WOW........REALLY?!? #Humbled!!

Happy Blessed Wednesday Family,

Because of my emotions of gratitude......today's Mona Girl Blog is going to be a tad all ova the place. But if you hold on tight, just like HE ALWAYS does, Our Lord is going to take us some place special today, so here we go.......

Today is the 22nd Post to Mona Girl Blog and I have been BLOWN AWAY by the encouragement, support, LOVE, knowledge, wisdom, friendship and overall **WONDERFUL** things folks have said to me personally and written to me via email about how the Blog has touched their lives.  Whewee!!! Family, I told YOU when we started on this Blog Journey together, that the Blog IS NOT ABOUT MONA!!  It's ALLLL about Our Heavenly Father speaking through Me to YOU!!! And for 22 Wednesdays and almost 15,000 views later......HE's done just that!!  IT IS ABSOLUTELY MIND BLOWING!!

"People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron." (Proverbs 27:17, GNT)

I looked back and re-read a few of the Posts and had to bow my head in absolute HUMILITY because I KNOW that I KNOW that I KNOW that I'm NOT penning Mona Girl Blog......I'M GOOD (LOL!!) BUT I'M NOT THAT GOOD!! I'm a Continual work in progress. #AlwaysGrowing!

And hasn't Our Lord had us together on an Interesting Ride for the last 22 weeks?!?  We've learned about the Biblical Meaning of Birds in I'M A BIRD WATCHER; had a good belly laugh in LAUGH OUT LOUD #LOL!; discerned if we are walking the walk and talking the talk in "ARE YOU FAUX REAL OR FOR REAL?";  taken an uber close look into Mona's soul with "WHY? OK, I'M COOL WITH THAT"; taken flight in "WHEELS UP!!!; and relished in the glory (with bragging rights NOW!!!) of Mona being a loyal New York Mets Fan in "PLAY BALL!!!! #LetsGoMets!"....to name just a few :)

Family, if you really think about it......ALL the above mentioned Posts and more were penned for the Sole reason for Our Lord to inspire, encourage, educate, care, and LOVE on YOU!!! I am humbled and honored and just beyond words HE chose Mona to convey His Messages to YOU!!!!  It has TRULY been an AMAZING 22 Wednesdays and I can't **Wait** to see where Our Heavenly Father takes us in Post #23, #24, #25........ WOW!! I LOVE how HE works (Thank you Holy Spirit!!). OUR LORD IS SO VERY, VERY AWESOME!

And to be COMPLETELY honest (which you know by now is easy for me to do - LOL!), YOU have been more of an encouragement and inspiration to MONA!!  I get MORE out of penning and sharing Mona Girl Blog than YOU do!  It's like the Scriptures in the Bible that talk about when you share your "life stuff" with others.....you come along side them as an encourager ....you build others up instead of tearing them down. When you share your Faith Walk with others, you GROW in Faith together. You end up experiencing Joy and Peace and LOVE!!

"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good for edification, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." (Ephesians 4:29, JUB)  

"Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other.  None of this going off and doing your own thing.  And cultivate thankfulness.  Let the Word of Christ - the Message- have the run of the house.  Give it plenty of room in your lives.  Instruct and direct one another using good common sense.  And sing, sing your hearts out to God!  Let every detail in your lives - words, actions, whatever - be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way." (Colossians 3:15-17, MSG)

Besides our Mona Girl Blog Family in the U.S., there are folks who are part of our Blog Family in Ghana, Germany, France, Sweden......Oh Yeah!!  LOOK AT GOD!!! Like the title of today's Post says.....WOW!! Really?!?  #Humbled!!

Family, as I close out this Wednesday's Mona Girl Blog, I want to THANK YOU AGAIN for your continued LOVE, SUPPORT, WISDOM and for YOUR EYES & HEARTS this way EVERY Wednesday!!  I LOVE being an Encourager and consider it a VERY, VERY important Assignment and Honor from Our Lord Jesus. After all, that should be our goal in life...to be **MORE LIKE JESUS**.....cuz, believe it or not, WE are sometimes the ONLY Jesus others see!!!

Father God, I come to you Right Now, THANKING YOU for each and every person who reads Your Mona Girl Blog.  I Pray Father, for Blessings over their lives.  I Pray for their families and friends. I Pray for them to have a personal relationship with you.  I Pray for them to seek You Lord in their daily lives in order to have ALL their needs and desires met.  I Pray for Healing, Prosperity, Peace, Joy and Love to chase them down. I am Grateful to You Lord for stopping by Every Wednesday to speak to and Love on US, your Mona Girl Blog Family.  In Jesus' Name. Amen. Amen. Amen.

**If you have not Prayed THE PRAYER OF SALVATION to accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior, please email me at wincty@aol.com.  I would be honored to Pray with YOU :)

"The purpose of life is not to be happy.  It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)



Continued Success and Blessings FAMILY!! 

THANK YOU & MUCH LOVE!!

THE MASTER POTTER

Happy Blessed Wednesday Family,

Today's Mona Girl Blog is a quickie.  I wanted to share with you an Amazing Video that I posted on my Facebook Page.  It is so inspiring I just had to share with the Mona Girl Blog Family!

As I noted on my FB Page, this is a beautiful Video about Master Potters.  Reminds me of US being the "clay" on Our Heavenly Father's Potters Wheel. And even though sometimes it hurts or is uncomfortable when He is designing, shaping, molding, TRANSFORMING us........we emerge His Beautiful and Authentic Masterpiece.....ready to fulfill the Purpose and walk out the Destiny HE has for our lives!

"But now, Lord, You are our Father.  We are the clay, and you are our potter.  We are the work of your hands." (Isaiah 64:8, GW)

Family, I hope you enjoy the Peace and Wisdom of this Video. Like the quote below states, if we are **WILLING** to get on Our Father's Potter's Wheel........Oh Yeah!!!! We will not only be His Masterpiece on display for ALL to behold but we will do a Mighty Work as a result of His personal and loving craftsmanship.

"When we are in the Potter's hands, feeling His pressures, feeling the molding of His fingers, we can relax and trust Him, for we know that this Potter has suffered with us and knows how we feel, but is determined to make us into a vessel useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." (Mission Venture Ministries, November 28, 2011)

Continued Success and Blessings!

P.S. Have you seen who's THE BEST TEAM IN THE NL EAST?!?  Their colors are Orange and Blue.  They play their home games in THE BEST Ballpark in New York!! They're Gifted & Talented and Shining Like Stars!!  Yeah, MY Metsies!!  I DON'T believe in jinx's so I'm saying it LOUD AND PROUD!!  **LET'S GO METS**!!!!  Oh Yeah! You aren't jinxed when you're STATING THE FACTS!! YOU BETTA GO BOYYYYYYYZ!!!!   #JustWatch!!

LESSON.........LEARNED???

Happy Blessed Wednesday Family,

Well...........Hmmmm........I don't know EXACTLY how today's Mona Girl Blog is going to play out but I am here waiting on what Our Lord has to say to US :)

I was chatting with a dear friend over the weekend and he was in a tad of a funk about walking out a trial, tough circumstance in his life.  We've ALL been there, right?  The feelings of..... "Why MUST I go through this?!" "I don't like this!"  "This is uncomfortable!" "Is ALL of this necessary?!?" You know....whining and complaining to Our Lord, to family, to friends......to anyone who will listen.....seeking some type of **immediate** relief. AND as I told him (speaking from my own experiences of being in the same boat, because after all, it's just a part of life)........There's a LESSON in it.......Get the LESSON and get out!!

Oh Yeah! That's the hardest part sometimes. We spend so much time whining and complaining about our situation/circumstances, that we don't even notice, discern or want to admit - LOL! there is a LESSON Our Lord wants us to learn from our situation.  There is a  LESSON Our Lord feels is necessary/critical to our Growth......to our Maturity......to our Promotion.....to our Next Steps in life. And I KNOW from first hand experience (been there, done that and have many, many Tshirts), that when you don't get the LESSON the first time around the mountain?!?  Oh Yeah!!  You best get your hiking boots on, cuz Our Heavenly Father is going to take you around, and around, and around that mountain until the LESSON is Learned!!

This is not a new concept (it's actually quite Biblical) for how Our Lord "schools" us when we are ungrateful, complaining or whiny about our circumstances, instead of taking the positive approach and immediately being open/receptive to learning the LESSON He's trying to teach us.  Take the Israelites for example.....because of their rebellion, lack of maturity, not heeding the advice/knowledge/wisdom of their God Appointed and Anointed Leader Moses, their arrogance, their over all sour attitude........it took them 40 Years to take an 11 Day Journey. And because of their constant D-r-a-m-a, some of them didn't even get into the Promised Land. (Check out this link for the Full Story: Israelites' Journey)

Whewee!!  Like I said to my friend this weekend......Get the LESSON and get out!! If Our Loving Lord led you into the circumstance, you can best bet He has something for us to learn that will be beneficial to us....that will be helpful to us/others.....that will make us into a better YOU and a better ME :)

Jesus answered, "You don't understand now what I'm doing, but it will be clear enough to you later." (John 13:7, MSG)

Family, raising my hand in this class!! This is NOT ALWAYS an easy thing to do.....it's NOT ALWAYS easy to "see" the LESSON but if we pause, take time to seek Our Father *FIRST* regarding the LESSON (instead of entering the "complain/whiny room" and staying there), HE will make it clear as to what HIS Will is.......what HE wants us to learn in the midst of our circumstances.  And *AGAIN*, having been there, done that and Got the Tshirt - most times YOU will NOT like the answer you receive regarding your personal LESSON.  Most times YOU will NOT like the person or situation the Lord sends to teach you the LESSON but my loving advice is to bite the bullet, learn the LESSON from whomever/whatever and pleeeeez don't even think about entering the "complain/whiny room".  You'll have more problems trying to get out of there once you enter.  Remember: Israelites......11 Day Journey = 40 YEARS!!

"We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God - those whom he has called according to his plan." (Romans 8:28, GW)

In closing (Thank You Jesus!!) this Wednesday's Mona Girl Blog,  I know today's message may have turned out to be kind of a "prickly" one but I know it served as a reminder to Mona how important it is to Get the LESSON and get out!!  It's not good for You, Me, our Family/Friends or anyone we come in contact with to be a part of our "they'll be coming around the mountain, they'll be coming around the mountain, they'll be coming around the mountain" routine. And when you Get the LESSON and get out!! YOU will Thank Our Lord (Yes, I said Thank Our Lord - LOL!) for the LESSON because you will emerge Stronger, Wiser and Happier.  You will have a deeper relationship with Our Heavenly Father and You will walk in even more of His Awesome Blessings.......I Promise!

"I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13, NKJV)

I leave you with a pix quote on Lessons Learned from one of my Fave people.....an inspirational sage who I feel has one of the Greatest outlooks on life :)

Continued Success and Blessings!

WHEELS UP!!!

Happy Blessed Wednesday Family,

Today's Mona Girl Blog is about FLYING!! Sometimes I get tickled when Our Lord puts on my heart what to write about each Wednesday and today's message prompting is **FLYING** - LOL!  Sooooo, please make sure your seat back is in the up right position, your tray table locked, cell phone/laptops and all devices with an on/off switch turned off, seat belt securely fastened...........and Here We Go!!

Since I was a little girl, I have Always LOVED to FLY.  I remember taking family vacations and I would get so excited the days prior in anticipation of  getting to ride on an airplane with my family!!  And when I took my first solo flight as a teenager to see relatives in Los Angeles - whewee!! My excitement level was off the charts!! I LOVE watching the pilots do their standard security/maintenance checks of their plane, the flight attendants greeting as you board, the baggage handlers loading passenger luggage (fingers ALWAYS crossed that my luggage makes the flight), ground traffic control, air traffic controllers in the tower, and the many, many other folks who are an integral part of this precise and strategically orchestrated Flight Team.  I am obsessed with details and organization (hence why I'm a Meeting/Event Producer) and I LOVE watching all the pieces of this grand flight puzzle come together for one final action.......one end result.......WHEELS UP!!

Whether it's a puddle/island jumper in the Caribbean, a Heavy (757) or any size plane in between, I LOVE every single exhilarating moment from take off to landing.  As a child, I would lay flat on my back on the grass and watch the planes fly wayyyyyyy up in the sky, watching the exhaust of the engines leave a long white trail that would eventually morph into the design of the clouds.  And as an adult, I will ALWAYS take time to glance up or out a window during the day when I hear a plane overhead or spend a few peaceful moments at night watching a plane with it's jewel-toned navigation lights move smoothly and effortlessly across a dark night sky. When I'm watching my Metsies at CitiField, I enjoy seeing the planes take off/land at La Guardia as they thunderously skim a few hundred feet above the Stadium.  Oh Yeah.....#Goosebumps!

I know one of the main reasons I LOVE to FLY is that FLYING puts me in a Peaceful place!  Once I'm airborne, music on the my ipod, the plane's engines humming - it's Nap Time for Mona!! And throughout the flight, My Lord will give me a little nudge from time to time to get me to open my eyes and see HIS AWESOMENESS.....HIS MIGHTY WORK in the Heavens.  Big puffy billowing pillows of white against a brilliant blue sky, reflecting little diamond shimmers of bright yellow sunlight, with vibrant green patches of land thousands of miles below.........Oh Yeah!  It's like having a front row seat with God whispering in my ear: "here's a birds eye view of my Mighty Handy Work.......an Amazing Masterpiece created just for your viewing Mona"!!  And don't get me started on when it is raining on the ground and as the pilot navigates our climb to the designated altitude....BAM!!  We instantly burst through the dark clouds into the magnificent, radiant sunlight.......once again revealing Our Lord's AWESOMENESS in the Heavens!! "He is the maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them -- he remains faithful forever." (Psalm 146:6, NIV)

I know there are some of you saying.....Really Mona!?!  Is it that serious!?! And my reply is an emphatic YES, IT IS!!  When you approach and experience FLYING this way.......you can't  help but be elevated (literally) to a whole new level in your *Seeing God in Everything*......in your "touchy/feely" time with Our Heavenly Father. One my dearest friends (Hi Christopher) has been a flight attendant for United for eons and he LOVES, LOVES what he does (flawlessly working the 1st Class JFK/Paris route). And to listen to him talk about going to "work"......you can hear the Joy in his voice (despite some flaky passengers from time-to-time) that he gets from his time in the friendly skies :)

Family, as I close out today's Mona Girl Blog, if you are not a fan of FLYING, I encourage you to give it a different look/another chance next time it's WHEELS UP for you.  There's truly nothing like being up in the Heavens in God's Country!! And just you watch.......Our Heavenly Father will give you a private show of His Mighty Handy Work in the skies.......an Amazing Masterpiece created just for your viewing. 

"I decided to fly through the air and live in the sunlight and enjoy life as much as I could." 
(Evel Knievel)

Continued Success and Blessings Family!

THANK YOU!!!!! #BeGrateful!!

Happy Blessed Wednesday Family,

Today's Mona Girl Blog is about two words that span from the standard reply that is polite and proper etiquette to meaning the World to someone when they hear it from you.......these two words are THANK YOU!!

No matter what language you use to say these two words: Gracias, Grazie, Merci, Arigatou, Danke, Thank You......these two words express your Gratitude, they show you are Grateful, they convey that you Appreciate what someone has done for you.  I feel that THANK YOU are two words we should express on a regular basis.......that we should say THANK YOU more often to others.

I find myself a tad irritated when I hold a door for someone, hand someone an item, do someone a favor, let someone cut in traffic, say "Bless You" when someone sneezes, etc. and I don't receive the standard THANK YOU reply. But I've realized that some folks just don't feel it is necessary.....that it's not part of their etiquette makeup :) But no matter what other folks do, Mona will continue to give the polite two word reply when appropriate and necessary.

NOW, let's look at these same two words and how much Power they hold when you say THANK YOU to someone who has gone above and beyond to do something for you, to Bless you in a mighty way, to step in and comfort and support you in a time of need or crisis.  Yeah......that's when saying THANK YOU comes from the deepest part of your heart, that's when saying THANK YOU not only overwhelms the person receiving your gratitude but it takes your depth of gratefulness to a whole different level!! That's when THANK YOU is steeped in Love and Humility for what the other person has done for you. That's when THANK YOU is a genuine, sincere and compelling expression of Your Soul.

THANK YOU in this manner is said to family, friends, colleagues and sometimes to awesome strangers (who I know are Angels sent from Heaven).  And THANK YOU at this level is also what is (or should be) expressed to Our Lord.......Our Heavenly Father on a regular basis.  And as we walk out this 2015 Holy Week leading up to Good Friday and Easter.........*THANK YOU JESUS* should be in our hearts and minds.....*THANK YOU LORD* should be prevalent in our thoughts, in our words and deeds and spoken to Him directly!!

You all know me, and I ALWAYS have the Mighty Word of God in my heart and a few of my Fave THANK YOU LORD....I AM GRATEFUL Scriptures are:

"Give Thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV)

"I always Thank my God, as I remember you in my prayers." (Philemon 1:4, NIV)

"Though the cherry trees don't blossom and the strawberries don't ripen, Though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, Though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty, I'm singing joyful Praise to God. I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on  God's rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength.  I run like a deer.  I feel like I'm king of the mountain!" (Habakkuk 3:17-18, MSG)

"So I will not be silent; I will sing praise to you.  Lord, you are my God; I will give you thanks forever." (Psalm 30:12, GNT)

Yeah!! When you say THANK YOU LORD......and you Really, Really mean it, your heart can't help but be full of Love and Joy!!  You can't help but walk with your head held high and a smile on your face!  Your confidence and assurance in Him is at an all time high! When you think about ALL Our Heavenly Father has done, is doing, and will do for us........Whewee!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! is such an Awesome and Powerful expression of Love and Gratitude!

And don't let me get started on what happens when you begin to THANK HIM on a regular basis....when you say THANK YOU LORD for the big stuff and the small stuff.........Oh Yeah!!!!  That's when Our Heavenly Father shows up and shows out in your life.  Just like You and Me, He longs to hear a THANK YOU every once in awhile......a Gracias, Dios!  a Danke, Gott! a Merci, mon Dieu!  a Grazie, Dio! 

So Family, as I close today's Mona Girl Blog, let's remember to say THANK YOU to folks when they do the standard etiquette stuff and when they go above and beyond in our lives!!  Let's remember to say THANK YOU to Our Lord and Savior for ALLLLLL the Amazing and Marvelous and Awesome things He continues to do in our lives........and as we walk out Holy Week, let's especially remember to say THANK YOU for the indescribable gift and over the top sacrifice Our Lord Jesus made for You and for Me so we could be healed, live life and live it Abundantly!!!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16, NIV)  

Continued Success and Blessings!!