Stay Salty: Stories of Faith & Hope

By CAV Women's Devotions

The women of Church at Viera are a diverse, multi-generational group living on the Space Coast of Florida. Each writer is living a unique life and has the desire to share a personal life story of faith and hope. Our prayer is that these stories will inspire others and bring the reader closer to God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798385000616

CAV Women's Devotions

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Copyright © 2023 CAV Women’s Devotions.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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ISBN: 979-8-3850-0060-9 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0062-3 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0061-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023911210

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/28/2023

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ESV taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations are taken from The Living Bible, copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Living Bible, TLB, and the The Living Bible logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from The New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked MEV are taken from the Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

CONTENTS

God Has A Plan

God Things

The Will Of God

He Remains Faithful

Accountability In The Home

Every Girl Needs Her Dad

Make The Most Of Your Time

Biblical Self Love

The Comparison Game

The Three Hundred

A Story Worth Sharing

The Waiting Room

Defining Our Identity

Rescue

Permanent Resident

Focusing On What Counts

He Will Never Leave You

Who Is Driving Your Thoughts?

Rest For The Weary

Hope For The Future

More Than You Can Imagine

More Of Him And Less Of Me

Power Through Him

Contradictory

God Loves To Recycle

The Sovereignty Of God

The Greatest Gift Is Love

The God Of All Comfort

Don’t Worry…Be Happy!

The Golden Rule

Light Of The World

The Cross On The Truck

Connecting Through Unexpected Scriptures

Life Decisions

Measurable Sorrow

The Things We Cannot See

Taught By Tulips

God’s Timing, Not Mine!

Blessed, Even In Mourning

Trusting God, No Matter What

His Still Small Voice

A Psalm Of David

Life Lessons In Everyday Life

Don’t You Care?

My Heart’s Desire

You Find What You Are Looking For

Reckless Surrender

The Importance Of Spotting

Lessons From The Littles

What’s Love Got To Do With It?

Renew Your Mind And Guard Your Heart

Let God Be God

Loss—A New Perspective Brings Gratitude

Miracles Still Happen

Faith

God’s Masterpiece

Chosen

He Is Jealous For You

A Father To The Fatherless

Work For The Lord

More Faith Please!

Dedicated to Sue Lewis and Kelli Ragsdale

for your leadership, authenticity and love

of faith, family and friendship.

You are examples to all of a Christ-centered life.

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Church at Viera

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GOD HAS A PLAN

For I know the plans I have for you, they are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you."

JEREMIAH 29:11-13 (NEW LIVING TRANSLATION)

S ome of us have lived long enough to have had times where we’ve been able to look back and think, Oh that’s why God did that! Sometimes we’ve not had the privilege of knowing for a long time what that plan is, and there are some things we may never know this side of heaven. One thing that I know for sure is that God always has a plan. He is continually writing our stories, sometimes despite our choices! One of the foundations of my walk with the Lord has been believing that God always has a plan. His timing might not be our timing, but it’s always the perfect time!

When my daughter Jessica showed me an ultrasound picture early in her second pregnancy, I was expecting to see one tiny little blob of a life just beginning to develop. When I took a second look, I was shocked to see three blobs. In my mind I thought, Is this what I think it is? There were three tiny little lives living inside the womb of my precious daughter! How could this be? God what in the world are you thinking? Triplets?

As I began to process what this would mean for her and her little family, the enormity of it began to unfold in my mind - this is going to change everything in our whole family! That still, small voice of the Holy Spirit kept whispering, God has a plan. I was full of fear for my own child and how this would affect her but still the whisper came, God has a plan.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you.

I love the last part of that verse where He promises us that if we look for Him we will find Him.

When we lose someone we love…

We will find him! He has a plan!

When a child that we have loved and nurtured goes astray…

We will find him! He has a plan!

When we are betrayed …

We will find him! He has a plan!

When we are disappointed…

We will find him! He has a plan!

When things happen that we don’t understand…

We will find him! He has a plan!

I could go on and on as we all have situations in life that are just, well, hard. My dad passed away at the age of 66 after suffering terribly with cancer eating his body away. I can remember sitting by his deathbed and praying God, I don’t understand why this is happening, but I do trust your plan. His whole plan in that hasn’t yet been revealed to me, but I do see some of how God has worked through it. We might not always see the plan, but God is always working and we can trust in Him and His Word.

Psalm 33:11 NLT says, But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken.

Believing in His plan isn’t always easy! There can be times when it will take every ounce of faith you have to believe there is a plan but keep pressing on and trusting! I have found through many of my own fumblings in faith that His plans and His ways are always intentional, and HE IS FOR US!

We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone, Psalm 33:20-22 NLT,

I’m grateful to sing on our worship team. Musical worship is one of my greatest passions and I think often about the lyrics we sing. Some of the songs we sing resonate with this idea of trusting God’s plan. I love these lyrics from the song by Elevation Worship, Give Me Faith:

GIVE ME FAITH to trust what you say.

That you’re good and your love is great…

I may be weak but Your Spirit’s strong in me,

my flesh may fail but my God You never will!

Kelli Ragsdale

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GOD THINGS

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

PHILIPPIANS 4:13 (NEW KING JAMES VERSION)

I attended church as a child and into my teens. Then, I wandered. In my early twenties, I had a job at an aircraft instrument repair shop but when things became difficult there, I left. I read the job postings at the local state employment office, and I applied for a job that I clearly qualified for at an Air Force station, but I was not hired.

Six months later, I was working as a receptionist at a local manufacturing plant when I got a phone call with a job offer. It was definitely a God thing because I didn’t know anyone there or have any connections. I accepted the job. I would now be working on the Air Force Titan program for an independent contractor. My job involved issuing and delivering tools, parts and test equipment to work sites used to assemble the Titan missile solid rocket motors. I enjoyed this kind of work, so I felt truly blessed!

Seventeen years later, the Air Force Titan program was winding down and I began to realize I would be laid off when the work there was finished. A year later, it happened. I then decided to use my unemployment benefits to attend the local community college full time. As my unemployment benefits ran out, I prayed about my next job. I was now attending church weekly and was very close to God. My prayer was that my next job would be in an office environment after having worked in a warehouse atmosphere for eighteen years.

Six months later,