Listening to God’s Urgency

I have a story that is so amazing and too profound not to share with all my readers! I am giving God all the glory for what He done this Monday, March 23, 2015. I could have been burying my husband this week if I had not cancelled everything and just listened to the Urgency God placed on my heart! I could break on in praise just thinking about it!

As most of my readers already know, my husband’s job has him traveling around and sometimes we go with him and other times we stay home and just go whenever we can to visit. Well this particular job we stayed home because my mother had a heart attack a little over a month ago (a miracle in itself!) and I have been home helping her till she fully gains her strength back.

This week I had 3 different engagements that prevented me from coming to see my husband and on Monday morning I had a strong urgency to cancel all three and come to see him that day. I had spoken to him that morning when he got off work and unlike other times we talked a good little while on the phone about missing each other and that I really needed to come see him. Usually at 4:30 am I am not very talkative and I hang up within 15-20 minutes, It took me a while to fall asleep after and when I woke up later I felt God telling me to cancel my appointments and pack up and get on the road.

I called and cancelled and began packing, then it started, one thing after another preventing me from leaving when planned, but I still kept packing and finally got on the road later that evening. I had spoken to husband before He left for work at 3 pm and overheard him saying to someone something about a sewer smell in our camper but I didn't think anything of it. When I arrived at our camper however I quickly smelled propane outside, when I opened the door I realized it was coming from inside our camper, somehow my husband had bumped the burner turning it on sometime before going to bed at 6 am and not realizing it. Thank God our dog was fine that travels with him and that my husband was fine, most the time people die from being in the fumes (silent killer). I opened all windows except the emergency window, took our dog whose name is Lucky (coincidence? Nope He really is lucky), and went to Walmart to pass time.

When I returned to the camper my key would not turn the lock to get back in. I freaked because I had my 2 kids and our dog with me and I had no way to get in, luckily my husband had just got on lunch and when I explained the situation his job allowed him to leave and come meet us. Thankfully I had the windows open and my son who is 6 years old could fit through the one that had no screen, He couldn't open the door so we had him open the emergency window and my husband climbed in and discovered the dead bolt was broken. He took it off and we had it fixed the next day.

All that was said to say this, God knew what He was doing when He put that urgency in me to come see my husband for a week, if I hadn't listened, my husband would have come in from work, locked the door and went to sleep in the fumes that would have been even stronger by then (still assuming it was a sewer smell) and when he locked the door it would have locked them in here with no way for anyone to get in when He and our dog became unresponsive. They would have died and no one could have did anything because no one would've known anything was wrong. When I didn't hear from him, I would've came and the only way in would've been to bust a window because the dead bolt broke on that next locking of the door.

Please always listen to God when He is telling you to do something! You could be saving a life! Who knows what God wants to use you to do? Please always be willing and available for God to use you as a vessel for His work! God Bless you and I apologize for the lengthy text but I felt that I needed to share this miracle with you all!

What can you share that God has used you to do because YOU listened to HIS call?

Be Blessed,

Regina Cozad

You are not defined by who you use to be!

Are you tired of constantly being let down by those around you that won't let your past go? Are you tired of trying to live up to a standard from some people that doesn't matter? Today you can breathe and let go! You aren't defined by your past, if you have truly asked God to forgive you and have given it to him, It's under the blood and it's gone!

Tonight I can't sleep from thinking about somethings I've been allowing to get me down the last few days. There was an incident that happened a few days ago that has reminded me that there are some people who still think of me as the sinner I once was before I came to God. They still call me names that are unkind, believe things about me that are untrue and hurt me by reminding me that my past happened. It's hurtful and shameful and I don't want to relive it!

I don't want to stay there though and I won't! I will not allow people's negative opinions of me to continue to control how I feel about myself. I prayed and gave all my ugly sins and past to God 6 years ago and I know without a shadow of a doubt that it's under the blood of Jesus!! I was praying concerning this matter Sunday morning at church and God kept telling me in that still small voice that He loves me and I'm not defined by who I once was! Then it was confirmed again by someone I trust with all I have on Tuesday!

So I am writing this tonight to encourage those who may be in the same place as I am and I want to tell you to keep your head up and keep praying! If you have given the Ugly to Jesus then do not allow those who still hold the past against you to control you! Forgive them for holding it in their hearts, Pray for them to get freedom as you have, and Let Go! God has changed us in His grace and mercy and We need to Accept that!

I know this isn't easy, I have cried my heart out but I did so to the God in Heaven who hears and sees all things and He will help us through! We just have to Trust Him!

Be Blessed,

Regina Cozad

I Want To Do My Part, Are You Doing Yours?

Daily I see young women, either in the news, in my town, on social media, or in the areas I venture through thanks to my hubby's job, that need encouragement, help, strength, to be taught how to be the woman God called them to be and God called Us women who are older and/or more experienced in that area to help them! Are we doing our part? Are we seeking them out to help them?

Oh how this has been on my mind to write on, I've prayed about it for awhile because I just don't feel I'm "qualified" to speak on this subject because I'm only 23, married 5 years and a mother of a 5 year old and 1 year old. It seems every time I think that the burden has lifted, there is a young woman in need that comes to my mind, a radio broadcast urging us to reach out to the younger generation or God just puts them out there in my path! Please understand that I don't consider myself perfect or in anyway a know it all! Come to my house you will see I struggle just like the rest of you.

I want to challenge you to think a moment on how we as Christian wives can reach out to the younger women we know and teach them to become better moms, wives, saints, servants, cooks, organizers, etc. The Bible instructs us in Titus 2:4 to teach them and show them. I don't want to get to Heaven and God tell me that He specifically placed women on my heart or in my path for  me to help and I ignored it! I want to be a help where I can be, Growing up I needed more than my mom's inspiration (anyone who knows my mom knows she is a great Godly example) and there really wasn't much out there. In no way am I saying I had an excuse to do the things in my younger single time of what I'll call my rebellious trial and error that I knew would cause me shame or be a disgrace to those who loved me, but I still wish I would've had someone reach out and guide me in the way I really needed to go without putting me down for what I was doing. I wish when I got married that I would've had someone come along and just give me advice and explain that it wasn't going to be a glorious experience without rough times here and there!

I don't know that you can even put sense to the message I'm trying to relay here but I beg you to reach out to those younger women around you or women your age that you know need a little inspiration. Pray for God to lead someone to you or even search them out at the Grocery store! If you see a young mom with 3 kids screaming and fussing, say a prayer for her, if you are close enough just let her know you care and understand it's not always easy, but worth every minute of the agony, because they usually grow up to love each other!

Do you have anything to add or anything you are doing or could do to reach out to those moms around you?

Be Blessed,

Regina Cozad