God IS Alive!

God is alive! Amen?

I have a sweet friend struggling with all types of cancer.  Over the last two years that I have come to love her, she has lost her hair, weight, ability to drive, and control of bodily functions.  During these long months of suffering, I have seen the amazing strength and hope that comes from the Holy Spirit.  Beauty and joy that can only come from His indwelling.  It is a life-changing situation to witness and be a part of. 

This summer, she was told she was nearing her end.  Her body could take no more and she was ready, mentally.  It was so hard to believe I wouldn't see her at Bible study on Thursdays, or hear her witty comebacks or enjoy her horse stories.  Her circle of friends was devastated.

She mustered the strength to join us at Bible study albeit sporadically.  Just her presence is a calming balm. Are you ready for the "wow"?  That lady, my dying friend, is now in remission. She is in the curative stage of treatment and has medical hope for a little more time on this earth.  Her immediate earthly future has been prolonged.  God is alive and has chosen to demonstrate it in her. Amen!

Obviously, my conversations with God were about her progress and health, thanking Him for His faithful provision.  Expressing my gratefulness for His miracle.  His miracle that is a pinky-lift for Him but is bigger than the weight of the world for my friend.  Even this very morning while still in bed and before the noise of the day, I was talking to my Lord about her and Him and His story in her.

My specific prayer for her this morning was that she, in her new-found health, will be an amazing testimony for Him. Everywhere she goes will be an opportunity for His glory to shine through.  She's been restored and let all the world hear about it!

"I wish the same thing for you, child o'mine" said the Lord.

To me. In the middle of my prayer for a sweet friend He began to talk to me. He reminded me in a gentle way that I too, am restored.  I too, am healed from the inside out.  And I too, can be a testimony for Him. And lastly, I too, can be an opportunity for His glory to shine through.

No, I don't have a deadly disease like cancer.  But I once had the deadly disease of self; me over He. I once was dragged down mentally and physically by sin.  I once was wallowing in decline but with no hope.  Unlike my friend who exudes hope, I had none.

However, just as He has chosen to heal her physically, He chose to pull me out of the muck and mire.  He chose to save me from impending doom and give me the hope and promise of life eternal.  With Him.  I can be a living testimony for Him everywhere I go and to everyone I meet.

God IS alive. Amen!

Do-over Kind of Day

Yesterday was a do-over kind of day.  Not the kind of day where everything went wrong, kids were late for school, dinner was burned (or is it burnt?), and a flat tire made it presence.  Not that yucky kind of day.

Much yuckier than that.

Yesterday was a "good" day.  A day of happy children that awoke on their own accord and actually dressed before coming downstairs.  The laundry was folded AND put away.  Dinner was somewhat edible.  It was a day of plans and productivity.  A crossing-off-the-list kind of day.  

Yesterday was also a day of prayer.  I talked to the Lord about my new schedule, the kids' teachers, my hubby's job.  I thanked him for the blessing of things and health.  I praised him for the ability to talk with him during the day.

That's where it ends.

Yesterday was not a day of working for the Kingdom outside my circle of people.  It was not the day I noticed someone at the check-out line that could have appreciated a smile.  It really wasn't the day where I looked up and saw the who and the what God placed in my path.  It was not the day I listened and shared about the Glorious One.

I missed opportunities to tell someone, anyone about the Counselor I had prayed with during the day.  I blinked and a chance to offer comfort from the One who comforts me passed me on by.  I was so busy going about my good things I may have missed the best thing.  

Sharing Him.

It's our commission, right?   To tell others of His saving grace?  To impress upon those who don't know Him but need Him?  It's our beautiful feet He will use to spread the news of God's gift to us.  

We just gotta make our beautiful feet available.  And aware. I don't think that necessarily means we approach every person in Target and attempt to show them the Roman Road.  And it probably doesn't mean we have to stand behind the pulpit or on a street corner.  Or write life-changing books.  Or sell all of our possessions and pack it up for the life of missionaries.

Those are all really amazing things.  God-given things that have eternal impact.  

But we can have impact right where we are among the people God has placed us.  We can lend a hand, offer a word of comfort, bring a meal, tend to orphans and widows.  We can pray for lost souls-those we know and those unknown to us.

We just have to be available and aware.

So today and tomorrow and the next day after that, will be a do-over kind of day.  God will continue to give me opportunities to grow His Kingdom in my normal, SAHM life. He will purposefully place in my path people He is calling.  He will give me a chance today and forevermore to work for Him.  

And every single day I am granted a do-over.  Hallelujah!

Here's to making the most of tomorrow for Him.

Niki

Burdened Like a Pack Mule

Are you ever burdened?  I mean the kind of burden where you just can't seem to make it through the day without an entire box of tissues? That weight on your shoulders pressing down and down and down 'til you're on your knees?

On my knees.  Right where He wants me.

That's me.  Burdened and on my knees.  What about?  Oh, anything the Holy Spirit hits me with at that moment.  For instance, my honey and I were having an at-home date so I ran to Pei Wei for some Pei Wei Spicy.  As I'm waiting on my to-go order, the Holy Spirit calls on my heart.  The amazing part?  I was actually listening.  I listened as He asked me how many people in the restaurant knew Him.  How many of the customers, cooks, busboys, cashiers, dishwashers, and lemon-choppers knew about His saving grace and love.  Which of those lives were His?

It is the first time in my life that I can say that I actually ached for people.  I ached for their eternal destinations, for their lack of hope, and for their lost hearts.  Tears not only streamed, but flowed down my face as I began to pray for strangers happily attempting honey-seared chicken with chop sticks.  I sobbed.  Really sobbed.  The cashier handed me a napkin for the snot-rocket I wasn't even aware existed on my face.

This sort of calling on my heart occurred a day later at the dentist.  With four hands in my mouth, tears rolled down my cheeks while praying for the obvious non-believers in the office.  It was a desire to pray that could not be ignored or put off for later for my "quiet time". 

"Was I in pain from the crown?" they asked.  "Oh no.  I am praying for you," I answered.

Here's the thing.  God doesn't especially call on me to pray for randomly, but not so randomly, placed strangers.  He calls on all of us.  To stand in the gap for others.  To put aside our own junk and complaints and requests and really bend our knee for the benefit of someone else.  He desires that each of us put our neighbor before ourselves for His glory.  

And to be honest, He wanted me on my knees.  He wanted my attention and my response.  He  had a desire to weigh so heavily on my heart and mind that I could not deny Him. 

And that's for all of us.  We only have to be willing to hear His whisper and to respond.  We have to be willing to pray now rather than later.  We might also need to be willing to weep over Pei Wei Spicy, or in the dentist chair, or at a child's ball game.

Have you ever felt the burdening of the Holy Spirit to pray?  How did you respond?  Will you share with the women of FBC how the Lord is using you to glorify Him.

Signed,
Praying at Pei Wei,
Niki