Day 242 ~ Wednesday

Tonight was awesome!  I got to pray with a new friend to recommit her life to the Lord.  There really is nothing better than that!  Being used by Jesus and get to be His hands and His feet and then His mouthpiece!

Day 241 - Tuesday

So my first paper of the semester is due this week, I am in the process of trying to set up my internship for next semester, study for my LSAT in a few weeks and about 50 other things... needless to say I have been fighting the stress headache all day today!  I was thrilled when I realized that I had all night tonight to work on my paper that is due first thing Thursday morning.

Until the phone started ringing... I got very little work on my paper done tonight.  Instead, I got to be His hands and His mouth and tomorrow I will get to be His feet as I go and complete the things that I said I would do tonight.  It is so awesome to be used by Him.  To be able to love people the way that He loves them.  To be there for them and share what mistakes you have made so that they don't have to fall in the same trap. 

I am excited that He has chosen me to be His vessel in this new relationship that He opened the door for!  On top of that, He now gets to show how strong He is by helping me to finish this paper on time when I couldn't do it through my own self.  I have a feeling He will be doing a lot of that this semester!

Day 240 - Monday

I asked God last night as I was falling asleep what He was going to do today... but I forgot to pay any attention at all today!

I spent the day on my agenda, getting what I needed done... Let me tell you how that ended! LOL

Stressed out, wore out and crabby... Yeah, I know you can't believe I was crabby! LOL
Maybe I will do better tomorrow!

Day 239 - Sunday

Well... I must confess... I was completely going to skip going to church tonight.  I have a ton of reading to do for classes this week and the LSAT study time was very tempting... But I went anyway.

I am so glad I did!  God's presence was so strong tonight.  You could feel Him live and move and have His being in that building tonight.  So many people were touched and changed in His presence as we worshipped tonight.  The altar on both sides of the church was filled with people who just came out to worship God! 

Jackie and I got to pray together tonight and it was awesome! One lady had her elbow healed.  Another one had pain in her abdomen - she was completely healed! There were dozens more who came up for prayer and God just touched and healed their minds, their bodies and their souls!

It was so GOOD!  I don't know how I can ever think that I am going to miss what God is doing for studying.  He always stretches my hours and helps me to remember what I read. Hmmmm... I wonder if this is one of those "seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and all its righteousness and all else will be given to you"?  I bet it is!

Day 238 - Saturday

Well... God was right!  Now the gift didn't receive the immediate, "Wow, this is just what I needed!" that I had anticipated. After most of the guests had left, my friend pulled me into her bedroom and opened up one of her dresser drawers and showed me the collection of stationary that she was amassing. 

She said, "I don't know why I keep buying all this stationary, I will just feel like I have to.  Some of them are not even cute!  Look, this one has pictures of food on it!"  She then explained that God was bringing  people to her mind and heart and she would write a note of encouragement or prayer and send it to them.  It was difficult for me not to start laughing, because I knew that God was giving her confirmation and encouraging her in what He has called her to do through that stationary that I would have NEVER bought on my own!

I got to share with her about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and how she was operating in the gift of words of  knowledge and words of encouragement in an awesome way.  Which meant that I was an encouragement to her in her using her gift to encourage others.  I love how God operates! He is so AmAzing!

This was also good confirmation and encouragement for me in my walk with the Lord.  I love this new ask God what He is doing game.  He always answers and so it is like a giant game of hidden pictures.  I just have to find the hidden clues!

Day 237 - Friday

Tomorrow is my best friend's 30th birthday and I wanted to find her the perfect gift.  Giving gifts is one of my favorite things and if anyone has read Chapman's book the 5 Love Languages, well gift giving (and receiving) is one of my favorite ways to say I love you.  So I asked God what I should get her.  I got this kind of weird feeling all over me and I thought I should go to Borders.

Now the instant reaction to that was, "Angie doesn't like to read! Why on earth would I go to Borders?"  But then I had that feeling again and I kind of saw a picture of myself going in there.  I tried to dismiss it and rationalize it and so I headed to the Christian bookstore - because they have really cute gift stuff there - I was not planning on getting her any books there either. 

On my way there I was talking with one of the wonderful Godly women that the Lord has brought to my life to teach me and as we were getting off the phone I asked her to pray for me that I would find just the right gift for Angie.  She prayed and asked God to make sure that when I found the right gift that I wouldn't argue with Him about it!  (Man, does that lady know ME! LOL)  I walked all the way through the christian bookstore, multiple times. I looked at the jewelry and the t-shirts, study Bibles and coffee mugs, and finding nothing that just really jumped out at me.  Finally I settled on a little desktop daily devotional that read like they were letters directly from God to us for each day.  It was really cute, but it just didn't feel right. 

After I made my purchases and I was walking out of the store, a necklace caught my eye.  It was really pretty, a two-toned Jesus fish with a CZ in it at the top that looks like a diamond.  I stopped and looked at it and then went back and bought it with the intentions of giving it to her.  Still I had this nagging feeling that I needed to go to Borders.  At least it was located directly next to my next stop anyway so it was no big deal.  So I headed that direction.

When I pulled in the parking lot, I asked the Lord again, "God, what are You doing in here today?"  I saw a picture of myself walking into the store and heading to the right side of the store and picking something off of a shelf near the front of the store.  So I got out of my car and walked in.

I headed in the direction that I had seen myself walk in the picture.  When I got there I realized that the whole shelves were just filled with various types of paper products: journals, notebooks, loose leaf, notepaper and stationary.  I asked Him, "God what are You doing here?"  I didn't hear an answer but I felt drawn to this one particular pack of stationary.  Then I thought, "This is ridiculous!" and I tried to walk away. 

I didn't get more than one aisle away before I was immediately drawn back to a particular shelf.  I just kind of held my hand out and let it drift over the boxes of stationary. As I got over one particular box it kind of felt like there was a magnet in it or something. So I picked it up thinking, "This is silly!  Who would want stationary... And it isn't even that pretty!"  Immediately my friend's prayer from earlier that morning came flooding back and I hastily picked up the box of stationary and proceeded to browse the rest of the store... Just in case the Lord came up with something better to buy for her!  I didn't find a thing for her, but I found a perfect book for me!

This story is To Be Continued... Tomorrow!

Day 236~ Thursday - Answered Prayers and Surprises!

Yesterday I got to bless one of my spiritual moms with a digital camera for her birthday.  She is an evangelist and when she goes on trips she always buys disposable cameras and then pays a fortune for picture developing when she gets back.  She will send copies of the pictures to the people that she met, the people she was with and probably half a dozen others as well!

The Lord put it on my heart to get her one for her birthday and when she got it she was so excited! Well today I was talking with my friend Donna and I was telling her how excited she was and I was sharing with her how I had thought about getting her a small laptop instead because she didn't have a computer.  The Lord told me to stick with the camera. 

As I was telling Donna all of this, she says, "Oh, I have a laptop that I don't use anymore! Let me see if it will still boot up?!?!" 

Long story short, I am typing on it right now!  I have a few things to finish updating on here for her and then it will be Deb's on Sunday.  I know she has been praying and asking the Lord for a computer.  I know the look on her face is going to be amazing! I can't wait to see it!

I love getting to see and be a part of God giving others the desires of their hearts!

Day 235 ~ Back on Track Wednesday

The most amazing thing happened today... I got to share in helping someone very special to me have an encounter with the Living God! 
She influenced my life growing up tremendously! I can honestly say that without her, I probably wouldn't be here!  She got me started in New Age as a way out of my pain when I was a teenager.

Today I got to facilitate her being touched by Heaven! 

We were having breakfast this morning at one of my favorite breakfasty restaurants, First Watch ~ I always get the Bacado... YUUUUUMMMMMMMMM!  I shared stories with her of all the awesome miracles that we have seen take place in and out of the church.  By the end of the conversation she said she needed healing prayer in her life...  (PS she has not given her life to Jesus yet)

I ask her what she needs prayer for and she tells me.  I ask her if we could just go ahead and ask Jesus for help right here, right now.  I couldn't believe she agreed!

We asked the Lord for guidance and help and He showed up on the spot (yes, I know He was already there!) and loved on her and spoke to her and told her what she needed to do about the situation she was struggling with.  Most of all though, she felt His love!

THE BEST GIFT EVER! 

Days 231, 232, 233, 234 - Yeah I know I said I wouldn't do this!

This past weekend was crazy busy... I totally wasn't walking with Jesus... totally went my own way... it was terrible... It blew up in my face and it was very lame

Since no one wants to read about the mess my disobedience caused... I will not write about it :)

Day 230 ~ Friday ... and a little catch up from my weekend mini vacation!

Ok, it is probably wrong to pray for this, but whatever... I am who I am... sometimes I am just wrong! LOL
I had planned to leave for Nashville at 4am; however, I forgot to set the alarm... AND... my daughter woke me up at 6am. 

Now the conference in Nashville started at 10am.  I live near St Louis. It is a good 5 hour drive to Nashville.  So when I woke up at 6, I FREAKED out!  At first I was not even going to try, but I decided, NO I am going!

Luckily I had everything in the car and ready to go the night before, so we hopped in and I was on the road by 6:05. 

Yes... I prayed NOT to get a speeding ticket!

Good News: the church was on the outskirts coming in to Nashville and I pulled in the lot at 10:06am.

WITHOUT a Ticket!  Thank You Jesus, for Your Traveling Mercies!

Day 229 ~ Thursday

So I know this is probably lame to the majority of the free world but it was important to me.
I am leaving for Nashville at 4am tomorrow morning.  Of course I hadn't packed as of ten pm tonight!  So as I was getting everything together, I couldn't find my camera battery charger.

I will admit that I am fairly irresponsibe about putting seldom  used things in a proper place.  So I prayed and asked the Holy Spirit.  Within seconds He showed me the bathroom and when I went in there, I looked down behind the back splash on my sink and there it was!

I know that seems like a lame thing to pray for with all the people dying in the world and stuff, but God does care about the little stuff... even camera battery chargers.

Well, Good Night!  I may not write for a few days so I will write when I get back Sunday.

Day 228 ~ Wednesday

This morning I had to take my kids over to the Central Institute for the Deaf ( No, no deaf people are gonna be healed in this story... try not to be too disappointed... I didn't see any, but maybe tomorrow!) to participate in a study that one of my sister's friends was conducting.  Yes, I farmed my kids out for science!  They are making 10$/hr for this gig!  I have to pay for their private education somehow!?!?!?!  JUST KIDDING!

Anyway, while I was sitting there I was reading this book called Gazing into Glory by Bruce Allen... Awesome book, by the way!  I am reading it very slowly and carefully so I don't miss anything and so I can practice this stuff while it is fresh in my memory.  He posed the question:  How do I get from where I am to where I should be? - Yes, of course I posted this to facebook! LOL  I got a few interesting responses... but the idea was to think about it.  The answer of course is found in Jesus.  Becoming more like Him and less like me.  How do I get there, you ask?

For a half hour this morning I sat in that waiting room trying to picture myself in Christ.  It was a LONG and difficult half hour! LOL  Try and stay focused on any one thing for that long and let me know how YOU fare!
I made it though and I could feel His presence on me, in me and around me.  It really was "Christ in me the hope of glory".

Now that my seat in that waiting room is all gloried up for tomorrow, maybe I will find some deaf people for Jesus to heal! :O)  I can only hope I don't chicken out!

DAY 227 ~ Tuesday

Dear Jesus,

I seriously don't know what to write tonight.  I was too tired ( that is my code word for lazy) to get on here last night and do this and I crashed at 10:30 pm.  I really wish I would have done it last night because then I am sure I could have thought of something to write about.  When will I ever learn!  Hopefully before this year is over!

Sincerely,
Cara T.

Day 226 ~ Monday

Today my mom and I took my kids on one last float trip this summer.  We were really blessed to find a place that rented two person kayaks as we only had two adults and two kids.  We floated a river that we had not floated in over a decade and normally we take canoes so it was a little bit of uncharted territory.

Luckily for us, it is really difficult to flip a kayak.  However, in the first two miles, I think I managed to swamp the boat three times!  Which resulted in a kid who was freaking out!  After going the wrong way and totally getting hung up in a tree... I realized we had forgotten to pray over our boat and the float itself before we put in the water.  So while I was pulling us out of the mess, I told my daughter to start praying.  ~ It also completely helped my kiddo calm down.

After that, I got this revelation that if I did less work... very little paddling and just went with the flow of the river... it was smooth sailing.  The kayak would just slip past debris and over the low spots and slide around the corners with very little assistance from me.  Occasionally I would have to dip my paddle in the water to steer the boat slightly, but not very often. 

It was only after I got this concept that I was able to enjoy the float and I also had the opportunity to teach my kids this same lesson as well. 

There are so many times in my life when I spend so much time paddling hard and working hard and all I end up with is sore arms and stress and running into things. 

Time to trust God and take my paddle out of the water for awhile!

Day 225 ~ Sunday... God, What Are You Doing Today?

Before every church service those of us who are on the ministry team at my church gather together and pray for the church service for about 25-30 minutes.  It is always an awesome time together with the Lord.  But tonight something changed.

I have written before about asking God what He is doing in certain places or situations.  I have asked and gotten answers.  But I worried that it was just my imagination or something that it wasn't really God.  Tonight during our prayer time I asked Him, "God what are You doing tonight?"  I got a picture in my head of a rib, just one - it was white, and everything around it was covered in red muscles and stuff.  I asked again and I saw a backbone.  I didn't say anything to anyone and in all reality started trying to convince myself that it wasn't real.

When it came time for us to pray together, everyone just sat or stood there silent.  Finally Pastor Greg broke the silence to let everyone know that he felt that we should open up after worship with a time for words of knowlege and prayer for people. 

Then started the great debate... in my head...
Do I say it?  Well, I don't want to not say anything like on Wednesday.  But I don't want to be wrong and that whole rib thing is kinda weird.  Backs... well you can pretty much count on at least one person having a messed up back at every service... but ribs... not so much.

So Pastor called us up and started the microphone at one end of the line, all of a sudden it is in my hand... but then the worship music got louder and I didn't think I could yell over it... I was having a hard time speaking loud enough anyway...  I tried to pass the mic off,  but Donna was too whacked next to me to take it... so I stood there with that thing in my hand for the longest time...
Then I got the push out of the nest that I needed... Pastor Greg said, "OK, let's go, who has a word..."  Before I could think that mic was at my mouth and I said it out loud.
As quick as I could I passed that sucker right off...
AND THEN...

A young man came up and thought he had broken a rib the other day and he was in pain.  We prayed and it got a little better.  We prayed again and then he said his back hurt too.  We prayed for that and as we prayed for him, God's presence and power fell and touched him so deeply.  He was completely healed!  He began running and jumping around he was so excited!  It was so incredibly awesome!

Pastor then opened up the altar to pray for people to have more of God's light shinning in them so that they could be lights in their communities.  We prayed for about 100 people tonight I think...  It was AMAZING!

God, all I can say is that I stand in awe of Your goodness!  You are amazinggggg! I LOVE YOU!

Day 224 ~ Saturday

There have been times in my walk with the Lord when I felt like I was the only one praying about a situation.  There have been times like the last several months when I felt like I was the only one struggling in a situation. 

That is a lie.  We are never alone.  He is always with us and on top of that ~ as if He weren't enough ~ He gives us brothers and sisters in Christ.

Over the last few weeks I have felt like I was the only one praying for a situation.  This has prompted me to behave in a very un-Christ-like manner.  I shared how I felt about the situation and the things I had felt that the Lord had shared with me about it with someone else.  I have also fussed at the Lord plenty about it too. 

As I was getting ready for bed tonight, the Lord reminded me of a story in the Bible when one of the prophets ( I can never remember if it is Elijah or Elisha... but I think it was Elisha) was complaining that he was the only one left in the world who was standing for the Lord.  Then the Lord showed him that there were 700 others just like himself. 

So just because I don't know that others are praying for this situation, does not mean that they aren't.  All I do by talking about the problem is make it bigger than it already is ... and it is completely not behaving like Christ and it is gossip. 

Sooooo... in other words... I am off to do some repenting...

Sorry God for not trusting You!

Day 223- Friday

Ok,funny story...
When I was 8yrs old, I thought my ears were too big for my head and that they stuck out too far... So I got the bright idea to use Scotch tape to tape them to my head until they laid the way I thought they should have. I knowwwww this sounds ridiculous, but I was only 8!

Fast forward 24 yrs... August 12, 2011...

This morning I had to go get a new pair of earphones for my I Pod. I thought that the kind that slip over your ears with the hook like things would stay on better when I run so that is what I got. Only they don't fit! My ears are too close to my head!

I guess God knew what He was doing when He made ears that stuck out... earphones will stay on! Lol!
What I got from this was that God made me perfectly... Just the way I cannot do the things others are called to do ... And they cannot complete what He has planned for me.

Day 222 ~ Thursday

So I tried my experiment with asking God what He was doing today again this morning.  I saw a boy with a red ball cap and a problem with his elbow. 

Unfortunately... I didn't really pay attention too much today... so I didn't see the boy out anywhere... I guess I will try again tomorrow.

BUTTTTT.... I did get to pray with several people tonight over facebook.  I was just sitting here, shopping airline tickets for my friend's wedding in a couple of months... it is in the Florida Keys... I cannot WAIT!
And a client of popped up and asked if I could pray with her because as she put it, when we pray together things happen. 

You know... that is the second time today someone said that to me.  I didn't remember until just now.  It is scriptural... one puts a thousand to flight, but two put ten thousand to flight.... and where two or more are gathered in My Name, I am with them. 

My friend Donna said that to me as well.  I was sharing with her some frustration I have had about a situation in my life.  My response to issues has become to pray.  So after talking it over with her, we agreed upon a solution that we are going to pray together that God's will will be done in this situation swiftly.  Then she said, "You know, when we pray together, things really seem to be moving?!?!?!" 
Yes, Donna... I did notice... that is why I ask you to pray about EVERYTHING! with me! Just Kidding... well sort of! HAHAHAAHAA!

Anyway, the long story short is, there is power in numbers.  I am so grateful to have friends that will believe God for His best right along side of me each and everyday!

Day 221 ~ Wednesday

First of all I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Holy Spirit for helping me to be obedient and diligent in writing my blogs... I think I have done it every night before I went to bed for an entire week!  YAY for Obedience! LOL

Ok, now on to the fun stuff...

So a few days ago, I wrote about praying and asking the Father to show me what He was doing ... so that I could be like Jesus and do only what I see my Father doing  :O)
So this afternoon I was in the shower getting ready for church and I asked God what He was doing today.  Immediately I saw someone come up for prayer for a knee.  Then I asked Him again, "What else are you doing?"  I heard ... "Healing Hearts" and "Necks".  So I was like, "Wow, cool!" And I continued to pray about it.

Later this afternoon I was talking to Donna and I shared with her what I felt the Lord had spoken to me and I said I guess we'll see.  (Truth be told... I was really hoping it was the Lord and not just me,  but I wasn't completely sure)

So I get to church tonight and Pastor Greg said out loud that he felt the Lord wanted to heal some knees tonight... So right there, I was like, YES!  I did hear You right!

At the end of the service when he asked for those of us on the Ministry Team to come up, he even asked us if any of us had a word of knowledge.  One lady spoke up, so I figured, I didn't really need to ... Yes, that was completely a cop out...

Donna nudged me and said, "You already got your word of knowledge, aren't you going to speak it out?"  Ummmmm, No...
"Are you scared to get out of the boat?"
Ummmmm, Yes...
As Homer Simpson would say, "DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Before I had a chance to do anything else, a lady came up for prayer for her knee.  The doctor has told her they want to do a knee replacement.  We prayed ... nothing happened...
We prayed again... it still wasn't much better....
So we prayed again... this time it was a little better... but she might have just been saying that so I would leave her alone and let her go home! LOL  Who knows! 

She said she would know if she was healed or not in the morning because that is when it is the worst.  So I am gonna keep praying... if there is one thing I know how to do it is ask... and ask ... and ask... and ask! LOL  I am so glad He is patient with us! (mostly with me! LOL)

Day 220 ~ Tuesday ~ Counterfeit or Real

Tonight as I was talking with a friend who asked me to look at a business opportunity that he was interested in starting.  At first glance I looked at the website and it "felt" ok.  Good actually. 

However, upon further inspection... I realized that this was akin to a mixture of new age and science.  - a.k.a. -Not OK.

It is crazy how the counterfeit will appear so real.  It will look so good.  This does look good... a lot of people will make a lot of money on this... but it is not the real.  It is not how God wants to heal.  God wants to heal by touching people, not by manipulating energy or anything else for that matter.

But it is so easy to get caught up by the counterfeit.  Know that God is real and He wants the best for all of us, all of His children.  We must however, remember that He is our source.  Not man, not things, not even ourselves!

Day 219 ~ Monday

I am getting to ready to head in to another season of refining...  I can feel it coming... In my heart I am excited about it... and my brain is starting to come in line with this as well!  I am so excited.

One of the books I got for my birthday is teaching me so much.  I am changing the way I pray.  I am going to start asking the Father when I get up in the morning what He is doing that day.  I know that He will show me and then when the opportunities arise there will be no question if He is in this or not.  I cannot wait until tomorrow!

The Lord has brought me a new friend to share this stuff with and I am excited that she is as excited about the things that God is doing as I am!  We got to pray together briefly tonight and share with each other how we pray about different situations... So cool!

When I have to speak in front of people, I always pray Luke 12:12 - Lord, give me the words to say at the right time - it is one of my favorites, I use it alot because I have a horrible open-mouth-insert-foot problem!

She shared with me that when she walks into a store like Walmart or somewhere she will ask the Lord what she can pray for for certain people she sees walking through the store.

This is why friends - true ones - are so important.  Iron sharpens Iron!

Time to go seek Him and find out what He is up to!

Day 218 ~ Sunday

Ok, normally my Sunday posts are all happy and sunshiney and rainbows.  Today, not so much.  It isn't that it was a bad day or anything.  It really wasn't.  Have you ever had something that just bothered you and you didn't know why, so you thought it must be something wrong with you... well it was that kind of day.

I pretty much spent the day seeking God and asking Him to remove anything that is in me that isn't in line with what He has planned or that would keep me from walking out what He has for me.  I am grateful that He is always quick to answer, and He will be on this as well!

God, I thank You for removing those things that would hinder me from being the person that You created me to be.  I thank You for opening up my eyes to see those things and to turn my back on them and to walk purely and holy before You!  In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Day 217 ~ Saturday

I will admit, I am a little anti-social... well a lot anti-social! LOL  I stepped out of my comfort zone tonight and went to a party.  I know it doesn't sound like a big deal... but I am super shy.  I know, most other people don't believe that either... but it is true. :O)

So at the party one of the worship leaders from our church was there and he had been having awful pain in his foot.  I asked him if we could pray for him and he let us.  His foot was totally healed!  Glory to God!

At the end of the night when most of the people had left we sat around and talked about the amazing things that God is doing and what we feel He is getting ready to do.  His presence was so real that others in the house were feeling it.  We got to bless that whole house tonight!  I am so excited about what God is getting ready to do in their lives and in all of our lives!

And an even bigger miracle... my shyness was totally gone and I had such an awesome time getting to know this amazing couple!  God is So Good!

Day 216 ~ Friday - August 5th, 2011

Today is my birthday. It was the big 32.  Not really a milestone but a birthday nonetheless!
My best friend in Florida text me this afternoon and wished me a happy birthday and told me that she prayed with a man in my honor today and God showed up!

There was a man with a limp that was in the same restaurant that she was eating in with her fiancee.  She talked with him for a few minutes and went and sat down to eat lunch.  As she was finishing her lunch she saw him get up to leave and she felt the "Holy Nudge" as I like to call it.  So she got up and went over and asked if there was anything in his body that he needed healing for.  He began a dissertation on his beliefs and the way he was raised and that he didn't need prayer.

She wasn't going to be deterred though!  When asked what she believed she answered, "I believe in Jesus and that He loves you and wants to see you healed.  Do you have anything wrong in your body that I can pray for?"
Again, he argued with her.  This time she didn't give him an option but just showed love and kindness.  They prayed a quick simple prayer and the pain in his leg - from a bicycle accident - was gone!  By the time he reached the door of the restaurant, he was no longer limping! GLORY TO GOD!

How cool is that!  What an amazing Birthday present!  God, You are so Good!  I love You and I am so grateful that You love us!

Day 215 ~ Thursday

I finally just finished my finals for my summer classes today!  They are both submitted and I am finished!  ... for the next two weeks anyway! LOL

Today was quite possibly one of the most stressed out days that I have had in a long time!  Thank God for God and that He takes our burdens and makes everything a light thing!

I got to pray with my best friend tonight and that was probably the best part of my day.  I had missed praying and studying God's Word with her more than she will ever know!

Last night my kids and I read out of Jesse DuPlantis' magazine again, and tonight my daughter brought it to me, here mom let's read!  So cool!  If you plant seeds you will reap a harvest - boy my kids are good ground!

Day 214 ~ Wednesday

Thank You Lord for helping me with this whole obedience thing and reminding me just as I was getting ready to head to bed that I needed to post today. You really are the best and thank You for Your help in Your work and patience with me!

So tonight I had a client come in who wants a miracle.  Has asked for a miracle.  It hasn't happened yet.  I could tell that the disappointment and that she felt that God wasn't listening and didn't care for her.  I asked her if I could pray and she said no. 

It really made me sad that she thought that God didn't hear her and that He didn't want to give her the desire of her heart.  I am praying for her anyway. 

I am praying that God heals her wounds and that He touches her heart and gives her hope again.  I just thought about how I had prayed for my Cabbage Patch Doll (see day 205) and God didn't bring it when I asked...  I let that frame what I thought about God for a long time.  That He was the mean kid on the ant hill that I had to manipulate to get help.  Pretty soon, I quit asking for it too.

Thank God He has renewed and restored me and brought me to a place where I trust Him whether I get what I asked for or not.  I know that He knows best for me and that He has good plans for me.  Plans to give me a hope and a future.  I know His plans are the same for my client.  I will keep praying for her.

Day 213 ~ Tuesday

So we are at Bread Co ( Panera to anyone who lives outside of St. Louis) for lunch.  A guy with a brace and a cane sits down behind us.  Donna saw him first and then I turned around.  Did we go pray for him... No, we did not.  It's nice to know that I am not the only chicken out there! LOL

While I was sitting at my daughter's gymnastics class I was reading Covenant magazine.  It is put out by Jesse and Cathy DuPlantis' ministry.  I just love their sense of humor about the things of the Lord.  They put things in such plain terms that anyone can get it.  The article was about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, otherwise known as... Superhero of Faith, Average Joe, and Slick Willie. 

I'd like to think that I am a superhero of faith... well let me back up a second...

Earlier today I was thinking to myself, "Wow, all these people come to you every week and ask you to believe with them and pray with them for God to move in their lives.  I must have some really great faith cause God seems to be answering my prayers.  I know it isn't cause of anything I have done, I just believe Him." 

Let me tell ya' I was feeling pretty good about that today!

Satan always tries to come and steal the very thing that God has planned for us to do:

When I was 5 years old, my faith was the first thing I kicked out the window.  I prayed my heart out for this Cabbage Patch Doll for my birthday.  I begged and pleaded and prayed ... and I didn't get it.  So at that moment I figured out that it seemed that I never got what I asked for from God but I always seemed to get what I didn't want to happen the most.  My brilliant 5 year old mind decided from that point on that I would pray the opposite of something I really wanted to get what it was that I wanted out of God.  Yes,  I was trying to manipulate GOD!  I know that sounds hilarious, but that was the best my 5 year old brain could do.

So back to Superhero Abraham, Average Isaac, and Slick Jacob...
As I was reading this article I found myself much more like Average Isaac and Slick Jacob than I did Superhero Abraham! --- Ahhhh, Pride always comes before the fall!

Isaac was afraid... a lot.  There isn't much written about what he did because he didn't do much.  He reasoned things out to himself a lot which meant that he wasn't really walking by faith much.

Jacob was double-minded and was always seeing what he could get away with.  How far could he go before he got punished.  He wrestled with God til he had a permanent limp!  While he was a tenaciously hard worker and was always willing to jump out of the boat so to speak, he didn't always have the purest heart about what he was doing.  

Reading that article tonight was extremely humbling and really opened my eyes to some of the things I need to work on so that I can be the Superhero of Faith that God has called me to be.  To call the things that be not as though they already are.  To walk on water.  To see the lame walk and the blind see and the mute speak and the deaf hear.  To set the captives free and preach the gospel to all the world!  

Thanks Father for opening my eyes up! 

Day 212 ~ Monday

What dreams may come :O)

I love it when God plants something in our hearts and minds while we sleep and we can begin to see His plan unfolding before it unfolds out here in the real world.  It is one of my favorite things!  He lets you in on His secrets, on the plans that He has for you.  His plans are good plans and they are to give us hope and a future (Jer. 29:11 - it's one of my all time favorites!)  He showed me a new chapter in my walk with Him last night while I was asleep and even though I appears like something that I am completely unqualified for, I know He will help me and it will be amazing!

I got a little answered prayer today, too!  The girl we prayed with last night already saw some fruit and she knew to give God the glory that He answered her prayers last night.  He showed her His hope and future for her and I am so grateful for His quick response! He is really the best!

I took my kids and 3 of their friends to the roller skating rink today.  The kids had a blast but my daughter's friend who is fairly nonathletic had really sore legs after only a half hour of skating.  She came and ask me if I would pray for God to heal her legs.  So my daughter, and her friend's little brother who was with us all stood there and prayed for Grace until there was no pain left in her legs... right there in the middle of the skating rink!  Stop, Drop and Pray! 

Grace played the rest of the afternoon with no problems!  YAY GOD!

I know that seems simple but it built up the faith of those three kids as well as my own and any bystanders who had watched Grace struggle to skate for the last half hour.  Really COOL!