What Has God Been Doing In Your Life?

What is God doing in your life?  

Recently I ran across a blog where a young woman shared her story of being healed from a severe form of morning sickness.  She had gone to a church conference where a woman prayed over her.  The nausea and other symptoms left immediately.  They have tried to return four times at which point she has quietly told them to leave in Jesus name.  And. they. have.  This woman made the comment that we need to let our children know what God is doing in our lives.  I agree, in fact, I think we need to tell the world about what God is doing in our lives! 

I am so glad I ran across her blog.  Thank you Lord! Her story of healing is stored in my own memory as I walk out my own healing.  And her story is familiar to me.  My husband Joel has had symptoms try to return once in awhile and he just commands them to leave in Jesus name.  And. they. do.  That may sound strange, but I have read over and over again stories of healing where this has happened.  The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

I love these stories of healing.  I love the way God works in the lives of His people.  Joel is often asked to tell his story!  He shares it willingly.  I wrote about it HERE.  We watched an online conference on healing, then went to bed with Joel waking up at 4am saying out loud, "I am healed" and having God confirm that healing. 

H.E.A.L.E.D!!!

Of course not everyone has such a dramatic story to share about what God is doing in their lives, but I am sure that we ALL have amazing stories to share that would encourage and lift up others. I read them in abundance at other blogs, and I share some of those stories in my Memorial Box Monday posts.  It is important to remember and it is important to share so that we encourage others and glorify our God, giving Him praise.  So, I ask you..........

What has God been doing in your life?

~~~~

"For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord.
Plans for good and not for evil.  

Plans to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11

Linked up to Grace Cafe over at Reflections Of His Grace and Spiritual Sundays

MBM: Showered By God

Memorial Box Mondays was created by Linny at A Place Called Simplicity, to give us an opportunity to share our memories of God's faithfulness and provision in the past.  Looking back and remembering gives us strength and hope during present day trials.  You can read about it over at her blog, HERE.

 God's provision came along with a "shower" this pat week when Joel decided to fix our malfunctioning reverse osmosis system.  We put one in when we moved into this house 8 years ago so we would have healthy water to drink.  About 9 months ago it stopped working correctly.  We would get only a small amount of water before the water would run out even though the tank was full.  My hubby is Mr. Fix-it and decided to work on it then, checking out the information given with the system, which we had kept.

No improvement

So we learned patience, trying to have enough water to fill a pitcher, tea kettle, or coffee pot for 9 months.  Finally this past weekend Joel decided to try one more time as it was getting worse by the day.

Joel took the instruction book, compressor, and his tools down to the laundry room and went to work.  About a half hour later he came upstairs~ no improvement.  When he was heading back down I said, "Did you PRAY about it?"  And he replied, "No I did not, let's pray now."  So I prayed for God to guide Joel and for the system to be fixed and off he went back to the drawing board.  Shortly he came upstairs and went into the kitchen and then yelled, "It's working!"  He came out laughing and showed me the back of his shirt.  He was soaking wet!

Seems when he was working on it, the small hose blew out of the pressure tank and soaked him with water.  He had to grab it and put it back in but half the water was gone from the tank.........and...........

It

was

exactly

what 

was 

needed!

The instruction book did not share this important detail, but it seems you had to release the water in order to use the compressor and get the balance back into the pressure tank so water would come out at a good level.  It works beautifully, and all that was needed, was a little prayer and some help from above.  God knew what was needed and decided to give Joel a helping hand.   I think God has a sense of humor,too, since Joel also got a good shower in the process!

God provides what we need down to the smallest details!  He hears our prayers, and He provides.  Every time I fill up my glass now I give thanks to Joel AND God!

Praising the Lord

"Let's just praise the Lord
Praise the Lord
Lets just lift our voice towards Heaven
And praise the Lord"

Are any of you familiar with this song?
Or how about this one?

"Praise and thanksgiving
Father we offer
For all things living
Created good....."

There are so many songs we can sing to lift up praises to God!  "Praise music" is something in our we all hear in our churches.  It makes our spirits soar when we lift our voices in gratitude, and God loves to hear our words of thankfulness when we are worshiping.  To God be the glory!

The definitions of praise are, to express approval or admiration of, to express gratitude towards.  Another way to praise is with our prayers.  Praising God for our many blessings helps us to have the right focus, have a grateful heart, and keep our perspective in balance.

 Recently I heard of another way to praise God~ with our pen.  In other words, praising God with the words we write.  For us bloggers it would be with our keyboard!  It is such a privilege to be able to write about God and what He has done and is doing in our lives and the lives of those we love.  Places like Spiritual Sundays are like nourishment for the soul as we share our stories of God's love and faithfulness.

Praising God with our voices, our bodies, our prayers and our pens~ And all done freely with no worry of persecution.   We are blessed!

Who's Living In Your Head?

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, 

whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, 

whatever is admirable—

if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—

think about such things."

Philippians 4:8

This past week I heard this question while listening to an interview online.  It nearly took my breathe away as I had an "aha" moment.  I found myself nodding while at the same time thinking, "Oh my goodness!"  YES!

Is 

there 

a 

bully 

living

 in

 your

 head?

Do any of you find yourselves being hard on  yourself?  Do you speak to yourself in ways you would never speak to your loved ones?  Do you have a bully living in your head?  And if so, does this bully have a name?.

Here is one of the times where God's commandment on love comes to mind..  Loving God, loving others, AND loving ourselves.  Being obedient to God would mean letting go or removing that bully from our heads, and thinking and talking about things that build us up, encourage ourselves and others and renew our minds.  Tell that bully in your head to take a hike!

The Gift of Mothering

This Sunday is Mother's Day and I cannot help but reflect on years past.  I was so excited to be a mom and each child we brought home, there were seven, bring to mind now so many precious memories and dates marked in my brain forever.  I give thanks that God blessed me with this calling.  I love being a mother, even though at times I have been less than great at it.

Our daughters and daughter-in-love are all blessed to have children so they understand the precious gift that mothering brings into their lives.  We are so proud of them!  And there are the grandchildren we enjoy so much!!!  All the fun with none of the parenting :).

In my life I have had many mothers.  My mom gave birth to me when she was 37 and she has been gone now many years.  My older sister shared her home and family and raised me for several years. My other sister also helped to parent me.  And then there are the other women in my life over the years, who mentored me, nourished and "mothered" me while teaching me so much.  I have been so blessed!!!

For those women who have touched my life~~grandmothers, mothers, sisters, friends, daughters, daughter-in-love, and more ~ Thank you.  I pray that you have been as richly blessed as I was and am.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Delight And Meditate

"But they delight in the law of the Lord

meditating on it day and night."

Psalm 1:2

So often when we think about meditation what comes to mind is someone sitting in a yoga pose, with their eyes closed while chanting.  There is another side to meditation. The Bible speaks of it, but what does this mean for us as Christians?

Dr. Paul King, in his book "God's Healing Arsenal" writes about meditation as being one way to put on the full armor of God, specifically, the sword of the Spirit~ God's Word.  There are two Hebrew words used for meditate in the OT.  One means to murmur, to repeat over and over again.  An example of that would be found in Psalm 136 where the response, "His steadfast love endures forever" is repeated 26 times!  The second form means to muse or reflect upon.  We study a phrase or chapter in the Bible and we spend time reflecting upon it and what it means for us. King says, "we think the thoughts of God" as we reflect on His Word over and over~ again and again.  We saturate ourselves in the Word.

There are so many things we saturate ourselves with on a daily basis.  Words come at us from so many different places ~ the people around us~ those we know and strangers who cross our paths, the Internet, TV, our phones and blackberries, the radio, the books and magazines that we pick up, the news.  The never ending news that share every trauma over and over again.  Saturated.  Since we speak life and death with our words as scripture tells us, it would do us good to limit and refine what we take in from the world..........be deliberate about what we meditate on.

Which brings us back to God's Word.  We have the WORD OF GOD available in every translation you can think of.  We have the Word available on our TV, the Internet, on CD, radio, DVD,  Unlike any other time in our existence, the Word of God is at our fingertips for us to study and mediate on, provide the full armor of God, and  transform our lives.  Delight in the Word and meditate on it day and night!

Memorial Box Monday: Cyber Prayer

Memorial Box Monday was created by Linny over at A Place Called Simplicity as a time to share our own memories of God's faithfulness and provision in our lives.  You can read more stories or link up your own at her blog.

This week I am sharing about something that happened very recently.  Last week I was concerned about  an increase in Lyme symptoms and decided I needed to Skype with my homeopathic doctor about the situation.  We set up an appointment for Thursday afternoon, spending time praying that Dr. L would have the wisdom needed to help figure out what my body was trying to tell me.  I also lead Linny's prayer group, The Knee Team which means that several times a day I am checking for prayer requests that need to go out to the team.  I need to be able to get online.

On Tuesday we lost our Internet connection.  After several hours we called our provider and had them help us go through the process of finding out the cause.  We put in a new phone cord and it seemed to be fixed!

Yahoo!  Easy-peesy with no money out of our pockets!  Back to blogging, sending out prayer requests, and keeping up with emails!  Then....................

Wednesday  

NO INTERNET

Now what!  

We figured we probably needed a new modem, but Joel had a full schedule and could not get to Best Buy to pick one up, so we both said a quick prayer and went to bed.  The next day, Thursday, I had an appointment with the doctor, plus the waiting prayer requests weighed heavy on my mind.  Joel went into the office and prayed over the modem~ no service yet~ so while he was showering I had a talk with God asking for Internet service to come through so I could catch up on prayer requests and have my appointment with Dr. L IF he felt it was necessary.  I knew He could do all things and I knew we were to ask and it would be given.  I went up to the office and there it was!  That little greet light indicating we had Internet.  Yahoo....Happy Dance!!! Thank you Jesus!!

We had Internet service until Saturday afternoon when the modem took its last breath.  We were able to get a new one yesterday and we are now back in business!  

God tells us to ask and it will be given, nothing is too trivial.  Even a small plastic box that connects us to the world can be prayed over.  God showed us once again that He provides.  That He hears our prayers.  That He cares about the smallest details in our lives because...........

He

Cares

About

Us

Three Things

In 

hard

times

she learned

three

things

She was

STRONGER 

than she ever 

imagined

JESUS

was closer

than she ever

realized

and....

she was

LOVED 

more than

she ever

knew