Thoughts

God Shows Up

by dcreamer February 2, 2026 with No Comments

By Susan Berry

God did an amazing thing today for me.

For weeks now I have been crying out to God about an answer to prayer that has not come. I’ve been praying for years, shedding countless tears. I told God last week, ” I can’t even pray about this anymore. I’m exhausted and the words won’t come” Then of course the enemy came and tried to tell me what a terrible Christian I am for not steadfastly praying. As I rebuked that lie and let out one last gut wrenching sigh to God, I went to rest and be still.

Yesterday, I was led to reach out to the daughter of a dear friend of mine. This friend taught me about the Holy Spirit after I met Jesus a few months earlier in 1984. My friend passed away about ten years ago but I have kept in touch with her precious daughter who was in a youth ministry I volunteered for and she babysat with my sons occasionally. Today she replied to my message I sent and said God had led her to pray for the thing I wasn’t able to pray for anymore. She knew nothing about my prayers and I got the impression the leading came as a surprise to her also.

God raised up a prayer partner for me without my even knowing or asking. Just when I thought God didn’t hear me or see me, He proved me wrong and flooded me with love. This lady also told me she was going to reach out to me a while ago because she needed someone to talk to but God kept saying, “Not yet”. God knew HIS timing was best. When I felt alone, hopeless and like my prayers were just vapor evaporating before reaching Gods ear, He sent the Holy Spirit to prompt another child of God to intercede on my behalf.

Don’t give up! Don’t surrender! And don’t be dismayed, for God is with you always!!

Romans 8:27 NIV

“And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

Am I Still A Child?

by dcreamer January 26, 2026 with No Comments

By Susan Berry

Am I Still a Child?

As a person who was raised in a dysfunctional family and then, as a young adult, married a person from a dysfunctional family, I understand trauma.

I hesitate to use the word “abusive” as I feel it plays the victim card and leans on blame too much.

Dysfunction births dysfunction.

When I got saved at the age of 24, one of the first things God did in me was begin the healing process to free me of the damage caused by growing up in an unhealthy home. Seeing the damage childhood trauma had caused was painful. But not as painful as living in the midst of the trauma.

Before I knew my Lord Jesus Christ I ran from my dysfunctional family and married as an escape. My marriage was also dysfunctional and traumatic. My children were then raised in a very unhealthy environment that resulted in childhood trauma for them.

It took many years for me to allow God to heal me of the damage and deliver me to a healthy soul, emotions and thought patterns.

Now as I approach my senior years I see the growth God has graced me with. As we heal and mature in our soul we are able to mature in our walk with Christ and live not as children, but as disciples.

Peter had to come to the revelation of his own insecurities and immaturity as we see by his life. The truth of the Lord brings healing. It brings us not to ourselves but to Himself and that in reality, is our maturity.

Think about all of the people who encountered Jesus in the Bible. I cannot think of one who in one way or another didn’t need healing to help them come to the revelation of who Jesus was. Whether it was physical blindness or spiritual blindness, once they received healing they received freedom.

Childhood trauma, relational trauma, marital trauma…seeing it, surrendering it to God and asking His healing love to cleanse us will bring deliverance. And deliverance brings freedom from chains that bind. And freedom brings maturity.

I pray for anyone who reads this and needs healing that Father God will touch your heart and soul to bring peace and fullness of healing to you.

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”

1 Corinthians 13:11 NIV

Seasons and Waiting

by dcreamer January 19, 2026 with No Comments

By Susan Berry

Seasons & Waiting

Acts 14:17

“Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from Heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”

Romans 8:24-25

“ For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?

But if we hope for what we do not see, then we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”

Winter is not an easy season for one whose heart resides in the garden. Even after twenty two years of growing many gardens, I struggle to wait for Spring and the hope it holds.

I long for the aroma of warm soil, of seeing a tiny seed push from beneath the soil and peek through with green leaves full of life and hope.

Seasons in life are the same as seasons in nature. Change, abundance, loss, sorrow, hope, joy. We walk through the season’s waiting, trusting and hoping that God’s love and faithfulness will bring the fulfillment of the season.

January, for gardeners and farmers is a time of planning, reflecting and preparation. For me, it is when I wait with anticipation for the new year’s seed catalogs to arrive. Each day I run to the mailbox hoping to find a treasure of new seeds.

As we are sometimes encouraged by our Pastors’ messages in January to reflect on the past year and how we could improve our personal walk with the Lord. We learn and hope as we reflect that the coming year will bring personal growth.

Winter is also when gardeners plan their new gardens for the coming Spring. We journal and draw and rotate our beds so that our new crops will flourish and be bountiful.

Our life journals can have the same design and plan for us. We endeavor to remove what weeds may have crept in last season. We look to the positive growth and plan to nurture and feed those areas even more.

As I press on through the short dark cold days of Winter I hold to hope and God’s plan for my life. Knowing He has all the perfect seeds and will hold them for me until it is the perfect time to sow them.

Food of the word and gladness of our salvation. Our joy and sustenance through the Winters of our life.

I am so blessed to be a part of EncouragingU. As a follower of Jesus Christ and a Horticulturist I hope to share my journey with you by sharing the teachings God has spoken to my heart as I go to the garden with Him. I love to encourage others to venture into gardening and benefit from growing their own food. Our bodies are the temple for God’s glory and eating healthy is one way to glorify Him. I can be reached at figandhoney878@gmail.com.

God Bless,

Susan Berry