My PARIS rE Do

There are times in life that you want nothing more than 

to have the opportunity to 

RE DO

a time, an event, an action, words......

On April 6th I received an email from my man!

It said....

Based on the above, we have decided to organize a Regional Distribution Centers Workshop with key participants from different disciplines.

The workshop will take place in the Rue Saint Dominique office in Paris from the 23^rd to the 25^th of April.              

You have been selected to participate on this workshop based on your experience on and understanding of the topic.

Above this wonderful note to him was his words.....

FYI.  Looks like I’m headed to Paris in a few weeks.  

My heart was overjoyed..

Overjoyed for him being chosen!

Thankful for his dedication and commitment!  

And then it occurred to me....

OMGoodness...

My hearts desire...

 Transformation...

Clarity.....

And so I replied....

Can I come with you?????  I promise I won't be such a disaster this time.  AND we can walk all of the stairs up to the top of the tower and then look deeply in each others eyes! :):)

M

And my man said "YES"!

Yes to me going with with him not necessarily yes to taking the stairs to the top of the Eiffel Tower or staring deeply in my eyes!

Gratitude overcame me...

I thought...

Who Am I , O Lord and what is my house that you have brought me this far?

And as I reflected on my "this far" I stood in awe of abundance....

Four years ago I travelled to Paris with my man.

When I embarked on that opportunity...

In my heart it was going to be a trip full of bliss, 

Full of RoMaNcE...

A trip in which what was in my heart could be poured out...

Love, Joy, Honor...

Unfortunately 

I was a disaster!

I was in the middle of a brokenness, being held in bondage!

Affliction was engulfing me and mentally tormenting me, silencing my heart!

And my Paris Trip was a DiSaStEr!

And I mourned and grieved the disappointment...

I knew I was responsible for this disaster,

But I knew that I could not let my affliction turn into my destruction and I had to GET UP AND FIGHT!

I had to allow my affliction to turn me into a warrior!

I had to fight to set my heart free! 

To loose the chains that held me.....CAPTIVE!

I had to deal with ME, my selfish ambitions,my fears, my boundaries, my choices.....

Me Myself and I needed to do some work.

And for the last 4 years I embarked on a long steadfast journey....

I have dug deep in my soul to find all of the yucky hiding places.

Places I didn't want to find.

Places I had chosen not go because it was to painful.

Places full of anger.

Places full of fear.

Places full of confusion.

Places that had to be visited in order to find 

the 

Place of Peace.

the 
Place of Abundance.

the

Place of JOY!

the

Place of LOVE!

And right down to March 25th, 2012 I was in the trenches.

Some days my trenches were deep and it seemed like I was not ever going to surface again.


Some days I could only see a glimmer of light!


and Some days the light was so bright it was blinding....
but always

 HOPE!

Always a Desire to be FREE!

Free to LOVE fully and authentically!


Free to be who I was created to be.

 Although I battle each day and some days my battlefield is busy, I am a Warrior and I will fight.

I will fight for my marriage.
I will fight for my family.
I will fight for LOVE and FREEDOM!


My affliction WILL NOT defeat me!

And after Four Years.....

and Hard Work Daily I have received 

Redemption, Mercy and Grace!

I was honored a ReDo!

My heart is Free toLOVE fully!

 

This week in Paris I will....

~Fuel my heart with wild Love and Gratitude~

I will laugh without fear!

I will choose Freedom!

Embrace the essence of Joy!

I will see Paris through a completely different set of eyes!

Eyes full of Beauty and Abundance!

I will LOVE and Honor my man!
AND
Rub his feet after we walk to the top of the Eiffel Tower!
and 
NOT MISS ONE OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK DEEPLY INTO HIS BEAUTIFUL EYES!

That BlUe TaMbOuRiNe

That  BlUe TaMbOuRiNe shimmied and shaked.

It produced a beautiful sound

A beautiful rhythm

The hands that shook that tambourine were large hands, 

soft hands,

 gentle hands,

 helping hands

Hands that made people beautiful on the outside 

while impacting people on the inside.

It was a heart overflowing that generated the joy to shake that tambourine.

A heart that was full of a peace that surpassed all understanding.....

While those around didn't understand the affliction and the struggle...

But for me, I will sing each morning about your power and mercy.  

For you have been my high tower of refuge,

 a place of safety in the day of my distress.

O my Strength to you I sing my praises for you are my high tower of safety,

 my God of mercy.

Proverbs 59:16-17

A heart of strength.  

Strength that was seen as it poured out through the blue tambourine.

A heart of LOVE.

Love that could be heard in the sound that poured from that blue tambourine.

LOVE that could be seen as you watched,
captivated and in awe

of what was flowing out of her as she shook that blue tambourine.

That heart poured out the joy that comes in the morning

through the shaking of that tambourine.

That tambourine became hers...

She shook it in utter celebration!

She was known by that tambourine!

Known by the passion that radiated through that tambourine.

It sat in it's place.

It held her place.

Waiting for her to come and pick it up!

No one else picked up that tambourine!

No one else shook it!

It represented all that she was!

It was a treasure!

A treasure that was shared!

A treasure that impacted lives!

A treasure that left a legacy!

It was a BlUe TaMbOuRiNe!