Be still

I am back to the verse "Be still and know that I am God."

It is so hard to sit still. Praying this week will prove the acceptance so we can move. This week will provide a permanent prosthesis. I'm so glad God knows our schedule. God has His schedule for me.

Church service was great today. We learned about Jonah's hatred toward the Ninevites because they were the utmost enemy of Israel. Is that me? Do I think that some people just don't deserve the Gospel? God included everyone in John 3:16, not just some, but whoever!

Let's dare to open our hearts to all the "whoevers" out there and share Jesus with them. God loves them just like He loves me. We are all guilty, all sinners. Praise the Lord He loves me!! And you!! and all the whoevers!!

I hope soon I will be able to blog each day.

God bless you

Look unto the Hills

"Look unto the hills from where comes my help." Psalm 121:1

I feel this is my hope tonight. To look to the hills for the help of the Lord. Frustrations high. But I try to keep my emotions out of this interim time. Moving, but not quite. New prosthesis but not yet. Internet but not quite.

Does this sound like I'm negative? I really am not trying to be. Smile. But the verse is a promise that God's help is mine. Why look to the hills? The Israelites looked to the mountain of God. When I look to the hills, I'm looking up and away from the problems all around me. And when I look at my "list" of frustrations it almost is funny that these things would frustrate me. It is nothing like having a wall fall on me.

I pray you had a wonderful day and will have a restful night.

God bless you

Songs of Deliverance

Psalm 32:7 "You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah"

God is my hiding place, He provides deliverance. We see trouble all around. We see catastrophe all around. YET we can rejoice in the Lord because man cannot take away our relationship in the Lord.

Just this morning I received the prayer request that in India today churches are being burned and Christians are being killed. Many are in hiding right now. Is this trouble? Of course it is, but God will preserve them, and give them songs of deliverance.

We must pray for them. We look at this situation and wonder how we would react to such violence. We cannot wait to draw close to God until the troubles come, but draw near to God now. This is the best preparation we can have.

No matter what you are facing today...God will give you a song!! That confuses the enemy. Give God all glory, praise Him. We have to fight but the victory is ours already. Jesus did that for us!!

God bless you

Laborers Together

For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, [ye are] God's building. (1 Corinthians 3:9)

Last night at church we heard the importance of the body of Christ. To think that we do not matter in church is a lie. The scriptures give the example of the importance of our physical body working together and each member of our body is important and has a function. The eye has a function and the ear has a function. Each is vitally important to our body.

Believe me, I know the importance of each member. It is a lot more difficult when one member is missing. Oh life is possible without my leg but it is not as easy as when I had both legs. Patrick and I have had to make major adjustments, but life goes on in spite of it.

So does the church...if we refuse to be obedient to God's call—be it children's ministry, pastoring, being the greeter—then God will use someone else, but we lose the blessing. The church needs all of us. ALL of us, not just a few. I would encourage you not to wait until you are asked to help, but offer your service in whatever capacity is possible.

I am sorry I have not been able to blog every day. It is still in internet connection we don't have.

Pray for our papers to be accepted for the house we found in the Miami area. We are looking forward to get settled.

God bless you

Still Hopping

I'm doing better, but still on the walker. I can use my prosthesis for about an hour then the pain starts again. It is getting better though.

Tomorrow we get to go to get Patrick!!! What a great day it will be. After one month it is time. We also will be checking more houses. We need your prayers.

God had a special surprise this morning. When we looked out the window there were 10 deer in the yard. It was quite a sight! I didn't know that Florida had so many deer.

In the midst of pain God gives a wonderful sight early in the morning. It was great.

Thank you for your prayers and love we feel daily.

"He will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee."

God bless you.

Happy, but not Perfect

We are living in a place right now while we are house hunting in Miami. Although it is in Sarasota, it is more in the country and we do not have availability to internet. So I won't be able to blog every day, but will do so as often as possible.

My "peggy" is still on the mend. I will be so happy to be back to more freedom. It has been very difficult to be back using the walker. I deal with attitude. What is God teaching me?

I try to remember what it was like a few days before the earthquake. I cannot remember, all I remember is the quake and the total change in our lives. Wednesday is that anniversary date. Wednesday Patrick returns home from Haiti, after being there for a month.

"Being happy doesn’t mean everything in your life is perfect. It means you decide to see beyond the imperfections." A friend shared this quote with me the other day. I love it. I need to hear this at this moment. I believe the verses in scripture that states that we will not be harmed, nothing will destroy us, etc. certainly means that of our inner relationship with our Lord. Nothing can take that away. Our bodies may be harmed, but our relationship cannot be taken away.

Have a spirit filled day.

God bless you

Not my will

"Not my will, but Thine be done."

It certainly wasn't my will or plan to be back using the walker, and not using my "leg". Last night I noticed that my "peggy" was swollen and discolored. This morning the color was good, but the swelling is worse. It looks like I've plastered an egg on "peggy". So I am off my leg until Monday. Then the doctor will decide if it is more than a pressure sore. If it is a pressure sore, it should be good before Monday. This is what we are praying.

Now it is back to exercising my arms, while using the walker. Disappointed, yes!! Defeated, NO!

Just another proof that these bodies are in the "sin nature" and not for eternity.

It is hard to believe that we have already lived the first week of this year, 2011. What have I done with this time?

Praising God for His goodness.

God bless you

My appointment

That's an interesting word. We all will have an appointment with God. He won't cancel. He will call me when it is my time.

Not so today. I was so excited for tomorrow. I had my appointment to go get my prosthesis. But my appointment was cancelled. It is ready. Then I remembered that God is in control. God knew about this cancellation the day I made the appointment. So I wait. Maybe my leg was not quite ready for my new prosthesis.

Which brings the next thought, "Are we ready for our appointment with God?" We do not want to be unprepared. By His grace we can stand before Him. Not in ourselves, but by His grace alone.

Patrick is doing well in Haiti. Talked to him today. The team that arrived there today will be installing water filters in the village, hopefully to help prevent cholera from spreading. What a blessing.

Oh house hunting went well. We did not make a final decision yet. But 2 houses are possibilities.

God bless you

House hunting

Just wanted to ask you to pray that God will provide the right house tomorrow when we go to Miami. Agape and I will meet a realtor to look at some houses. We need you to pray for this need.

Thank you so much.

Run, walk

He giveth power to the faint; and to [them that have] no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:29-31)

When I read this verse this morning I was thinking how wonderful that will be to "run" (that is a bit more than I can imagine) and not be weary or to walk and not faint. I am ready to walk and not have pain. Hopefully Thursday will be a start in that direction. With my new prosthesis I am hoping to have more energy, to walk with less pain.

But the waiting in this verse is what is crucial to me. To wait and know that God will renew my strength. I may not have much strength right now. I may be weary. But in time God will renew my strength, and that may be in eternity. That is fine.

This world's sufferings are nothing compared to the glory that we will enjoy when we are in eternity with our wonderful Lord.

Have a great day!!

God bless you

The Heart of Jesus

John 14:20 "I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." Later in John Jesus says he can do nothing unless His Father tells him. Jesus was the express image of his Father.

We are to be the express image of Jesus. What do people really see in me? Is Jesus who they see?

The first characteristic of Jesus is love. I challenge you to read 1 Corinthians 13. Every time I read that chapter, I am challenged to learn love all over again. Many years ago I was teaching this love to a group of girls in Haiti. They weren't sure if this kind of love was even possible.

One day at a time, we can learn to love. Kindness, forgiveness, patience are more characteristics of Jesus. Let's make this year a time of drawing close to Him and learn to be the image of Jesus no matter where we are. Let's be the light wherever we are.

God bless you

New Beginnings

"Happy New Year" a phrase we heard many times in the past several days. My question is—are we wishing happiness for the year? The day? Or are we just saying it.

The year 2011 is made of days, 365 days, and what we do with each day determines what we will have as a year. I've long ago quit making resolutions for the new year. You already know why—it never happened. Why not? Because I wasn't looking at it as something that needed doing each day.

Each day is a gift of God. For happiness to happen we need to serve Him each day for the next 365 days, then continue on in the next year if God should grant another one. What I'm saying is that we cannot expect to have a year fulfilled if we aren't willing to work toward it every day. I'm not saying we control everything. Life happens, and most time not as we think it should.

Step one is to have a right attitude toward God when life turns upside down. Can we trust Him every day? Yes, we can!! No matter what happens, He can be trusted!! He knows our every need. He knows what we can bear and has promised not to give us more than we can bear.

As I reflect over the past year, it seems surreal. I don't know how we lived it. It wasn't possible without God. His grace!! So my challenge to you is to start this year with a day at a time!! Live it for God, walk in Truth and be blessed beyond your imagination. Dare to step outside your comfort zone. Living for God is such a joy.

One day is already history. Let's not waste tomorrow.

God bless you