Seriously God?...AGAIN?!

"Seriously God?  Seriously?  What's up?  I thought you were pleased with me.  I've been doing everything you asked me to do...even things I don't particularly want to do - I'm doing them.  So why is everything working against me all of sudden?  Why has this plague decided to settle on my house, and why are you allowing it?  I know none of it is life-threatening (thankful for that), and I know I've dealt with it all before - but not all at once!  Why am I having to deal with all of this stuff AGAIN?  Please make it stop!  Thank you for listening to me and loving me! -Amen!"

Yes, I know.  This is an extremely whiny, woe-is-me prayer.  But it's how I felt and there's no sense in trying to hide your feelings from God, He already knows them.  Just like He knows I still love Him and understands that sometimes a girl's just gotta vent!

So let me back up and fill you in.  If you read my post 2 months ago, you already know that my house was struck by lightning - AGAIN!  One year after the first time, in the exact same spot.  So that blows holes in the theory that "lightning never strikes twice!"  At the time I was thankful (again) that nobody was hurt and that our house did not catch fire, but everything's been going downhill ever since.

Over the summer I really felt like God had been speaking to me, showing me His plans and bringing them into focus.  He's asked me to do some things that are really out of my comfort zone.  And I've been doing them, partly because He's also shown me some things that I'm really excited about.  And like I always tell my kids,

"Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do, to be able to do the things you do want to do." 

Don't you think I should probably take my own advice!  You know - try to be a good example.

Needless to say I've really been looking forward to school starting back up so that I would have time to get things moving.  But so far there's only been 1 week out of 5 that both kids made it to school everday.  Every week somebody in my house has had some sort of ailment.  Sparing you the graphic details, let's just say that from head to toe I've dealt with or experienced EVERY disgusting bodily function you can think of!  Not to mention that we've made 5 trips to the doctor, one of which was a 6 hour, Friday night date with my son to the ER - good times!

Now I know this is all part of life.  I know you've dealt with it all too...more than once.  But did it hit all at the same time, one thing after another, starting with your house being struck by lightning AGAIN?  Probably not.  Please forgive my self-absorbed crankiness.  I know my life is not any worse than yours or anyone else's.  And I am SO grateful that we are not dealing with anything more serious that we don't already know how to handle!  I just really want you to understand this continual theme I have running through my head of:

"Oh no!  Not AGAIN!!!"

So enough with the belly-aching, because this story actually has a pretty amazing twist.  God took my whiny prayer to heart and showed up where I least expected Him - AGAIN!  If you've never read my post 7-Year Anniversary Miracle, this would be a good time to do so.

In the midst of all this sickness and chaos, Jace and I have had to reschedule our anniversay dinner 3 times.  As you know, we go to the same restaurant every year, Boulevard Steakhouse, and just splurge like there's no tomorrow.  We make sure to save up the cash for our once a year treat and for one night we forget all about our debt-free quest.

This year's anniversary is lucky number 13 (which could explain these unfortunate circumstances we've been experiencing- AGAIN!  Good thing I'm not superstitious).  It's been 6 years since "the miracle," and we still get excited about our annual celebration dinner along with the complimentary dessert given for such an occassion.  But for some reason last year our anniversary was overlooked, along with the dessert.

Not wanting to seem cheap, and still feeling grateful about our 7th anniversary meal, we didn't say anything.  But this year we wanted to make sure they knew it was our anniversary, so Jace casually worked it into the conversation with our waiter.  We felt a sense of accomplishment when they brought out our dessert with the special little "Happy Anniversary" chocolate on it.  Operation Free-Dessert was a success!  So imagine our surprise, shock, and utter delight, when our waiter came out with our bill, laid it on the table, and said:

"Here's your check but it's already been taken care of."

Yes!  The entire bill.  I know!...AGAIN!!!  (Did I mention that the restaurant is Boulevard Steakhouse?)

Are you completely blown-away?  Speechless?  So were we!  It made me laugh and cry all at the same time.  In that moment, God spoke to us AGAIN.  He knows we are going through a lot right now, but He reminded us that He is in control and He loves us.  This is all part of His great plans for us and He can use all things for good.  I completely believe Him.

Interestingly, in church this week the message was called "Passing the Test."  We looked specifically at James 1: 2-5

2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.  5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

I do think we are in a time of testing.  The plague is still on-going.  We're on week 7 of somebody being sick with something.  But God showing up for our 13th anniversary and producing a miracle - AGAIN, gives me the strength to keep going, keep the faith, and to endure it all with a spirit of JOY!

So if you get nothing else out of this story, I hope that you remember that God is always there for you.  Again and AGAIN!!!

Bless This House - AGAIN!!!

"Dear God,
Bless this house oh Lord I pray, keep it safe by night and day - Amen."

CRACK!  BOOM!  Foundation SHAKIN!  Dishes RATTLIN!  Power FLICKERIN! - all in a millisecond!

I sat straight up in bed and could hear myself making that sound.  You know that sound you make when you're surprised or scared.  That sounds like a really long "huh?" only you're inhaling instead of exhaling.

"HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!?!?!?!"

My sound woke up Jace, "What?"

"Didn't you hear that?"

"It was thunder," he said trying to calm me down.

"No!  Didn't you HEAR that?  We were just struck by lightning!"

"It was just thunder and the power is out," he assured me as he hopped out of bed to check it out.

"No!  We were struck by lightning - AGAIN!"  I insisted, following him up the stairs.  Our daughter met us at the top.

"What was that?"  she asked in a scared voice.  I was having Déjà vu.

Jace headed towards the computer with the intent to silence its continuous screech, indicating that it was in a serious flatline.  I went and looked out my daughter's window.  Yep, there was debris in the yard - AGAIN!  And there was that sick, smoky, burnt smell - AGAIN!

"Jace, don't you smell that? And there's debris in the yard.  I'm telling you we were hit - AGAIN!"

He couldn't make the screeching stop.  Abandoning it, he went out to brave the storm and look for damage.

"Mommy..." my daughter says, "my tooth fell out!"

What?  I stopped my frantic pacing to look at her and process what she'd just said.  "You're tooth fell out?  When?"

"I just woke up because I felt it in my mouth and then I heard the thunder."

Ha ha!  I little comic relief right when I needed it.  Just then Jace came back inside.

"We were hit," he said.

"Really?!"  I knew it but I still had a hard time believing it.  Once you've heard the sound of lightning hitting your house you will NEVER forget it!  "In the same place?"

"Yep."

So for anyone who thinks "lightning never strikes twice", I've got bad news for you!  I'm living proof that it most definitely does.

When this happened last year I saw it as a blessing.  Nobody was hurt and everything could be fixed. I have no idea why God would allow this to happen - AGAIN, but He certainly has my attention.  This time I see it as an even bigger blessing.  God showed us that He is in charge and looking out for us - AGAIN!

Interesting little story though...the next morning I got up and the first thing I usually do is read my daily bible verse on YouVersion (the bible app for your phone).  Well, it wouldn't come up because our wi-fi was fried!  Ugh!  Of all days, I really needed some guidance, some encouragement, which I can always count on from God's word.  Then it hit me - Duh!  I can just read my real bible.  So it wouldn't be part of the reading plan I was doing, but this would be fun, even more revealing.  I decided that I would just pick up the bible, open it, and the first thing I saw would obviously be what God wanted me to read that day.  So I opened it and this is what I saw:

Isaiah 6:1-4 (NLT)
1 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke [emphasis mine].

If you know anything about me by now (besides the fact that I have a really great memory) it's probably that I do not believe in coincidence.  When I read passage 4, I felt like it was exactly describing my house when the lightning stuck.  Intrigued by this idea I read all of Chapter 6 and then some of the supporting documentation to learn more about Isaiah.  Turns out he is considered the greatest Old Testament prophet and is quoted at least 50 times in the New Testament.  The "Key" verse, which is also in Chapter 6 (again no coincidence here), reads:

8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to my people? Who will go for us?”

And I said, “Lord I'll go! Send me.”

Isaiah was humbled and changed by his unforgettable vision of God, so much so that he immediately answered God's call on his life to be a messenger.  God did not encourage Isaiah with promises of success.  As a matter of fact He basically told him that the people would not listen, but he needed to spread the message anyway.

That is how I feel.  I hear you God.  I know your power.  I know your love and your mercy.  I'll go!  Send me. 

There is so much more to this chapter than I can possible go into right here, right now.  But I've covered the parts that spoke to me the most that day.  I took it as a sign that I am to continue to be God's messenger.  Now please do not misunderstand me, I am not claiming to be a modern day prophet or anything.  Just that I feel called to keep doing what I'm doing through this blog.  Maybe nobody will read it.  Or if they do, maybe nobody will respond to it.  But if there's a chance that it helps even one person then it is worth it. 

So I'll wrap this up by thanking God for blessing our house and keeping us safe - AGAIN!  Amen!

2010 the Miracle!

“Dear God,
Okay, I know this is a BIG ask, but I’m going for it…I want to be debt free, all but my house, by the end of this year. I’m going to commit to do all that I know how to do to get us there, but mathematically it’s just not possible. I need you to produce a miracle to forgive this debt, and I’m asking you to do it by the year’s end because that truly would be a miracle! If it is not your will I completely understand and trust that you have your reasons. My only other stipulation is that nobody dies in order for this to happen…I most definitely don’t want to pay off debt that way! I know it’s a lot to ask, and normally I wouldn’t dream of being so audacious, but I’ve learned that I should not insult you by trying to limit your abilities to what only my little brain can comprehend! Thank you for listening to and never tiring of me! It’s going to be a great year! Amen!”

And that’s how I started out 2010 – with that prayer. Our pastor had done a sermon about “The One Thing” that we hoped to accomplish in the upcoming year and we were to take that one thing to God. We were instructed to pray for it to happen, to be specific, and to believe that it would be given. So that’s what I did. I know that I shouldn’t put stipulations on God, like a time limit, because His ways are always better than mine (and rarely the same I might add), but my reasoning for the stipulations was simple. First off, I definitely did not want to prosper from anyone dying - understandable right?! Secondly, the BIG ask needed to be something, well – BIG! Without the time limit it seemed to be something that we could feasibly do ourselves within the next few years. But within a year’s time I could not see ANY possible way for this debt to disappear without a Godly intervention. So I committed to do my part. As you may know from reading some of my other posts (specifically “Screw Nehemiah: NEH Part II posted in Dec. 2010), things have been pretty tight financially around my house over the past few years. On a monthly basis our out-go has been more than our in-flow, so we have depended on my husband’s year-end bonus to make up for that shortfall. Historically his bonus is quite good and God has been making sure that it all works out!

So even though financially 2010 started out much the same way as other years, we decided that we were really going to tighten our belt and commit to sending a specific amount over and above our normal car payment, which would pay it off by the year’s end. We also committed to paying a set amount per month to the credit card which was slightly more than the minimum. By the end of the year, assuming we had a normal bonus, we should be able to pay off that card too. Mathematically that was all I could put together in my mind. I could commit to get us out of debt on the car and the credit card, but that still left the student loan. Even if, and assuming we received a comparable bonus to years past, it would not be enough to pay off the student loan in it’s entirety – see what I mean by a “BIG” ask?!

So that was my plan for the year and I embraced it with a passion (I would say “we” but my husband was not quite as enthusiastic or confident as me, although he did willingly go along with the plan – even sacrificing his beloved OU Season Football Tickets!). I want to mention that we have been tithing faithfully for years now and that did not change throughout this process. I fully believe that when you return your first and your best (to God) that He blesses the rest. I’ve seen it proven in my own life over and over again, so I wasn’t too surprised when things really started to move our way.

In January, my husband’s architectural firm asked me if I would be interested in contracting with them for interior design work – of course I would! Cha-ching!

In the springtime, we got a pretty substantial tax return, which was good but it also reminded us that we had been overpaying our taxes. Which really just means that we were loaning the government our hard earned money all year, interest free! So we reevaluated our deductions and decided to hold out less each month, putting more money in our pocket to pay down the debt.

We also met the deductible on our HSA (Health Savings Account), which meant that we were able to stop contributing so much per month since any bills would now be paid at 100%. Again, more money in our pocket! Things were really picking up steam.

Now my husband usually gets a mid-year bonus as well, but in this uncertain economy he had been warned not to expect or rely on it. But I went right on believing that somehow God would make it all work out. And guess what? -He did. My husband got his bonus, and although it was less than year’s past, it was EXACTLY the right amount to go ahead and pay off the car, four months ahead of schedule! Oh happy day!

Not long after that, I had the idea (obviously a divine revelation) to refinance my house. I had looked into it before but with the interest rate at the time it wasn’t really worth it. But something told me to check again. Monthly, I wasn’t really expecting to save much, but interest rates had dropped so dramatically that I’d be crazy not to re-fi if I could keep my payments roughly the same. So long story short, we did the re-fi and guess what? – not only did I considerably drop my interest rate and save a little money every month, but I got back all of the money that we’d been putting into escrow, AND we got to skip a house payment while everything was processed – two benefits that I had never even considered. So, I combined that escrow money and that monthly mortgage payment and paid off our credit card, 2 months early! All of a sudden I was starting to fathom how we could possibly pay off our student loan by the end of the year. God can always make a way!

So here it is, January 2011 and I had been hoping and sincerely believing that my first post of the new year would be my testimony of how God provided a miracle and that we were finally able to scream “I’m debt free” on the Dave Ramsey radio show (at least that was my fantasy – I think I might need to get a life!). Anyway, while I can’t yet say that we are debt free, I can most assuredly say that God provided that miracle. And here’s how:

In this tough economy the year-end bonus didn’t even come close to previous years, however we were able to pay off two of our three debts before we even knew that to be the case. This monthly savings allowed us to have an all-cash Christmas, which typically we would charge and then pay off with the bonus. That savings also allowed us to balance our monthly budget. Our in-flow is now more than our out-go, yea! We are no longer dependent on that bonus - Praise God!

I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t disappointed or that I didn’t feel somewhat let down by God, but I just remind myself of what He said in Isaiah 55:8-9:

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

I know this to be true, and I am SO grateful for the miracles that did occur. My favorite thing about 2010, by far, was getting to walk so closely with Him, seeing Him work daily in my life. Sure I wish the student loan was gone too, but I know that He has not abandoned me. It’s just going to happen in His time, His way, and it will work out even better than I could ever imagine! I’ll let you know how and when that transpires. I have a feeling it’s going to be good! So in the meantime, I’ll keep believing God for miracles, recognizing when they happen, and giving Him all the glory! I’m so excited to see what He has in store for 2011 – for all of us! Please feel free to drop me a line if you ever feel like sharing your story! Happy New Year!

God Bless This House

“Dear God,
Bless this house oh Lord I pray, keep it safe by night and day” – Amen

I added this prayer to my repertoire when I was a young teenager. I spent a few weeks every summer with my grandparents and my grandma had a set of coasters with prayers printed on them. For some reason this one stuck with me. Maybe because it was so easy to remember – short, straight to the point, and it rhymed! I’ve been reciting it almost daily since then. It also comes in handy during Oklahoma storm season when we are huddled in our under-stair closet/shelter (with our bike helmets on via Gary England’s recommendation), praying that the tornado doesn’t get us or our house. So far, so good!

I believe wholeheartedly in this prayer. I’m positive that it has kept us safe on many occasions and that there have been more close-calls than I’ll ever even know about. But last week I witnessed this prayer in action. Oklahoma City experienced its rainiest day in history! There was flooding like you wouldn’t believe and we were all advised to stay put and NOT to drive around in it. There were pictures on the news within a mile of my house showing mini-vans and SUVs submerged in water with only their roofs visible. It was CRAZY to say the least!!!

I went upstairs to look out my daughter’s window to see how much rain was gushing down our street. When I moved her curtains aside I was immediately hit in the face by dripping water. The rain was coming down so hard, so fast, and at just the right angle that it had found its way inside through the attic vent above her window. We had experienced this same leak shortly after moving in 3 years ago, but we’d had it “fixed” under our limited warranty. Well it obviously was NOT fixed, but this was the first time since then that it rained just the right way to find that leak again. I taped some plastic sheeting to the window to direct the water flow over the wood window sill and onto some towels that I placed on top of 2 large baking sheets to keep the carpet dry. Pretty smart I know, but it was actually my husband’s idea. He wasn’t home to do it himself, which I know just killed him because he thrives on being the Fixer of all things. He of course had driven to work because the laws of nature do not apply to him! :-) Anyway, after all that, I said a quick prayer for the rain to stop and to minimize the damage. The rain eventually slowed down and so did the dripping. I’d heard reports of a neighborhood less than ½-mile from mine where almost all the houses were flooded. I was feeling very fortunate that all we’d had was a leak which could be fixed – Praise God!

Later that afternoon we were still experiencing thunderstorms but the crazy rain subsided and the dripping had stopped. My kids were both upstairs. Rylin was playing on the computer right outside her room and JD was taking a nap. I was downstairs in the kitchen emptying the dishwasher when there was the loudest clap of thunder I’ve ever heard. I jumped so high I’m surprised that I didn’t drop a dish! The power flickered on and off and I realized that there had been some sort of explosion accompanying that thunder. It was quiet – TOO quiet! Why weren’t the kids screaming like they normally would at thunder alone? I started running up the stairs.

“Rylin?...” I yelled nervously.

“Yeah?...Mommy, what was that?” I heard in a small, scared little voice. Relief washed through me! She was okay!

“I’m not sure baby. Did you hear an explosion too?”

“Yes!  And I saw sparks out the window”.

Sparks! Uh oh, not good! I looked in her room and the window header that had been leaking was now hanging down and there was a sort of foggy haze floating around her room accompanied by a sick, burnt smell. I immediately went to gather my son, still in his sleepy daze. We hurriedly started down the stairs.

“Rylin go get your shoes on, quick!” I said while I went to get our puppy and put her in the backyard for the moment.

“Why? What happened? Why are you acting like that?”

“I think our house was struck by lightning!”

I dialed 911 and looked out the window to see if I could see anything. A fascia board from the top of the house was now in my front yard along with bits of brick. Oh my! The fireman told me they’d be there in a couple of minutes and to wait for them by the front door. I figured this was so we could make a quick escape if there was a fire, so I decided to strap the kids in the minivan and wait with the garage door opened. The firemen arrived right before I was headed to get the puppy from the backyard to load her into her car crate. I never had to because thank Heaven there was no fire. One fireman did tell me though that the lightning had struck the roof peak over the window and then probably traveled down through the water that had pooled at the leak, which then blew out that header and exploded through one of Rylin’s wall outlets in her built-in cabinet. He opened the white cabinet door to show me. The inside was completely black. Then another fireman who was up in the attic said,

“Hey man, you gotta come check this out! It’s pretty cool!”

Somehow I don’t think the words “pretty cool” would be how I would describe anything concerning this event – “horrific” maybe, “terrifying” perhaps! But I know he deals with scary, life-threatening situations all the time, so if it’s just “pretty cool” to him, I know I lucked out!

So today I’m definitely counting my blessings. It was a mass of melted wires and some 2x4’s that had been completely blown in half. But it’s all totally repairable and covered by insurance (minus a deductible of course). All the electrical has been fixed and checked to make sure it will not start a fire. The air-conditioner and the cable are back in working order (yeah! – two summer necessities when it’s this HOT outside!), and most importantly, nobody was hurt!

In the midst of the firemen being here, I went to check on the kids (remember - buckled in the mini-van?) and Rylin says,

“Your phone was ringing so I answered it. It was Daddy but I told him you couldn’t talk right now because you were with the firemen because the house had been struck by lightning. He said he’s coming home right now”.

Haha! She was so matter-of-fact. Poor Jace! His second opportunity in a day to manage a crisis and he’d missed it! Not really though, I packed up the kids and bunked at mom’s for 2 days and just let him go at it. He was in his element dealing with the aftermath. Oh, I need to count him as another blessing! I’ve lost count of what number that is! And one more for the list…since the lightning occurred in and damaged the exact same area where the leak was, it will be fixed in the process as well! Coincidence?...I don’t think so! It’s the power of prayer baby!

Thank you for blessing this house (Oh Lord I pray)! Please (continue to) keep it safe by night and day!!! - Amen

A Blog for Average Ordinary Blessed People

“OK God,
Is this really what you want me to do...Seriously? This is why you woke me up at 5:09 this morning? I know it’s now 6:27. I was hoping you’d leave me alone and let me go back to sleep. I’m not sure why I can’t just do this later this afternoon while JD naps. OK - I do. Because I won’t actually get to it. I’ll find something better to do, like laundry, or dishes, or bills, or TV, or Facebook…So here I am. You know I’m relying on you to give me the words - right? To be able to adequately explain (to anyone who might actually read this) exactly what it is that we are trying to accomplish - right? So here I go…wish me luck. Oh that’s right, I don’t need luck – I’ve got you! In Jesus name I pray – Amen!”

So you might be asking yourself, “What have I stumbled onto here? Some kind of prayer blog?” Well sort of, allow me to explain. I had this idea, a “divine revelation” you might call it, about 6 months ago (Summer 2009). I was having a phone conversation with my best friend Tricia, and she was saying that she felt really good about getting this job for which she’d been interviewing. She lost her previous job as a pharmaceutical rep about 6 months before, just shortly after finalizing her divorce. As a result of the lay-off, she had received a substantial severance package. After much prayerful consideration she made the decision, for this first time in her life, to obey God with the tithe. To give an actual 10% back to God and to do it first! We are talking thousands of dollars here…at least a couple months worth of expenses. Her family and friends (most of whom are Christians I might add) told her she was “nuts” and that she should hold on to that in case she needed it. But she did it anyway – faithfully and with a glad heart.

So she continued to tell me about how she knows this job is meant to be, how it’s in keeping with her interests and experience, how she’ll be making comparable compensation, and everything has just fallen into place so seamlessly that she is just certain this job is going to be the answer to her prayers. Then she followed with,

“and when that happens I’ll finally have a really good testimony to tell people. Then they will see firsthand that I’m not so nuts”.
Whoa! I’m thinking. Wait a minute. Back up.
“When that happens you’ll finally have a testimony? What do you mean?” I asked. “I agree that this would be monumental, but surely you have other testimonies! I mean this can’t be your first and only one, right?”

She thought about it for a second and then said that she really couldn’t think of any others. I was flabbergasted! I’ve known her for close to 25 years and I could probably rattle off at least 10 different things right off the top of my head. So the preachy side of me mentioned a couple and she agreed that they were definitely blessings, but not really any sort of awe-inspiring testimony.

I have not been able to stop thinking about that conversation and wondering how my friend, who’s been following Christ for quite some time, could fail to recognize the potential in ALL of God’s blessings to impact or inspire? Big or small they all have some sort of testimonial value. And if she struggles to recognize that value, how many other believers are struggling too?

It also made me realize how I’ve completely taken my own faith for granted. I am so blessed that for the most part, I’ve always been able to see how God works in my life. What I’ve come to appreciate is that my faith is actually a spiritual gift from God, and although it is available to all who seek Him, it is not handed out equally. Just as some have the gift of prayer, or ministry, or giving (none of which I possess), faith is mine. This is not to say that my faith is never shaken, but I can definitely look back over my life and identify numerous times that God has answered prayers, spoken to me, and worked good from a bad situation. Even when I probably did not deserve it! Faith can be built by taking a good hard look at your life and acknowledging God’s hand throughout. Recognizing when He’s been there for you strengthens your faith and allows you to move forward with more confidence knowing that He is moving with you and directing your steps.

Armed with my new found consciousness, I started a list of all my life’s “testimonies”. Many of them actual prayers answered. Proud of myself for producing what I considered to be quite a lengthy list, I turned to God for His approval. But instead of praise He answered with,

“It’s a nice list, but it’s meaningless unless you share it”.

Oh yes, I heard from God all right, which brings me back to this blog. I tried to avoid Him by looking for excuses not to comply. I just couldn’t see how my little life stories could really make a difference. Won’t I just look braggy, or Holier than though? Or worse, won’t people be completely UNblown away by my super average, ordinary life? But then I realized, “Who cares?”! That’s the human, logical side of me talking, and I learned a long time ago that faith has nothing to do with logic! And arguing with God gets me nowhere fast! Only when I look at my life through God’s lens do I begin to see how EXTRAordinary my life really is and how truly blessed I am. If nobody reads or likes my blog, that’s okay. I’m not trying to please them. I’m trying to please Him.

What I’ve realized is that we do not need to have that one BIG monumental miracle happen as proof of God’s love or existence, much less to count our blessings or tell others about His great love. Perhaps all of our seemingly small life experiences add up to that one big testimony. You’ve no doubt heard the saying that “God is in the small stuff”. I believe it is there, in what may sometimes seem insignificant, that God does His best work. I have so many amazing stories to share with you. Stories which have led me to not just believe in God, but to believe God! He has a way of getting our attention (which I will share with you in a future post), so after months of dodging Him, I can no longer hide. I am ready to obey. These are my stories. I hope you will be inspired to take this journey with me and tell your friends and family about my little God project I’ve got going on here! -Oops! I mean BIG!
Thank you and God Bless!

BTW – Tricia did not get that job. You might be thinking where’s the blessing in that? Well I believe that is playing itself out right before our very eyes. As she continues to believe and seek God, I have no doubt that she will have that monumental testimony in the near future. But I also believe that her most powerful messages will be the smaller ones encountered along the way. I’ll let her post the rest of her story on here when she’s ready! I don’t want to leave you hanging! I am as anxious to see how it unfolds as you are!