Equally yoked?

There are many things in the Bible that may sound strange or you don't know what it means. For instance I didn't understand what being equally yoked meant. I had heard the expression but like a lot of other things I didn't understand it or how I was supposed to apply it to my life. I also don't  recall this being preached much, but it is an important element when it comes to who you align yourself with. Whether it's business, friendships or love.

Being equally yoked in my mind simply means like minded, especially in the area of your spiritual walk. Is this person going to benefit you or hinder you? If you are not equally yoked then one side is working harder than the other and you're not working together. You're struggling which will lead to strife and unhappiness.

How many relationships could be saved if this principal were understood and practiced more? Because if you enter into a relationship as equal partners in spiritual matters you will know how to compromise to solve problems by prayer and being led by the spirit who lives in your heart, rather than living with unresolved issues that will sow resentment and discord.

I think happy relationships are possible if you have the right tools and you know where to go to find peaceful resolutions. This is just a theory of mine and I have nothing but the word of God to substantiate it, but that's all I need to know that if it's in the Bible then it must be true. Look it up and let's read.

#equallyyoked #bible #read #christianmarriage #christianwalk #christianlife #pray #prayerlife #prayforyourspouse #prayers

Wild Heart Review of Storm Crossed

https://wildheartreviews.com/


Awesome review here from Wild Heart Reviews
Amber Dehart Reviewer

Author: Lesley Mitchum
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Paranormal
Release Date: March 20th, 2016
Published By: Desert Breeze Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 1682949656

Lonely college student Camelia Garrett is struck by lightning in the midst of a pond. She awakens with acute sensory sensitivity and a bizarre ability to absorb electricity. A mysterious and alluring man claims to have the answers, but Cami is afraid to believe his wild tales about what she has become.

Christian Hartt is part of a secret organization of Storm Seekers-men enhanced by the quantum storm who travel the world using their enhanced strength and abilities to assist with storm relief. But his ordered world changes the moment Cami summons him with a wordless call; the Lynk that commands him with his life binds them emotionally.

It has been generations since there has been a female Seeker. As Christian and Cami try to find the truth behind being Lynked, and what it all means, they come face-to-face with the most dangerous rebel Seeker in the world. One who wants Cami’s unique power for revenge.

AMAZON | B&N

Storm Crossed is one of those books I let sit in my TBR pile for months. Literally, months. I don’t know why but I kept telling myself, “You need to go read that.” Then for some unknown reason, I was dreading it. At one point I started it, got about a page in and said, “No, I don’t want to read this.” I just wasn’t ready. I put it back on my TBR list and continued on with other things. Fast forward about seven months. Yes. SEVEN. I finally read it and let me tell you … I’m asking myself why in the heck I didn’t read this sooner. Oh, my God. Hands down, this book should be a movie.

I hadn’t read anything by Lesley Mitchum prior to Storm Crossed and I think that’s what fed into my anxiety about it. Typically, with a new author, I don’t have that issue but I -really- wanted to like this book. Well, I more than like this book. I’m completely enamored with the story, the plot and the author’s writing style. I want more. I want another book. I want a series. I did not put the book down once after I started it.

That being said. I don’t want to go into massive details about this book. The blurb is fantastic in that regard and I’m afraid if I give you more details it will take away from the story. I’d waiting so long to Storm Crossed that I went into it blind and I’m thankful for that.

A few things I will mention. This book is a stand alone but you will want more. I’m not exactly sure if it’s under new adult or young adult, I need to clarify that but it can definitely be read by anyone. I’d hand this to one of my baby cousins. In fact, I already plan to have both my mother and older sister read this.

A fantastic novel that will draw you in, and leave you wanting more. 4.5 Storm Seeking Stars

David & Bathsheba

The story of David and Bathsheba is a very interesting one to me, because it takes one of the hero's from the Bible and shows his very human side, and how the consequences of sin affects our lives.

God loved David. He said that David was a man of His own heart. Honey, that's pretty awesome to be a man of God's heart! 

David saw Bathsheba bathing on her roof and decided he wanted her, and sent for her. Later Bathsheba discovered she was pregnant. Now, the problem is that not only was Bathsheba married to a man named, Uriah, but Uriah was, and had been away to war so there's no way it could have been her husband's baby. 

So to clean up his mess, David sent for Uriah and had him come home with the hopes that Uriah would sleep with his already pregnant wife and nobody would be the wiser. 

Except Uriah refused to go home because he was an honorable man who would not go home until the rest of the soldiers could also. Now this was a problem because if Uriah proclaims that Bathsheba is pregnant due to adultery then Bathsheba could be stoned. So King David decides to orchestrate Uriah's death by sending him to the front lines. Where he does die.

From that point on David's life was in constant turmoil. His infant son with Bathsheba died and much more upsetting and heartbreaking things with his children. David asked and received forgiveness from God, but sin has consequences.

The thing that always stops me in my tracks when I read this story is what God tells David after David had Uriah killed and then he married Bathsheba, God asked David why he had done such a thing? That not only had David committed murder, but he also married Bathsheba. God asked David why. Why had David not come to him if he wasn't satisfied... that He would have given him MORE. 

David was a King. He had a harem. He had any and everything, yet God said he would have given him more. Now, I do not equate that to mean more wives or even Bathsheba... I think it simply means that before you act on your impulsive feelings and go sin, pray to the Lord about your feelings and, yes, even your desires. He loves you and wants you to be happy so he can help you either resolve your feelings or he will give you more...better...even better than Bathsheba, but in his way...the right way. 

Yes, I said even better than Bathsheba. I think the Lord wants us to to be able to control our fleshly wants and desires, with his help of course. But David did what his flesh wanted instead of consulting God. Look at it this way, if you trust in God and pray to him when you feel susceptible to sin, and we all sin friends and we also all struggle with sin, then it will work it out...and in the best possible way. 

As a bit of a side note, I'd like to add that even though what David and Bathsheba did was wrong, it's interesting that Bathsheba went on to be the mother of Solomon, and Solomon credited his success to his mother. She is also listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ as "the wife of Uriah the Hittite", and only four women are mentioned in the lineage. What an honor. So in the end I think it's safe to say that Bathsheba, though viewed as an adulterer, true enough, but good people make mistakes. Good people sin, all day every day, but then they raise kings...and that's how God works sometimes, He takes people you'd never suspect and He uses them for His glory, but that's another story. 

I know I use the phrase "I think", a lot, but that's because these are just my own personal thoughts and feelings inspired by reading or sermons and what I have gleaned. My opinions and thoughts only, with the hopes that there's some knowledge received that somebody desperately needs to read.

Fear Not

Do you know how many times verses like "fear not", "do not worry", "be anxious for nothing," and the like are in the Bible? Over 365 times. Very curious isn't it that there's also 365 days in a year? 

So what happens when you refuse to be worried, afraid or anxious? Peace maybe? I'm still working this out myself, but when what I knew in my head finally met up with my spirit I understood. I understood that giving my worries and fears over to the Lord was a daily thing for me. Just like brushing my teeth. 365 days a year. 

So why do we worry?

He knows what I need.

He knows who I need.

And he will always arrange the chess pieces in my favor...

So basically, fearing not, seems to equate happiness, peace and faith. 

Hey, I'm in!

LHM

Prayer & Tiger Lilies 1

This plant will eventually produce a lovely Tiger Lily. It takes a little while, but eventually it will bloom. It only blooms once, but oh when it does... it's beautiful. I like to relate this to our prayer life and how God works in our lives sometimes. Maybe you're waiting on a prayer to be answered, and you've been waiting and praying but nothing's happening. The thing is this, maybe in order to answer your prayer (and he never seems to answer quite the way you expect, but that's ok because it's the best way) he has to work it out. Maybe he's growing a situation change or maybe he's even growing a person change. All that has to start at the root, and it can't be rushed or it won't be that beautiful flower custom ordered for you. Having faith is hard, and believing in things not seen is also, but it's all about timing and letting God work it out. Like the root of that Tiger Lily, it's already been worked out...and I didn't even see it. ✌🏻️❤️
#faith #growth #patience #perserverance #letgoandletgod #heavenlyfather #flowers #tigerlily #prayer #prayerlife

Dracula & Autism

Have I got your attention? These words have affected my life in very distinct ways; one more than the other of course. I was twelve, I think, when I fell in love with Frank Langela who played Dracula in the 1979 movie. There was something about this movie that inspired me to write my first story ever. Mind you, it was the movie written in my own words, but this was my first attempt at writing. It was terrible, but the flame had been lit so to speak and my dream of being a writer born.

I was a painfully shy child and teenager, but books were easy friends. I would go to the local library and check out stacks of books, as many as they would let me…anywhere from my favorite historical romances to Stephen King. It was around this time that I entered my Princess Bride phase and again I was inspired to write a story called "The Tolls of Time", and that's not a typo. That's how I spelled toles. I still have that one and it physically hurts to read it! It's incredibly awful, but I credit it also as a stepping stone.

I wanted to be a writer and inspire other people to feel what these movies and books made me feel…happy, enthralled, engrossed and imaginative. However, I came from a place where being a writer wasn't a "realistic" goal. Being a nurse was, so when I graduated high-school I reluctantly enrolled at the local technical college bound for the nursing program. College was difficult for me. I got my first ever grade "D" in anatomy and my confidence was shattered, so I decided to work instead of going to school for a while until I figured out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and I pretty much stayed in that phase for about ten years.

I went back to school and enrolled in their computer technology program and I liked it for the most part, but I didn't love it. I soon got married and had a son who was diagnosed with autism when he was three and we were devastated. Many years went into trying to get him everything he needed, including my moving an hour away to live in a tiny apartment so he could go to a better school while my husband stayed in our hometown working his job. I also was working about thirty some hours a week, I won't get into the details because it's very in depth. But it was during this time that I actually began, what I call, my real writing. I had a couple of spare hours during the day before I picked my son up from school to take him to whatever therapy was after school that day, where I started writing. I received this postcard in the mail from Romantic Times about their upcoming convention and I went to their website to get more information. Reading some posts from certain authors, I ran across one from a writer, whom I hate to admit, but I can't remember her name, but she said this, "God doesn't give you the desire without giving you the talent." That was it for me pretty much, I had to at least try.

It took several years for the rest of the pieces to fall into place, the job I currently held (but wasn't happy in) was a temporary position and once the job was complete I found myself without a job for the first time since I was sixteen. Which was a very scary thing for me, and even though I had prayed for an opportunity to write and pursue my dream, I didn't see this event for what it was.

I already had something that I had been working on, and both our cars were paid for…or this never would have happened. It just all came together…I had the time to focus on my son's appointments and time to write. It still wasn’t easy, especially since I found out I was pregnant again…more hits to the writing time. I had about sixty some thousand words in a manuscript, and I was quite unsure at this point if I had what it took to be writer. 

I always believed in God and Christ and the Holy Spirit from a very early age and I really think it was His hand in all this that allowed the puzzle pieces to fall in my favor…especially after so many wrong turns and bad choices. He never left me even when I felt like I was all alone. Hard times, trying to care for a son whom I struggled to understand and try to get help for, a newborn daughter and my marriage taking a constant beating from all sides as we both searched for ways to handle our issues.

Anyway, I followed some advice from a self-publishing company, and after some edits and some money this company "helped" me self-publish. It took twice as long as promised and did not live up to my expectations…either in myself or this company, but I felt compelled to see it through because everyone was so excited about it I couldn't make myself pull the plug on it.

I didn't market like I should have because it wasn't something I wanted to market. Yes, it was available in all forms at all book stores, but I just knew it wasn't right. It wasn't my best, even though everyone said it was great…my heart wasn't with it. So I hired another editor to take a look and to help me get it where I was happy with it and Storm Crossed was born. This time, professionals at a book publishing company agreed that it was good enough to publish, and I think this was what I needing all along. For someone in the book world to read my work and say, "Hey, you've got something here." For all my self-publishing peeps out there, I'm not throwing shade. I have so much admiration for you. I know how difficult and costly it can be to write, edit, and market your own book. For me though, I just needed something more traditional. So I yanked my self-published book and Storm Crossed was released by Desert Breeze Publishing in March 2016.

So I'm happy to say these two words in a sentence that probably "never" would have made it in the same sentence otherwise…Dracula and autism. Without Dracula I wonder if I ever would have picked up that number two pencil that set me on a path (however, curved, crooked and bumpy) to being a writer. I can also safely say, that had it not been for autism, I would probably still be working a job I hated while pining away to fulfill a dream.

There are a bunch of facts not in this blog, but I think the most important ones are included…mostly is this: If you have faith in God, and have the bravery to be patient…it will work out. Doesn't mean you won't have bad days or bad things happen in your world, but if you consult with "HIM" he will make take you through those hard times with HIS PEACE in your spirit as you endure.

So really I should have named this blog God, Dracula and Autism, because he is the glue that has woven these articles of my life together.

Lesley 

Vaccines and Autism

My son Andrew was diagnosed at age 3. I can't tell you how much time I spent on the internet reading and reading about vaccines, curing autism and therapies. I almost lost my mind.

 After years of trying "everything", my point is this: Autism is a heartbreaking diagnosis. Because you know there's a chance your beloved child may not develop into the society contributing adult you hoped to raise. You feel hopeless and think if you find out what caused the autism you could fix it. Believe me, I've tried.

 I tried to fix Andrew with ABA, speech, OT, Vitamin Therapy, Naturopathy, allergy tests, Mercury tests, Gluten and Casein free diet, food elimination and I'm gonna cut it short there, because none of these things "cured" Andrew. Some may have helped, but I'm not really sure.

After ten years, and having a nervous breakdown, I've come to my own conclusions about autism and it's causes. I believe genetics plus environmental factors play a role in autism and maybe other disorders. I don't believe that vaccines, by themselves, cause autism. 

Here's the thing: Right or wrong, vaccines are important, because what difference will autism make if you lose your child to a deadly disease that a vaccine could have prevented? Not only that, but unvaccinated children can spread diseases to babies who will suffer horrible things like whooping cough. 

My best advice to anyone who worries about autism and vaccines is to find a pediatrician who will let you space out your child's vaccines where they may receive 1-2 vaccines per well-checkup. Here's a link http://www.loving-attachment-parenting.com/alternative-vaccination-schedule-dr-sears.html  with some alternative choices.

Now, does spacing out vaccines mean no autism? I can't say that. Do your homework. Educate yourself, and pray about it. Ask your Heavenly Father to help you choose the best thing for your child. Plead the blood of Jesus over your child for protection against these evil things that are affecting our children.

Unless you can keep your child at home and isolated from other children, then vaccinating is our duty as human beings to keep deadly diseases that have been eradicated from reemerging into our societies. 

I decided to space out my daughters vaccines and she is fine. She did however, need speech and OT for minor speech issues and weakness in her writing hand. 

All I can do as a parent, who tried her best to be what her son needed, is to offer this advice: just love them. Love them as they are. Make the best decisions you can. Pray without ceasing. GIVE IT TO GOD, and let him do the worrying. Believe me, HE loves your child more than you ever could.

God bless 

Lesley