Monday, July 11, 2011

Water to my Soul!

I spent time with God this morning in our hotel room as Eddy attended CBA in Atlanta.  Papa God was just really loving on me in a sweet way this morning and I'm so thankful He is here.  There were some teary moments as I thought of how much I already miss Brooke...as I felt overwhelmed by God's loving presence...and simply because I didn't get enough sleep last night, which always makes me weepy!  


Later in the morning Eddy called and said, "Guess who I'm standing behind right now."  I, of course had no idea.  He then said, "the Duggar's!  All of them!"  Now those who know us well, know that Brooke and I record 19 Kids and Counting and watch it together while Eddy and the boys watch sports in the other room.  We love this show and the way this family shines their light in the media darkness.  They truly are an inspiration and are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I was excited for Eddy, but admittedly a tad jealous for me.  I asked Eddy to take a picture of them and we hung up.  My natural reaction was to call Brooke to tell her, which of course I couldn't do!  Sigh.  Around noon, I decided to venture out (on foot, since Eddy had the car) to the nearby mall for some lunch and shopping.  Again, I wanted to call Brooke when there before me was a 2-story Kohl's!  This just happens to be my favorite store and one Brooke and I often frequent when we go shopping together.  Imagine my delight when as I'm browsing the clothes, my phone rings and it's Brooke's beautiful voice on the other end!  Oh, I'm telling you it was like taking a good, long drink of cool water!  She borrowed Ed & Kay's world phone to let me know they had made it safely to J'burg and were getting settled into their hotel.  She was pleased to report she had not gotten sick on the plane!  Oh goodness, I forgot to ask her if she ended up using the Sea-bands we got her...a trick we learned from the Duggar's!  Anyway, she did get sick once she got off the plane, since something she ate disagreed with her.  They didn't sleep much at all on the flight, so please join me in praying they get some much-needed rest tonight.


Pray also that the Jackson folks' plane arrives on time from Nigeria to J'burg, so they can all fly to Maputo, then on to Pemba together.  Pray for no more mishaps!  Just smoooooth sailing...flying...from now on!


I must pause to tell you what happened this morning.  Last night was really restless for me.  I rarely sleep well the first night away from home and last night was no exception.  Every time I awakened, I prayed for our missionaries.  This morning I read a daily devotional I receive via email.  It's by Joseph Prince.  I don't necessarily agree with all his teachings, but this morning's devo was just what I needed to read.  Here's what it said:

Round-The-Clock Protection

Psalm 91:5–6
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

During World War II, German planes bombed London. Houses were leveled. But there was one that remained standing amidst the rubble. Its owner said that when she read Psalm 121:4, which says, “Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep,” she told the Lord, “Lord, since You don’t sleep, then there is no point in both of us keeping awake. I will sleep while You keep watch.” And she did, while the Lord protected her and her house.

In 2005, terrorists attacked London’s public transport system. That day, a Singaporean girl found herself unexpectedly late for work and could not get to the train station in time to board her usual train. When she finally neared the station, she realized that it had been bombed just a few minutes earlier. Her mother, who worships in our church, believes that God protected her daughter that day.


God wants you to know that you have round-the-clock protection — “You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste atnoonday.”


He protects you from “the terror by night”, which could refer to evils such as rape, kidnap or murder. He promises you protection from “the arrow that flies by day”. This could refer to bullets from a crazy sniper, drive-by shootings or home-made rockets fired into your territory.


God also shields you from “the pestilence that walks in darkness”, referring to viruses which you cannot see. You don’t have to be afraid of deadly viruses lurking somewhere or wonder if some deadly disease is developing in your body.


God also doesn’t want you to be afraid of “the destruction that lays waste at noonday”, such as a tsunami hitting the beach resort you are at, or a bomb going off in the shopping mall you are in.


You need not be afraid because God, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, is watching over you 24 hours a day!
How great is that?! This was especially meaningful to me, because our church spent significant time studying this entire Psalm not too long ago and even memorized the whole thing.  It is this Psalm I have prayed over the Mozambique team so many times already and a wonderful reminder to continue doing so throughout the trip.

Then I opened my Mom's Prayer Journal written by my friend Rachel Jones (see link to right).  I turned to chapter 2 and read the following, which I hope Rachel doesn't mind if I quote here:   "Mighty in the Kingdom...I think sometimes we highly underestimate what is possible with God.  What if...we really believed that with God, our children could become all that He has created them to be? That we could raise "Davids" and "Peters" and "Marys"? we really believed that God would - not simply could - bring glory to the kingdom in great advances through our children? Not because they are greater than others, but because God simply got to be God in their lives?  And then there is this problem with all of us moms...aren't we a little scared of just how God will answer our prayers? What if He does call our child to a foreign nation? What if He does call our child to stand in opposition to some popular political philosophy? No mom wants to think of the pain that could accompany such calls.  And yet...What if He does...and the world (or a family) is changed eternally because our son or daughter was alive with God's love?..."

Wow!  I feel like God is going out of His way to speak to me concerning my kids, especially Brooke at this time.
The only way we can love The ONE and love the one is by first allowing The ONE to love us.  Today I received His love in so many ways and it makes me love Him more.  Hopefully, prayerfully it makes me love the one more too.

No comments:

Post a Comment