Sunbathing on the Sea of Dread

Ever planned a vacation for you, your family or just you and your hubby? I know I have and the reason for planning one usually comes because I am way too stressed out, we haven’t had a vacation in who knows how long, or we just need to get away from life. Sound like your reasons?

When you think about it those reasons, it sounds pretty valid. The real thing is for me, based on those reasons alone, would cause me to take daily vacations if you knew my life and the things that go on in it daily. However let’s really break it down and see just how “relaxing” it is.

We have to decide first of all where we are headed, that could take weeks for some. Once you decide on a location, you have to check the weather, locate a family friendly hotel, book the hotel, book any activities that you may need to, pack for the vacation, get airline tickets, or car rentals or even pack the family truckster up. Then you have to get to the airport, get through security, locate food since airlines stopped serving food except the prepackaged peanuts of approximately 7 inside, and wait in line for your flight. Then you have to deal with any potential delays of your flight, connecting flights, lost luggage, bathroom breaks, and locating a rental car or airport shuttle after picking up your luggage from a never ending pile from baggage claim. Then it’s off to navigate some foreign roads you never have driven; deal with toll roads, and since you never have correct change since most people ATM it lately; check into your hotel, deal with not enough pillows, bad smelling room, uncomfortable beds, and the noisy neighbors just on the other side of your paper thin room. Sounding relaxing yet? Yeah right….

If you’re like me, you need a vacation from your vacation when you get back. Isn’t that what your original design for a vacation was supposed to be? If you are like me, what you were expecting was lots of sleep in a luxury room, with a feather bed, tons of super soft pillows, no noise whatsoever, being waited on hand and foot, all your meals are prepared with just the touch of a few buttons on the phone, no worries right?

We worry about everything and anything! We live in a worry-filled society in a worry-filled world with lots of other worriers like ourselves. The truth is however that worrying changes nothing. “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” Matthew 6:25

There are a wealth of opportunities to be anxious about everyday and it’s never ending. Take for example, the stimulus bill, our states budget crisis, layoffs from every company you know, foreclosures at an all time high, late notices of every utility bill and credit card, deaths of loved ones, family members, friends and even perfect strangers, abortions, problems with our cars, divorce, marriage, gay issues, stem cell research, wars and never ending natural disasters. Got a lot on your plate at night??? How about popping a pill for that? Valium, Xanax, sleep aids, you name it, you can be assured you can locate a doctor willing to listen to just a sample of the issues I mentioned above, and you’ve got yourself a personalized autograph prescription. Yet, it doesn’t take the worry away. It only puts it off, it’s right there where you left it once you wake up or the drugs where off.

“Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own.” Matthew 6:34

The things I have listed that we worry about are the same things our parents and grandparents worried about, but worrying about them did nothing to prevent them from happening. Worry ruins our health, robs us of any joy and changes nothing. Worrying about something does nothing to change the thing we are worrying about. Sometimes worrying about those things makes things worse than they were before.

One simple sentence unveils God’s provision plan: “Live One Day At A Time”. God disclosed this same strategy to Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness. He provided manna daily, one day at a time, not monthly or weekly. Even on the day prior to the Sabbath, God knew what He was doing. He told them not to gather it on the Sabbath, but the day before. He provided twice as much for them because He wanted them to keep the Sabbath holy and do no work, including the gathering of food. Did the Israelites worry? Yup, even after witnessing all God’s miracles, they worried constantly up to the point of wishing they were back in Egypt where they had plenty of food, water and a place to sleep at night. They grumbled about it daily and constantly.

But weren’t they complaining during their time in Egypt for God to free them from their bondage as slaves to the Egyptians? God answered their prayers, but He never promised them that everything would be a perfect “stress free vacation” of sorts. But He did answer their prayers, just not the way they had hoped.

What they saw as problems, God saw as provisions. Imagine quail in the desert, so numerous that each family had so much that they complained that they were sick of eating it. More grumbling, more worrying!

Worry splits up our thoughts into today and tomorrow. So why don’t we worry about yesterday? Because we know that nothing we can do today will change what happened yesterday. Worrying about tomorrow’s problems today, takes away the strength God gives us to get through today’s worries. This leaves us with not enough resources to deal with today because we borrowed on it to fix tomorrow’s worries. Now we are in debt with worry. No wonder we feel like we can’t deal with just today. We are too busy tackling tomorrows, next weeks, next months and sometimes even next year’s worries. No wonder we are stressed out, sick physically, tired, run down, and at the end of our rope or even all of the above. God never planned on us dealing with things that way. “One day at a time.” Hear the voice of God?

If you are like me, we worry so much about something that has yet to happen, but most of the time, what we worry about never really happens. Worry gives small problems, big shadows. Corrie Ten Bloom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of it’s sorrows, it empties today of it’s strength.” “God will take care of everything you need.” (Phillippians 4:19)

So what can you do to eliminate this worry and stress from your life?

1. Pray More!!! You can’t worry while your praying and you can’t pray when you are worrying. In my case, this means I need to pray most of my day. I worry a lot. The average person prays about 8 minutes a day when the average pastor only prays about 10 minutes. Shouldn’t that tell us something? Imagine how different our lives might be if we just prayed a little bit more? Couldn’t hurt right? No where in the Bible does it say to pray a little or to put limits on our prayer time right?


2. Want Less! I tell my daughters this daily when it comes to buying things, especially in this economy where the average family is barely making ends meet while paying more for groceries, gas, bills, and everything else while our income goes down or stay the same as it was before. So I have to ask them, “Is this a want or a need?” Sometimes I have to remind them of the definitions of each. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Enough for today is all we can enjoy. We cannot eat or drink or wear more than today’s supply of food and clothing. The surplus gives us the care of storing it and the anxiety that someone may steal it. Enough is all we should expect, but a craving for more is ungratefulness. When our Father does not give you more, be content with your daily allowance.” (The NIV Worship Bible, New International Version, Dana Point, CA: Maranatha 2000, 1302)


3. Live for Today. “Who of you by worrying, can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6:27. God will take care of things in His time, not in our time. He sends help at the hour we need it. You don’t have the wisdom for tomorrow’s problems, but we will tomorrow. You don’t have the resources for tomorrows needs, but you will tomorrow. You don’t have the courage for tomorrow’s challenges, but you will when tomorrow comes.

God will meet our needs daily. He did then, he still does, and he will continue to do for you always. Trust in Him, and wait! Don’t worry.

Plane Crash Survival Mode

I think it's OK to be completely honest with God. I mean He knows what we are thinking anyway right? I believe He is looking at us and wondering when are we going to say something. Let it go, get it off our chest and ultimately lay the burden down. Empty the load we are carrying unnecessarily.

So yesterday I had my moment of self pity and grief. My husband got off the phone with our lender, Nationstar Mortgage (a blog post will be forth coming on this company) and we learned we did not qualify for the HAMP or HAMP 1 loan modification. But if we were willing to send them a wire transfer for $2900.00, they would reconsider some other loan options for us. Sound fishy to you too?

Right away, I told my husband, something isn't right in Denmark on that issue!

 And I began to research the company in detail. What I found there and shared with my husband quite literally rocked my world. We are just one of thousands of people who are dealing with this and no one is stopping the process. So I turned to my husband and asked, "What should we do now?" He responded that we should begin with back up plan B, C, D and every letter necessary to secure a home for us.

It was at this point yesterday and the evening before, I went into melt down mode. My plane had come crashing down, as my brother, reminded me yesterday. I didn't really take that into consideration until later. It made perfect sense! He told me to stop seeing all the collateral damage. See it as a plane crash and you have survived. Now that you have realized you are still alive, process this like you would if you were in an actual plane crash.

First of all, don't panic. I did panic. I felt the air removed from my lungs and couldn't breath. But what he said made sense.

In a plane crash as a survivor if you want to make it out alive, you don't panic. You begin working things out one at a time. We are in survival mode now and we needed to begin to develop what needed to happen next to ensure our survival. In a plane crash, you need to figure out shelter, food and water requirements while waiting for help to arrive. You never leave the crash site, unless danger is imminent.

So in our case, until the notice comes for us to leave the site, we stay put but work on shelter issues first. For us, it's finding a suitable shelter. We are working with a property management company now to find us a rental home nearby that is within our range of monthly payment options. We actually found several ready to move into NOW and they are willing to work with us regarding our less than stellar credit now thanks to this lending nightmare they forced us into .

Once that is settled, then it's simply the process of moving and friends have been amazing as well as neighbors who have volunteered to help out in anyway we need. We simply now need to stop worrying about other what ifs, that the enemy is sending our way because you know what, there is NOTHING God can't do in all this. He could have made the mortgage company approve our loan, but in the end, we've found so many homeowners are being subjected to the whims of monthly payment increases and more hoop jumping and quite frankly, I'm a bit too old and seasoned to keep doing this.

 At some point you wonder just how many times do you need to walk around the plane wreck and believe that the plane can't fly anymore? Unless we accept the wisdom and revelation that comes from answered prayers from God, I will keep walking around that plane looking for possible ways to get it back up in the air, while God simply shakes His head and waits patiently.

At some point, I figured it out last night and realized, "Hey look! I survived!!! Time to find a way out of here, and with God's help it is definitely a possibility!!"

 So when you go through something that feels way over your head and you question God's Hand in all of it, remember Job's wise words when he lost all that he had and what he did in the midst of his own plane crash, Then Job rose and rent his robe and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped. And said,"Naked (without possessions) came I (into this world) from my mother's womb, and naked (without possessions) shall I depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed (praised and magnified in worship) be the name of the Lord!" ~ Job 1: 21-22.

 In God's own time, He will rescue us, but we will continue to keep our eyes on Him and remain in our walk with God by our side. The journey isn't over yet and the harvest is coming. Sunday is near and soon it will be time to rejoice in all things.

Jumping Through Hoops?

I know most of you that are following my blog or reading this post from Facebook already know the craziness that we have been walking through this last year. While dealing with one failed mortgage company after another, we have almost reached the end of our proverbial rope and I am wondering if I am supposed to hang myself with it. That's an internal thought, not an actual one that I am contemplating. But sometimes in those long walks in the valleys where our character and faith are truly being tested, don't you wonder where the oasis has gone or are they all merely mirages?

Yesterday after our daily battle with Nationstar Mortgage, we reached yet another customer service rep of the day. We actually NEVER talk to the same person twice. If you attempt to reach the same person, you are given their voicemail extension to which NO ONE will EVER call you back. I can't tell you how many messages, emails, letters, you name it we have sent to this mortgage company, only to have NO ANSWER!

We have answered every single request, contacted them on a daily basis seeing as our sale date is set for October 12th at 1pm. The funny thing is that Nationstar has hired a company to push us through the foreclosure proceedings, while they attempt to work with us on loan modification, including the federal OBAMA HAMP program, which I have failed to see work for anyone who has tried. We are told our income to debt ratio is off by 6% but no one will let us speak with a person who is actually processing our loan documents. Despite it all, Nationstar denies that they are proceeding with foreclosure and they have no knowledge of it at all. In fact, we've even gone so far as to fax them all said documents and they still deny it. We called the company who is handling this for Nationstar and we're told by their attorney that they are aware of everything because it's the law to notify the mortgage company of everything. Just what is that smell anyway?

I believe it's called political and government failure. While millions of people continue to jump through the circus hoops in this sick side show, the banks are getting fat off the government to foreclose on these loans and have their own debts wiped clean. This is why this country is failing. It's driving our economy down and those that are living off the meat of those that have worked to put these people in business have failed to understand how quickly they could wind up right where we are. In the meantime, we are looking for rental property while the home we've worked at trying to keep, despite the Foreclosure Specialists that are working "for us" to save our home, will undoubtedly be sold next week. What I have learned in the process, is that scavengers are everywhere waiting to swoop in and steal what they can from you, that everyone who says they are trying to help, are only stalling until the inevitable, and the Foreclosure Specialists are just that, specialists in foreclosing on your home.

I wish they would just be up front and honest and tell people, NOPE, we're not going to help you, too bad so sad, you should probably be looking for somewhere else to live, because you're time is running out. In the long run, I can add professional hoop jumper to my resume! I know I have LOTS of experience wasting my time filling out yet more forms and spending money to mail things that will never be looked at by anyone, expect for the mail room person who places that in the circular file and the trash men that take it to the dump.

For those of you that think, we deserve it, perhaps maybe we do. Maybe we are guilty of believing the lies that good things happen to those that do the right things. I know our home isn't here anyway, and I can only hope God comes quickly. Things are getting rough here for believers anymore and for those that try to stay on the straight and narrow path. There are always thieves lying in wait for you to come across their path. For what it's worth, I had to put this on my blog. It's a part of the life, we've been going through and I believe we're heading for calmer waters soon. This will be a part of my testimony when I can go back later and analyze it all. The stuff we have here on earth is merely on loan anyway. Time to try establishing a new zip code anyway! Home is where you make it.

The Cookie

It's hard to believe we saw him again after thinking we never would.

See it's been about 5 months, since we had our run in with Chester, not his real name of course, because you just never know who is reading blogs anymore, so let's just go with Chester for now.

We first met Chester on a brisk, grey morning in March this year. We were headed to pick my oldest daughter, Caitlyn, up from school and had arrived a little bit early. So we decided to park the car and just wait outside.

I picked up my phone and left her a message just in case we missed each other when school let out and the kids begin to pile into the parking lot. Sometimes you can get lost in a crowd of students because once school is out, it will be the fastest you ever see students move in your life.

So content that she had a message waiting from us, plus that missed call message, we knew somehow, some way we wouldn't miss each other.

So my youngest sits next to me in the front seat with her Nintendo DS propped up in her hands battling whatever unforeseen enemy needs to be defeated and saving the earth in the process, at least its what is sounds like to me.

I lean my head back on the head rest behind me, and put my sunglasses on so I can keep an eye on students walking by without them knowing I am looking at them and occasionally closing my eyes off and on.

That's when Chester showed up.

Kailee, my youngest daughter, looks up and points at him and tells me she doesn't think he belongs here.

If you could see what Chester was wearing, and what he looked like, he obviously didn't fit in.

He wasn't a student that would be attending this school. He looked much too old for that. It look like either time or the elements had taken a toll on him.

He looked at us as he passed by, and sat on the small concrete stone wall just outside the school.

Perhaps he was here to pick someone up or perhaps he was just waiting for a ride home.

He kept looking around rather nervously like he had done something criminal or was going to be in trouble if someone saw him here.

So there Kailee and I sat, just looking at Chester sitting on the stone wall just off to the left of my car. He stayed there for about 10 minutes and when the bell buzzed that signaled the end of another academic day, he ran off.

We tried to look back and find him but he managed to disappear behind some cars and we didn't see where he went.

We had gone back a few times before school ended and when I asked my daughter, Caitlyn about Chester, she didn't seem to know what I was talking about.

I guess that meant Chester didn't go to school or wasn't a parent of one of the students.

The odd thing was, the poor thing looked hungry and hadn't had a bite to eat in quite some time by the looks of him. We would have offered him something to eat, but he didn't look like he would trust anyone anyway.

You can imagine our surprise when Steve, Kailee and I went to pick Caitlyn up from school the night of her dance just yesterday. The dance had let out at 5pm, since it took place during the summer for her school club.

We had mentioned to Steve while we waited outside the school for Caitlyn about the odd run in with Chester earlier in the year and wondered if we would ever see him again.

Steve noticed Chester first. The minute Kailee and I saw him, we instantly recognized him. He hadn't changed much since we saw him last time. Same old appearance and he still seemed anxious and frightful at the same time.

This time, we had just finished shopping at Target and at least had some bags of cookies and snacks with us. So I took it upon myself to try and offer some food to Chester. Kailee even suggested that since he may be afraid of another bigger person trying to talk to him, perhaps she should try.

So I waited for Chester to stop and this time he sat beneath the trees instead of the stone wall. I couldn't have blamed him since it was unbearably hot that day. Poor thing, I bet he must at least be thirsty.

I walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk and reached in for a box of cookies I had just bought. I pretended I didn't see Chester but out of the corner of my eye, I could tell he was watching me. I couldn't fool him.

But he didn't leave. He just waited. Kailee went and sat on the wall and began to talk to him as I walked over to him. He didn't say anything. He just kept watching us. Perhaps the years had taught him to be wary of strangers or perhaps like most people, he was treated harshly by someone in his past.

You could just tell that by looking at him that we needed to gain his trust. We kept talking to him and asked him if he might be hungry.

He just gave us that blank stare where you can tell deep inside someone's mind that they are wondering whether to trust you or simply run away. At least he wasn't leaving. So we passed a few cookies to him.

We just laid them down and waited. We waited to see if we could be the people he begins to trust again. At that moment Caitlyn walked up and we had to motion to her to be quiet, because we were trying to help Chester. We didn't want him to be afraid. If the only thing we did that day was offer food to someone that was hungry, perhaps it would make a difference and he wouldn't be so afraid anymore.

Soon, Chester got up and walked over to where we laid the cookies and picked one up. He kept looking at us the whole time like he thought it was some kind of joke. We told him that if he wanted more, he could have the whole box. We just wanted to be his friends and at least give him something to eat if he was hungry.

He ate them all, and when he was eating the last one, a bunch of kids came running out of the school and Chester took off. Perhaps he thought he was going to be picked on or perhaps these were the kids that had made him distrust people.

Whatever the reason, Steve magically caught our encounter with Chester on film just in case something were to happen to him later.

As we left the parking lot, we realized that Chester had a home and we would be seeing him again real soon. I thought I would share that special moment when Chester was eating our cookies. Looking at it even now, brings a smile to my face and makes me realize that we can make a difference just by trying. Even little things make a difference in the life of someone when you show them you care.

What do you think?

High Tech Spiritual Warfare

It seems the more closely we are drawn to God the more sensitive we become when we are under spiritual attack. We often don't need clues that something bad is looming on the horizon, we can just get a sense of something we don't see but can definitely feel. I find the more we are drawn to God and are walking in His will, it's an all out assault to try and take us down anyway we can.

This morning, before I woke up I had a sense of heaviness but couldn't quite put my finger on it. I wondered if it was perhaps because I didn't get much sleep last night or woke up with an odd dream I couldn't explain that was really bizarre but it just seemed like there was a darkness hovering that I couldn't see, but could definitely sense. The Holy Spirit reminded me to maintain my level of praying to God, thanking Him for the goodness He was going to bring to today no matter what was going to happen, for me to maintain my focus on Him and all the things going right today and to look for revelation for those today seeds I need to be planting for God's glory.

Even though I began my day with prayer, and listening to praise and worship songs before my Bible Study, it just seemed like the enemy was on full tactical alert against my house to divide and conquer. I even mentioned this to my husband and reminded him that the enemy is attempting to attack us today, in big and small ways and lets stay close to God. I mean if Gods on your side, you can't lose!

Then it came time to do my study with Joyce Meyer's today. It's always a great day when Joyce puts it to you plainly and that's just what the topic was for today. A Thankful Attitude. I learned the secret of high tech spiritual warfare is (1) not to complain. The word complain means simply to remain or to keep overnight, so the more we complain about things, we are guaranteed an overnight stay before we can attempt to move forward again. Take for example the Israelites who complained about the living conditions on the way to the promised land, the food supply, lack of water, just about everything. What could have taken them all of 11 days journey got them, 40 years in the desert due to their guaranteed Over Night Stays of complaining.

What we need to begin doing is speaking positive when we are facing or in a negative situation. We need to go to God, like David did, and tell God everything that's going on instead of complaining about it to anyone that will listen to us. God is really the only one that can work to change things for us.

How often are we saying we are thankful to God?

We need to be more thankful for the little things people do for us every single day. Here is the biggest tip to winning the war in Spiritual Warfare:

1 Thessalonians 5: 18-19 "Thank God in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]. Do not quench (suppress or subdue) the [Holy] Spirit."

We quench the Holy Spirit when we complain about things. We need to learn to give thanks in ALL things, the good, the bad and the ugly. We need to develop an attitude of gratitude! We need to celebrate God's goodness and victories in our life. We need to have a thank you party once a year with giving gifts to the poor as a way of remembering the Red Seas, God has parted in your life.

Start by saying, " I believe that You are going to work it out for my good God!" "This is going to work, even though I can't see it or feel it, thank you even now for working on it!"

We need to be more like Daniel, who was an outstanding role model for gratitude to God. He gave thanks up to 3 times a day under the threat of being sent to the lion's den by the king, but despite the odds, Daniel kept praying and he kept being promoted and promoted and promoted and wore out three kings in the process.

We need to remember the story you can find in 2 Chronicles 20 about the three armies heading to war against Jehoshaphat. What did he do? He got down on his face in prayer and assigned his people to begin singing praises to the Lord, "Give thanks to the Lord, for His Mercy endures forever!" over and over. When the armies came against them, they were so confused by what they saw, they ended up killing one another.

This is how we wage war against the devil and win in high tech spiritual warfare! (1) Begin praying and lifting up our concerns to God, (2) give thanks to God in all things, despite what the outcome, and (3) celebrate our victory's with God!

Final Roadblock Removed!

Do you ever feel like God is calling you to do something? Perhaps it's even the worst thing He could ever ask you to do because you don't feel like it's supposed to be you to do it. What if it's repairing a relationship you didn't damage, could you pick up the phone, write a letter or even plan a face to face meeting to resolve the issue no matter how much it hurts?

I find that God can't move forward in our lives to bless us, to help us grow or to push us to become better people unless we are willing to submit 100% to His calling. Like I stated in my post yesterday, I want the 100-fold return. So when I asked God to show me any areas in my life he really wanted me to clean house on, he told me I had to make the first step in resolving the issue with my father. We haven't spoken in 17 years. It's not because either of us had issues with one another, we simply grew apart and for me, I personally believed, it just wasn't the time to have conflicts and unnecessary stress in my life. I also wasn't walking with Jesus back then, I kind of went my own way and resolved to pick God up again when I found the time.

Yet, when a young man I counseled back at the end of the summer just as he was heading back to college, we both had a god-like intervention. It was a tough time for both of us in what started out as simply friends getting together, but with God there are no coincidences. He had a plan that day. A plan to work a miracle of sorts in both our lives and for us both, it was a test of our wills, a test of faith, and a test of our commitment to Him. That was a huge turning point for both of us. We each had to resolve issues with our family. He did his immediately and for me, I did mine today.

The first person I really wanted to share it with was my friend and I got so much love and support from him. I felt it was time to call my dad. He had been inquiring about me and my family through my brother and even though I provided him with all my contact information if my dad wanted to reach out, he felt he needed to come from me. Well now, I know where I get my stubbornness from.

So lately, I've been tackling a study on faith with my husband. We've been learning how to walk closer with God's will for our lives and less than our own will. I've been learning how to put up boundaries to keep my inside and focused on today, learning to plant today seeds, and being a 100% committed to God in ALL areas of my life. Today, God called and said it was time to clean the whole house, including that closet in the back where I've kept it under lock and key.

Today, I refused to listen to all the lies of the enemy, because God said today was the day. Was He making me do it? Of course not! God doesn't force us to do anything. He simply asks. If we're 100% committed, the response should be an easy one, but for me, well, let's just say it was the hardest thing I believe God asked me to do. He wanted me to call my dad today. Why today?

Because (1) He asked. (2) I was willing to go all in, and commit 100% if God saw things that needed to be cleaned up in my life, and (3) it was my dad's birthday. A perfect segue into why I was calling today of all days. I didn't know today would be the day, God would call in His chips for this area of my life, but knowing how wonderful He's been moving in areas of my life, I didn't want this to be the one thing that would hold me back from receiving His best in my life. Who doesn't want God's best?

And let me tell you He has been working in mighty ways, but I can't share just yet. So when God called today, I had no excuse. I had to 100% committed for Him, or I wasn't. He doesn't want anything less from me. So after a lengthy prayer asking for Him to be with me, I rummaged for the phone number my brother gave me a few months ago, and dialed the number. I was kinda hoping it would go to voicemail, but you know God, He had other things in mind. My dad answered.

I don't know which of us was more shocked, me or him. He was surprised, but you can tell it was a great surprise. I had to hold back the tears as I wished him a Happy Birthday and remind him who was calling. Remember he didn't have my number with him, I'm sure. We touched base a little bit today, and I told him I wanted to call over sending a card to let him know I was thinking about him today. We spoke for about 15 minutes since he was heading into work, but I know today was the start of something amazing. I know one things for sure, my dad probably got the birthday gift he's been wanting for a very long time. For me, I was happy to know that I kicked the devil back into his hole, because now, my house is clean. I have 100% assurance I am not holding anything back. I've forgiven all the people in my life I have issues with and for once, I have opened the doors in all my personal relationships!

And you know what?

I feel GREAT!

and the best part?

God's got something coming and it's going to be mind-blowing amazing and I believe it's coming soon!

I hope this message inspires you to open those doors God's calling you to work on. While it may difficult, the enemy will try to remind you of all kinds of ways to avoid doing this, but like removing a band-aid, you just got to rip it off! It doesn't hurt half as much as you think it would, and it's sooooo worth it!

If you want to contact me, leave me a message and I'll respond or you can ask me to pray for you. I know in the last days the enemy is going to seek to divide and destroy our relationships and it's time we got the construction business going and start to make repairs and build bridges. Let's put him out of business!

By the way, Happy Birthday again Dad!!!

Possible Ministry Opportunity

For months now while watching what has been happening all around us, people losing jobs, losing homes, losing loved ones, struggling just to put enough food in their house to make a decent meal, helping people out with no or low cost legal options, finding medical care for people who have found themselves without insurance, you name it and I'm sure you can find a need that you have heard about or you yourself need.

How many times have you asked yourself, if only...(fill in the blank with your need)?

How easy would it be to fix things if everyone just got together and said, enough is enough, let's stop waiting around for the government to fix things, lets jump start a program to really help people who are hurting?

God has placed such a burden on my heart to help people who are in need, but often I felt like I can't do it alone. Then God asked if I would at least be willing to try if He provided the means. Why sure! Of course, I'd jump at the chance! Today, God reminded me I don't have to do it alone.

I know there are tons of people around the world, through Facebook and all kinds of Social Media groups that would LOVE to jump in and help in ways that only they can. You might have a special gift to help out and simply didn't know where your skills sets might fit in. I mean what can one person do right?

A lot if you're 100% committed to making this work. I believe it can!

I believe that God will bless the efforts and provide a 100-fold return if we are willing to be a 100% committed. The great thing is that you don't have to be 100% committed all the time. Just 100% committed when you decide to step out in faith.

It could simply be responding to the need of a single mom, who found out she can't make her rent because her husband stopped paying on his child support and now she is really stressing out. When she tells you about it, I know in some cases we can just pay her rent, but in some cases we can. That's when I believe we should. If we can't, I believe we know people who can, or even if we simply got 100 people to contribute enough to help, we can all help!

This is my belief that as believers that there is nothing wrong when people tell you that you're having an issue, and are standard response is, "I'll pray for you!" Let's take it a step further and accompany that prayer with action!

James 2:14 - 17 amplified version

"What is the use (profit), my brethren, for anyone to profess to have faith if he has no [good] works to [show for it]? Can [such] faith save [his soul]?

If a brother or sister is poorly clad and lacks food for each day, And one of you says to him, Good-bye! Keep [yourself] warm and well fed, without giving him the necessities for the body, what good does that do?

So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead)."

While this is still in the process of being compiled with many prayers to move forward, and we have yet to work out the business side of creating a non-profit and logistics on this side, we would love to begin planning with those of you that are sincerely interested to show the world, what the power of His Love can do to change lives in more ways than ever before.

I am super excited to hear your ideas and comments!

Dear Lord Jesus,

Help me remember, Lord, that faith without obedient actions to back it up is destitute of power, inoperative and dead. Help me work together with other believers to make this vision of Yours, a reality and show people everywhere the power of Your love! In Jesus Name, we pray! AMEN!!