An Unexpected Blessing

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I have a big blessing that I wanted to share.  God moves in amazing ways!

About a month ago, a dear friend of ours called to tell us he wanted to pay for a tour trip for us in Israel. We would just need to come up with the $ for the plane tickets. He wanted to pay for the tour, bus tickets, food, motels, etc. Wow! Israel? Patrick and I had never really thought too much about seeing the Holy Land because of the expense. It's just not in the budget at the moment!!

He said that going to Israel and seeing where Jesus walked changed his life. He said that he wanted to "hold the preacher's hands up" like in the Bible. What a blessing! The problem? We didn't have the $2000 for the plane tickets. We began praying, "Lord if you want us to go, please provide."

Well, the $$ didn't come in, so we called and told him that it's just not feasible for us to go. He said, "Let's pray a little longer and watch God work." So.....I went to Youth Conference a couple of weeks ago. Beth and Brenna were super excited to meet Bob Gray!! He is one of their favorite preachers that we watched via internet while in St. Barths. They were so excited to finally meet him!

After a great preaching service, we all waited in line to have him sign the girl's Bibles. There were a lot of kids snapping pics and meeting him. It was loud and chaotic! When it was the girls turn, we snapped a pic and spoke to him briefly. He looked at me and said, "Where are you all from?" I said , "Florida." And then, for some reason I blurted out, "We're a new church plant." I don't normally say that. He looked at me strangely and said, "Really?" "I have a check for you for $2000!"

He called Patrick the next day and told him all about what had happened and why he was giving us the $$. The day of the conference a man from his church gave him a check and said, "There will be someone come to you at the conference. They will tell you in these words "We are a new church plant." That's the family that has a need, that's who to give the check to and for them to use it for their family."

Can you believe it!!!! I don't normally blurt out to random strangers, "We're a new church plant!" It's so exciting to see God work and provide!! So.....I guess I'm going to Israel!! :)

Progress

"I haven't had a flare in 3-4 weeks!" 

 That was the exciting news I was able to tell my doctor on Wednesday!  I was so happy to tell her and to let her know of my progress.

She was quite happy with me, but then expressed her concern about more nodules forming on my hands, as well as the new ones found in my lungs on my latest CT. The one I had removed on my let hand two years ago is also starting to make a come back. She also doesn't like that my chest pressure is exactly the same as it has been for almost 3 years-no change there.  She believes the pressure could very well be from a granulomous process happening there, as well as in my hands.

She truly believes the last round of parasitic type medication helped me to start improve.  Then, she said the dreaded words, "I think we need to try another round of a slightly different drug."  I was getting ready to open my mouth and say, "No.  I'm seeing improvement.  Let's leave this alone and accept it."  But, I caught a glimpse of my faithful, ever enduring husband by my side nodding along with my doctor.  The two of them are not ready to give up.  They are still striving for complete healing.

So, a little reluctantly, I will be starting a new medication this Monday.  It will last for 5 days.  Normally I don't have the greatest response to powerful meds, so prayers would be much appreciated.

Hopefully, I'll soon be able to say, "I feel absolutely wonderful!"  But, until then, God is still every faithful.  He reminds me over and over that He is with me.  Soooo many blessings surround me and encourage me.  So many more than I deserve. I'm thankful for this past month of feeling so great!  God is good!

A Piece of the Puzzle

What a week this has been!  This was a week where God gave me one more piece of my puzzle.  Let me explain....My Brenna loves to put together puzzles.  She does just like I used to do.  First thing is to prop up the box so she can see the final picture.  Then, piece by piece she puts her masterpiece together. 

Well, our life is often like a puzzle.  Although we aren't given the final picture, we are promised in Romans 8:28 that it will all work together for good.  God wants to turn our lives into something beautiful!  A Masterpiece!  But, we are given one piece at a time.  Sometimes they are beautiful pieces full of color.  Other times, they are quite dull and you're not really sure where to fit them and how they will work in the puzzle. This week I was given a beautiful piece that fit perfect.  God is so good!

This week I took my girls, along with 3 other teens and a wonderful lady that came as a counselor, to Youth Conference in Gulfport, Mississippi!  When we first heard the dates of the conference, we knew we wanted to go!  One of the preachers was going to be Bob Gray II.  On the mission field we would watch lots of preaching online.  One of my girls favorites was Bob Gray.  They were thrilled that we were actually going to hear him in person!!

He preached a very convicting message on "Your Sanctuary"  He spoke on the importance on having time alone with the Lord and how that time will change how your view of the world.  It was great!

 At invitation time, my girls jumped up to head to the altar to pray.  I followed them and as we knelt down together, the Holy Spirit brought to my mind the past few years.  It has been quite confusing as we have been through some trials.  At times, we often didn't understand what the Lord was doing.  Why was I sick?  Why did we have to come of the mission field?  What was the direction for our future?  Slowly, God has revealed some of the whys.  But, all those answers don't always come at once. I thought of the excitement of that day as we were all so excited to hear Bob Gray and couldn't wait for the night of preaching!  As I knelt, I felt the Holy Spirit asking, "Has it been worth it?" "You've been through a few things, but I've had my hand on you. And I've had my hand on your girls.  This night is a dream come true for them!  Has it been worth it?  Do you trust me?"  Oh my.  My answer was , "Oh, Yes, Lord!  It's all been worth it!  I trust you!!"  God is so good to me!  I'm so thankful for His working in my life!

 The week was filled with preaching (11 wonderful messages!), lots of fellowship and fun with the sweet girls on the trip, lots of heart to heart talks, and another huge blessing I'll have to share on another post.  God sure does work miracles!!

Cowboy Wedding

What do you do when you've been working hard on school, trying your hardest to finish up and your Mom gives you a 5 minutes break? You play wedding, of course!

 Callie was the blushing, quite tall, bride. Silas was the preacher and Micah was the cowboy groom

Silas to Micah: Mister, do you take this woman and promise to love her and do whatever she wants?

Micah: (in a whisper) I do.
Silas: You gotta say it louder!
Micah (a little bit louder) I do

Silas to Callie: Woman, do you promise to love this man and cook for him?
Callie: (lots of giggles)

You may kiss this woman (on the cheek, of course, because that's what brothers and sisters do!)