Sheila H. Bragg, ABR

What comes to mind when you hear God's name? Big, scary? I used to. I had the Trinity neatly packaged. God was the big scary judge. Jesus was my friend and Savior. The Holy Spirit was...well, the Holy Spirit. My perception was so small. We serve a big God who holds the universe together just by His Word. We serve an awesome God who delights in our friendship. Why? Because He loves us. I heard a message on that yesterday and it just touched me so deeply that this uncontainable, everlasting, omniscient, omnipresent God wants to be friends...no, rather He delights in being my friend. Little old insignificant me. Wow....

I've been a believer since I was 7. In the last 6 years, the Father has increased my faith and grown me in ways that I would have never imagined. What was the difference? I had a breakdown of sorts in 2003. We moved to a new county after living in the same area for 30 some odd years. I just wanted so badly to be real. I had lived a fake life for so long and it wasn't working. I will never forget the time and place where I told God that I had enough and I was totally His to break me, mold me, and make me into whatever He wanted. I didn't care what it took. I was dead serious and He knew it. He accepted my gift and He broke me and He's still molding me into what He wants. Each day I have to ask, "Ok Lord...what do you want me to be today? What do you want me to do? Am I where you want me?"

The Lord will seemingly pull away sometimes to see where our faith stands. Mentally, I know He's always there. He tells us so in His Word. But, emotionally sometimes (which can NEVER be trusted), I feel like He's pulled away. My week goes wacky and I feel a void. My heart feels heavy and I have to fight to get out of bed during those times. The Father always is there, watching and waiting. Our Enemy loves these times. He will throw lies at you like darts. This is where Scripture memorization is wonderful. The Holy Spirit will help you filter and thwart off those attempts to confuse us and help us before we do something stupid.

God the Father is a huge giver. Think about it. He gave us His one and only Son to die for us so we could become part of His family forever and ever and live with Him. He gave us life. He gives us the trees, sunshine, air, and nature to enjoy His splendorous works. He has kept it going since the beginning of the time that HE created. He placed - - PLACED - - the stars in the sky and knows each one of them by name. He didn't just fling them out there and hope they spread out enough. Not one of them is missing, Scripture tells us. He knows...KNOWS how many hairs are on your head at any given time. If you are like me, your hair falls out quit a bit each day. What does that tell you? That HE CARES FOR YOU!! and me. Little ol' me. Wow...He leaves me speechless sometimes.

Going back to the gifts...I really enjoy nature. It shows me what a HUGE God I serve and how awesome His imagination is. I go outside each day and watch as each creature does what it was designed to do. I see something new each year. I love orb weaver spiders. They are just cool to watch. I was showing a house one day and saw one up in the corner of the house and while the prospective tenants were inside, I casually mentioned to the Lord that I wanted one. That was a little over a week ago. I had totally forgotten my little request until yesterday. I was trimming my bushes and I saw a web and movement and there it was. A nice sized orb weaver. He didn't forget. He loves me so much that He answered that prayer. But not just with that....He always gives over and above what we ask. And I giggle like a little kid when He does (my neighbors probably think I'm wacky...I know my teens do. LOL) But He didn't just give me one...He gave me two. :-) Isn't He wonderful??

After telling God that I want to see Him more than just "big, scary judge", He has graciously showed me what He's like through little acts of kindness such as that. He cares so much that He gave me not one, but two spiders. You're probably thinking, "So??" So?? It matters to me. If it matters to me, it matters to God. Isn't that awesome??

God is my friend. He's my Father. He's the Creator. He's deep. His ways are higher than our ways and I am just beginning to get to know Him more.

Jesus paid the ultimate price for me. He is my friend and my Savior...my Redeemer. I can't wait to get to Heaven and hug Him!!

The Holy Spirit is God's spirit, Christ's spirit living in ME. I have the mind of Christ. I have the heart of Christ. I am just amazed. Listening to Beth Moore this week, she has expounded on the verse of 2 Tim. 1:7 "For we have not been given a spirit of fear; but of power (GOD'S POWER!!), of love (GOD's LOVE) and of a sound mind (the mind of Christ!)." How awesome is that???

Be blessed and have a fantastic week!

Sheila

Remember the story in the Bible about how Elijah beat the prophets of Baal with God's help? Here's a slight refresher:

Elijah was proving to Israel and prophets of Baal that the Lord God of Israel was the only God. He told them, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him." The people said nothing.

So Elijah proposed to have a contest to see which God would respond to their sacrifice. Basically, whichever god who answered by fire, he was God. The people agreed.

Elijah let the prophets go first. The prophets of Baal couldn't get a breeze to blow and they were cutting themselves trying to get Baal's attention. Elijah even taunted them with, "Maybe he's in deep thought or maybe he's busy or traveling." They moaned and wailed and sliced away. Nothing. No response, even though they continued from morning until noon.

Elijah's turn. He built an altar with 12 stones. Put wood on top, then the sacrifice. He commanded that 12 jars of water be brought and drenched the altar. They even dug a moat around it and it filled up with water. Logically speaking, wet things don't burn, right?

With God, ALL things are possible. So with that in mind, here's what ensued. God sent fire down fron Heaven, consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil and the Bible even tells us that it licked up the water in the trench.

The people then believed that the Lord God of Israel was God. Elijah then struck down and killed 450 prophets of Baal.

He had to be flying high in his mind about how awesome God is, don'tcha think? I know I would have been. Well, shortly thereafter, Queen Jezebel heard what he did to her propherts and put a hit on him and he ran and went into hiding and wanted to die.

What??? Why???

Well, think about it. He was on the mountain top and Satan basically pushed him off. He couldn't stand it that God was prevailing so he jumped in and tapped into Elijah's weak spot and sent him down the mountain.

After my mountain top experience last week, the enemy knocked me down. First, I attempted to burn a little of the dead pampas grass in my back yard and the fire managed to get out of control to the point that even after 3 hoses going and 5 gallon buckets of water from our pool, the fire department was called in. I was praying so hard out loud, "Lord help me!" I was shaking and embarrassed and I'm sure my neighbors wondered what in the world was going on. I'm so thankful that the Lord did send help via neighbors because I couldn't leave the fire alone to get help. I could almost picture the enemy laughing at me.

Then my check engine light came on the van and it started sputtering and had to be taken to the shop.

The enemy was enjoying this, I'm sure. But he's not getting to me. God is still in control and whatever He allows into my life is for a reason.

I met our new neighbors across the street via the fire fiasco and that was a blessing.

Not having my van was not an issue like it could have been. I had some out of town military folks coming in to look at houses Monday and he was gracious enough to drive. 8 hours later, they found a house they liked and put in an offer. We had a great time together and even compared notes on 16 year old girls and 19 year old boys.

I am learning and seeing that God is in every detail of our lives. Each day brings a new challenge but as long as God is in control and I give my day to Him first thing in the morning by spending time with Him, I respond properly to whatever challenge is thrown my way.

I honestly don't know how people survive in this life without Jesus Christ. He's my dearest friend. If you don't know Him as Savior, won't you trust Him today to be Lord of your life? Your life will never be the same and you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner. It's easy and it's free. All you have to do is ask!

Be blessed!

Sheila

I don't know about you, but no matter what my circumstances, I always know that God is up to something. It's usually something good. It's definitely what helps me to get through some rough patches in my life. Those of you who have read my previous blogs know that we have been through a really rough time in the past year.

Well, I have to share this with you. God showed off this week. I just love it when He does that. It makes me feel so special---which, I am, according to His Word. Each of us are precious to Him and the smallest thing that matters to us, matters to Him because He loves us so much.

Last week was Relay for Life. A duty agent was needed for the following morning so I reluctantly volunteered. It kept coming to mind after the email and I didn't respond right away because I was not sure I wanted to commit after being up late the night before. I just couldn't turn it down. I kept thinking that I might get something. Who knows?

I got a call from a young man asking the price of a home and I told him and he said, "Ok. Thanks." And I probed a bit further by asking if it sounded like something he'd like to view the inside of. It was too far out of his price range so I offered to send him some listings via email, if he'd like. "That sounds OK," was his response. I didn't think twice about it. I gathered up the information and sent it to him.

30 minutes later, he called back and informed me that he found one he'd like to see. How soon could I show it? I looked at the clock. I was off duty at 1, so I told him 1:30. I showed the house (which was a foreclosure). It had cosmetic issues from an obviously angry owner but other than that, it looked like it would be a great deal.

The house had a stipulation that the owning bank had to approve the loan and a pre-qual letter had to be submitted with the offer. I got the name of a lender who worked on weekends and was set on ready.

The buyer told me he had one more house to see the next day and he would let me know. I figured, "Great. I'll be upstaged by another Realtor." BUT....he called me back less than 2 hours later and wanted to put in an offer. He had apparently stopped after I left and talked with several of the neighbors and they told him the value of their home and what a great neighborhood it was and that he should grab that house. I met him Sunday afternoon (Happy Mother's Day to meeeee!) and we wrote an offer. I kept him from making a huge blunder of shooting low and we put together a nice offer. He had contacted the lender the previous evening and got pre-qualified.

The counter offer came in only $3k difference and he accepted. We did termite and inspections this week and he's ready to go.

THIS was a blessing from God. Only He could bring a buyer that ready and willing and able that fast!

That was just the first thing. This morning, we had to be in court and parking in downtown Savannah takes money. I had very little change left. 8:30...we had maybe an hour on the meter. Before court started, I prayed that He would put a hedge around our vehicle and protect it from the meter maid...maybe stall her...because we could not afford a parking ticket right now. We got finished close to 10pm. The meter had long been expired. My husband exclaimed, "Well, let's go get our ticket." I told him, "No, we don't." He looked puzzled. I told him that I had prayed. We got down to the van and the meter had expired but NO ticket. I whispered, "Thank you, Lord!" We got in the van and my husband exclaimed, "Thank you, Lord!" Ain't God good???

Here was the total kicker. After I left my husband at work, I headed to the home inspection of the buyer that I've been working with. I was hot and thirsty and no money. I pulled into a gas station to use the restroom and prayed, "Lord, please let me find some money hidden in my wallet somewhere." I started digging....guess what??? I found a $5 bill!!!! I was on the phone with my mother at the time so I shouted, "Praise God!" She's like, "What??" So I told her. I got something to drink and felt so loved and cared for by a big God for such a small issue. He cares so much about us.

That's why He says, "Cast ALL your cares upon Him, for He cares for YOU." Pray about EVERYTHING. It all matters to Him.

As I stood in the house listening to the inspector talk about what a great house it was, I just got chills. Only God could bring a buyer and cause a sale to go so smoothly together like that.

The inspection gave me a chance to enjoy nature while I was there. A baby praying mantis crawled up onto my arm. It was so cool to see that tiny head moving around, looking at me. Ducks were in the lagoon and walking through the neighborhood with their ducklings. The only sad part was when the inspector went to check a light and there was a birds nest on it and in pulling it down (he thought it was a wasp nest), some of the babies died. They didn't even have their little eyes opened yet. I prayed for those little babies that God would be merciful. I made sure they were out of the sun but by the time we left, only one was still alive. I have this horrible tendency to want to "adopt" every critter/animal I come in contact with and try to take care of it but I was strangely at peace with this and knew that the Father loved them, too and would take care of them. He is, after all, God.

I have been floating on the clouds today giggling like a little girl because my Heavenly Father loves me and shows it in remarkable ways. He's just awesome and I have to brag about Him. :-)

Have a great week and remember that He's in control and is ALWAYS working on your behalf.

How visible is your company? Do you get involved with the community? It is well worth considering. All of the activity adds to the public perception of your company.

Our company participated in the local Relay for Life last night and we had a good turn out and had a blast. Our board raised over $160k this year, which in this economic environment, was phenomenal!

We also had a quilt piece that we put our survivors names on and it was pieced together with pieces from other companies to honor those we loved.

The bagpipes played during the luminary ceremony gave me chills. It was an extremely uplifting experience.

I almost didn't go but I talked my daughter into riding with me over there and we got a chance to bond---which is RARE! Those of you who have 16 year old girls understand that very well! lol

I'm on floor duty this morning and I got home late last night and I am tired. But it's a good tired. My dad is a lung cancer survivor. His dad died from lung cancer back in the 70's when there wasn't the available treatment that there is today. Daddy is struggling to recover from surgery and it pains me to see him so frail. I pray daily for him and I hope that the Lord will restrengthen him so he can enjoy the outdoors again.

But back to my original question. When people think real estate in your town, does your company come to mind? Ours is forefront in the news constantly for community involvement via individual agent or a company as a whole. The advertisement is free and you help a good cause. It's a good thing.

Have a great weekend!

You've all seen it. The business card with an agent photo from back in the 'day when they were young and beautiful...

but when you actually meet them face to face, you can't believe it's the same person. YIKES!

Makes you think...what does your image say to others? Do you appear confident? Friendly? Professional? Stuck-up? Is what they see what they get?

People appreciate honesty, someone they can relate to and typically don't like surprises.

If people look at your photo, think they are getting one thing and end up with another, it makes them wonder what else you are "faking."

Think about your online presence and your print advertising. Get various opinions from friends and even strangers as to what they think of your "image." You may be surprised at what you hear. You may think you look friendly when everyone else thinks you look pensive and tense. Who wants a Realtor who looks stressed out?

I've actually seen agents use photos that were obviously from back in the 1960's. What were they thinking??

Be real. Be who you are. You will never be all things to all people. Diversity makes the world go 'round. Relish the person you are and the time of life that you are in. Your clients will be more at ease when you are.

Have a great weekend!