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Wednesday, January 31, 2007

H214

Yesterday I received a CD in the mail from Integrity music. It was one that I didn't order so, of course, I immediately became suspicious. I know they don't have one of those CD clubs but I wasn't sure what was going on. After a brief chat with one of the sweetest Customer Care reps I've ever encountered she advised me "Well, it looks like it's a gift to you, sweetie!" Don't you love it when you meet someone who LOVES their job!

The CD was titled H214 and had a hand coming up out of water on the front. It was filled with brand new or newly arranged praise and worship music. As I popped it in and began listening to it (the first song happens to be one we're singing in church THIS Sunday - love that) and reading some of the lyrics I just had me a little church right in my living room! Lyrics like "You paint the morning sky with miracles in mind. My hope will always stand for you hold me in Your hand. Lord I'm amazed by You, how You love me." and "Glory and honor means you are God forever. Blessing and worship for He alone deserves all praise." and "So clothe me in humility. remind me that I come before the King. There is nothing, there is nothing more precious, more worthy. May I gaze deeper , may I stay longer, may I press onward to know you Lord." Now if that doesn't bless ya, then I think your blesser might be broke! (My daddy used to say that one)

As I was reading the cover I discovered H214 stands for Habakkuk 2:14 which reads "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." That's good stuff!! Think about that. Habakkuk, the prophet, received a Word from the Lord that told him the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. Imagine then that he wanted to share that with everyone. That the Lord wants us to know His glory!!! Not just know who He is or that He's up there watching over us or sitting up there waiting to judge our every mistake! NO! He wants the earth knowing His glory! Webster's defines glory as praise, honor or distinction extended by common consent. The original Hebrew word used here is kawbod (pron kaw-bode') meaning honor, riches, abundance, splendour. God wants us to know His honor, His riches, His abundance, His splendor! That blows my mind!!

I think as "earthlings" we sometimes associate His riches and His abundance to dollar signs. Easy to do! There's times - like earlier this week - when I was hoping some of His riches would fall down from the sky! haha But then I would start running outside every day looking for more. The point is that I go to Him - let Him supply me with what I need - know that He will share His abundance, His riches with me. Trust Him in that! He did it for me this week and He'll do it again when I need! See, here's the thing. God is too perfect and too holy to EVER go back on His word! He promised me in Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." that He would meet my needs! Not my wants! I'm not gonna get that red Ferrari I like so well because I don't NEED that car! I drive too fast as it is. But He will meet my NEED and that's a hard lesson to learn. What we need and NOT what we want. WHEW! I know that lesson all too well! I didn't grow up with parents who gave me everything I wanted (thank God) but I did have and older sister who if she was able she would get it for me. I love her!! hahaha That was a tough pattern for me to break. Quit expecting anyone but God to meet my needs! I still struggle with it but God is faithful!

I pray that someone is relating to this and that when you're having a bad day you'll stop, put on some praise music and have yourself some church right where you are!!! I do it daily and it makes all the difference! He alone is worthy and He alone makes all the difference!

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

THIS is why...

Alot of unsaved people ask, "Why do you bother?", "Does God REALLY care about you?", "Do you REALLY think He's listening to your prayers and acting on them?". Those questions make a lot of sense to me if I see them from the view of someone who doesn't believe. I can understand how difficult "believing" is. It's difficult for me at times, as a believer. Times when I see children sick or dying, times when healthy, vibrant young people die too soon, times when we get a diagnosis that rocks us, times when we don't know where our next meal is coming from. Those times make it hard for me to understand. Yet, without believing in my God who spoke and created the universe, moved His hand and spun the stars into space, I can't even begin to imagine the hopelessness of all these situations.

I say all of that to share with you some of the "why" I believe. I'll give you a few examples from my life, lately. My husband got laid off from his job last July and went until Sept. before finding another job. We had to move because we couldn't pay rent. God put a couple in our lives who were going thru difficulties of their own financially and had a house they needed someone to rent. He was in construction and not working much here so they went to New Orleans to help her sister rebuild from Katrina damage and he has more work now than he can get done! So, God provided us with a home. My husband's new company closed it's doors Dec. 1. Yes, he was out of a job - AGAIN! They laid off 735 people across the US. So on Jan. 8th God put a new job in our path. My dear friend is in a prayer group with the man who owns a company in the field my husband is in. He called Jimmy, and basically hired him on the spot. The owner. Not the HR people, but the OWNER! HUGE God thing! That just doesn't happen in my husband's line of work.

I give you that background to tell you about this past week. As you saw from yesterday's post I am still "flying high" from my weekend on the mountaintop and then our AWESOME day of worship at my church Sunday. Monday comes along and it starts! We have been surviving on unemployment benefits all this time. I mean, barely, surviving but the Lord Jehovah Jireh has met our needs. NOT OUR WANTS! No, my kids didn't get XBox 360 for Christmas but they did get Gameboy Advance and that THRILLED them beyond belief! Anyway, we paid our bills last week and only had $6 left thru the weekend but we were ok and were expecting our unemployment money. This was going to be the last week of benefits as Jimmy would start getting paid for his new job this week. Little did we know that the benefits are given on a weekly basis and since Jimmy gets paid this week - Thursday - they stopped the money! So, we had $6, a tiny bit of food in the pantry, no milk, a 1/2 loaf of bread, no dog food, 1/2 tank of gas in our van and less than 1/4 of a tank in Jimmy's truck. SPECIAL!

Well, instead of panicking and calling my family begging for money, I got on my knees. I turned to Matthew 6:25-34 where it says things like "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?'" and "do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." I'm sure you're thinking, yeah right, don't worry when there's no money coming and no food to feed 3 bottomless pits! Well all I can tell you is that I got up off my knees, emailed 6 of the mightiest prayer warriors I knew and told them to get busy praying. I specifically told them that I was NOT asking for a handout from them because I wanted to see God move in a way that EVERYONE would know it was from Him! They each encouraged me not to give in to the idols of worry and money but to "seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." So I put on some praise music and started cleaning my house and just spent the rest of the morning praising Him. Then about 2:00 an obedient Abraham friend of mine called and said she heard what was going on and she had purchased several grocery gift cards to give her Sunday school class as gifts for Christmas. She said that she had cleaned her office last week and found $200 in cards and she was bringing them to me!!! She was on her way to the store so I told her I would come to meet her. As I was loading up all 3 kids, the power went out. I immediately (panic instead of prayer - I admit) call Jimmy to see if the bill had been paid. He said it had - in fact that was why we didn't have any money - we had paid all the bills expecting money on Monday. Lo and behold there was a bad wreck and power was out from 2:30 til 7:30 last night.

So, I didn't go to the store as I needed to do homework while there was plenty of light - just in case. (ended up being a good thing) While I was working with the kids God sent another Moses to my door. A girlfriend who said she opened her refrigerator and there were 2 gallons of milk in it. She said "I NEVER buy 2 gallons of milk and there's no way we'll drink it all" so she was obedient in sharing from her abundance! UNREAL! Then about 2 hours later another Isaac and Jacob showed up at my door with a gift card from the grocery store ANOTHER gallon of milk and a pizza because they had heard about the power outage. THEN, the girlfriend I was supposed to meet at the store - you remember the one I called Abraham - called. She was going to the store earlier to make a meal for a couple in her class who had just had a baby. She called to tell me they lived RIGHT HERE IN MY DEVELOPMENT so she would bring the gift cards to me! When her and her husband came thru my door they had a few snacks for my kids, they had the gift cards to the store, they had money to put gas in our cars and some for "emergency" PLUS they gave us restaurant gift cards so we could go out to eat after church Sunday!!!

You see, that's the way God works!! I had faith in Him to provide for me! Now, He put that faith into action thru some people who were willing to listen to His voice and so what He told them too. I did not ask a SINGLE person for anything yesterday. In fact, I told my prayer warriors I didn't want them to give me anything but God moved in a couple of them to either bring to me what abundance they had or to share our situation with the ones He ordained to meet our need! I didn't panic and seek out my family or friends first! I went to my knees to seek my Abba Father in heaven and He meet my need! THAT'S what believing is! Now, do I have this mastered and am I "super spiritual"! OF COURSE NOT!! I mean, take a look at my reaction when the power went out. Did I pray and ask God to handle it? NO! I called Jimmy freaking out! (had to repent for that one) Anyway, I hope sharing my example of why I believe in a big G God will either make you long to know Him as your own or encourage you to draw close under the shadow of His holy wings. To go into the Holy Place and dwell there with Him! Come out of the courtyard of the tabernacle! Believe me, it smells MUCH sweeter in here!!

Monday, January 29, 2007

My weekend on the "Mountain"

As I sit here and try to put into words what my weekend was like I thought the best way to share it with you would be to share a few captions from my journal.

"Lord, thank you for reminding me this day that what you want most of all is talk to me thru Your Word. Relationships require two-way communication and I'm sorry for doing most of the talking. You know I'm good at that. Forgive me for not taking more time to be still in your Word. Speak Lord. I'm here. I'm quiet. I'm ready to shut up and listen."

"Lord I want to abide in the Holy Place. I want to feel your breath on my face and know that every decision I make is from You. Thank you that that's exactly what You want for me. I love you Lord. Thank you for your faithfulness and calling me into the Holy Place."

"Lord I see how intimate you were with Moses and yet you sent your Holy Spirit to dwell in me to be just as intimate. Thank you. Lord I sometimes tend to be like Joshua and want to just linger in your Presence. To not leave a "tent of meeting" when I feel You there. Help me remember that You go with me everywhere. Your Spirit isn't just in a certain place but alive in ME! Thank you Lord."

"Father I don't ever want to settle for the courtyard again. My kids can't afford for me to be there! I never want to go back! If even one foot goes there convict me immediately so I won't start to dwell there! I don't wanna be with the chickens! I want to soar with the eagles! Thank You Lord!! Thank You!!"

"Lord I can't thank you enough for this retreat. Thank you for changing my name. Thank you for reminding me to approach the Holy of Holies with a pure heart and clean hands. Thank you for being my sacrifice. Thank You Jesus. Thank You Jesus."

God is so good. He reveals Himself to us just so we can crawl up in His lap and let Him be our Abba Daddy! I pray that anyone who reads this knows Him and knows that you are His princess. He is enthralled with your beauty! He rejoices over you with singing! Imagine that! The Creator loves you that much! Wow! Thanks for listening and I pray if you don't know my Daddy you'll contact me so that I can introduce you to Him. He'll change your whole life!

Saturday, January 27, 2007

God on the mountain...

Well I'm finally home from the prayer retreat and it's a bit late but I'll just briefly say that God showed up this weekend and showed off!! His Presence was all around me. In every sight, sound, smell, taste, just EVERYWHERE! It was amazing and I can't wait to share it with all of you!

Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Away we go...

Lord, thank you so much for another beautiful sunrise! Wow, what a morning! I'm getting ready to go the Apple Hill prayer retreat and I just can't get there quick enough!!! I'm looking forward to seeing you there this weekend and hearing what You've got for me!

Be with Jimmy and the kids here at home and give Antonia and I safe travels as well as all the other ladies going. I love you!

Ya'll be praying for us and for Jimmy who will be here with our kids. Thanks. We'll talk soon!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Well, here we go. This is my first attempt at this so, please be patient. I've been encouraged by some friends to start blogging and share my life with you. Why, you ask? Well, I'm still asking myself that question. The only thing I can say is that I love the Lord, I love my family and I love people! I especially love making people laugh! I hope that in sharing some of myself and the things the Lord has done and is continuing to do in my life that it will make you want to know Him - if you don't - be closer to Him if you do, and make you laugh. Mercy knows my life is quite comical.

I'll start with where I am with the Lord right now. We've been thru a lot together, my Jesus and I, and yet he still - after all these years - "is enthralled by my beauty"! Does that totally blow your mind? It does mine - especially since I'm not so sure of my own beauty at times. Yet, the Creator of the heavens and the earth is entralled by me. And He's enthralled by you! AMAZING, don't ya think? Before He spoke "Let there be light" he was looking to June of 1968 and just wringing His holy hands in anticipation of my birth! If you don't have the slightest clue what I'm talking about, please don't let another minute go by without finding out! He's waiting for you. He's been there, He's been trying to get your attention and my prayer is that you'll contact me or some other Christian you know and find out more! My greatest joy is sharing Jesus with anyone who will listen!

I do have some other joys as well. My soul mate Jimmy. Let me try to introduce you to the most incredible man alive! He's my mate, my partner, my lover and one SERIOUSLY HOT DRUMMER!!!! He serves the Lord with His whole heart and takes care of me in ways that would make any woman jealous! heehee He helps with laundry, cleaning the kitchen, sweeping, mopping, taking the trash, caring for kids! Yes, He's SUPERDAD! You see, I have lupus and Jimmy does all he can to help me around the house so I can move every day. I've had so many girfriends tell me how they can't get their husband's to lift a finger for them and I offer as much sympathy as I can muster up, but I can't relate - AT ALL! Since the day we married he has done all he can to help! I love him more than there are words for! (Can you tell my love language?) haha

The other joys in my life are wrapped up in 3 active, funny, sweet, sometimes annoying little ones! Chase, 9, is the ring leader! He's creative, funny, talkative, artistic, enthusiastic and cracks his mom up on a daily basis. He loves art and reading. Yes, he's gonna be an "artsy type" I believe, which is JUST FINE with me!

Joshua, 7, is my middle man! He's sweet, charming, compassionate and full of energy! He loves to be outside riding bikes, scooters, climbing trees, playing with dogs - he's an adventure boy. Every day is an adventure with Josh. He's much quieter than his big brother but can come up with one liners that just kill me! For instance, at Christmas, I don't put any presents under the tree til Christmas Eve. We don't do the whole Santa thing - we don't knock it either - but just for the sake of re-wrapping I don't put them out. Anyway, about a week before he walks up to the tree, bends down and looks at the "space", looks over at the countdown calendar and says, "A week til Christmas, looks like you better get yourself busy, mom!" and turns and walks away! TOO FUNNY!

Last there's my sweetum's baby girl, Kayley, 4. The Lord brought me this bundle of sunshine after I had lost a baby to an ectopic pregnancy, bled out and nearly went home with Him. I found out I was pregnant shortly after 9/11, as did many of us, and little did I know what healing power the Lord would give thru a child. Not only were we as a nation going thru so much, then my best friend who was pregnant at EXACTLY the same time (our due dates were 2 days apart) tragically lost her baby boy at about 15-18 weeks, then 6 months into my pregnancy my dad had a seizure at work and within 2 weeks we learned he had terminal brain cancer. He only got to spend 5 months here with Kayley before he went to be with Jesus. So, my "sunshine girl" as I call her has brought me so much joy and happiness thru such dark times. Don't you just love it when God does that? He knows how much we hurt and He always gives us what we need.

I promise not all my blogs will be this lengthy, ya know I probably shouldn't make that promise, but I'll do my best. Right now I'm doing an online study with Beth Moore thru Nehemiah as well as her "Breaking Free" bible study. I'm leaving tomorrow morning to go on a ladies prayer retreat for the weekend and we've been doing "Prayer Portions" going thru Scriptures to see where we are with the Lord. It's been quit a purging time for me! Very convicting! I've been getting rid of stuff that I had pushed down so deep I really had forgotten it was even there. In fact, I've been purging so much that my face is a wreck! Kayley keeps saying "Momma, you have a zip"! haha I'm really anxious to see how the Lord works thru this.

My weight is something I've always battled. Last year I lost 50lbs and I've kept all but about 15 of it off. Going thru this stuff these last weeks has made me feel about 50 more lbs lighter though. God is good and I know He'll help me get what I've gained back off and the other 20 I need to lose before July. You see, there are 2 other joys in my life. They're my step kids JV and Cassie. JV is graduating in May from Seminary - yes my stepson is gonna be a preacher! Still blows my mind!! He graduates in May and then he's getting married in July! (hence the weight loss) My stepdaughter Cassie is gonna be sweet 16 in May and is a sweet, caring girl! She's a cheerleader and does great in school. They both are so much fun and it's cool watching them grow and being a part of their lives. Goodness knows I LOVE their daddy, so I love them too!!

Ok, well I think that's quite enough for my first post, don't you? I'm not sure how often I'll be posting, but it's a start. Hopefully, by me sharing my life and what the Lord's done/is doing in it you can learn and grow and come to meet Him. He's worth it! He's the only thing that is! Thanks for stopping by and for listening.