Yes, I’ve been away for a while and for that I’m sorry. I just sometimes come across a writer’s block, I guess, and find that I have too much to say and too little to write. But I think this topic will fill us both up with things to ponder about. And more importantly, it will give us good cause to reflect on ways that talking to Jesus can actually help us overcome our struggles.

So I want to start by saying that as a little girl sitting in a Catholic church every Sunday really did not set well with me. I didn’t understand the process/flow of things and wondered why if Jesus is so alive, was He depicted everywhere hanging from a cross. Was He my God?

When I was a little older and understood a little more, I began to talk to God as though He were sitting right next to me. I would tell Him my deepest, darkest secrets and hope all would come out well.

Many, many years have gone by and now I still talk to Jesus, but more on a personal scale. I’ve grown to understand how Jesus ‘talks back’ to me. Sometimes it’s a thought in my head. Other times, it’s a circumstance that ‘just happens’ at the right time. Other times He talks to me through what I read or what people say. And other times Jesus just talks to me audibly in my dreams. Yes, I know how that sounds. Kind of kooky, I’m sure, but hey, I didn’t write the rules on this one.

So now I’m not only perplexed by the method in which He chooses to talk to me, but the fact that He talks back at all. I mean there are thousands of people who talk to God everyday and not one of them will audibly hear God’s voice talking back. So, why me? Well, let’s just skip that question for now, as it gets very complicated. Just suffice it to say that all these books you read and movies that are coming out regarding ‘encounters’ with Heaven…well, I believe every last one of them. If there’s one thing I know it’s that God is NOT dead and that He’s very much involved with our lives.

Take my life for instance. He is very interested in my ‘everything.’ From the clothes I wear to the color hair dye I put in my hair. He’s ultra aware that I love chocolate and that I will never weigh 120 lbs again, ever! (except in heaven!) But that’s okay.

He tells me things about my siblings and my children that I probably shouldn’t know and He tells me a lot about heaven and what it will be like. He also tells me things about the future, but not all things. He says that there are certain circumstances where I am not to know what lies ahead. I’m sure there are several reasons for that, including testing my faith. And yes, even though I speak with Jesus most days, I’m not a perfect person by any stretch of the imagination. Yes, I suffer from depression. So do a lot of other Christians. This is an imperfect world after all.

The reason I even write about Jesus talking to me is that I want you to know that it’s real. He’s real. He’s alive. And He’s willing to ‘take you on’ if you would turn to Him. Listen, I’m no angel like I said and I have disappointed Him, but He’s patient with me and He still loves me in spite of the way I’ve yelled at Him and disobeyed Him.

I need to be a better person, and I know I can be, knowing that Jesus is on my side. I can rise up and become the writer I want to be, but I can’t go missing 2 months of writing…that will not do. So make me accountable and tell me get to it. I have lots to say, hopefully a lot that will encourage you to march on and upward toward your goal.

I’m no psychologist or therapist. I’m not a lunatic escaped from a mental hospital and I don’t take psychotic drugs. I don’t have any fancy degree, but I do talk with Jesus, and He talks with me. If He says ‘everything is going to be okay,’ then it will. This goes for your problems as well as mine.

Take time today to reach out to the One who loves you most and best. He will communicate with you…somehow or another.

Until next time, God bless you.

Nancy