One Voice World Tour Stop 2!

LOL. That's what my man called last nights event!. He's our road manager. One Voice (the ladies group I sing with) sang at a Missions Festival about a 3 weeks ago and last night we sang at the Charlotte Rescue Mission and today I just can't stop smiling. It was incredible!! When I began asking the Lord which songs to sing He gave them to me immediately and I have to admit that sometimes when that happens I get a little nervous. Not that I don't trust Him, but I know myself well enough that sometimes I get in his way. This time - as He does EVERY TIME - He was faithful!!
We sang "He Reigns with Awesome God" and some of the men knew that one and they sang along and clapped and hollered! It was great! Then we sang "Orphans of God" and I think for the first time - in a very long time - I could see the entire room on the edge of their seats listening to the message that "There are no strangers, there are no outcasts, there are no orphans of God. So many fallen, but hallelujah, there are no orphans of God." Could there have been a more encouraging song for that particular group of men.....I think not! God you are so good!!
Then we sang "Shackles" and this group of ethnically diverse men were on their feet!! We loved every minute of it!! But most importantly God was glorified!!
The message that followed was just amazing and I was reminded of the amazing teachers we are blessed with at my church. I mean, it was GREAT!!! God's Word never fails!!
Over the days leading up the event I was asking God over and over to give me the right words to say to these men and to guard my mouth so that I wouldn't get lost in nervous chatter. (I tend to do that when I'm in front of people - lol) But yesterday God led me to a verse that just blew my mind. Ps 119:50 "My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life." I know that in that room there were men suffering. Suffering from losses. Suffering from addictions. Suffering from disappointments. Suffering. All of us are suffering and that is what the Lord was reminding me. Sure, I have a home. I have food. But I'm not that far from where they are.....none of us are really. And as I walked in that place and saw all their faces I was just overcome with the weight of suffering. But then that second line in Psalms. "Your promise preserves my life." What promise? Well, the promise that He will never leave me. The promise that He will never walk away from me. The promise that I am engraved on the palm of His hand. The promise that He knows my name. The promise that I can do all things thru His Son. And I tell ya, I was then overcome with HIM!! I was a wreck! I didn't know if I could stand up there and sing to these men, much less speak to them because I was so emotional, but my girlfriends surrounded me and we went before the throne and I could feel the Father telling me, I brought you here for a reason and don't you worry girl, I'll get you thru! AND HE DID! Not only did He get me thru, He gave me words that hopefully touched someone and I know it made them smile.....what more could I ask?
So today, I'm so overwhelmed again. I'm overwhelmed that the Creator of the Universe, the Maker of the Stars, the God of heaven would use me. Me. I'm so grateful that He gave me this opportunity and I'm praying that He'll give me others. I'm praying that He'll use 'One Voice' to accomplish His mission of spreading His Message to this city. "You broke the chains now I can lift my hands, and I'm gonna praise You, I'm gonna praise You"!!!!

It's my BIRTHDAY!!

I'm not proud. I'll be glad to tell you it's my birthday!!! WOOOHOOOOOO!!!!

God is working.......

He's still working, God is working even now. Tho' we often don't know just how, God is working, He's still working, God is working even now. LOVE me some Brooklyn Tab!!! It's so true. God is working. He's been working on me over these last weeks so much that I'm tired from it. ;-) That's the good thing tho, at least I know He cares.
There's been so many exciting things going on. We've got our annual Celebrate America program coming this weekend (it's so funny that going in this is my least favorite show but after it's over He always blesses me tremendously!), and getting ready for that with practice on SATURDAY....ugh.....We're just coming out of VBS which is always fun, but this year was a bit stressful because we had a mini "musical" in which my oldest had a part so it was studying lines, practice, etc. The ladies group I sing with, "One Voice" has been busy as well. We had the Breath of Heaven event in April, then a wedding in May (congrats Mandy!), then we sang at a Missions benefit in June and next week we're going to the Charlotte Rescue Mission to sing and we're singing at our Deacon's Wives meeting in August. whew....We're also working on a few other events (Jimmy has taken it upon himself to become our manager! lol) so if your church needs some music let me know!! We'll even travel as long as we can be fed! LOL
This is how I know God is working. I wasn't sure about the direction of this group and what we should be doing so I began praying for the Lord to either close the door for us or to swing it wide and well.....He is faithful!
Also, there are exciting things coming with STMM. The conference in Sept is starting to sell tickets, but we can always use more. If you wanna travel to - or if you live in - the Southern Ill area in Sept then check it out. Here's a link. It's gonna be great and we're praying the Lord will send people, the people of His choosing, to hear a Word!! BTW did I mention that Travis Cottrell will be leading worship. OH YES THAT'S WHAT I SAID!!!! ;-) If you can't come would you please be in prayer for this conference? We will most certainly appreciate it.
So, here it is summer, the months of slacking (as if), and we're slamming! I have to admit, I LOVE it!! Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!! and if you don't know what tomorrow is, then shame on you! lol JK! I don't know what my plans are, but who cares! I'm alive another year, I'm (relatively) healthy, I'm in love with the most amazing man God could've chosen for me, my kids are happy and healthy and I have a circle of friends who love me, challenge me and lift me up. What more could a girl ask for? Million dollars maybe?.....lol If I had a million you can slap guarantee I'd be getting 365 pairs of shoes - one for each day of the year! LOL Sad, I know.

For my brother......

Jeff, it's quite possible that you won't see this post, but my prayer is that you will! I just wanted to say Happy Birthday and that I love you! I can't begin to imagine how hard it was growing up with 3 sisters but you have to know that you were/are our hero! You've protected us, loved us, made fun of us (Bubble 2 - lol), picked on us, fought for us, helped us and just been there for us and I know it wasn't always easy, or even what you WANTED to do, but you did it.
I hope your birthday is a great one and I hope that you don't start to fall apart now that you're 50!!!!!!!!lol

Love you!
BiKay

Our weekend!

This weekend was a TOTAL blast for my family! First "One Voice" sang at the World Outback Missions Festival then we loaded up the Smith girls and headed to the pond to fish. Here's a few pics from the fun we had.

Maddie's first fish - not too close Jimmy! LOL

Here she is reeling in the "big catch"!
Josh caught a few as well.

Sheldon was certainly not to be outdone.

Here's all us girls singin'!

Note Beth left her mic to go cut the rug! LOL

Praisin' in a stable!

Yes, Liney was the only fan we had that day! LOL

It really was a great weekend and we had EXCELLENT weather. We called this the "One Voice Outback World Tour"! LOL Seriously though we were honored to be a part of the day and we got some praise on too! Hopefully those listening enjoyed it as well.

Don't try to tell me.......

That God's not in the miracle business anymore!! I can tell you that He most certainly is! I got one today in fact!
In Jan. my oldest son went for an eye exam and was told he needed glasses. I noticed the Dr. was doing lots more tests than usual and at the end of the exam she rather nonchalantly goes "Yeah, I think he has glaucoma, but you don't need to worry." AS IF! He's 11 for Pete's sake, not 91. So I take him to my family Dr. who says he sees the same problem and then refers me on to a specialist. We had our first appt. back in April and the specialist does a TON of testing - I mean we were there for 1 hr and 45 min - but I was glad they were checking so many things.
After all was said and done he said he felt certain it was glaucoma - which is EXTREMELY rare in kids - but before he sentenced him to a lifetime of daily eye drops he wanted to recheck him in 2 weeks.
The 2 weeks came and a few days before the appt. they call me to reschedule. Today was the follow up. The didn't do all the tests from the first time, but according to the ones they did do - they were all NORMAL!!! Yes, no signs of glaucoma!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!! He did say that the inital "cupping" of the optic nerve (the thing they saw that started this whole ball rolling) was still there and it was something they needed to watch, but at this point my son is HEALED people!!! WOOOHOOOOOO!
For those of you who have prayed I say the most sincere heart felt thank you I can possibly offer! You'll never know this side of heaven what it meant! To those who offered words of advice or encouragement I say thank you so much! To my Abba Father, my Heavenly Father, my Jehovah Rapha there are no words........Thank you seems so inadequate. All I can say is PRAISE YOU, PRAISE YOU, PRAISE YOU!!! I will never cease to sing of your mercy and love for my family!!! THANK YOU my Father!!!

The Word is alive!

Before I jump into my title today, I'll do a little debriefing from my weekend. My sweet nephew JR graduated from High school Saturday so the kids and I loaded up and went to WV. It was a super quick trip - left Friday, came back Saturday - but it was well worth it. Jay graduated from a small Christian school and they allowed each graduate to speak. (yeah, it was that small) My sweet nephew has been thru so much in his life - losing his dad a few years ago - and he has always been a very caring and compassionate person. His speech left the entire room in tears - even the Principal was seen wiping a few tears away. He's an amazing boy who is totally sold out to Jesus and I know the Lord is gonna do great things with him! I love you Jaybir and I'm so very proud to be your Aunt "Wal"! (think wow) lol
So this past week has been busy, busy for me. The STMM team has really been picking up and we're in the process of creating a prayer team - in fact it's about ready to roll! So we've been taking prayer requests and have been praying over them. Here's where things get good! I read the first request that came in and the Lord took me to Isaiah to share some Scripture with this sweet sister. I did. Then I read the second request. I began searching thru Scripture and asking the Lord for something to share, but the Lord sent me right back to the same verse! I just love that! I mean, here were 2 women with 2 very different requests and yet, the same verse was alive for both of them! I then poured thru all the requests that came that day and as I read each one I just sat there having me some church right at my computer desk! You guessed it, the same Scripture applied to each and every situation!!!! The Word is alive y'all! If you don't believe me, just dig in and see for yourself - I dare you!!!