Bosom Friends & Kindred Spirits

One of my favorite literary characters, Anne Shirley described her relationship with Diana as "bosom friends" and "kindred spirits". There are a few folks in my life who I would describe in that way.  One such person is Karen. I'll never forget when we found out we were moving from Mississippi back to Texas.  As excited as I was to be moving back to where our family lived, I was equally sad to be leaving our church and especially my dear friend Karen. The day the decision was made official was a Wednesday and Karen and I had already been crying our eyes out. We went to prayer meeting that night and the pastor spoke on the close friendship of David and Jonathan, calling them kindred spirits.  It was as if he had known all along just what she and I needed to hear that night.  The pastor may not have known, but HE certainly did!  In Ephesians 4:1, Paul describes this type of relationship as having unity in the spirit.  You know, the type of relationship where your hearts are united by your mutual affection for Jesus. Perhaps you have both experienced His presence in similar ways or you have walked a similar faith journey.  Regardless of how much time passes between visits, you just pick up where you left off last.  That's exactly how it is with Karen and me. We are truly kindred spirits.


In previous posts, Brooke and I have mentioned Voice of the Apostles which we attended in October.  It was there that a new friend, Mary quite literally "popped" into our lives!  She is a student with Global School of Supernatural Ministries and God used her to deliver messages to some of us ladies (and one of our men!) which seemed to come straight from The Father's heart.  We sat with mouths gaping open as she spoke words over us which were so on target, we were astonished that she had never met any of us before!  After this amazing encounter, she just kept popping up out of nowhere!  Out of thousands of attendees, God just kept putting us in one another's paths.  All I can do upon remembering this is shake my head in awe of my God and how He works among His children.


As soon as we returned from VOA, we looked up Mary on facebook and have been messaging back and forth ever since.  We were stunned to learn that she had never moved in the Spirit to that degree before!  She spoke with such confidence and authority, we thought surely she must do this sort of thing all the time!  Learning this made the things she said even more amazing!  We were pleasantly surprised in February to receive a package in the mail from her filled with cards for each one of us ladies she had met at VOA.  She had taken each of our names before the Lord and written down what He showed her for each one of us.  The words and pictures He gave her were uncannily accurate for each of us. As we opened these precious "valentines from God" we could feel God's presence surrounding us and His love pour into us.  Beautiful!


We were thrilled to receive a message from Mary that she had chosen to spend her spring break with us! She and another sweet friend, Lisa drove all the way down from upstate NY to spend time with us.  As it has turned out, Lisa (who we now consider OUR friend too) drove back by herself, because God has not yet released Mary to go!  She is staying here with us at least until April 10 and we couldn't be more honored that she is here.  I mean while most people her age would choose the beach for spring break, she chose us!  Wow!  What a blessing to have her here and she has assured us that we are a blessing to her too.  


It "just so happens" that the afternoon we met Mary was also the day Heidi Baker rocked our world with her simple message to Love The ONE and love the one.  Mary lives this out so well and we are honored to have her as a bosom friend and kindred spirit.

Waiting

Waiting..... Waiting.... Waiting....

If you can't already tell, my mind is already in Mozambique. I don't even know what's going on around me very much because my mind is already there. haha!

I am so excited that I am actually going. It is all working out perfectly.

I got my passport in the mail today, so everything seems complete now!

The other day, I was really just talking to God and saying "why can't I just be there already? Why do I have to wait and it take so long and everything?!" Right after I asked this, I was listening to the radio and a song came on called "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller.

The lyrics in the Chorus are "I will move ahead, bold and confident. Taking every step in obedience. While I'm waiting, I will serve you. While I'm waiting, I will worship. While I'm waiting I will not faint, I'll be running the race, even while I wait."

These lyrics really spoke to me. It was like God was saying "even though you are so ready to go, I need you here and focused on what my plans are for you while you are waiting to go. Still serve me and focus on me, while you are waiting."

Cool, huh? I LOVE it when He does stuff like this. Amazing.

That's the next prayer for me, I think. Still staying excited and prepared for the trip, but not losing sight of what God wants for me here while I'm waiting to go.

123

I added Brooke's trip to my email calendar today and noticed on the event countdown that it's 123 days away. 1...2...3...Prophetic? Perhaps...


I think of a child getting ready to do just about anything, but the particular picture I have in my head is a child getting ready to jump really high...how they count down in a sing-song voice...1...2...3...GO!!! and they jump as high as their little legs will take them!


GO - such a small word with such big meaning! Many years ago, Kay was awakened in the night to a voice saying "Go and tell".  Little did she know that all these years He has been preparing her for this trip. 1...she has been the one sending her daughters on mission trips...2...she received prophetic words in October creating a desire to go to Mozambique...3...she has received numerous confirmations...now all these years later, she will indeed finally get to go and tell!


GO - the color green...Ed wasn't sure if he would be able to take off work enough to go with Kay and Brooke on this trip, though in his heart he desperately wanted to go.  1...his boss has cleared it for him to take off the amount of time required...2...he too received prophetic words about going to Mozambique...3...God gave him a beautiful vision with the color green, which he knew meant go...now he gets to do just that!


GO - If you've read any of the previous entries, you've seen how Brooke has been called to go!


GO - Then a scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." Matthew 8:19
"And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Matthew 10:7
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19
And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Mark 16:15


Can't you just hear these three kids of the King as they hold hands and say 1...2...3...GO!!! and up they jump as high as they can...then their Daddy lifts them up even higher than they ever dreamed possible!


Ready? 1...2...3.................


GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Love The ONE and love the one!

The Excitement Builds!

This weekend Brooke and I rode with Ed and Kay (the couple from our church going to Mozambique with Brooke) to Jackson, MS to meet with the folks from We Will Go Ministries (see link to right) about the trip.  I rode along, because I couldn't pass up an opportunity to see my dear friend, Karen who lives in Brandon, a suburb of Jackson. David and Amy Lancaster head up We Will Go.  When our family lived in Brandon back in the 90's, we were in the same couple's Sunday School class.  This was back when we were all having babies.  Little did I know way back when that one of my babies would be traveling to another continent with  this amazing couple.  It felt surreal to sit in Peace House (part of We Will Go ministries) Saturday evening and hear David, Amy, and their children tell some of the experiences in Mozambique.  This scripture fits so perfectly what we are now experiencing:  

Isaiah 25:1 NAS

[Song of Praise for God's Favor] O LORD, You are my God ; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name ; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.

Saturday afternoon we visited the House of Prayer in Jackson, where Brooke had the honor of singing on the worship team with Karen's daughters. Sunday we visited a church called Hope Fellowship in Brandon. While there, we were introduced to a lovely young lady named Emily, who has been to Mozambique.  In fact, she attended the Harvest School at Iris Ministries.  She shared some of her miraculous experiences while there, including raising someone from the dead!  Glory to God!  

Needless to say, Brooke, Ed, and Kay are now totally PUMPED about this trip!  I am excited for them and will be holding down the intercessory prayer fort from here the whole time they are gone.  Much still must be attended to here in the next few months as they prepare to leave.

Pray for provision of funds for Ed and Kay's portion of the trip.  Pray for easy access to malaria medication (we had an issue with this when getting Bradley ready for his trip to Malawi a couple years ago). Pray for rest and no stress for all.  Pray God's continued blessings and favor on We Will Go Ministries.  David and Amy are TRUE faith heroes!

They are wonderful examples of people who truly live out loving The ONE and loving the one in Jackson, MS and around the world.

Blessed Beyond Words...

I'm not quite sure where to begin because God has been moving through this whole journey in so many amazing ways. Every single day I can't stop smiling and thanking Him for all that He is doing and all that He is going to do through this. I am so excited to see how He will use me while I'm in Mozambique. I just want to be there already!

As my mom mentioned before, I have been struggling with my stomach issues for the past couple weeks. I know its the enemy trying to bring sickness and worry upon me. I know that Jesus already took my sickness away and He can heal me again right now. It's kind of hard to focus on that when the enemy is bringing all this on me just to be mean. Would you join me in prayer to tell this dumb devil to "LEAVE IN JESUS NAME!"?

I am so thankful to be going on this trip with a sweet couple from our church whom I've know since I was around 10 years old or even before. They were my bible drill leaders in 6th grade and ever since then, they have been two of my many adopted parents! I love them so much and I am so very thankful that God is working it out to where they can go too.

Trying to accept all of these very generous donations and everything else is harder than I thought it would be, but as my mom mentioned, it's a blessing and we need to just sit back and accept it and love it.

I am not kidding when I say this, God is literally working EVERYTHING out on His own. From who I'm going with, to when I'm going, to getting my passport, to financial stuff, to anything else you can imagine. It's crazy awesome!

Thank you so much for keeping up with this journey and praying with me. I'll try and make some posts myself every now and then so stay tuned.... :)

Praying Pslam 91 this week...

Provision Plus!

Have you ever experienced God's provision in such a holy way that all you could do was weep?  That's what happened to us last night.  An anonymous donor has given to Brooke's Mozambique trip so generously that there might even end up being a surplus of funds to spread around amongst the rest of the team.  


I wish I could tell you all the details, so you could see what a miracle this truly is, but I gave my word not to reveal the donor's identity and I'm afraid too much info might do just that.  The best part of the story is that the gift came about as a result of a holy encounter with God, unlike any this donor has ever had before!  It is an act of obedience and it is the donor's desire for ALL glory to go to HIM!


I was wrestling with accepting so much money, especially knowing that it was truly a sacrifice for this precious person, who could have used the money for so many other things, but I know that if God tells someone to do something and they do it, He will bless it above and beyond what they could ever imagine.  I am believing that's exactly what will happen here - that this one will receive back far more that they gave. Still it's hard to simply receive such an extravagant gift.  This morning I got on facebook and one of my friends had posted this quote I hope he doesn't mind me borrowing:


"It's arrogance to believe that you are special enough for God not to provide for you like he's promised. Humble yourself and watch miracles abound."


And so I humble myself with a thankful heart and allow this donor to Love The One and love the one, who this time happens to be my daughter.  We are indeed watching miracles abound!

Surely!

We have noticed that the last couple weeks Brooke has been struggling with IBS more than she has in quite awhile.  She feels at a place of rest, so she doesn't feel like worry is triggering it.  She has not strayed from her diet, so it must not be food related.  I think it may be because of her hectic schedule.  She may not be getting enough physical rest.  A couple days ago she and I were discussing this and right after that, I opened an email from a friend.  It was a devotional that I actually receive too, but for some reason had not read it that day.  Here is what it said:  
Surely!
Isaiah 53:4
4Surely He has borne our griefs [sicknesses] and carried our sorrows [pains]…


While waiting for the manifestation of their healing, some people find it hard to believe that Jesus really took their sicknesses and pains, just as He took their sin and shame. If you are one of them, don’t feel condemned. Your Father in heaven understands. That is why He put the word “surely” there when He said, “Surely, My Son has borne your sicknesses and carried your pains.”...


...Notice the first word in the verse? It says, “Surely…” Surely, He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains. Now, look at the next verse: “He was wounded for our transgressions...” Every Christian knows and believes that Jesus was wounded for our sins, yet the word “surely” is not put here but in the earlier verse. I think God knew that we would find it hard to believe that Jesus also bore our sicknesses and carried our pains, so He put the word “surely” there to help us believe!...
...Are you or your loved ones suffering some sickness or pain right now?
Surely our Lord Jesus has borne your sicknesses and carried your pains. And as you believe this truth, surely, your healing and breakthrough will come!


Wow! Talk about perfect timing! The funny thing is that this friend said she almost didn't send it, since she thought I received these devo emails, but she felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to send it anyway. AND she sent it with my son in mind, since he was recently diagnosed with asthma and has been struggling with a horrible cough. Little did she know that we needed to be reminded of this truth at that exact moment and that we needed it not only for Blake, but for Brooke as well. 
Surely He has borne Brooke and Blake's griefs (sicknesses) and sorrows (pains). By His stripes, they are healed!
Will you love The One and love the one(s), Brooke and Blake, by agreeing with me in prayer for their healing, which Jesus bought at the cross?