What's Love Got to Do With It?

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Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Need I say more? Who can we befriend today? Do I know someone who is hurting, who is angry, who is lonely, who would give anything for someone to love them for who they are.

There was a time when I was hurting and someone knocked on my door and my life was changed that day. Sometimes I haven't spoken up when I should, sometimes I should reach out when I don't. I hope today God will bring someone in my path that I can share with. This Christmas season has got me thinking about the gift God gave us, the sacrifice and the love.

Blessings to all of you!

Love

Don't you just love it when you can snuggle with someone you love. I mean that feeling you get when nothing else matters except that peace that comes with that unconditional love. It's heaven on earth, it is mysterious, complex, difficult, and undefinable. Sometimes it is even painful, but one thing is for sure, there is no feeling like it.

Call the Terminator!

Ephesians 6:12 This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with rulers, authorities, the powers who govern this world of darkness, and spiritual forces that control evil in the heavenly world.

This week has been crazy. The devil has been trespassing on God's Property! I have had some battles to fight this week. I know God is in control, but I felt like I needed the Terminator, the Exterminater and the Asassinator onscene today.

Isn't God Good!

Thanksgiving was wonderful, lots of love, family and friends.

This is a picture of my grandson, Aiden Skyler Thompson, he will be one year old on Dec. 16th. He is always a bundle of joy. God sure knew what He was doin when he made that face. How can you not love it?

Chuck & I on our Honeymoon

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope this is a time you all enjoy your families and have the most wonderful day to remember.

I am posting this picture of Chuck and I on our honeymoon.

When I think of things I am most thankful for, I think of what a wonderful husband I have. This picture was taken before we turned our lives over to Christ.

In this picture Chuck is smoking. He no longer smokes, drinks, fusses, cusses or discusses. LOL! He is my best friend and I dont' know what I would do without him.

He is the most Godly man I know. He is not perfect but he does strive for integrity in everything he does. He has the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met. He is the spiritual leader in our home.

This week he presented the gospel to the boys parole officer. He amazes me sometimes, because he never meets a person who he does not share with. The scripture that says...He who has been forgiven much, loves much, is a perfect description of the man I married and today I give God thanks that we met, fell in love and married. Thank you Lord Jesus!

Government Offices

I spent my day off with Jeremy, trying to get his driver’s license and social security card. We have run into so many road blocks lately. We went about two weeks ago and accomplished absolutely nothing and we spent the whole day doing it.

We arrived at the courthouse to get his birth certificate. We have in hand a copy of his birth certificate, a copy of his social security card, plus his check stubs and they want a state issued ID. So we call his parole officer, she comes with the Master File identifying everything about this kid, shows her badge and they tell her the same thing. She is explaining she does this all the time. It just so happens the two people who know her are out of the office that day. So she is steaming and it is showing. The lady at the desk can tell she is steaming so she is determined to show her who is boss. She says, “I need an ID, your badge doesn’t mean anything, she turns her badge over and shows her ID..to no avail, the lady still won’t accept it.

Again she shows her badge and ID. No Go, she doesn’t care. We have plenty of legal notarized papers proving who this kid is, plus a copy of his birth certificate and social. She is not going to budge. Finally we figure out she will accept another piece of paper his parole officer has at her office, so Jeremy and I go get into the car and wait for her to go back to her office and get this info.

Once again she returns and we are able to finally pay the $23 to get his birth certificate. Upon receiving all of this, she makes me copies of everything she has, and off we go to Social Security again. Again we get a number and wait in line for an hour…to only be told NO GO! They still want a state issued ID. Again, I explain we have a copy of his Social and all these other items. So what, they don’t care. Finally she gives me a notarized letter to take to DPS and tells me they will give him an ID with that. So off we go to DPS, stand in line for an hour and a half, only to be told, this won’t work either, that the lady at Social Security doesn’t know what she is talking about. So….now what??

I called the Ranch where Jeremy lived for a year and a half and explain the situation. The superintendent tells me she will get a copy of his school records for me and she will call me right back. We waited in town for two hours, called back a couple of time and she kept telling us she would call us. Finally we gave up and went home, we had accomplished nothing... except getting his birth certificate.

The next day Jeremy has to return to work, I took the day and went to the Ranch to pick up his school records, then spent some time with his previous caseworker. So all of this will have to start all over another day. Why does life have to be so difficult when it could be so simple. I understand security since 9-11, but there is a limit when you have the documentation we do.

We Are Safe In His Hands

No matter what I am going through, no matter how big the obstacle or pain in my life, no matter how impossible the situation and no matter how tired I am, He gives me strength and....I find comfort in knowing I am safe in His Hands.

Lately as I have been reading the Word, I have found such comfort. I know the Jesus I am reading about who walked with men upon the earth is the same Jesus who walks with me today.
He calms me in the storm, He comforts me when I feel alone, He silences me when I need to be silent, He knows and understands, He understands what I need more than I do.

When I am in doubt, I realize it is a trust issue with me. I know He is able and I know His hands are bigger than mine and His shoulders are broader. So all I need to do is trust. I know if I am feeling cold in my walk, I need to stop, perhaps to fast and to pray. At times I know without a doubt I need to just get alone with His word and He speaks to me in the midst of the storms of my life.

So many times I see miracles in my everyday life, in the way I am calm when chaos is all about me. When I have heard bad news or someone doesn't respond the way I expect them too. Sometimes His miracles are not Huge, Miraculous, Heart Stopping. Sometimes He speaks in that wee small voice and calms the storm.

When I struggle as we are teaching the boys in our home and I can't seem to get through to one of them, I just drop to my knees beside the bed. I pray and sometimes I just remind God that He brought the boys to us, He loves them, He knows what they need and how inadequate I am without Him. I just thank Him that when I don't know what to do.... He does and only He can change them. It never fails, I always see Him move.

When I am helping to care for my mother and I see how frail and weak she has become. I see the struggle for independence and the frustation she feels because she has no choice but to depend on others. When she gives me another tongue lashing, I ask God to help me give her grace and He does, He increases my love for her. She can be so unthankful and we were never really close, but I have such compassion for her, I know that too is a miracle He has performed.

So as I travel this journey with I have learned the hard way to get out of the way and let God take control. Sometimes I hinder Him and that is the last thing I want to do. I pray He continues to change me, to help me to be the mother He wants me to be, the friend He wants me to be, the Employee He wants me to be, the person He created me to be. I just wanna be the woman He intended for me to be. I know He is able and I pray I give up and let Him take control in my life in all things.

A Day in the Life of Jesus

The first chapter of the Gospel of Mark records one day in the life of Jesus after He returned to Galilee. It was the Sabbath, so He went to the Synagogue in Capernaum. While there, He cast a demon out of a demon-possessed man. From the synagogue, He went to the home of Simon and Andrew. He found Simon Peter’s mother–in-law in bed with a fever. He immediately healed her.

We read that, “After sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons” (Mark 1:32-34)

Shortly afterward, as He traveled around Galilee, a man with leprosy knelt before Him and begged Him for healing, saying, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”Jesus’ response was to touch the man and utter these words, “‘I am willing. Be clean.’ Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.”

Through the years, many well-meaning Christians assert with great earnestness that it is not “God’s will” to heal people. To them I reply, Jesus Christ is the perfect sinless human being who always did what pleased the Father. In the entire biblical record, there is not, to the best of my knowledge, one single instance in which Jesus Christ refused physical healing to anyone.

If He was the perfect expression of the Father’s will, then we must conclude that physical healing through prayer is clearly in the Father’s will. Jesus looked with compassion at a suffering leper who had raised the question, "if you are willing, you can make me clean," then with great earnestness Jesus said, “I will. Be clean!” (Mark 1:40-42)

Another Miracle

I am posting about miracles this week, as we approach the Christmas season, I want to give God the Glory for the great things He has done in my life and the lives of others. I have shared this before, but felt led to share it again.

One Sunday afternooon, my husband and I decided to take some of the kids from the church swimming at the new lake they had just put in. We were youth pastors at the time. It was a hot summer day, so after the service we all went to our homes and changed, then met back at the church.

So we load up all the kids into the van and car and head for the lake. There were about fourteen of us. Upon arriving we had to jump over a barbed wire fence and there was a road that led into the lake that was now covered with water. So we were swimming and playing in the water on the road.

That day, there was a young man with us named Greg. He was my son's best friend and lived down the street from where we lived. Greg was the kind of kid that was always seeking attention and wanted so badly to be a part of the in crowd. The only problem was, no one accepted him on either side. He was a good looking kid, blonde, blue eyes, but obnoxious as he could be. Greg wouldn't have anything to do with the kids from church while at school, but would attend all of the church functions when he was out of school.

On this day Greg was bragging and showing me his new glasses his mother paid over three hundred dollars for. He was so proud of them. Later that day after we had been swimming in the lake for about two hours, Greg comes running and swimming up this road that was covered by water. He and the boys had been running as deep into the lake as they could from the road and then jumping off each others shoulders. They were about a hundred and fifty feet from where the girls and I were sitting. We were about neck deep in the water just chatting and laughing, watching them prove how macho they all were.

So here comes Greg, he is around fourteen at the time and he is crying. I jumped up and asked him what was the matter and he told me he had lost his glasses. So I then asked him where and when. He said he didn't know, that he had them on when he got there and never took them off. So I said, "you mean, you were running and diving for about two hours and you had your glasses on?" He replied yes. So I asked again, do you know where or when you lost them and he replied no. So I said, "ok, we will find them, God knows where they are and He will bring them to us."

Well, Chuck is over there looking at me as if I had gone completely mad and he says to me, "there is no way you are going to find those glasses in this muddy lake, just forget it, we will have to tell his mother!!" I of course replied, "Chuck, we will find those glasses, God knows where they are and He said if we have faith we can move mountains, so we are going to pray, He loves us and will bring them to us!" Again, he looks at me disgusted and I am sure he is thinking, here we go again!

I am just that way, I believe God will do abundantly more than I could ever ask or think. I don't know why I believe the way I do, I don't question, I just trust. I just figure if God is who He says He is, then He can do the impossible.

So I called all of the kids over and said, "let's all pray." Chuck hesitantly comes over and grabs a hand on each side and we bow our heads standing waist deep in the water. I just prayed and said, "God your Word says, If any two agree on earth as touching anything it will be done. So we are all in agreement and we know where two or three are gathered together you are there with us, so we recognize your presence. We know that you know exactly where those glasses are and we also know we will never find them without your help, we ask you now in the name of Jesus to bring them to us. In Jesus name, Amen."

So then I told all of the kids to go back to where they were and start to feel around with their feet and hands. I sat back down on the road and began to scoot along the side of the road feeling around and going back and forth on the road, as I silently began to thank God for answering our prayer. About fifteen minutes later, I felt a weed on my leg. I almost didn't raise my leg up to look, but it was tickling my leg and I felt an inner voice tell me to raise my leg up and when I did, guess what???!! Greg's glasses were on my leg!!!

I jumped up and screamed, "God brought them to us, I told you He would, I told you Chuck, God loves us and He knew where they were and He found them in this muddy lake!!" I was so overjoyed, then Greg ran to me and fell into my arms crying. I said, " Greg, you are always playing with God, you never get serious and I think God has brought those glasses to us to show you how much He loves and cares for you and it is time for you to get serious and quit playing games." He cried for awhile, and we ended up staying another hour or two.

God has shown Himself to me in so many ways and that day, I had no doubt He honored my faith and brought those glasses to me. He let me know He cares even about he little things in our lives, He is listening. Things may not happen as quickly every time we pray, but I do know God is working, even if it takes Him a little longer the next time, I simply Trust and let Him work out all the details. Thank you Lord Jesus!!!

Miracles Happen

First, most of you know my husband and I are in the ministry. We reach out to incarcerated juveniles. The facility where we minister has forty eight boys ages thirteen to nineteen years old, sentenced for nine months, however length of stay normally averages fifteen months.

These kids are from all over the state of Texas. The facility is a juvenile Correctional Facility, drug treatment program, minimum security. If the boys don't adhere to the guidelines or run, they will be sent to a Maximum Security Facility. Only one in five hundred are picked to get to come to this facility.

Anyway, the second part of our ministry is after we have worked with these kids for almost a year and a half, some come to live with us, such is the case now. We have two boys with us and another on the way in a few months.

So now let me tell you a little about Jr.....He is nineteen, his parents are both incarcerated. He has a younger brother and two sisters whom he loves dearly. His father has never told him he loved him and has been to prison at least five times. His family lives serveral hours and miles away. Jr. was very involved in our discipleship program during his incarceration and asked to come live with us.

I am very adamant about seeing a committment from any boy we take into our home, so we have certain programs we have them go through and they have to be recommended by at least three staff members before we will consider them. I also give them every opportunity to back out or to go somewhere else and if they are persistent, then we allow them to come to our home.

Jr. went through our discipleship program and our Defining a Man program, he memorized over a hundred scriptures before he got out and now he is living with us. He is very involved in church, has become a leader at the High School Ministry and has a wonderful mentor there, who is giving him assignments and challenging him. He is planning to go to Barber College in January and then plans to attend Bible College in a year, hoping to become a Christian counselor. He has signed up to go on a mission trip to Chicago and then another mission trip to Russia for five weeks in the summer. He works full time making the canisters you put your money in at the drive thru at a bank, plays football with the College Life Football league at church, attends College Life and the High School Ministry, as well as Plumbline which is an urban minstry of the church.

Jr. is very transparent, he comes to us before he makes any decision, and if he is slipping he will ask to talk to one of us and he will discuss what he is doing and wants to know what he should do.

This week Jr. came to us and we were talking about what he wants to do with his life, where he feels he is spiritually, what his strengths and weaknesses are, what he has started and how to become a finisher. As we were talking he said to me, "I think yall give me more credit than I deserve. " I asked what he meant and he said, "you are always telling me you are proud of me and I am struggling, I am not perfect." So I explained we knew he has a long way to go, that even we struggle at times with doing the right thing, but the reason we are proud of him is he is trying. I explained how he is making right choices, he is staying involved and if he continues on the path he is on, he will continue to grow and mature spiritually and that is why we are proud of him. He then understood.

We are blessed to not only see fruit from the ministry we are involved in, but to get to see the miracle of a changed life. A boy who was born into a family with history of drugs and gangs, who wanted to go to prison, who told his father recently he was not going to be the man he is. Seeing God's hand move is incredible, it moves me to tears to know he can take a boy from the hood, take that black heart of sin and wash it in His blood and make it white as snow. He is changing his desires. He told me in the past he was always a follower. He said I didn't like myself, so I would do anything anyone told me to do, just for acceptance. He explained that now, He knows He is accepted and He is a follower of only one and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank You Lord Jesus, only you can change a life. You have all the answers.

continued...I Believe in Miracles.

continued....that evening we returned to church, this time dropping the kids off at children's church first. We sat down and the message again was incredible. Then they started praying for the sick. So I turn to Chuck and say..."Go get Precious, God is going to heal her." He told me no, he wasn't going to get her and I told him again, "Go get her, I am serious, God is going to heal her." Well, Chuck knows I am persistent and when I make up my mind there is no changing it. So he got mad at me and left. He told me later he was not planning on coming back. He was going to just leave. But on the way out of the church he said he heard a voice in his head that said, "you go get that kid and prove to her that you are right and she is wrong. God is not going to heal her and you should prove it to her."

So he went to the children's church, picked up Precious and brought her back to the church. He came in and slowly was making his way to the front when an usher met him and asked what was wrong with Precious. Chuck told him she had scoliosis and the doctors wanted to put a steel rod in her spine. So the usher seated him near the front and told him they were praying for people's backs, but would come and get him shortly. So he sat there until the last person was prayed for. All the while I was praising and thanking God that He was going to heal my daughter that night.

At the end, they came to get Precious and Chuck. She was seven years old, and had a little pink lace dress on. I still remember how she looked like an angel. Instead of walking up on the stage, the Pastor came down and picked her up and sat her up on the stage right next to the Pulpit. He asked what was wrong with her, Chuck told him. He replied, "oh, that is nothing for the Lord. He then stretched her legs out in front of her little body and it was clear one leg was around five inches shorter than the other. He began to pray and thank God, then said, "Lord, you didn't create this child this way and we ask you to heal her in the name of Jesus, cause her little legs to be even the way you created them to be. The short leg began to move and then he said, "both legs Lord, yes, both legs and they both moved and became the same length." Chuck was bent over crying his eyes out. I was crying and shouting, "I knew God was going to heal her!!" I was thanking Him and people all around me were hugging me.

Then the Pastor took her by the hand and said, "come with me." She jumped down and ran completely around the church which held around five thousand people and it was the first time she had run in over a year.

On the way out of the church that night I remember Chuck saying, "Honey, God showed me tonight that He is God, and He can do what He wants, when He wants, how He wants whether I believe it or not." Chuck cried for three months after that. I rejoiced, I sang, I cried and I thanked God that He is able to do the impossible, and He did it for me, for my child.

My life changed that night. I made a decision that if God loved me that much that He would heal my child, that I would never walk away from Him. I have fallen at various times, but I never put up a sign that said, "Dana's Residence." I got back up and tried to live for Him even more so. I love the Lord with all my heart, mind and soul. I believe He came for those who were sick, not only in spirit, but in mind and body. Nothing, absolutely nothing is too difficult for Him. I know God loves me with an unconditional love and He wants us to know He is there for us, He wants us to love Him back. When I hurt, He hurts and when we sin, I believe it hurts Him also. He said to Be Holy, Because I am Holy. I try to always be aware that I am in His presence at all times.

People ask me sometimes if I believe all the things I see on TV with evangelists and so on. My answer is no. I believe the devil has a counterfeit for everything good that God does. I also believe people are fallible. I know for a fact that God can and does heal and He is the same yesterday, today and forever. I think as human beings it is difficult for us to believe the dead can be raised, the lame can walk, the blind can see and the deaf hear, but I want to say the God I serve lives and abides in the realm of the impossible. The greatest miracle of all and evidence that there is a God is a changed life. HE IS ALIVE!!! He was dead and now lives. That is unthinkable. This is the difference in our God and Christianity. No other prophet or other religion can they say, was raised from the dead. Muhammed is in the tomb, Ghandi is in the tomb, Hira Krishna is in the tomb, but Jesus' tomb is empty. Praise the Lord. Come quickly Lord Jesus!!

Continued...I Believe in Miracles!

Ok, I was saying, "If God is God, He can do anything, Right??" So I left the hospital that day to go home and tell my husband what the doctor said, but also what God was going to do. On the way home, I saw this gas station that was closed, there was a phone booth out near the street, so I stopped and called my husband.

I knew my husband wasn't going to believe like I do, he is one of those...Doubting Thomases, he has to see it to believe it! So I call him and get him on the phone, I proceed to tell him what the doctor said. Then I proceeded to tell him that we were not going to do the surgery because God was going to heal Precious and before he could object I told him about the sermon I heard. He of course was voicing his opinion, but I flatly said, "If God is God, then He can do anything and if He can't, then I am not going to believe in Him." I then told him, "I love my child and if I could heal her I would and if God is my Father and His love is greater than mine, then He will heal Precious, if for no other reason than He loves her and He created her."

After I told him all that, I then told him I didn't want to hear anymore about it, that it was settled, that God was already working because I had prayed and no matter what the circumstances looked like, I was going to thank Him and Praise Him for healing her.

Then I got into my car and headed home. All that week, I just continued to thank God, praising Hm and talking to Him about how I knew He was able to do abundantly above all I could ask or think. At this time we were attending a little Baptist church and my husband Chuck went to the preacher and told him how I was believing for God to heal Precious. This preacher whom I will call Pastor B, advised Chuck God doesn't heal anymore, that healing went out with the Apostles and so on. Chuck came home convinced he was right and I again told him I didn't want to hear it, that he was not to talk to Precious or I about it, unless He was going to believe by faith God was going to heal her. So he did as I asked.

Later that next week, I began to feel an urge to take her to a church to be prayed for where they believed in healing. So I got a phone book and began to look for this particular church and found it, called and found out the times and told Chuck we were taking Precious there Sunday.

Sunday morning comes around and we go to this church. While there we were told there was a children's church for the kids so we took them over there. As we walk into the sanctuary, this church had canes, wheelchairs, and braces on the side and up on the wall. My husband looked at me and said, "you see that, the only reason they have all that up there is for money." I looked at Him and said, "no it isn't, God heals and those things have been left behind." He just shook his head at me, but I wasn't budging, if God is God, then He can do anything and I was going to take Him at His word.

Anyway, we stayed for the service and really enjoyed it. One of the ushers asked how we liked the service and we told him we loved it, but of course Chuck voiced his opinion and told him, he didn't buy all the healing stuff but he did enjoy the service and we would be back that night.

So we went to get the kids at childrens' church. We asked how they liked it and they were all saying they loved it and when could they come back. We told them we would come back that night.

to be continued tomorrow..........

I Believe in Miracles!

I was asked to post about my daughter's healing, so here goes.

Her name is Precious Sabrina, when she was seven years old, her body began to twist and her leg began to draw up. I wasn't sure what was going on, I thought she had Muscular Dystrophy or Mulitiple Sclerosis. Her hips were out of line, she came to the point she couldn't run or walk to the lunch room with her first grade class. She had always been a very active child, loved to play soccer or football or whatever was going on outdoors. At this time, she couldn't play anymore and it became painful to walk very far, so she would sit on the patio in a lounge chair and watch her brother and sister play with all of her friends. It was very devastating to her and to I, not knowing what was happening or what to do.

So I began to take her to doctors and finally found a chiropracter who told me she had scolosis and he could make adjustments and she would get better. So for a year I took her four times a week to the doctor and her leg would seem to get better, but it never was completely right. Finally, I decided to take her to a hospital in a nearby town. I found a doctor there and when we got there he took xrays and did tests and confirmed it was scoliosis. Her leg had drawn up where it was around five inches shorter than the other one and she walked very crookedly, almost twisted.

The doctor explained to me he wanted to operate on her spine and they would insert a steel rod into her back which would straighten the curve, however she would probably never be able to run or wear high heels as she became older. I was a new Christian at the time, and when he left the office, Precious started to have tears running down her little face. I bent down and said Precious, why are you crying, I said we have Jesus and He is going to heal you. Then I held her and reassured her.

On the way to the hospital that morning I was listening to Christian radio and an evangelist was preaching. I remembered him saying, what do you mean you have this sickness, all sickness and disease went to the cross two thousand years ago and by His stripes you are healed. He talked about faith and believing God for a miracle.

Being a new Christian, I felt if God were God, then He could do anything or He was no different than me, and if He couldn't do anything more than I, why should I believe in Him. I know that sounds harsh, but I felt if God were God, then nothing was impossible and especially if He created our bodies and He could definately fix whatever was wrong with them.

I believed He could move mountains, raise the dead, make the blind see, the deaf hear and the lame walk. After all He is God, He is incredible, indescribable, amazing and I read in His word where He did all these things and more and His word also said..He is the same yesterday, today and forever. So I figured if He healed way back then, then He would do it now. I mean after all, the Bible is true, it is living, it is life giving.........I never questioned whether He would do it for me, after all He loved me and He didn't create this seven year old to be this way, so I was going to take Him at His word.

to be continued.....

My Testimony

Please as you read this, ignore the lack of punctuation and any misspellings........

Several years ago, in 1981, some people from a Baptist Church came by our home to ask if our children could go to children's church every Sunday on the church bus. So we agreed, we at the time were not attending any church and my husband figured why not, this would be a good babysitter. Sounds terrible doesn't it? But...our lives were out of control, we didn't know Christ and weren't seeking Him either, we didn't even know we needed Him.

So time went on, and Father's Day was coming up that June. This church was encouraging the kids to get their Father to come to church so they would get a prize. So each week they would ask and each week he would say no. So finally I told them not to worry about it, that we would be there.

Father's Day rolls around and I get the kids ready, then went to our room and took my husband's suit out of the closet, placing it on the bed. I then told him it was time to get up because we were going to church. At the time we had been married only two years and we were about ready to get a divorce, so he laid there ignoring me. During this time in our life, I would go outside at night after everyone was asleep and pray and cry, I knew I was not right with God, I also knew He wasn't hearing my prayers, I felt as if they were bouncing off of heaven.

Anyway back to that Sunday morning in June. I again told my husband Chuck to get up and this time I let him know if he didn't get up our marriage was over. We were both miserable and I just told him that I couldn't live like we were living anymore and if we didn't do something to change, then there was no use trying anymore. So...he got up and got ready and said later that he was ready to go, but when he did it would be on his terms, not on mine.

So we all get in the car, the kids are excited, when their dad pulls into the first little Baptist church he sees. We all tell him, this is not the church, but he tells us we wanted to go to church and so this was where we were going. He said later it had about four or five cars and was small so he felt it was safe.

So we go inside and the kids still got a prize for coming and bringing their dad on Father's Day. We sat way back in the back and the church had maybe fifteen people in it and a third of them were the Pastors family. After the service, they had the invitation and I was under heavy conviction, but didn't go forward and neither did my husband. Then they passed the offering plate and I filled out a little card for visitors and on the back it asked if you would like a visit fromt the Pastor. I checked yes and put it in the plate.

So we left church that day and went home, put on cut off blue jeans and headed for the lake. We were all swimming and playing around, when I felt a light shining through the trees above us. I looked up and started to cry. My husband swam over and asked me what was wrong and I told him, if I died today, I knew I would split hell wide open. I said I have no doubt God would turn His face from me. So he said let's go home and we got in the car and left.

Upon arriving home, we were not there five minutes, still in our wet clothes when someone knocked on the door. I went to the door and opened it, and there stood the Pastor. I said to him, wait a minute and shut the door real fast.

In the past when someone came to our house to share Christ, my husband always ran them off. One particular night three guys came to the door and knocked. Chuck answered and they asked if they could come in and talk to us about Christ. He said to them...why? They said well can we ask you a question, He said...ask. So they said, If you died today, do you know if you would go to heaven or hell and he replied...no and neither do you, He continued to say...I have eternal life here on earth, God doesn't want me and the Devil doesn't want the competition. So needless to say, they had heard enough and left.

Anyway, back to the Pastor being at the door. I had to prepare my husband for who was at the door so he wouldn't run the Pastor off. I went to him and let him know I had checked the card and asked this Pastor to come by and He was at the door right then. So he told me to go ahead and let him come in. So back to the door I go and invited him inside. He asked if we could sit at the table so we did.

He began to share with us the gospel and tears began to stream down my husband's face, so I started crying too. He asked if we wanted to pray and we both said yes, and that day both he and I accepted Christ as our Savior. We cried for months after that, we studied our bibles and we attended church. We have grown tremendously since then, we have seen our daughter healed and God has continued to show himself to us in many ways. I am thankful for that day because we have never been the same.

Little People!

When I see this little guy he makes me laugh. I mean look at those little bitty feet. He thinks he is so big, he finally started crawling, it won't be long and he will be walking, then his mom and dad are going to have to start running. lol!

Thank you Lord for little miracles!

Little Miracles!

Aren't babies sweet? This little guy is a mama's boy. I mean he loves his daddy and can't get enough of him either, but he thinks his mama should be in whatever room he is in.

The other day my daughter was telling me how she lays him down at night and sits by his bed until he goes to sleep. He will lay down and almost go to sleep then push himself up to see if she is still there. Then lay back down and do this over and over again until he finally falls asleep.

She was saying if she leaves the room and he wakes up, he will get up and cry, but as soon as he sees her walk in the room, he gets all happy and starts laughing and smiling. lol.

God is so good, so much joy comes from a little one like this, but I guess it makes it extra special when you have a special one that belongs to your kid. I can't wait until my other son and daugther fall in love, get married and have a kid, then I will be trying to figure out if he or she looks like their mama or their daddy. I am amazed at how this boy looks so much like his mama, but he has his daddy's looks too. He so looks like my daughter with the big brown eyes and olive skin color, but he has some of his daddy's expressions and looks like he will have his hair color too. Isn't love amazing?

He Is Working

Psalms 5:3 Yahweh, in the morning you shall hear my voice.
In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly.

In the wee hours of the morning is the time when I am totally alone with God. Everyone else is busy or asleep and I am usually outside just talking, walking and visiting with Him. It's like my time to just stop and get real, letting everything out, being brutally honest with myself and Him. You could say, I sometimes laugh, sometimes I am angry, frustrated, annoyed, and sometimes I am just numb, I just don't know what I feel, and sometimes I am overjoyed and just want to praise Him.

I sometimes question if He is angry with me, or if He is listening. I know He does and yes I am sure He gets aggravated with me sometimes. I expect more than I give. I do things with the wrong motives and intents, I don't examine my thoughts and they run rampant, and yes, He is there, He is working, and I want it to be in my time, not His. I don't understand His ways sometimes. I know when I just trust, He always works it out in the best possible way. Why can't I remember that?'

So many things have gone on this year that I can't count. I have wanted to give up and quit, but I can't. I struggle with flesh and blood, all the while I know it is a spiritual battle and it is not necessarily even a battle that is being waged against me. It is a battle against Him. He is the one who is being attacked in me. King David said, Psalm 10:1 Why do you stand far off, Yahweh? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

So I think...King David was a called a man after God's own heart and even He doubted. So today I will not doubt. I know He is working, even if I can't see it right now. He wrote the book, He knows how it ends and we win. Come quickly Lord Jesus!

How Do You Like My Puppy?

SMILE

Heal Our Land

I was watching Christian television the other night and the preacher was saying, it is not about being Republican or Democrat, it is not about who is right or who is wrong, it is not about whether we agree or disagree, all that matters is what God has to say about the subject. He said our opinion doesn't count, what does count is if God says it is wrong, then it is wrong.

So often we forget the battle is not ours, we are to occupy, we are to stand for what is right, but we need to pray and put it in God's hands. He said if we will humble ourselves, turn from our wicked ways, and pray He will heal our land.

I looked up the word heal and one of the definitions said to "restore to original purity or integrity." Wow! wouldn't that be something? If God restored us to the way Adam and Eve were created originally. Sounds impossible, but with God nothing is impossible. It also said to make sound or whole, to restore to health.

Our nation is sick, and Jesus said He did not come for those who were well, but for those who were sick. His purpose in eating and hanging with sinners was to show them the way, to heal their sin. He loved them so much, He came to heal them. Just as He comes to me in my weakness.

I live in my own little protected world, but all along the outskirts, in my family, in my friends' families, in my coworkers families, in the lives of strangers, I see the effects of sin, and I am saddened and disturbed. So if it hurts my heart to see all these things going on, how much more is God hurt when His son died and suffered such a horrible death for what we did.

I do however have peace in knowing, He is in control. I was talking with someone I minister to the other day and they were telling me, "well, I think this or I think that," so, I said, let's look and see what God has to say about it, cause it doesn't really matter what you or I think. So as we looked into His Word and read what He had to say, this person said, "wow, you are right." I then proceeded to say, it is not what I think or don't think, we are to follow what our Creator thinks. After all, He made me, He formed me, He knows me, He loves me.