all sorts of subjects. With each section I came to I began to see my life unfolding before me. Every step I took was one of trying to balance myself so I would not fall off. Each new mountain of Books/DVD's I saw it made it harder to stay focused on the journey the path would take me on. As I journeyed deeper and deeper along the path into "The Library", it was almost as if I was being tested. Distractions would come and if I wavered at all, I would fall.

   Upon waking up from this dream, I began to realize, the path of books was the path I walk upon daily in my faith journey. Even though I don't always see it, it truly was there. I began to imagine myself in a library with those mountains of Books/DVD's and asked myself “Which section would be so distracting that I couldn't stay focused enough to keep going?" Then I understood that the section that would be the biggest distraction was the answer to my original question "Where am I at in my faith right now?" It was all too riveting. I will share my revelation another time.

   The reality is that each of us has our own "Bookend Path" we are on in our Journey and that we all have our own “Library” to travel through. Each of us has insecurities and desires that can divert us from focusing on staying on that path. We all have questions that need answered about where we are in our faith and if we are doing what is right. Every section in our individual libraries reveal to us something about ourselves and about what we are in our journey with God. As we endeavor to journey along this “Bookend Path” there are bound to be times when we fall off. The important thing is that we find our way back.

   “The Library Affect" may not seem like much to think about, but I challenge you today, too ask yourself and more importantly God "Where am I in my faith journey?" Then, if it helps, imagine yourself in that “Library” or on “The Bookend Path”. In time, God will reveal to you the answer. We cannot see this path on our own though, we must ask to see it and trust that God will reveal it to us when the time is right. When it is revealed to you though, it will open your eyes to an entirely new way of thinking.  

Thanks again for visiting "The Gathering Room"

Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you... (2 Thes. 2:15b NCV),

M.E.

Ahavah Writings is Out...

Greetings Everyone, 

Hey Everyone, Our book has been out for just over a week now. The word is out and people are excited. 

Here's your opportunity for you to share this book to your Facebook page or website.

http://www.amazon.com/Ahavah-Writings-Journey-Matthew-Elliott/dp/1505321891

We want people to know they are loved and that they are not alone and feel this book is a great way to do just that.  

We are selling the the Paperback for $5.50 and the Kindle for $4.29.   

Follow this link to Amazon...

Thanks again for visiting "The Gathering Room"

Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you... (2 Thes. 2:15b NCV),

M.E.