Tag: God

It Ain’t Just Change

3:45 PM and I had eaten nothing yet that day. I suddenly felt compelled to go to Culvers. The night before, I had gone grocery shopping and needed to swing thru the drive-thru in my kitchen, instead. I argued with myself about how I didn’t need to spend the money even as I pulled up to the order screen. Too late now!

As I waited in line for my food, God said “When the person comes out, give them the $1 dollar coin in your console from Me.” I thought well that’s kind of embarrassing. “Here’s a dollar that looks like a quarter. And oh, by the way, it’s from God! “

Change always seems so cheap or strange, to me, compared to tipping someone with a bill.

So as I debated on doing this, a young woman with my burger suddenly approached my car and I blurted out “God wants me to give you….” and before I could finish my sentence, she perked up and flashed me a huge smile. I don’t think she even cared what I was giving her. She lit up as soon as I said it was from God!

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Maybe she needed a dollar, or maybe she just needed a sign that God was thinking of her. I don’t know. We don’t need to know everything, kids.

As I drove away, God laughed. “Forget about the money. Do you not think I can get you the $8 returned to you?”

Kids, just be obedient and you can’t go wrong.

Listen and follow thru. Repeat.

Even if it is….

Listen and follow thru at the drive-thru.

This Just Sucks

April 22 2017

It was shortly after midnight when the night nurse walked in and introduced herself. “How are you doing?”

I grunted ” This just sucks!”.

She laughed, ” Yes it does !”

I thought she must not of heard me because she certainly wasn’t being very compassionate.” šŸ˜Š I repeated ” THIS JUST SUCKS!”

She laughed “Yes, it does!”

Me:”Well thanks for agreeing with me!”

Then we both started laughing! After that she started to tell about others she had seen moving quickly through the tough physical rehab and getting on with their lives after a traumatic car accident.

Sometimes before we start spewing Bible verses OR earthly or Godly wisdom we need to just connect with the person that is hurting. We need to momentarily connect with their fear, pain, hopelessness, depression, or anger. Doing that isn’t giving into the devil.

She wasn’t another person that wanted to rush in with a peptalk on how it wasn’t so bad and make light of my feelings. . I would be confined to a wheel chair for the next couple of months. She just got on my level and momentarily agreed with me.

Today, Pastor Aaron stopped by and let me get all of those emotions out, before he started giving me some solutions on moving forward.

Rick and Nancy stopped by and held my hand as I cried about my situation so I could get it out of my system.

We all are in such a big hurry to get people moving on with their healing that we bypass that part of them that needs to see the reality of how THEY FEEL about their situation so that they can see that God is so much greater and can and WILL bring a much better outcome. That He will supply all the energy and resources needed during their journey.

It’s funny that when we are in pain , someone most surely will tell you that you shouldn’t be. Specially if you’re Christian. We want to argue. This is my pain! Can’t you see I’m in pain? Don’t tell me I don’t have it!

Sad, but as humans that’s how we automatically react.

Anyway for those of you who have family or friends who are going through things right now, no matter where they are in it, momentarily connect and agree with them. When you do, you’ll see the switch and then you can start to offer solutions and options.

I feel like somebody needs to read this today. Like they’ve been fighting with someone to see the good side of their problem and they’re forgetting there’s a person with feelings attached to it.

Have a great Saturday peeps!

Agenda

“The dying have their own agenda”

The night before Dan launched the hospice nurse sat us down for her “hard talk”. She told us “The dying have their own agenda as to when they are going to leave this world. So if you’re someone who is going to feel guilty or cheated because you weren’t there when they take their last breath, you need to get this. They might leave just when you step out of the room. Don’t wait. Tell Dan tonight how much you loved him, share good memories, and it’s okay to tell him that you will miss him but that you will be okay. It may not seem like it, but he can still hear you.”

I was glad for her frank talk but I thought he can’t be leaving this soon. Just that morning, another hospice nurse had told us that Dan had probably 4-6 more days. I had to go back home for a day, but maybe he would hang on until I returned. Besides, I didn’t even know what to say and didn’t want to break down. Dan had told me earlier in the day that I needed to be his “positive reinforcement” and to believe for his miraculous healing.

Several hours later, I slipped into Dan’s room and sat on the bed. I leaned down close to whisper in his ear so a group in the next room couldn’t hear me. Lord please help me to say goodbye.

I was surprised at how easily my feelings for him poured out of me. I told Dan I loved him and was grateful for every minute I had gotten with him. I shared some special memories of him and our trips and asked forgiveness for not always being a pleasant redhead. I shared that I had never felt loved by anyone as I did by him and that he had helped to heal a big hole in my heart. I cried as I told him that I would miss him terribly, but that I would be okay.

I sat back up and looked down at Dan’s face and saw one large beautiful tear coming down from his left eye. I knew he had heard me and I wanted to hold onto that precious perfect moment forever. The presence of the Holy Spirit filled the room and I could feel Godā€™s eternal love for both of us. I was sad, but yet I felt joyful as the realization hit me that I would see Dan again.

Early the next morning, I briefly stepped out of Danā€™s room to dig something out of my purse and seconds later he left. Like, I am not waiting around for you to find some gadget in that Bermuda Triangle purse of yours. The purse he bought me because my old one wasn’t “big enough”. I was like WTHeck? I was just talking to you!

I am so glad the hospice nurse had given us her hard talk. I may have mistakenly thought I had more time to think of the perfect way to say see you laterā€¦.

Please don’t wait to share with someone how you feel.

Someone needs to hear thisā€¦. you can do this and I love you!

Sonlight

Never fails to amaze me how tulips will bend and reach towards the sunlight.

Reminds me of people. God usually sends me atheists, new agers, unbelieving believers, or those who have been hurt by the church. I have found that deep down everyone wants proof that there is a God. A real time God who knows them by name. Easier to bend and reach for the light of the Son if you know you are loved and accepted. Without judgement. Regardless of how long you have hated or denied the existence of He who has created you.

Never too lateā€¦. Lord open my eyes and heart to you and your goodness!

Babies From Ashes

The following is a story from my friend Tamaraā€¦ Beauty from ashes over and over and overā€¦ā€¦

One of my friends kept trying to get pregnant and eventually just could not medically try anymore. While she lay in ICU she was wheeled to a recovery room and shared a room with a woman. The woman began to talk to her and as they talked the woman said, ” Do you want a baby, my daughter is about to have a baby and doesn’t want it?
My friend did not know what was happening because it was so fast that she and her husband took foster care classes and became the foster parents to a newborn that they watched come into the world.
Over time they became one of the top foster care families in the county. And now have officially adopted five.
They became known as the couple who has so much love to share that babies healed when placed with them. Children have had legs become straight, and be healed mentally and emotionally.
If you ask my friend she would say God called her to motherhood. She knew she was supposed to be a mother. She just didn’t know how it would happen. To God be the Glory it is happening. šŸ”„šŸ™ŒšŸ’•

No Longer A Fit

When I put my shoes on to run to Cub Foods, God told me to donate my coat at a nearby Goodwill on my way home. Ok. No problem. I had lost a little weight so it was big on me anyway. I pulled into the Goodwill donation bay, took off my coat, checked the pockets for any future winning lottery tickets, and handed it to the donation clerk. She gave me a puzzled look, probably because it was the middle of winter, and then tossed it in a bin.

On the drive home, God continued to speak to me about how we hang onto things that no longer fit us. Things that are no longer good for us. Or beneficial. Why? Because it feels familiar. Comfortable. Predictable. Hard to turn the page and get to that next chapter when we have a permanent and immovable bookmark.

What causes us to hang on to old crap? Fear of the unknown. Fear that things could get worse. Or worse yetā€¦ā€¦they could get better and we wouldn’t know how to handle ourselves. Or anyone else. Think about it peeps! What old coat are you unwilling to part with even though it no longer fits you and where you want to go? Or need to go? Or will be bored to death if you don’t go? I don’t want to be on my deathbed sorry that I played it safe. I just want to be smiling because I DARED to play! Dared to draw outside of the lines! Left the fenced-in area!

Make a decision to make one commitment to yourself this year to move forward. Don’t know what that is? Ask the big Guy. He knows. We have an ever-forward-moving God! He is never stagnant. Me? I am asking for His wisdom this year. His wisdom in ALL THINGS. I am ready to move forward. Even if I am screaming and freaked out on the way!

Join me?

Elvis

5 pm: I parked my car and walked slowly towards the nursing home entrance. ļæ¼I wanted to pray over my cousin Susie and wasnā€™t sure how my Auntie Evonne and several other family members would react. I decided I would just pray quietly so it wouldnā€™t offend anyone.

I introduced myself to the first nurse I saw and told her I was looking for my aunt. She flashed me a huge smile ā€œOh you just missed them! Your aunt and her granddaughter just left for dinner 20 minutes ago, but theyā€™ll be back.ā€

Yay! Iā€™m alone and can pray in tongues now!

ā€œOk. Iā€™d like to see my cousin Susie Johnson. What room is she in?ā€

ā€œHmmm I donā€™t think she is here. I think she is gone, but let me check her roomā€

As I waited for the nurse to return, I glanced down both long hallways looking for any sign of residents. It was so quiet that I figured since it was dinner time that they must all be in the dining room.

The nurse reappeared from a room with an armful of towels ā€œ Yes. Sheā€™s gone.ā€

ā€œGone? For dinner?ā€

The nurse smiled ā€ No, no ā€¦.as in passed on. I think she left right after your aunt did, but you can go in and see her if you want. Room 102ā€ Then she turned around and walked away.

I was like WTH? Passed on? Nurse Jackie just said ā€œgoneā€ like my cousin was only temporarily preoccupied. Maybe away dining on some gravy lathered mystery meat. Or in the shower. I then got on the phone to call my aunt and cousins to tell them that sadly Elvis had already left the building. Evonne replied ā€œ Ok, well we havenā€™t ordered yet so it will be awhileā€. What? Was I the only one distressed?

After the calls, I walked into Susieā€™s room and laid my hands on her feet and briefly prayed. I didnā€™t know about dead raising back then so I didnā€™t stay long. I finished my prayers and then apologized that I hadnā€™t gotten there earlier.

As I walked out Nurse Jackie waved to me and called outā€ Have a nice evening ! Iā€™ll tell Evonne you were here!ā€

Today, I relayed this old story to my cousin Tom and we both started laughing! Like hysterically laughing! Isnā€™t that terrible! He said ā€œthey must see so much death that it no longer affects them.ā€ Maybe.

I still wish I would have gotten there earlier. Time here is short. Please never pass up an opportunity to pray with someone. ļæ¼ Or tell them you and Big Sky Daddy loves them. Even if itā€™s by phone or text. Some day we will all leave the building and only the living will have regrets.

Make it a great week peeps!

Speak Up

I am a part of a weekly prophetic mentoring group that meets thru Zoom. This week, the leader asked if anyone wanted to share a time when they saw God working in their life. I decided to sit back as I wanted others to share as I frequently add to the conversation. God kept pressing me to say something and I thought it was just me. Nope. Going to drink my Cold Brew and be quiet. Finally, 10 minutes before the class ended, I gave in and told a quick story about bad boyfriends and how God wants us to wait for our Boaz. I started to prophesy to the single women in the group that God needed to pick out their next relationship and to stop grabbing onto the next thing who “looked” Godly. Time would tell if they were. Several people said, “Oh you are speaking to me! I needed to hear this”

One woman wrote in the chat that she had been waiting for me to say something as she knew I was supposed to. I thought really? Maybe that was the struggle in staying quiet.

What is the lesson here? If you think someone might have a word for you OR for the group speak up! Months earlier, in that same group, I said hey “so and so” I think you have a word for this person and it is JUST one word. He said the one word and then the rest rolled out and it meant so much to the recipient. We make this too hard. God is continually speaking to us ALL. Share what you are hearing.

Ha! Except for the time when a person told me God wanted me to join his MLM downline. I knew that was the “only $50 a month on auto-ship” devil.

Plant Parent

Many years ago, I belonged to a large church and there always seemed to be someone promoting their kid’s school fundraiser. I bought a live plant arrangement but didn’t pick it up for two weeks. Of course, by then, it was almost dead, and the parent told me she would refund my money. Nah, that’s okay, I told her and planned discreetly to discard it on my way out.

I then saw an older couple with their 40-something son, Billy, who had recently gotten out of treatment. He had moved back in with them and they were concerned, as he was extremely depressed. He felt like a huge loser who would never redeem himself in life because he had wasted so much of it with drugs and alcohol. The couple had asked us to pray for Billy, as he spent most of his day in bed, and they were afraid he was suicidal.

I smiled and waved as I passed them by and God said, “Stop and give Billy the plant. Tell him I want him to bring it back to life.”

I thought, Nah!. Why would God want me to give this depressed guy a dead plant? God persisted and whispered, “trust meā€, so I finally turned around and handed it to Billy. “Yes, I know this is weird, but God told me to give you this plant and that you would bring it back to life.” Billy laughed, ” You mean resurrect it?” ” I smiled. “Yes. I’m serious.” I laid my hands on him and said a prayer for healing, and then I left.

A month later, I ran into this same family again after church. I was so glad to see a happier Billy, who was also sporting a new haircut and a sharp buttoned-down shirt. “Hey, Jeanne! I saved that plant you gave me and I now have it sitting in my bedroom window.” I thought he was kidding and figured the plant had died the next day. But as Billy wandered off to get coffee, his mother told me he tended to that plant every day. He was so touched that God had spoken to me about him, he was taking the responsibility seriously. She said she watched as he came out of his depression because he now had something to put his focus on other than himself.

God brought this memory back to me yesterday. I got teared up all over again. God is so amazing. He can take something so simple and heal through it. He can work through anyone and that means you and me! Next time you feel like God is asking you to do something “odd” feel stupid and do it, anyway. You might just be planting a seed or literally helping to bring someone back to life.

No High likeā€¦..

Tonight I was in a live zoom meeting and was distracted trying to listen while multi-tasking. At the end, Shawn Bolz was praying over us and God said “You need to hear this” and BAMā€¦ā€¦

The Holy Spirit hit me and I was just completely wrecked! My head fell into my hands and I couldn’t move as Shawn finished speaking. Then they announced the recording had stopped, but some people were still hanging on. I am sure, on camera, I must have looked like I was high or in a sugar coma :). I sat motionless, with my head down, for several minutes until I could reach up and shut my laptop. I then sat for another 10 minutes glued to my chair! Second time this week. Been a long time since I have felt a tangible Holy Ghost presence. It was an almost daily occurrence when I was a new believer.

While He had my undistracted attention He said:

“This is what you in Me and Me in you feels like in your flesh. It is overwhelming and your mind can’t comprehend it. It spills out of your heart or your spirit center and floods your body. I give my children this tangible feeling so that they know I am real and that I abide in them and they in Me. Hold this feeling in your heart. Imprint it on your heart. I haven’t gone anywhere. My spirit does not come on you, my spirit is always in you. In you. With you. Not beside you. You are in Me and I am in you. You won’t feel this 24/7 but that does not mean it is not TRUTH. It’s the Spirit’s truth.

I knew exactly what He meant even though I find it hard to articulate it now.

I believe we are all going to have more incidences of the tangible presence of the Lord. I still feel like I have had a couple of glasses of wine.

No high like the Most High šŸ™‚