I had an encounter with God this past weekend that was unlike any I had ever experienced before. I'm not really sure that I can put it into words. I hope that I was able to explain it a little in the last few posts. I think what I most came away from the ladies advance was that most Christians (myself included) do not begin to utilize the power of God in their lives. We have put God in this small little box and placed him on a shelf. We take out the box and talk to him when we have a problem or a need, but otherwise just leave him there inside that little box. We need to be reminded of the awesome POWER of God. The God we serve is the same God that placed the stars in the sky, knows the numbers of the hairs on our head and created this vast universe and everything in it!
He is the same God that wants us to be financially secure and healthy. He does not want us to be poor and sick. We are His children. We need to really think about what that means. If you are a parent, you already know that you want the absolute best for your children. And when they are sick, all you want is for them to be well. I am reminded of the words of a song that we used to sing in our quartet at church..."Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost! You are not your own. You are bought with a price! The precious blood of the lamb! You are a king's kid!!" We need to learn to tap into that power! We need to start acting like children of a king instead of thinking, "poor, pitiful, me..." Am I speaking to anyone right now? Am I stepping on some toes? I hope so!
Do you want to know the main reason we no longer attend "church"? There are lots of reasons, but the main one is that most pastors are afraid to preach a hard message that people don't want (but desperately need) to hear. They are afraid if they preach that kind of message, the people will leave and go somewhere else...and take their money with them. Matthew 5:13 says, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."
The most refreshing part of the teaching I received this weekend from Clarice Fluitt was about the awesome power of God. She is so annointed, and so blessed by God because she listens and obeys. She has allowed herself to be completely surrendered to God to do what He tells her to do. One of my favorite CD's that I purchased from her this weekend was called, "Fear God." She says, "That which you fear will come upon you!" Do you fear sickness? Disease? Poverty? That which you fear will come upon you. Fear God!! The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. When you begin to fear God, He will be able to work through you and use you in ways you never thought possible.
Clarice is an amazing woman. She has some of the best testimonies I have ever heard. She doesn't just have a testimony, she has lots of them!! Since we know that God is no respector of persons, we know that he can give us all testimonies like hers that will change lives. People need to hear that the God we serve is a God of power!!
I don't know about you, but I am ready to be used by God in an amazing way. I am ready to have testimonies that will blow your socks off! I want the kind of testimonies that when people hear them, they say, "That cannot possibly be true!"
Father God, I am ready to be used in a mighty way. I want the words of my testimony to change people's lives. I want people to say, I want to serve the God that woman serves! I want to change lives through the power of my testimony. I promise to always give you all the glory! In Jesus mighty name I pray. Amen.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Psalms 37:4 6-27-12
One of my favorite scriptures is Ps. 37:4. It is the scripture that is the foundation for my new business Udderly Delightful. (I will expound more upon that later. God is still helping me work out the details, but I am very excited about what is coming!)
Psalms 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Sometimes those desires are big, and sometimes they are small. When you realize that God cares even for the small stuff, you can begin to envision God taking care of the big stuff.
Here is just a little story about what happened to us today. Yesterday I said to John that I would love to have some watermelon. I said, "That would taste soooooo good right now!" BTW, we have a huge watermelon vine growing in the cow's pen in front of the house. It just grew there on its own, and it has about 12 watermelon growing on it right now. If that is not crazy enough, the cow's are completely leaving it alone. They are not eating the vine or walking on it, even though they LOVE watermelon!
So anyway, I said to John, "I wish those watermelon were ripe so we could eat them!" He said, "I'm afraid that I have gotten very spoiled for seedless watermelon." He is assuming they will be the seeded kind - if they are even any good.
Two days ago David said, "Mom, I wish we had some apple juice. I LOVE apple juice, and I haven't had any in a long time. Will you buy some the next time you go to the store?"
Then today I was sitting here working on my notes for my business and listening to one of the CD's I bought at the ladies conference this weekend. I was thinking, "I sure would like a sandwich. I really should get up and fix one."
The next thing you know, John comes walking in the door carrying a big box. He had taken our calf Robbie to the YMCA day camp in Tifton where he was part of a petting zoo they were having for the kids. Anyway, he says, "Who is going to eat all this food?" In the box was about 10 sandwiches, cheese sticks, applesauce, and a whole bunch of apple juice drink boxes. Then John said, "You know how you were just saying last night that you were in the mood for watermelon?" About that time, David comes walking in the kitchen with a large seedless watermelon! (It was leftovers from lunch at the day camp.)
Isn't God good? He cares about the little things, and he cares about the big things too! Some of you know the details of an ugly land dispute we are having with a neighbor. We have decided to just put it in God's hands because it is clearly too big for us to handle on our own. I challenge you right now to go find your Bible and read all of Psalms 37. God has it all under control. All we have to do is trust him. By the way, I CANNOT WAIT to give the testimony of how God took care of this problem for us!
Psalms 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Sometimes those desires are big, and sometimes they are small. When you realize that God cares even for the small stuff, you can begin to envision God taking care of the big stuff.
Here is just a little story about what happened to us today. Yesterday I said to John that I would love to have some watermelon. I said, "That would taste soooooo good right now!" BTW, we have a huge watermelon vine growing in the cow's pen in front of the house. It just grew there on its own, and it has about 12 watermelon growing on it right now. If that is not crazy enough, the cow's are completely leaving it alone. They are not eating the vine or walking on it, even though they LOVE watermelon!
So anyway, I said to John, "I wish those watermelon were ripe so we could eat them!" He said, "I'm afraid that I have gotten very spoiled for seedless watermelon." He is assuming they will be the seeded kind - if they are even any good.
Two days ago David said, "Mom, I wish we had some apple juice. I LOVE apple juice, and I haven't had any in a long time. Will you buy some the next time you go to the store?"
Then today I was sitting here working on my notes for my business and listening to one of the CD's I bought at the ladies conference this weekend. I was thinking, "I sure would like a sandwich. I really should get up and fix one."
The next thing you know, John comes walking in the door carrying a big box. He had taken our calf Robbie to the YMCA day camp in Tifton where he was part of a petting zoo they were having for the kids. Anyway, he says, "Who is going to eat all this food?" In the box was about 10 sandwiches, cheese sticks, applesauce, and a whole bunch of apple juice drink boxes. Then John said, "You know how you were just saying last night that you were in the mood for watermelon?" About that time, David comes walking in the kitchen with a large seedless watermelon! (It was leftovers from lunch at the day camp.)
Isn't God good? He cares about the little things, and he cares about the big things too! Some of you know the details of an ugly land dispute we are having with a neighbor. We have decided to just put it in God's hands because it is clearly too big for us to handle on our own. I challenge you right now to go find your Bible and read all of Psalms 37. God has it all under control. All we have to do is trust him. By the way, I CANNOT WAIT to give the testimony of how God took care of this problem for us!
When God speaks will you listen and obey? 6-24-12
After having an amazing experience the past few days at the ladies retreat (advance), John and I were able to have some time alone to celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary. My sister Judy graciously offered to take the kids for the night, and we got to spend some rare time alone, and even go on a date! :) We had a wonderful time and were able to catch up on some of the things that we both experienced while I was away.
This morning we attended church services with some friends at a local Baptist church. I had promised my friend that I would come and give a healing testimony. I need to first back up and tell the story of what happened:
About a month ago, I got some kind of insect bite on my hand. It really didn't bother me other than it left this ugly red mark on my hand. It would occasionally itch, but other than that, it didn't really bother me. I had made remarks about it several times over the last few weeks about how I wish it would just go away. Well, about a week ago, I started to feel sick. I had a fever, chills, body aches, and my lymph node under my right arm was very swollen. (The insect bite was on my right hand.) Then I started to notice a red line coming from the insect bite towards my arm. At this point I was a bit alarmed that it was some kind of poisonous spider bite.
We were having our weekly Bible study at our home that night, and I was not feeling well at all. I told our friends that I needed prayer. They said, "You really should have a doctor look at that. It could be a brown recluse bite, or it could be a staff infection." I said, "I don't have a problem with doctors, but I just believe that God is going to heal whatever it is. I don't need to know what it is. God knows, and I believe He will take care of it." So, we got together and they prayed for healing. Immediately after the prayer, the red line was gone. He said, "If that thing is gone tomorrow, you need to come to church and give a healing testimony."
I did start to feel better the next day, but it wasn't completely gone, so we decided we would go the following week. This brings me to today. John and I went to church, and I was prepared to give my testimony if the opportunity presented itself. Sure enough, shortly after the worship music ended, one of the church members stood up and gave a testimony about how God had delivered her from cigarettes. John nudged me in the side and said, "Now is your chance!!" (Most Baptist churches that I have attended in the past do not usually have healing and deliverence testimonies, so I knew this was God!)
Okay, so I have just been told that I am no longer timid and shy. I have been given boldness from on high! (Be careful what you pray for people!!) I go walking down the center aisle of the church and ask the pastor if I can give a testimony. He says, "Of course you can little lady!" I said, "Do you have a mike?" (Boldness!) So, I give the testimony of the healing just like I told you. Well, these 2 testimonies started a wave of testimonies throughout the church. Isn't God awesome?
The pastor went on to give a very good sermon from John 13:8-17 about the time that Jesus washed the disciple's feet. When he was done, one of his deacons stood up and said, "What about the verse about how we should wash one another's feet? You skipped over that verse." The pastor replied, "I said all that I God told me to say." Well, apparently this particular deacon has been attending church services at this church under this same pastor for the past 30 years. And for the past 30 years, he has been telling the pastor that they should have a foot washing service. The pastor didn't really believe in foot washing, and he had said many times that he would NEVER have a foot washing service in his church.
After this, someone else sang a song. When she was done, the pastor came back up and said, "The Lord has spoken to me this morning. I need someone to go get me a basin of water and some towels, and I am going to wash ---'s feet. (I don't know his name.) It was a very moving and touching experience to watch.
When the service was coming to a close, the pastor said, "I would never of had the privilege of what I did this morning if I did not listen and obey." I thought that was awesome because that was the title of my blog post from 2 days earlier.
So, are you ready to be used miraculously by God? What is God telling you to do today? Today is the day of obedience. Go and do what He is telling you to do.
This morning we attended church services with some friends at a local Baptist church. I had promised my friend that I would come and give a healing testimony. I need to first back up and tell the story of what happened:
About a month ago, I got some kind of insect bite on my hand. It really didn't bother me other than it left this ugly red mark on my hand. It would occasionally itch, but other than that, it didn't really bother me. I had made remarks about it several times over the last few weeks about how I wish it would just go away. Well, about a week ago, I started to feel sick. I had a fever, chills, body aches, and my lymph node under my right arm was very swollen. (The insect bite was on my right hand.) Then I started to notice a red line coming from the insect bite towards my arm. At this point I was a bit alarmed that it was some kind of poisonous spider bite.
We were having our weekly Bible study at our home that night, and I was not feeling well at all. I told our friends that I needed prayer. They said, "You really should have a doctor look at that. It could be a brown recluse bite, or it could be a staff infection." I said, "I don't have a problem with doctors, but I just believe that God is going to heal whatever it is. I don't need to know what it is. God knows, and I believe He will take care of it." So, we got together and they prayed for healing. Immediately after the prayer, the red line was gone. He said, "If that thing is gone tomorrow, you need to come to church and give a healing testimony."
I did start to feel better the next day, but it wasn't completely gone, so we decided we would go the following week. This brings me to today. John and I went to church, and I was prepared to give my testimony if the opportunity presented itself. Sure enough, shortly after the worship music ended, one of the church members stood up and gave a testimony about how God had delivered her from cigarettes. John nudged me in the side and said, "Now is your chance!!" (Most Baptist churches that I have attended in the past do not usually have healing and deliverence testimonies, so I knew this was God!)
Okay, so I have just been told that I am no longer timid and shy. I have been given boldness from on high! (Be careful what you pray for people!!) I go walking down the center aisle of the church and ask the pastor if I can give a testimony. He says, "Of course you can little lady!" I said, "Do you have a mike?" (Boldness!) So, I give the testimony of the healing just like I told you. Well, these 2 testimonies started a wave of testimonies throughout the church. Isn't God awesome?
The pastor went on to give a very good sermon from John 13:8-17 about the time that Jesus washed the disciple's feet. When he was done, one of his deacons stood up and said, "What about the verse about how we should wash one another's feet? You skipped over that verse." The pastor replied, "I said all that I God told me to say." Well, apparently this particular deacon has been attending church services at this church under this same pastor for the past 30 years. And for the past 30 years, he has been telling the pastor that they should have a foot washing service. The pastor didn't really believe in foot washing, and he had said many times that he would NEVER have a foot washing service in his church.
After this, someone else sang a song. When she was done, the pastor came back up and said, "The Lord has spoken to me this morning. I need someone to go get me a basin of water and some towels, and I am going to wash ---'s feet. (I don't know his name.) It was a very moving and touching experience to watch.
When the service was coming to a close, the pastor said, "I would never of had the privilege of what I did this morning if I did not listen and obey." I thought that was awesome because that was the title of my blog post from 2 days earlier.
So, are you ready to be used miraculously by God? What is God telling you to do today? Today is the day of obedience. Go and do what He is telling you to do.
Friday, June 29, 2012
A Prophetic Word 6-22-12 (pm)
Tonight during our teaching session with Dr. Clarice Fluitt, I received a prophetic word from the Lord. During the middle of the teaching, she stopped, pointed at me, and said to stand up. She began to pray and speak over me a confirmation of what I have been praying for. I came open and prepared to hear from Him - a vessel ready to be moved by God.
I don't remember exactly what was said, probably because I was sobbing through most of it. As soon as I get a copy of the CD, I will write down word for word what she said. Basically, she said God was calling me away from being timid and shy, and giving me boldness. She said I had the gift of healing and prophesy. She said something about no longer being disappointed. Then she said, "You are not ordinary. You are extraordinary!!" This was particularly funny to me because in the book I am reading called, The Dream Giver, the main character's name in Ordinary. It is the story of leaving the "Land of the Familiar" to pursue "The Big Dream."
I don't remember exactly what was said, probably because I was sobbing through most of it. As soon as I get a copy of the CD, I will write down word for word what she said. Basically, she said God was calling me away from being timid and shy, and giving me boldness. She said I had the gift of healing and prophesy. She said something about no longer being disappointed. Then she said, "You are not ordinary. You are extraordinary!!" This was particularly funny to me because in the book I am reading called, The Dream Giver, the main character's name in Ordinary. It is the story of leaving the "Land of the Familiar" to pursue "The Big Dream."
Listen and obey 6-22-12 (am)
I want to share with you some of what I have received at the retreat. First of all, the speaker (Clarice Fluitt) started off her session last night with these words: "This is not a retreat. This is an ADVANCE! We did not come here to move backward, but to go forward." As I was busy trying to write that down, she looked right at me and said, "Do not try to take notes. I am going to move too fast for that. I need you to listen." And so I did.
We had breakout sessions this morning in 5 different areas: prayer, worship, God's word, listening, and soaking. Previous to the lessons I asked God to reveal to me what he wanted me to hear. I also prayed for boldness and for a manifestation of the gifts He had for me. I asked God to pour out of me the double portion of prophesy that was prophesied over me many years ago. I said, "I am ready for the manifestation of the double portion."
What I found throughout the morning was a theme of prayer, listening for God's voice, and then obeying what He says.
First, at the prayer session we were each given a gift. The leader of the session said that she had prayed over them, and she believed that everyone was going to get the one God wanted them to have. Each one was unique in some way. We were given a prayer shawl. First of all, I have always wanted a prayer shawl. Secondly, it was my favorite color. It is the same color as the eyes on my cow for my logo for my new business. :)
Next we went to a session on studying God's word. Again, we were given individual unique gifts. My gift was a book about prayer. I was also able to give a testimony about gratefulness. Some time ago someone posted on facebook a status update that said, "What if you woke up tomorrow morning, and all you had was what you thanked God for yesterday?" That was one of the most profound statements I have ever heard, and I believe it changed my life.
Next, we went to a session on listening. I was reminded of the many times I have listened and heard the voice of God. I was also reminded of how important it is to obey that voice when you hear it. Just to name a few times that I have heard from God:
1. He told me to move to FL. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was working as a bank teller at the time, and I was at work running the drive-through window on a Saturday morning. I just heard God speak to me. I am not sure if it was an audible voice, or just through my spirit, but I remember what he said. He said, "I want you to move to FL and live with your parents." I remember telling one of the other tellers, "I am going to move to FL." She looked at me like I had 6 heads! Now, let me just tell you that that came out of nowhere. I had no plans to move to FL. All I know is that on Monday morning I gave my 2 week's notice, and I was on my way to FL. (BTW, I met my husband the 2nd day I was there at my parent's church, and we were engaged less than 6 months later.)
2. He told me we were going to move to the country and buy a farm. This happened while we were on a camping trip with some friends from our old church, Beit Yeshua. I am not sure if I even told anyone other than my husband. It was several years later before it actually happened, but it did happen.
3. I also heard from God when He told us we were to buy a cow. That is a whole story of it's own, so I will save that one for another day. I think I have made my point ~ at least I hope so.
The last session for our small group was on soaking. We listened to a beautiful song about how much God loves us. Then we laid down on mattresses on the floor and closed our eyes. We just relaxed and meditated on what God had for us. We were told that if God spoke to us, we were to write it down.
The only thing I heard was "1Thesselonians 5:17." It just kept coming to me over and over. I questioned whether is was just my mind, or was I really hearing from God? This was not a verse that I had committed to memory. I had no idea what it said. After the soaking time, I looked it up, and it said, "Pray continually." It goes on to say in verses 18-24: "Gve thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."
Is there a theme here? Yes, God. I hear you. Pray, listen, seek your face, and when you speak to me, obey. And through it all have joy and remember to give thanks.
Thank you Lord for speaking to me today. I pray that these words will speak to you as well.
We had breakout sessions this morning in 5 different areas: prayer, worship, God's word, listening, and soaking. Previous to the lessons I asked God to reveal to me what he wanted me to hear. I also prayed for boldness and for a manifestation of the gifts He had for me. I asked God to pour out of me the double portion of prophesy that was prophesied over me many years ago. I said, "I am ready for the manifestation of the double portion."
What I found throughout the morning was a theme of prayer, listening for God's voice, and then obeying what He says.
First, at the prayer session we were each given a gift. The leader of the session said that she had prayed over them, and she believed that everyone was going to get the one God wanted them to have. Each one was unique in some way. We were given a prayer shawl. First of all, I have always wanted a prayer shawl. Secondly, it was my favorite color. It is the same color as the eyes on my cow for my logo for my new business. :)
Next we went to a session on studying God's word. Again, we were given individual unique gifts. My gift was a book about prayer. I was also able to give a testimony about gratefulness. Some time ago someone posted on facebook a status update that said, "What if you woke up tomorrow morning, and all you had was what you thanked God for yesterday?" That was one of the most profound statements I have ever heard, and I believe it changed my life.
Next, we went to a session on listening. I was reminded of the many times I have listened and heard the voice of God. I was also reminded of how important it is to obey that voice when you hear it. Just to name a few times that I have heard from God:
1. He told me to move to FL. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was working as a bank teller at the time, and I was at work running the drive-through window on a Saturday morning. I just heard God speak to me. I am not sure if it was an audible voice, or just through my spirit, but I remember what he said. He said, "I want you to move to FL and live with your parents." I remember telling one of the other tellers, "I am going to move to FL." She looked at me like I had 6 heads! Now, let me just tell you that that came out of nowhere. I had no plans to move to FL. All I know is that on Monday morning I gave my 2 week's notice, and I was on my way to FL. (BTW, I met my husband the 2nd day I was there at my parent's church, and we were engaged less than 6 months later.)
2. He told me we were going to move to the country and buy a farm. This happened while we were on a camping trip with some friends from our old church, Beit Yeshua. I am not sure if I even told anyone other than my husband. It was several years later before it actually happened, but it did happen.
3. I also heard from God when He told us we were to buy a cow. That is a whole story of it's own, so I will save that one for another day. I think I have made my point ~ at least I hope so.
The last session for our small group was on soaking. We listened to a beautiful song about how much God loves us. Then we laid down on mattresses on the floor and closed our eyes. We just relaxed and meditated on what God had for us. We were told that if God spoke to us, we were to write it down.
The only thing I heard was "1Thesselonians 5:17." It just kept coming to me over and over. I questioned whether is was just my mind, or was I really hearing from God? This was not a verse that I had committed to memory. I had no idea what it said. After the soaking time, I looked it up, and it said, "Pray continually." It goes on to say in verses 18-24: "Gve thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."
Is there a theme here? Yes, God. I hear you. Pray, listen, seek your face, and when you speak to me, obey. And through it all have joy and remember to give thanks.
Thank you Lord for speaking to me today. I pray that these words will speak to you as well.
Are you persuing your dream? 6-21-12
I just wanted to start out by saying that I wrote this (and the next several other blog posts) several days ago in my journal. It has just taken me some time to finally get them on the computer. So, the date next to the title is the date the post was written.
My sister Cindy recently gave me a book called, The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson. Like many other things in my life, I put off reading it. Not because I didn't have the time ~ we all make the time for the things we really want to do. I put it off because she told me it would be life changing. I knew from the title of the book that it would cause me to not only think about my dreams, but make some real changes to make them happen.
On p. 20 of the book, he writes:
~"The Dream Giver gave me a Big Dream before I was even born. I just finally woke up to it!"
~"My dream is what I do best and what I most love to do. How could I have missed it for so long?"
~"I had to sacrifice and make big changes to persue my dream. But it will be worth it."
~"It makes me sad to think that so many Nobodies are missing something so Big."
The book is already resonating with me, and I am only on the 1st chapter. I have a dream. I have a dream of owning my own business, a dream of writing a book, but most of all a dream of becoming successful doing something that I love to do.
As I am writing this, I am sitting outside by the pool of a ladies beach retreat. It is early in the morning, and the birds are singing. The praise and worship leaders are preparing to minister. I know God has something special for me today. Lord, I am open to what you have for me. Please speak to me today.
My sister Cindy recently gave me a book called, The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson. Like many other things in my life, I put off reading it. Not because I didn't have the time ~ we all make the time for the things we really want to do. I put it off because she told me it would be life changing. I knew from the title of the book that it would cause me to not only think about my dreams, but make some real changes to make them happen.
On p. 20 of the book, he writes:
~"The Dream Giver gave me a Big Dream before I was even born. I just finally woke up to it!"
~"My dream is what I do best and what I most love to do. How could I have missed it for so long?"
~"I had to sacrifice and make big changes to persue my dream. But it will be worth it."
~"It makes me sad to think that so many Nobodies are missing something so Big."
The book is already resonating with me, and I am only on the 1st chapter. I have a dream. I have a dream of owning my own business, a dream of writing a book, but most of all a dream of becoming successful doing something that I love to do.
As I am writing this, I am sitting outside by the pool of a ladies beach retreat. It is early in the morning, and the birds are singing. The praise and worship leaders are preparing to minister. I know God has something special for me today. Lord, I am open to what you have for me. Please speak to me today.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
In everything give thanks
I have been contemplating about what to write about all day. I am enjoying some solitude - which is somewhat rare for me. John and the boys went to Duffy's farm to help him harvest some corn, and then the boys are going to VBS with some friends tonight. We may even get some alone time tonight - something that is extremely rare!
Anyway, I sat down for a few minutes to have some prayer time with the Lord. I have been feeling a bit anxious the last few weeks about finances, and I know that God wants us to be anxious for nothing. As I was praying and asking God to help me overcome my anxiety, he brought several scriptures to my mind. Be anxious for nothing...take no thought for tomorrow...(Matthew 6:25-34) In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1Thessalonians 5:18)... Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)
Needless to say, I am feeling much better. I was reminded how important it is to be grateful. Whether you have a little or a lot, it is so important to be thankful for what you do have. I truly believe that is not only the key to happiness, but also the key that unlocks the kingdom of heaven for blessings to be able to flow. I am often guilty of forgetting that, and those are the times that I find myself struggling with fear of not having enough.
I really should know better. The last few years of our life have been filled with massive amounts of change, yet God has been with us through it all. I know that without Him, we would never be where we are today. We went from a very typical middle class suburban neighborhood close to lots of shops and restaurants to living on a 5 acre farm in the country, 20 minutes away from the nearest "regular" grocery store and nearly an hour away from any large retail stores or shopping malls. That in itself was a huge culture shock for me and my family. Then add to it that my husband continued to travel back and forth to Florida almost every week for several days at a time. We were so blessed to have John's brother and sister-in-law to allow him to stay there when he came to Florida. (If either of you are reading this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!)
Recently, we went through another round of radical change when my husband decided to stay here in GA and basically give up his painting business in FL. We are used to living on faith, because for the last 20 years of our marriage, John has been self employed. While we never got rich (at least by American standards), we always had enough. John relied on his reputation and the Lord to keep his business going. He did very little advertising, and yet week after week the phone would continue to ring with new business. So you can see how difficult it was for him to let go and let God take over. (Coincidentally, that will be the title of my first book someday...Let Go and Let God.)
I just need to stop and say that just a minute ago (while I was writing this), my phone rang. It was one of my cheese customers calling to place another order! Praise the Lord! Isn't it amazing how when you release your fears to God and ask him to take over, He is so quick to answer your prayers? We serve a BIG God people!!
Anyway, back to the story about my husband. He has been steady busy with work since he made the decision to stay in GA. This past week he has been home. He has been doing a few small home improvement projects and he has been helping me do some gardening. He is currently working on plans to make a chicken coop for someone (and hopefully one for us too!) He is busy trying to find things he can do or sell from home, and we are praying for God to help expand our vision to see what He has in store for us next. Stay tuned, because I am sure God has something wonderful planned, and I can't wait to tell you all about it!
Anyway, I sat down for a few minutes to have some prayer time with the Lord. I have been feeling a bit anxious the last few weeks about finances, and I know that God wants us to be anxious for nothing. As I was praying and asking God to help me overcome my anxiety, he brought several scriptures to my mind. Be anxious for nothing...take no thought for tomorrow...(Matthew 6:25-34) In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1Thessalonians 5:18)... Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)
Needless to say, I am feeling much better. I was reminded how important it is to be grateful. Whether you have a little or a lot, it is so important to be thankful for what you do have. I truly believe that is not only the key to happiness, but also the key that unlocks the kingdom of heaven for blessings to be able to flow. I am often guilty of forgetting that, and those are the times that I find myself struggling with fear of not having enough.
I really should know better. The last few years of our life have been filled with massive amounts of change, yet God has been with us through it all. I know that without Him, we would never be where we are today. We went from a very typical middle class suburban neighborhood close to lots of shops and restaurants to living on a 5 acre farm in the country, 20 minutes away from the nearest "regular" grocery store and nearly an hour away from any large retail stores or shopping malls. That in itself was a huge culture shock for me and my family. Then add to it that my husband continued to travel back and forth to Florida almost every week for several days at a time. We were so blessed to have John's brother and sister-in-law to allow him to stay there when he came to Florida. (If either of you are reading this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!)
Recently, we went through another round of radical change when my husband decided to stay here in GA and basically give up his painting business in FL. We are used to living on faith, because for the last 20 years of our marriage, John has been self employed. While we never got rich (at least by American standards), we always had enough. John relied on his reputation and the Lord to keep his business going. He did very little advertising, and yet week after week the phone would continue to ring with new business. So you can see how difficult it was for him to let go and let God take over. (Coincidentally, that will be the title of my first book someday...Let Go and Let God.)
I just need to stop and say that just a minute ago (while I was writing this), my phone rang. It was one of my cheese customers calling to place another order! Praise the Lord! Isn't it amazing how when you release your fears to God and ask him to take over, He is so quick to answer your prayers? We serve a BIG God people!!
Anyway, back to the story about my husband. He has been steady busy with work since he made the decision to stay in GA. This past week he has been home. He has been doing a few small home improvement projects and he has been helping me do some gardening. He is currently working on plans to make a chicken coop for someone (and hopefully one for us too!) He is busy trying to find things he can do or sell from home, and we are praying for God to help expand our vision to see what He has in store for us next. Stay tuned, because I am sure God has something wonderful planned, and I can't wait to tell you all about it!
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