Anything Changes Everything

I like to sleep and sleep likes me. Once I'm out, I'm usually out for the night, and waking me is about like waking the dead. Mornings generally bring on a kind of sleep-induced hangover, causing me to need to slowly ease into my day (something my husband teases me about endlessly). I have been this way for as long as I can remember.

For this reason, if I ever suddenly jolt out of a deep sleep and am wide awake in the middle of the night, I suspect that it has to be the Lord. After praying for whoever He brings to mind, I might fall back to sleep, but if the Lord is really trying to get my attention, well...sleep is over! In those times, I get up, grab my Bible, pray, and try to listen to that "still, small voice". It never fails. He always has something important to say.

Last year, He had something important to say. It was just before 5am, and sure enough, I was aroused out of a deep sleep. Being that it was our last day on vacation, I honestly tried hard to ignore the urgency thinking I needed the extra rest for packing up and heading home, but the sense that I needed to get up was very strong. I put on some clothes, tiptoed out of the room, and was quiet as a mouse as I opened the beach house door.

I had never seen the sunrise over the ocean, so I figured if I was up, I would go spend time with the Lord on the beach. This particular morning, it seems, God had both a sunrise and a word that He didn't want me to miss.

I had no idea what time the sun would actually come up.  Using the flashlight on my cell phone, I made my way down the little path out to the ocean. I was somewhat leery walking through the bushes and the shadows, but I reached the boardwalk soon enough.

Stopping to take a few pictures of the moon and stars in the faint light, I noticed a bench overlooking the ocean, so I sat down and slowly took in the salty air. I savored the cool breeze, thinking about how hot it would be in just a few hours. Looking around, I realized quickly that I was all alone. It was just me, the Lord, and the sound of the ocean waves rolling in. I knew right away that this was, indeed, a divine appointment.

There are only a handful of times in my life that I can say I have sensed such an undeniable, weighty, and overwhelming presence of the Lord. In the stillness of that moment, it sat heavy on me, blanketing me in the most amazing peace. It's almost like God was waiting for me on the beach that morning. It was surprising, unexpected, and caught me completely off guard, in the very best way possible.

Sitting in awe and reverence, I didn't say a word, but I felt both completely known and completely loved all at the same time. I also felt extremely vulnerable. Before I knew it, a slow trickle of tears cascaded down each cheek. Emotions from somewhere down deep soon turned into sobs that I couldn't control. It was evident that I had been carrying a burden for far too long, because it gushed out of me as the Lord's presence scratched the surface of a painful wound. That morning, alone on the beach, I couldn't hide behind busyness or distraction or complacency. He had removed all of those. He stripped away my every defense, engulfed me in His love, and feeling completely safe.... I..... let ..... go.

You see, for a few years, I had been fighting to fit in...to feel like I belonged in a place that was way too big and way too cold. The saying "bloom where you're planted" had played over and over in my mind, so, like a good soldier, I marched on. I kept my nose to the grindstone, knowing that God saw my motives and that He would honor them. Yet, every act of bravery to put myself out there ended in failure and I had basically thrown in the towel. I had not fit in from the moment I arrived, and I never would. It was one of the most utterly confusing times in my life and honestly, I was starting to doubt that the Lord had taken notice of any of it. In fact, it seemed like it was open season on me in many areas of my life. I felt like I was dying on the inside and no one knew it.

But God.

The One who woke me up and arranged one of the most beautiful moments of my entire life...He saw it all. And He cared. Deeply. Until that moment on the beach, I don't think I knew how much.

I held nothing back. All of the pain, confusion, and hurt came out. I confessed that I felt like one gigantic disappointment and then I prayed what I now understand is a very dangerous prayer. I told God, with every ounce of sincerity in me, that I surrendered to anything...anything that I needed to do...anything that I needed to say...anything that needed to be moved, switched up, laid down, let go, given away, or completely removed from my life...I was ready, for anything.

Anything.

As I sat quietly before the Lord after that, inhaling and exhaling, having poured out my heart to Him for quite a long time, I witnessed the most glorious sunrise I had ever seen! I started crying all over again, thanking Him repeatedly for such a magnificent sight. In the stillness, I felt like the Lord gently spoke these words to me, words I wrote down so that I would never forget them. I share them here, because maybe, just maybe, one of you needs to hear them as well...........

"You're a dreamer and that's no mistake. You feel deeply by design...just like I designed the sunrise you saw today. My love is powerful and constant. It's like the waves that change the shape of the shoreline according to My will. It is my masterpiece. So are you. It's okay not to fit in. It's okay to rest and not know the next step. It's okay to not 'feel' used by me. I make no mistakes. To say you are a disappointment would be to say that I have made a mistake. I make no mistakes. My love for you is powerful and constant. It will change you. Let it. Daily."

That morning, a different woman walked off the beach. My burdens were lifted. I had been profoundly changed in the presence of God.

Six weeks later, our world started to turn upside down in many ways, and while I can't tell you it was easy, I can tell you this...it was worth it!! My prayer of "anything" changed EVERYTHING. God literally moved us to a new city, put us in a new church, moved us into a new house, and even gave us a new-to-us vehicle. Nothing is the same, but all of it is better than we could have ever imagined! My life is far removed from every thought, feeling, or concern that I had that morning on the beach and I will be forever grateful that God woke me up.

_________________________________

My prayer for you today is this...that you would get alone with God and pour out your heart to Him like never before. Maybe He broke through the noise and distraction in my life that morning and woke me up so that He could, on this day, wake you up! He loves you!! You are not a mistake. You are not a disappointment. You are His masterpiece!!! And if you're brave enough to pray a dangerous prayer of surrender....to say to Him, "anything"...I promise, He will be faithful to come through on your behalf, both for your good and for His glory! Anything changes everything!!  

Born For Such A Time

Just the other day...I was a young sophomore in high school. I was asked to write a paper on a controversial topic and I chose the subject of abortion. My parents suggested I visit some friends of theirs who ran a crisis pregnancy center in order to gather information. There, I met one of most humble and devoted Christian couples I had ever come across in my life. They armed me with videos and testimonies and loads of information. My love of the unborn and pro-life views were solidified during that time, so much so that even as a teen, I ended up volunteering at that same crisis pregnancy center for the next two years...conducting free pregnancy tests, preparing gift baskets for new moms, and even counseling young girls on the value of the new life growing inside them.

One story that I would share behind closed doors at that crisis pregnancy center is one that I rarely share with anyone today. Why? Well, you'll hear. It sounds a little too pompous (as in tooting my own horn) and supernatural for most people. You see I grew up in a church where it was normal for God to speak through prophetic messages, for Him to heal miraculously, and for Him to be as real and as close to the believer as the air in the room. I am now by divine design the wife of the Southern Baptist minister and typically, our denomination as a whole focuses much less on the working of God through the Holy Spirit than the denomination I was raised in. No matter what I've seen the Lord do in the past or what I know about how He can move through the power of the Holy Spirit, the church as a whole is not very comfortable with much of what I grew up understanding. In other words, I can't unsee what I have seen and unknow what I have known. It is my history. I have filtered through the teachings of both denominations, probably studying a little more than I ever would have because of it. Have I completely abandoned those early beliefs? No, but I just don't talk about it among people who don't have my same background. Trying to explain the power of the Holy Spirit working in such ways is like trying to explain the colors of the rainbow to a blind man. It is rather impossible until eyes that long to see, ask to be opened.

Wow, that was a very long and drawn out way to say...this is going to sound crazy to some of you, but nonetheless, it's a true story. Ask my mom. I'm sharing it to prove a point, so hang in there!

My mother was in the parking lot of our church one day in 1976 when the pastor's wife walked up to her and said that the Lord had a message for her. The message was this, that He was answering her prayers for another little girl! My mom was elated, because she had always prayed in faith for God to give her two boys and two girls. She had her boys and one little girl already, but still desperately wanted one more daughter, so she never stopped praying.

Not long after that, my mom went to a women's Bible study/prayer time. She had told no one about the message that had been given to her just days before, but during that meeting, another one of her friends prayed with her. That friend also felt impressed by God to share with my mom that she would have another daughter, one who would "bring joy to she and my dad in their latter years".

Well sure enough, a blood test given the very next week confirmed that my mom was already pregnant!! The kicker is that my mom had barely even missed her period. She was early into the pregnancy when these messages came to her...only a few weeks along. There was only what most would refer to as a clump of cells or a blob of tissue in her body, but the fact of the matter is, that was ME in there!!

Already growing inside my mom was the little girl who loved to make up songs, choreograph dances, and catch tadpoles in the creek. The little girl who would write and perform puppet shows at church with her stuffed animals, drive her older siblings nuts, and beg her daddy to come play just one more game of bad mitten in the yard. The little girl, who grew into a young lady, who gathered friends and begged them to follow Jesus with her, who tried to lead by example...making plenty of mistakes along the way, but continuing to try nonetheless. The little girl, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, who grew into a woman that would marry a preacher, have 3 little girls of her own, continue to make mistakes...but always, always continue to try.

That was me. I was me then just as much as I am me now.

For this reason, the PERSONHOOD of every "clump of cells", or "blob of tissue", or "product of conception" has always been a reality to me. When my mom got those 2 messages from God, the number of my own days had already begun. Only God knows the exact number of those days He decided to spill the beans about me coming, just as only He knows the number of that day that He will bring me home to meet Him face-to-face.

Please let me be very, very clear. Every life begins with God...my life, your life...every life. And every life has purpose, no matter what circumstance that life is brought into. Every single person IS a person, no matter how small, and that person is very, very precious in the eyes of the Creator.

Psalm 139:13 - 16 says,

"For You created my inmost being;
You knit me together in my mother's womb.
I will praise You because I am fearfully and
wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from You
When I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the
depths of the earth,
Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in Your book
before one of them came to be."

Just a short 3 years before God created me in my mother's womb, our Supreme Court decided to legalize and endorse the killing of millions of precious babies. 57 million to date. That blood is on the hands of those legalizing it in 1973, but it is also on ours because we have allowed it to continue.

In the past few weeks, I have cried and cried as I have watched the undercover videos taken in abortion clinics.  My gut reaction and the words that came out of my mouth were, "Dear God, who are we?"
It's the question that rings over and over in my mind, and I've heard and read others who are asking the exact same thing. It's a valid question to a nation who is rapidly losing her moral foothold.

Who are we?

It is my belief that you can't truly understand the value of life until you understand the value of Your Creator. Collectively, as a nation, we have forgotten Him, and thus, we have lost our way. We have grown cold and turned from our first love, the love of Jehovah God, the God of our founders and our forefathers. We have chased money and pleasure to the point that greed has totally consumed us, so much so that even our leaders, the ones we elected, can't stand up for what's right.  They have lost the fear of God and the moral backbone it takes to look squarely into the face of evil and say, "No more!"

Church of America, this can not be overlooked. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP.  If these videos and the revelation of the booming industry behind this massacre of our children can't shake the church to its core, I shutter to think of what it will take to do so. Truly I do.

Humble yourself. Cry in repentance. Seek the forgiveness of Almighty God and give up your idols. Until we get desperate for the Lord and want Him more than we want a life of comfort and ease, money and pleasure, status and fame, nothing will change. Not one thing.

We will only see it get worse.

Maybe, just maybe, God answered the prayers of a woman asking for a baby girl to be born way back in 70's, because He knew that among many other things, she would stand for life, no matter what.

Could it be that you and I both were created for such a time as this?

Rise up. Stand with me. Together, let's look evil squarely in the face and declare, "No more!!!"

Hope From a Christmas Float

 

Just the other day…I folded myself onto the red and white Christmas float, ready to brave the cold, wave at strangers, and hold my five year old, Abbie, in my lap as she participated in her first Christmas parade.  Sitting “criss-cross” is not something I do often, so about twenty minutes in, my legs started going numb.  I realized very quickly…I am much older than the last time I was in a Christmas parade! Besides that, I actually loved getting to wave and smile and yell out “Merry Christmas!!!” along with the precious little girls sitting beside me. It would have been an entirely magical night, even with my legs going numb, except for the fact that Abbie kept asking me over and over and over, “Where is Daddy? When will we see Daddy? Are we close to seeing Daddy yet?”

To say the child loves her Daddy is quite the understatement. The affection, I assure you, is mutual. In fact, when I arrived home from an event last week, the one tree in our front yard was decked out with blinking multi-colored lights, although everything else is “white lights only”. Why the colored lights on that particular tree? Well, because Abbie asked for them, that’s why, and my Abbie has her daddy wrapped around her little finger!! It’s that mutual affection, I tell you!

So, the questioning regarding the whereabouts of her beloved daddy was continuous and constant. Abbie was tolerating the hundreds of others along the parade route, but who she really wanted to see was her dad!

“We’ll be there soon, Abbie, just wave. It makes people happy to see you waving at them.”

“Daddy’s here. I know he’s looking for you, too! Just wait, it won’t be long.”

“Not too much further. You’ll see him!”

The longer she didn’t see him, the more impatient she became; and the more impatient she became, the shorter answers I gave (you know how it goes). Children are persistent! They won’t give up! They will, by golly, get an answer!!

Finally, I knew we were getting close to where he said he would be sitting. I saw familiar buildings, so I told her to start looking.

“He’s close!” I said...”Just ahead.”

We both sat up straighter. She and I scanned the crowd over and over, but didn’t see him. I frantically searched each face as we seemed to whiz by, even though 30 seconds prior we had seemed to be crawling. Just as I thought we must have missed him and prepared to break the bad news, there he was, standing tall and smiling big with his camera in hand.

Abbie spotted her daddy, gave him a joyful smile back, and immediately brought her hand to her mouth and blew him a huge air-kiss.

(Is your heart melting right now? Mine, too!)

Later that night, I was thinking over the events of the day when God, so sweetly, did a little prodding of my heart. You see, He and I have a conversation going on right now…one in which I continuously ask, “God, what are You doing with me?” and He answers with...

S I L E N C E

Ever been through that with Him? It’s difficult. It’s confusing.

In many ways, I’m just like my little Abbie when it comes to getting answers to my prayers. I know in time, I’ll see and understand. But it’s the waiting that’s getting to me…

"WHERE'S DADDY?!" I ask.

I ask over and over and over. I've been asking it for a while.

"When will I see?"

"When will I understand?"

He might be getting a little impatient with me...;)

But, He took me to a Christmas parade and let me have a special moment with my little girl and her daddy so that He could show me...and now you...this - -

He is just up ahead.

It's not much further.

Keep a look out. Sit up straight and search the crowd.

See the signs. Keep trusting. Get excited!

He is not hiding. He's in plain sight.

At the right moment, the clarity...the "seeing"...the understanding will come. And all this waiting? It will seem to have been like a fleeting shadow, much less dramatic and daunting than it is to you at the present time.

And what about that moment you realize the wait is over, that He has answered your heart's cry?

What about THAT moment...the one where your invisible faith meets a tangible reality?

Undoubtedly, when that time comes, you'll take note...

that He is there...

your Father...

smiling back at you.

You'll be settled...refreshed...and you'll understand that it is all just as He planned.

And who knows, you might even be tempted to blow Him an air-kiss...;)

 May God's unimaginable love surround you this Christmas!!!

Walking In The Answer To Prayer

Just the other day...I walked out the side door and into the warm breezy air blowing in from the field across the road. Being with my kids 24/7, my walking time was much-needed time! As usual, my thoughts turned to life and the deeper subjects on my heart. I began to talk to the Lord.

Life in a rural area had been hard on this city-girl, but I had adjusted (if you have heard my talk, "Growth in the Shadows", you'll remember what a struggle it had been). While I was content and the Lord had changed my "move-me-now-or-I'm-going-to-die" attitude, there was an ache in my heart for my kids that never truly went away. When my husband and I would reminisce about playing with neighborhood kids as children or having huge birthday parties attended by tons of friends, our kids would just look at us with blank stares. Living off the beaten path, down a long, lonely highway was all they had ever really known.

Naturally, my heart ached for them to know some of the same joys I had known as a child. Yet, I knew if the Lord asked us to stay in that rural area for our whole lives, then we would do so, happy and peaceful in the center of His will. I needed to talk to God about the ache though.

I prayed something like this, "God, if it would ever be within Your will, would you let our kids experience a neighborhood...a community...lots of friends...the sort of thing we knew as kids? Would you, Lord, expand our territory and the influence of our family? We love it here, with all of our hearts, but if You want to do more with us, please lead us to the 'more'."

It wasn't very long after that that my husband got a phone call.

That phone call lead us to eventually move two and a half hours north...to the "more" that God had prepared for us.

There are few things about this particular move that have been easy, but I have to tell you...I have never in my life felt so much like I was walking around in the literal, tangible answer to my prayers!!!

When I stand in my den and look out the window to see tons of neighborhood kids playing with my girls in the backyard, I have to fight back the tears. Sometimes I don't even fight them...because letting them flow feels like worship...an overflow of a heart filled to the brim with gratitude. When I take my walks here and neighbors stop their cars to chat, or yell out the window, "Hey Becky!", it makes me thankful for a place where I have found community as well.  When friends stay late because "it's peaceful in your house" and kids don't want to leave here, I know it has absolutely nothing to do with me (or us), but everything to do with God...because that, too, is exactly what I prayed for, for this new home to be a place of refuge, peace, and the warmth of His presence.

So, I'm wondering what it is on your heart today?

Prayer works. Do you believe it? You should!! Because it does.

God absolutely hears each and every request you bring to Him. If what you are asking for is within His will, then He delights in giving you exactly what you asked for, plus more blessings on top to that! Why?

Because that is the heart of our Father.

Seek Him. You'll find Him.

Ask Him. He will answer.

Linking up at:

Woman to Woman

Raising Homemakers

For His glory,

Explaining Evil to My Child

Just the other day...I had to tell my nine year old about the bombing in Boston. Actually, I thought I was telling her for the first time, but as it turns out, she heard just a snippet of it from the TV before her daddy realized it was on.

There's something about looking in the face of an innocent child and trying to explain such evil. It's like trying to explain the universe. Some things will always be just beyond the human capacity to understand. Two brothers planting bombs in trash cans at a sporting event, that's unbelievable to me, much less to her. Even though I've seen the videos and watched the news, it's still hard to grasp.

Tears trickled down my face as I told her about the tragedy, and I spared her a ton of details, mind you. I told her people were killed and others were injured very badly...that some would never be able to walk or run again. It hurt so much to see the pain in her little face.

With every ounce of my being, I wish this was not the world she had to face...the world any of our children had to face. When I was young, I feared kidnapping and the weather (think - school tornado drills), but beyond that, I don't think I had a care in the world.

Like many of you, I feel like I hardly know how to prepare my children. But I know God gave me a glimpse that day...

Towards the end of our conversation, I had the overwhelming sense that I needed to take her hand and pray with her for our nation. As I took her hand, she leaned into me and we just sat hugging one another.

I prayed hard and I prayed long and I let the tears flow. The more I prayed, the faster the words came, and when I said "amen", something had changed...for she and I both.

We had HOPE.

You see, last week, I wrote that sometimes we can look too long at the bad. When we make it our focus, evil seems to grow.

The Bible tells us in 2 Cor 4:8-9:

"We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed."

and if you read on, verses 17 and 18 say this:

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

My hope...your hope...our children's hope...this nation's hope, is found only in the One who is unseen! He who formed the stars and counts hairs on each head, He who knows the words that will be spoken even before they are on the lips, He who knows all our beginnings and all our endings...HE...the Lord God, maker of Heaven and Earth...HE...the One and only Messiah...

HE . IS . OUR . ONLY . HOPE!!!

We need to be on our knees before Him, daily, seeking mercy for a country that has gone wayward. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, it is clear that He hears the cries of His people...and not only does He hear...He responds.

I'll tell you quite honestly that I have not been praying for this country as I should. But given the recent conversations I've had to have with my children about school shootings and marathon bombings, I think it's high time I wake up and take a good look out over the horizon...because it's looking dimmer and dimmer.

I know it is on the heart of God to bless and restore this country, but He is a gentleman and does not come where He is not invited. And I wonder...how many of us are inviting Him? Have we given in? Have we looked at the evil so long, we have surrendered to it?

I, for one, want my children years from now to be talking about the great move of God that hit this country when they were young...not lamenting happy childhoods that fell prey to fear as a country turned its back on the One True God.

I refuse to give in to evil...for my children...my family...for you.

I'm hitting the battlefield on my knees for this country.

Join me?

"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed

 That I would see the goodness of the Lord

 In the land of the living." Psalm 27:13

Linking up at:

Growing Home, The Better Mom, Time Warp Wife, Women Living Well, Missional Women, and Raising Homemakers

For His glory,

At the Whisper of His Name

Just the other day...I had every intention of having my husband walk in from a long trip to a clean house, kids that were bathed and ready for bed, and a wife that was ready to hang on his every word.

That is far from what happened.

The house was fairly clean.

The kids were in the process of bathing.

Then it all took a turn for the worst.

Princess #2 had turned the water off after her shower and realized that she didn't have her towel. She had begged to take a shower in my bathroom instead of hers and neither one of us had remembered to get it. I walked quickly to the other bathroom to get the towel and got back just in time to see her jump up, trying to clean off all the condensation that had formed on the inside of our shower door.

On the way back down, she let out a yell and I immediately saw the cut made in her fragile skin from the door handle.

It was deep and would need stitches, no doubt!

Immediately, we applied pressure and thank the Lord, it was not bleeding very much.

My mind raced..."Do I even know where the hospital is yet?" (We had moved into our house exactly 3 weeks prior.) More thoughts..."She is soaking wet and it's freezing outside. I have to find her warm clothes, fast. I have another child in the bathtub. How am I going to get her out also and all three loaded into the car? Is there anyone I know who can help me?"

"Jesus," I whispered.

I immediately thought of the neighbor I had met a few days prior and called her. No answer. Then it occurred to me, my sister in law just moved to the next town over! I called her and she was instantly on her way. While talking to her, I remembered having a conversation with another neighbor behind us about a nurse that lives in the neighborhood. "Maybe she could help," I thought.

I put my oldest in charge of watching the other two and promised to be back in just a minute.

I flew out our back door and was banging on the neighbor's back door in a matter of seconds. I'm sure they must think I'm nuts as I have no clue what I even said, but bless them, they immediately offered assistance (the neighbor that is a nurse was not home). My sweet new friend said she would be over in minutes to watch the other girls until my sister-in-law got to the house. They also told me about an urgent care place that was just minutes away and that they thought it was open 24 hours.

During the run back to my house, I whispered His name again, "Jesus".

My precious neighbor did arrive, just minutes later, telling me that she had already called the urgent care place to make sure they were open and that they could do stitches. What an angel! I had managed by this time to throw mismatched clothes on Princess #2 and dry her hair just a tiny bit, so out the door we flew.

On the way, we prayed, thanking the Lord for His provision already and then asking that He would help the doctors and nurses know exactly what to do. We also prayed for Him to help my sweet girl to endure the stitches without much pain.

Right after we arrived at the medical center, two people from our church showed up. I can't tell you what that meant to us to have them there! It helped to take our minds off of everything. And, not too much time passed before my husband was walking in the door, having returned from his first big trip with our church's youth group.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Princess #2 ended up with three stitches, put in place by the most wonderful doctor. The entire time, she did not cry or even whimper. What an answer to prayer! All she asked was that I keep my hand up close by her face so she wouldn't be tempted to look, so that's just what I did. She made me so proud!

And God? He made me even prouder, coming to our rescue as He did.

Sometimes, as Christians, we can be tempted to believe, "I have to pray elaborate, lengthy prayers before the Lord will listen to me or answer me."

What a lie!!!

I literally only had time to whisper His name and He faithfully worked on our behalf. He knew exactly what that word conveyed.

One of my favorite passages from Psalms says this:

"You know when I sit down and when I stand up; You understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest; You are aware of all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, Lord." 139: 2 - 4

God was well aware of what was happening, and not just aware in the sense that He "knew"...He was so aware that, I believe, He was already lining up the exact people that I would need to help me. In the same way that I was busy caring for my little girl, He was busy caring for us!

Why? Because He loves His children, all of us, that much. He who is always with us is always ready to help us, so faithful in our time of need. He is our ever-present help...our constant, consistent, doting Father...

...the One Who comes to our aid even at the very whisper of His name.

For His glory,

Do You Pray Before Meals in Public?

Just the other day...the girls and I had to, once again, vacate the house while construction was going on (the room is still not finished by the way, but when it is, you shall see it...promise). We went to the mall for a few hours and while there, stopped to eat lunch at one of our favorite places. As we always do, we bowed to give thanks for our meal before eating. A few minutes later, a nice older gentleman in a business suit walked up to our table. He remarked that we must be having a "girl's day out" and then he looked at my kids and said, "I want you to know that it blessed me to see you all bow in prayer before your meal. I think that's wonderful." Then he looked at me and said, "You just don't see that much anymore." He patted me on the shoulder as if to say, "good job" and then walked away.

I have pondered his words to us quite a bit over the last little while. Growing up, it was common place to see others in a restaurant bowing for prayer before a meal. Nowadays, it is rare. I guess my family and I are a dying breed. It's just another sign of the times we live in...but, isn't it sad?!

According to the Barna Group, 83% of adults label themselves as "Christian". Of course, I realize that calling yourself a Christian does not necessarily mean you are one, but still, doesn't it seem true that if even 50% were actual Christians, then we should see more prayer going on before meals? Or maybe I'm just really naive (probably so!).

There is a passage in the Matthew 6 that talks about not praying publicly, and I wonder if that's why more Christians do not pray before meals when they are out. Those verses merely address the attitude of the heart in prayer, though. It warns not to let the intent of your praying be "to be seen" by others so that they applaud you or hold you in high regard.

If the true intent of your heart is to give thanks to the Lord and to humbly ask His blessing on a meal, whether at home or in public, then it is certainly acceptable in His sight!

I have to wonder though, if some Christians choose NOT to pray before meals in public because they are embarrassed. If that's the case, well, that makes me really sad! I think it's just another way that we, as Christians, are letting the world dictate our actions instead of our faith.

If we can't bow reverently prior to something as simple as a meal in public, I wonder how we will ever take a stand when it comes to matters of greater importance?

"Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." Luke 9:26

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The Day We Could Have Died

Just the other day...we were traveling down the highway, exhausted and weary from a dream vacation that included our first family cruise. Overall, we had logged about 1,100 miles in our car, although at this time we were just about 45 miles from home. Suddenly, it started to rain...really rain...very hard and very fast. It was the kind of rain that made visibility scarce. We noticed a large 18-wheeler that had wrecked in the median and my husband started slowing down. Soon we were in a dead stand-still on the highway. We couldn't see it at that time, but there was another wreck up ahead.

All of a sudden, my husband said, "Hold on girls! Hold on girls!!" and started frantically driving our vehicle onto the side of the road. You see, in his rear view mirror, he saw what we could not see...another large vehicle barreling straight towards us at 70 mph. The driver obviously could not see the brake lights of all the other cars due to the torrential downpour. Thank the Lord, my husband saw him!! As our vehicle moved, the driver finally noticed that traffic had stopped. He came within a few feet of missing the back of our car as he swerved into the median to avoid making us and the cars in front of us into a literal metal sandwich.

As I realized what had just happened, I involuntarily started to shake a little bit...but it wasn't until I turned around to check on my girls that the true gravity of the situation hit me.

Our two year old, who had been riding in the car for the past two days and was more than ready to get out of it had somehow gotten her arms out of the top of her car seat. She was sitting in her car seat, unrestrained!! As I looked at that precious little face, my mind immediately raced through the "what ifs" and the tears started pouring. The reality of the hand of God protecting my family humbled me, bringing with it a deep and overwhelming sense of gratitude. I choked back tears for probably the next 20 minutes, especially when my husband stopped to pray and thank God for protecting us.

"I wish I could have seen the angels in action!" I said. No doubt, they were all around us!

Within the next day, the Lord would confirm His awesome hand of protection during that incident two more times. Let me tell you how...

After the near-wreck, we decided to stop just a little ways down the road, both to eat supper and to help get our minds off of what had just happened. I know that my parents pray for their children (all 4 of us) faithfully, so I stepped outside of the restaurant to call them. As I was telling them the part of the story where I turned around and saw our youngest sitting in her car seat unrestrained, I "happened" to look up in the sky and saw not one, but TWO rainbows...one right on top of the other. I have only seen a double rainbow one other time in my life. To me, it declared the Lord's supreme faithfulness and I felt as if I could melt into a puddle right on that sidewalk! Mom and I were both in tears and couldn't even find words for a minute. I stood there, utterly and completely undone.

As beautiful and affirming as the rainbows were, it's the "second" evidence of the Lord's protection that really blows my mind...

That night, my husband had a bit of a hard time going to sleep because every time he closed his eyes, he could see the scene replay in his mind...a large vehicle barreling towards us along with the reflections of our innocent girls starring back at him. I went to sleep praying for him and again, thanking God that we were all okay. In the morning, as soon as I woke up, I remembered something I had completely forgotten.

The week before, on the same morning that we left on vacation, I had woken up having just had a nightmare. The nightmare was this...we were traveling on the highway... and were a part of a terrible accident...in the rain. I didn't remember any real details except for rain, horrific crashing sounds, sirens, and the feeling that we were gravely injured. That morning that we left, I had immediately started to pray and ask the Lord for protection for our trip...and I remember praying fervently as a result of that horrific scene I had just dreamt.

Later on that morning, when we stopped to pray before leaving, I started to tell my husband about the dream nightmare but decided not to, as I rationalized to myself, "I only dreamed it because I was anxious about all the traveling we have to do today." Still, as we prayed, I remembered praying a little "harder" than normal that God would dispatch His angels to watch over us and see us home safely.

Was God trying to warn me about the plan of the enemy to destroy us? I'm not sure, although in retrospect, it's easy to see (isn't it always?). What I am sure of is this...He heard and answered my prayers...and the prayers of my parents and in-laws...and the prayers of the handful of people who told me specifically that they had asked for our protection! Praise God that He moves through the prayers of the righteous!!!

A lesson that this has also taught me to an even greater degree is that God is always in the details! I say it a lot and have found it to be true over and over and over again. The almighty living God still speaks today! He moves among us...wooing us...protecting us...loving on us...inviting us into fellowship...working through dreams...lining up circumstances...virtually sending us neon signs that say, "I'm right here with you!". There is so much PURPOSE for all of us that are His children!

One day, it will be time for all of us to go to our true HOME in Heaven...but not yet. If you have breath in your lungs and a beating heart, it's because God has declared, "Not yet" over your life...just as He did over ours a few days ago! Jeremiah 29:11 promises that He has amazing plans for your life! You walk around drenched in PURPOSE and calling and many reasons for still being very much alive on this earth. Don't merely let life "happen"...don't take it for granted! I am begging you to please open your eyes to see that there is a grand design and a Grand Designer! He who formed you in your mother's womb has a grand design FOR YOUR LIFE! Seek Him for it and when you find it, spend yourself completing the mission!!! Run the race before you with perseverance!

That's exactly what I plan to do...especially after last week's reminder that my family and I still have much purpose! I didn't think I needed a reminder of that, but maybe I did.

Maybe we all did.

______________________

"For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone."

Psalm 91:11 & 12

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name."

Psalm 91:14 

"He holds success in store for the upright, 
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones."
Prov 2:7 & 8 


"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it."
John 17:15 & 16
(Jesus, praying for US!)

______________________

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The Sweet Taste of Victory

Just the other day...I savored the sweet taste of victory. I can't explain in mere words the satisfaction it brought, the spiritual growth that occurred, and the way it deepened my friendship with the Lord. It was nothing short of amazing!

It's Human Trafficking Awareness Day

WILL THE SILENCE WAKE YOU? (Repost from 5/2011)

Just last night, the lights went out. The house grew dark and my crusade on a computer screen came to an abrupt end. The silence after the power outage was almost deafening. In our house, we all sleep with "sound machines" on (you know, the ones that sound like a fan running) and because we live next to a highway that's full of trucks by early morning, we keep them pretty loud. Since I was the only one still awake at a late hour, that's the murmur I was typing to...sound machines:) As I sat in a pitch-black-hush, I listened to see what would happen next. Not thirty seconds later, I began hearing a moan from the back room followed by panic. One kid awake. Minutes later, crying from another room. Two kids awake. Footsteps down the hall. Husband awake. Nearly all of us, now in search of light. We all ended up piling in one bed, where we were soon joined by kid number three. We talked and laughed. But when we stopped, we noticed how intensely quiet it was. That's when I said, "The silence woke everyone up!" and as soon as I said it, I knew it was golden.

You see, just the other day, I saw something that will haunt me for the rest of my life. It was a documentary film played at the International Film Festival that focused on the sex trafficking industry. It contained raw, heart-wrenching interviews and some hidden-camera footage taken by a very brave woman journalist. The name of the movie is "The Price of Sex" and I encourage you to see it if possible. I will warn you...it is not a Christian film. There are a few images and a few words that really could have been left out, but overall it was tastefully done considering the subject matter. And if you do go see it, you may want to take some tissues!

Even days after viewing the film, I still find myself trying to wrap my brain around the images I saw, the pain that I heard. It seems surreal and unimaginable that at this moment, there are literally MILLIONS of women, children, and even some men who are living evil's perverse nightmare. Truly, it makes me sick to my stomach...and outraged...that any human being can enslave another and think that it is permissible. Our daughters...sisters...mothers...brothers...uncles...aunts...nieces...nephews...friends...all over this world are trapped in rooms that have become literal prison cells of hopelessness, torment, and utter despair. And listen to this, out of the MILLIONS who are living this nightmare, only 1% percent ever manage to escape. ONE PERCENT.

What does this mean? It means simply this, those who are enslaved today have no voice. They are literally used and abused in SILENCE...in closed-off rooms...in dark basements...in filthy brothels all over this world...suffering, thinking no one cares and that they would be better off dead. Thus, it is my prayer that as you read this...

THEIR SILENCE BECOMES LOUD ENOUGH TO

JOLT YOU OUT OF YOUR SLUMBER (much like the story above)

  SO THAT YOU BECOME FULLY AWAKE AND AWARE

THAT THIS IS HAPPENING ALL AROUND US.

We cannot let this happen on our watch!!! Is this the legacy of our generation? Is this to be a part of what we will leave behind? God forbid.

Please watch the following videos and then scroll down to read about ways that you can begin to pray for SLAVES around the world.

You have a voice. 

Please use it to pray.

• Pray for a worldwide awakening to this problem. An eyes-wide-open-we-will-not-allow-this-to-happen-on-our-watch kind of awakening!
• Pray that the victims of human trafficking realize they are not alone and that they find hope in Jesus Christ.
• Pray for those who work in the trafficking industry...that they experience a shocking slap of reality that somehow clearly shows them the evil they are committing. Pray that they can no longer stand to see women, men, and children abused.
• Pray for the Lord to protect any who are being recruited (lied to/drugged) at this very moment.
• Pray for governments to enact tougher laws against traffickers and all who help them.
• Pray for an end to the high level corruption in governments around the world. Pray that they can no longer profit from allowing this crime to be committed.
• Pray against the lust and greed that fuels the sex-trade industry in the first place.
• Pray for organizations/non-profit agencies who are working feverishly on all aspects of this problem.
• Pray for the abolition of slavery in our generation.
• Pray that the Lord will continue to remind YOU to pray for His will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

May the silence forever remind you of those who have

no voice.


P.s. You can help fight trafficking by purchasing your own "BECAUSE" bracelet (pictured above) at The A21 Campaign. Click here -->Bracelet ($10)

For His glory,

Faithful Father

Just the other day, I was flipping through my personal journal. I came across a prayer I had written to the Lord. The entry date was a little over a year ago. I sat amazed because everything I was praying about then, God had answered!!! Not only that, He had answered beyond what I ever could have expected! To be quite honest, I had forgotten about that prayer. But God did not. And that’s just like Him. It’s what He loves to do with His children. He loves to surprise us with more than we thought possible! 

Oh, I know, sometimes the roads we travel down are…well…immensely difficult…but the outcome is so worth the struggle! So often, we run from the pain and the discomfort, when in actuality, we should learn to embrace it. There are lessons to be taught in the place of pain. No amount of time “on the mountaintop” would ever produce the same benefits. Do I think the Lord causes the pain? No. Do I think the Lord uses what “satan meant for evil” to produce some really great stuff in our lives? Yes!

If we understand the Lord as the perfect Father, we understand that it is NEVER His intent to bring us harm. Never. It is His desire to see us whole and healthy…physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally…all the way around! His word says that He came so that we may have abundant life and I’m telling you, that kind of life can be found even in the midst of pain if you make the Lord, your Father, your dwelling place…your home...your safe haven. And you know what I realized that day as I was reading my journal? I honestly think that maybe for the first time in my life, I really did go a whole year making Him my safe haven…running straight to Him with everything…especially with the hard stuff that I didn't understand. I know that must sound ridiculous, saying this is the first year I had done that, but in the past, truthfully, I would get some crazy thought in my head (a lie from satan) and decide to let it build a wall between the Lord and I (you can travel over here to read an example). This year, I actually relied on faith, believing NOT on what I saw or felt, but rather, on the truth I saw in His word or the truth He impressed upon me. I prayed through the doubt and I took my stuff straight to Him. Would you believe that it works!? Ha! Trust me…you can trust Him!!!

He will come through for you. He will fight for you. He will defend you. He will heal you. He will make the path straight. He will guide you. He will teach you. He will sustain you. He will carry you. He will shower blessings upon you. He will be a Father to you. He will love on you. He will comfort you. He will bring you peace. He will be your strength. He will answer your prayers…

even if you forget that you asked them.

Because that’s just who He is…

Faithful.

Please watch the following video. You'll be blessed!