A Prayer for Those in Sandy's Path

There are thousands of people in churches all over the country and millions at home praying for the safety of those millions of people in the path of Hurricane Sandy.  I believe in my heart that if everyone just got on their knees and prayed and asked God for forgiveness and mercy, that God would blow this storm out to sea or even just make it dissapate.  If only everyone in the country would pray.

Dear Heavenly Father,

There is a mighty storm coming along the eastern seaboard.  I know that You are well aware of it and are keeping Your eyes on it.  I also know that through that giant storm, you see my baby brother and his family, my cousins and Aunts, my friends and my fellow writers.  Many of Your children are in the path of possible destruction.  Father, they are saying that this storm is historic in size and power, that the damage will be unpresidented.  I am so glad to know that You, Father, are bigger, mightier, and greater than any storm.  I believe that our prayers of faith are heard.  I believe that even if everything was wiped out, that You are a good and loving God, and that You will still be there in the midst of our brothers and sisters, believers and the lost. 

Thank You for the opportunity of salvation.  Thank You that we have the chance to be saved through Jesus Christ.  Thank You that it only takes believing the truth of a simple prayer to bring us over to eternity with You.  I give my heart to You everyday, and I thank You for not leaving or forsaking me in the middle of the storm.  Just as You pulled Peter out of the raging sea, You are willing to pull me out of my own mess and give me life everlasting.  I love You.  I love You, I love You.

"He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He pulled me out of deep waters."  "He brought me out to a wide-open place; He rescued me because He delights in me."  Psalm 18:16,19 NIV

To those who are believers, He says,
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  For I am the Lord, your God."  Isaiah 43:1b-3

 

I have attached the Sinner's Prayer of Salvation for anyone who may be in the path of Sandy and not sure of where you will go if you died.  My prayers are with you for safety and that you are all spared the brunt of this megastorm.

 

Heavenly Father, I come to You admitting that I am a sinner. Right now, I choose to turn away from sin, and I ask You to cleanse me of all unrighteousness.  I believe that Your Son, Jesus, died on the cross to take away my sins.  I also believe that He rose again from the dead so that I may be justified and made righteous through faith in Him.  I call upon the name of Jesus Christ to be the Savior and Lord of my life.  Jesus, I choose to follow You, and I ask that You will fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit.  I declare right now that I am a born-again child of God.  I am free from sin, and full of the righteousness of God.  I am saved in Jesus' name, Amen!

 

Thank You

Thank you to those who purchased A Christmas I Remember during this past week's Christmas in October sale.  God bless you.

A Christmas I Remember

That's me in the window, and my Dad, world renowned NYC Crime Reporter Pat Doyle shoveling snow.  What a Christmas Eve!

Dear Reader,

I would like to thank you all so much for all the comments you have sent the last few months.  I would love to hear from some of the rest of you, especially those of you in different countries. 

I started this blog site in August 2011 to promote my book, A Christmas I Remember, but have almost never mentioned the book at all.  I know, it's really strange, but God keeps taking me on different journeys.  I believe that He gave me this one sweet memory and made it a book to prepare me for other things.  It doesn't matter how small a book is, or what it is about, the process to getting it published traditionally and getting it marketed is the same.  I think He is preparing me for the future.  Last year I was on TV, I was on national radio, and had several book signing events.  You see, dear Reader, He was gracious enough to give me a book that has a season to sell so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed.  The major sales of A Christmas I Remember is from October until 24 December.  It consumes me for that period of time, but then it is over.  I have more exposure, so to speak, because more people are shopping for Christmas books at that time.  The rest of the year He has me writing my blogs and a few more books which I will get back to after this sale is over.

Selling a book isn't easy, even with a publisher and a marketing rep.  They will put information out to hundreds of media sites, but if the media sites don't care to mention it, they don't.  I am not a famous name... yet, so I have to work hard to sell this little book.  But my Savior is with me every step of the way, and I know that He will send the right people to buy it.  I would be blessed if you would be so kind as to check it out.

I believe that God has blessed me because He wanted me to start this blog page.  He works through each of us to reach different people all over the world.  I have a ministry of sorts, writing what He tells me, and leaving the rest up to Him.  I enjoy writing my blog.  I enjoy sharing the things He has taught me.  I hope that I am able to encourage and inspire you as I feel our Lord speak through or to me.

My website can be found at www.deirdretolhurst.com.  Please check and see if maybe my first book would be something you would like to buy for a child this Christmas.  There is a 'Look Inside' there, so you can read a little bit of it.  All the details about how it came to be are listed there, so I won't go into it here except to say that I do mention that Jesus is to be honored.

This week only, until 6pm CDT Saturday, 27 October, ALL BOOKS WILL BE ON SALE for 10% OFF, and NO SHIPPING AND HANDLING FEES to any address in the United States.  That makes it cheaper than Amazon.  Besides, on Amazon you can't buy a hard cover, coloring book, or an Author's Special, which is one of each book, signed, and wrapped in a bow.

Thank you again, dear Reader, and may God bless and inspire you!
Deirdre Tolhurst

Dearest Heavenly Father

Dearest Heavenly Father,

I come to You today and give You my heart.  I do not own it, it belongs to You.  I trust You, Father God, to hold it safe in Your tender embrace.  I give You permission to remove the hard shell that has formed around it, preventing me from being aware of the cries of those I love the most, my spouse and family. 

I allow Your warm hands to massage it, and work out the kinks, the stony areas that have made me blind to the plight of the downtrodden and deaf to the cries of the weary.  I wait as You break up the fallow ground and remove the hard places, allowing seed to once again grow.

I will rejoice in knowing  that once again holy life will flow freely through my heart.  I give You permission to scrub off the grit and grime of hate, intolerance and impatience, the filth of pride, arrogance, and self-serving, and to polish it back to where once again it is new, and whole, and pure.

I will honor You with the fruits of my labor.  I will dedicated my life to You, O Lord, for You have made me new again today, and my once cold and dying heart, which You have made new and perfect, rejoices in love and adoration to You.

Thank You, Father, for working in me, and healing my broken heart.  You are the Great Physician!  My Jehovah Raffa.  I adore You.  I accept this beautiful new heart and promise to care for it and fill it with love from Your word daily.  I will not let it suffocate to the point of near death ever again.  Thank You for restoring it back to health and beauty.  It shines like Your reflection!

I love You, my Father, with all I have.  In Jesus' sweet name I pray, Amen.

God is "The Man"

While driving to work one day I noticed a police car coming in my direction.  I glanced at my speedometer and saw that I was five miles over the posted speed limit.  I didn't hit the brake, that would be so obvious, but I immediately took my foot off the gas pedal.

The road I travel is full of turns, it's in the country and a lovely ride, but you don't travel too far with any distance in your rear-view mirror.  So we passed each other, the policeman and I, and then for the next few miles I stayed at the posted 60 mph and kept looking out the rear view mirror in case he had turned around and was following me. 

Have you ever been pulled over and the officer listened and had a heart and just gave you a warning?  He was kind and let you go this time, but don't do it again, he warns.  You realize it would have cost you dearly if he had charged you with the crime you committed?

That morning I received revelation!  I realized that whenever a cop pulls onto the road we're travelling, we and everyone else around us immediately straightens up in the seat, holds the wheel correctly, checks the speedometer to make sure we're not speeding, and when we change lanes we're sure to use the blinker and be courteous.  We completely change everything about how we are acting to make sure we're doing everything right and legal. Why?  Because "The Man" is watching! 

Well, dear Reader, God, "The Man" is always watching!  We need to be more cognizant of that, and remember that we need to be on our best behavior at all times; living the Christian life and walking in His commands and statutes.  Otherwise, we'll get pulled over.  We don't want to break His laws by sinning, but there are those times when we do.

And when we realize our sin, and confess it to Him and repent, like that cop that let you go, God shows us mercy and forgives us our trespass!  Mercy.  What a beautiful word.  It means when God doesn't give us what we do deserve.  Just think about what would happen if we didn't have a kind and loving Father God!  How much it would cost us we can't imagine.  In His love and mercy, He sent His Son to take the 'ticket' and pay the fine for us! 

Thank You, Father, for once again showing me, in ways I will understand, what You want me to know!  I love how You make it so easy for me!  You are awesome, God!  I love You. 

"...and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Matthew 28:20

A Message to My Husband

Today is an anniversary for me.  On 1 October 1980 I cleaned up my apartment in Bergenfield, NJ and raced to Newark Airport to catch a flight to take me to a new life.  I boarded an orange Braniff Airlines plane destined for Dallas/Fort Worth where I connected with Rio Airways, an 11-seat 'plane' which took me to Killeen, Texas, right outside of Fort Hood, the largest military installation in the free world.  I was 24.

Waiting for me was Tucker Tolhurst, my best friend.  He was 34 years old, and about the handsomest man I know personally.  He has these beautiful eyes.  I say they are green, he insists they are hazel.  He had dark hair and a great moustache, one that men still envy to this day!  Actually, he wasn't just my best friend anymore, I had fallen in love with him over the last year.  He loved me too, and sent me the money to move, wanting it to have been much sooner than 1 October.  But my father asked me to wait until the end of the summer to be sure I wanted to move, and if I didn't change my mind, I was gone.  That was a long four months to wait, but well worth it.

Tuck and I were married six and a half months later, on 18 April 1981.  We honeymooned in a little cabin on Lake Belton and started our family.  Our Mary was born 13 months later.  Tuck was in the Army and we received orders for Germany in July 1983.  We flew to California to see his parents and on 4 October 1983 he got on a plane and left for Stuttgart.  While he was gone we received custody of his 16 year old daughter and she and Mary and I joined him right before Christmas that year.  We spent Christmas in an on-post hotel because the 3-story townhouse that he had rented was still being built.  Once complete, right before New Years 1984, we would live there for three years.  We enjoyed our time in Germany, and my stepdaughter made friends that she is still in touch with all these years later.  As a matter of fact, she has returned to Affalterbach where we lived several times in the last 25 years.

Our children grew up and got married, and we were alone again on 7 June 2003.  It was a quick adjustment, and we found that it was a chance to get to know each other again after 21 years of raising a daughter.  Now was our time.

Every day that I wake up next to this man, I thank God for him.  He is everything I have ever dreamed of, and gets better every year!  He treats me like Christ treats the church.  He places me above and respects me and nurtures me.  He makes me breakfast and packs my lunch and makes dinner many a night.  We eat in the dining room with candlelight--breakfast, lunch on weekends, and dinner. 

He is romantic.  When we were building our house in 1998, we were using picks to get the dirt out of the trenches where the water line was so that we could add our own PVC pipe in case we ever got a sprinkler system.  The back and forth of the trucks that came to build the house had filled in the trenches in some places.  It was summer in Texas, and it was hot.  We were sweating and working as fast as we could so we could get home and shower and relax.  We had the car radio on to distract us from the dirty task at hand.  Unchained Melody sung by the Righteous Brothers came on, and Tuck dropped his pick and asked me to dance!  Sweaty, dirty, and tired, I smiled and reached for his outstretched hand and we held each other close and made one of the most precious memories I have.  I will always love him for that moment, the one that made me feel like a million dollars, a princess, no, a queen! 

He is not only romantic, he is funny.  Many years ago he bought new sneakers.  Nice white ones (that was really the only color back then).  One day we were somewhere listening to someone talk and he had his leg crossed over the other, ankle on knee, and decided to write "LEFT" on the back of the heel of his left shoe.  Then "RIGHT" on the other one.  I wasn't paying any attention, and it wasn't until a few days later that I was walking behind him and noticed!  I couldn't believe it!  I admit that I was a little embarrassed at the time (I was much younger then), and I didn't think it was that funny.  Now maybe if the writing was on the wrong shoe, but no, he just looked silly.  And he didn't care.  That wasn't something that would bother a man like him, just a woman like me.  I laugh now thinking about it though.

We have a big hill in our backyard, and although we don't get much snow here, when we do we get on a piece of plastic and sled down it.  We have so much fun together.  He has brought me more smiles than I ever dreamed my face could hold.  He is God's sweet gift to me.  He is man enough to get on his knees at the bedside with me and pray before we go to sleep.  He prays for me while we walk in the morning.  He always asks God to bless "my DeeDee extra special today and give her the words that will inspire others." 

He has never hesitated to help out someone financially if it is in his power, and doesn't forget to pray for their prosperity and health. 

I am so in love with my husband.  That October day 32 years ago he had one yellow rose waiting for me in a Mateus bottle.  For years afterwards he gave me a yellow rose. Then red roses with a single yellow rose.  Sometimes all he could afford was a little silk rose at the checkout of 7-11, but he made sure that I knew I was his 'yellow rose of Texas.'  Everyday when I leave for work he escorts me to the garage carrying my briefcase, lunch and coffee.  He wipes my windshield if it is full of bugs.  When I get to the street I stop and look 200 feet down towards the house, and I shout, "I love you Darling!"  He waves and yells, "I love you Sweetheart, have a nice day!  Be careful!  And he blows me a kiss."  On mornings when he leaves before me, I almost don't know what to do, I miss it so much.

Thank you for letting me tell you about my best friend, dear Reader.  Yes, he still is.  He is the love of my life after Jesus.  He has no problem taking second seat to our Savior.  I just wanted to honor him today for being such a good man to all those who know him.  He is righteous and decent, and always has been.  It was his decency that attracted me to him in the first place.

Thank you, Tuck, for loving me the way you do.  You have made my life not only meaningful, but lovely.  You have wiped my tears away, laughed at my silly jokes and made me feel like I was the only thing in the world that mattered.  You are handsome and funny, and considerate and kind.  You have held me when I was cold, and comforted me when I grieved, toasted marshmallows in the driveway on the Fourth of July, and made memory after memory with me.  I love you with all my heart and I always will!  You are truly my gift from God, Who continues to bless me with your presence in my life.  You are my love, and I will love you forever.

Deirdre