A good story

Click here for a good story for this time of the year. There may be other versions, or places where you can get this in hardcopy....if so let me know.

When I read this tonight, the Lord really spoke to me and encouraged me through this story. May it be a blessing to you too.

Wow, what a revolution!!

Remember this post I wrote almost two weeks ago, click here, about getting my feet dirty for heaven in 2007. Remember how I said I was going to start that day.!! Well, here's my first progress report. I say this to glorify the Lord who has enabled me to get my feet dirty for Him already. I pray that you will be challenged, and join in and/or at least pray for me as I journey this path.

Here are some of the paths that the Lord has taken me in less than two weeks, and gotten my feet dirty for Him:

~~helping a widow find a place to donate no longer needed clothes; also chatting with her on the phone a while
~~ supporting my husband as we begin the painful journey of a church conflict
~~seeing an Amish woman so eager to help someone else when no one else was caring
~~helping a hungry elderly woman in the grocery store's cafe read the menu
~~working again today at the homeless soup kitchen that I went to in September
~~talking with a child at church who is having behaviour problems due to a nasty home situation
~~praying for many needs
~~helping to shop for donations for the local food bank who was collecting outside our local grocery store
~~chatting with some young struggling families after church

I can't think of anything else right now. It has been an incredible journey, and its only just begun. I love these adventures!! Sometimes the paths the Lord leads me down are not the easiest, but I'm trusting Him to bring victory!!

For you

Psalm 27
A psalm of David.


1 The LORD is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The LORD protects me from danger— so why should I tremble?

2 When evil people come to destroy me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.

3 Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will know no fear. Even if they attack me, I remain confident.

4 The one thing I ask of the LORD— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD's perfections and meditating in his Temple.

5 For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.

6 Then I will hold my head high, above my enemies who surround me. At his Tabernacle I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the LORD with music.

7 Listen to my pleading, O LORD. Be merciful and answer me!

8 My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me." And my heart responds, "LORD, I am coming."

9 Do not hide yourself from me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don't leave me now; don't abandon me, O God of my salvation!

10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will hold me close.

11 Teach me how to live, O LORD. Lead me along the path of honesty, for my enemies are waiting for me to fall.

12 Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I've never done and breathe out violence against me.

13 Yet I am confident that I will see the LORD's goodness while I am here in the land of the living.

14 Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.
Psalms 27:1-14 (NLT)

What the birds taught me

I have been having a very, very, rough past few days. Not only has there been sickness in my house, but my husband, who is a pastor is facing the toughest battle he's ever faced with a church since he began in ministry. It's rough.....very rough.....I have to go find Sissy's post about the Ballast in the midst of the storm. (click here)

The Lord throughout my life has used special things to encourage me....this time just a couple weeks ago he used birds. I'm only now realizing the full meaning of the event.

It was a rainy Friday a couple of weeks ago. Where I live the birds have already begun their flight south for the winter. Now I admit I'm not a bird watcher or even a bird expert, but as the event unfolded, I sensed in my spirit it was from God. As I was growing up and facing hard times, I would look for a red cardinal, for encouragement. In my childish mind, it became a symbol of God's presence. At the deepest, darkest, loneliest times in my life, God would allow me to see a red cardinal. Then a blue jay would become a symbol of God's promises, to me. Each time I saw a blue jay I would be reminded of God's faithfulness to keeping His promises.

That Friday,a couple of weeks ago, a weather front was coming through. We were on the edge of a thunderstorm cell. The rain became heavy, and the wind picked up. As I was eating lunch, I heard a noise. I moved the curtains and looked out the window. There in the tree right outside my kitchen window was a blue jay, then two, then three, then four then FIVE blue jays, finding shelter from the rain in the tree that had nearly lost all its leaves. I had never seen FIVE blue jays all at once. Remembering my symbolism of the bird, I thought to myself, "the Lord must really be trying to say something to me, to send 5 blue jays!!" Then a red cardinal appeared, then another, and its mate, and I thought I glimpsed a third red cardinal. WOW!! I was in total amazement. I turned and adjusted my seat to watch the drama outside. I was convinced that this rare event all these birds in one tree, outside my own window was truly from the Lord.
Eventually as the rain cleared they flew away, and I finished my lunch.
I later picked up my "Jesus Person Pocket Promise Book" a Bible promise book. I began to read promise after promise from the Bible.
As the days went by and especially today as the 'war' at church seems to be heating up....I'm reminded of truly God's faithfulness to His promises in the midst of storms, and His presence alongside of us, despite the problems.

God used those birds to teach and prepare me for this storm in my life.

Let's get a revolution going...

I've been greatly encouraged by your comments on my last post. And in remembrance of today,St. Nicholas day, I want to begin a revolution...well, at least join one. Today as I was mulling over what you all wrote in response to my last post...and I was surfing the blogosphere and landed on this site at this post: here. I'm joining in!! The revolution is ON!!! Dirty Feet For Heaven in 2007

I'm actually starting it today, on St.Nicholas' day, as sort of remembrance of his work for Jesus for the poor, and downtrodden. Also, its an easy date to remember. :)

I'm not actually sure how her revolution is going to play out...mine might take on a slightly different form. I gotta pray about the final details. But the Lord has already confirmed that its okay for me to join. I just need to follow His daily plan. I don't want to go into this with my agenda, when He has a whole different plan. I want to get my feet dirty for Him, on His timetable, and on His preplanned streets!

Hang on for the ride. When the Lord and I do things together, sometimes it gets quite adventurous!!!

Happy St. Nick's Day!!!!

Yep, we do the celebration of Christmas a little different around here. Today at school my son along with his classmates will be celebrating St. Nick's (Nicholas) Day. At his old parochial school, the children placed their shoes outside in the hallway, and at a certain time, it was announced they were to remain in their classrooms. After a little while, they were able to go and retrieve their shoes, filled with candy and goodies. Since we moved and he attends a new parochial school, I'm not sure exactly how they will celebrate it today. I'll have to wait until he comes home to find out.

We have told our son that there is no real Santa Claus as the 'world' portrays him from the North Pole, with a red suit, and reindeer. He has respectfully kept the 'secret' quiet when around other children. (We still have fun decorating, tree, little village, etc~ just not the emphasis on Santa)

However, we have told him that there was a real St. Nicholas, a real man way back long ago (third century A.D.) who went around giving to the poor, and helping the needy. It is upon this fact that the modern day Santa Claus stories have developed. We have also told him the pictures of the red santa have developed in the 1800's mainly due to advertisements, etc. There was a poem/story (The Night Before Christmas) written and have launched what we have today. He at nine years old, can formulate this history, and say in his own words: It {the story of the real man} has become secularized.

Today in many European countries, they too will be celebrating the 'feast day of St. Nicholas'. For a very informative web site click here.
This is an excellent, and very helpful website. In fact on this page , (click here) is the difference between St. Nicholas~the real giving man, and Santa Claus, the secularized version. Also on this page, click here, is a very telling summary statement. Copyright laws prohibit me from quoting. it...please check out the website.



So have a happy St. Nicholas' day today!!

Knocking

Have you noticed the knockers on doors? They range from bells, the old bicycle type, where you have to actually turn the bell; to modern door bells, to brass knockers; to just the handy ol' knuckles that come attached to your hand :) . Knocking is a way of getting someone's attention. Often when we are home and hear knocking we are eager to answer the door, unless of course its a travelling salesman!!

Many times this time of year we delight in hearing the doorbell, or knocker, because it could be a USPS, or UPS, or FedEx delivery, etc, bringing boxes from faraway friends or relatives. Sometimes, doorbells can be finicky. Our backdoor bell can only be heard outside of the kitchen. If you are in the kitchen with the door only a few feet away, we can't hear the doorbell!

There is a special type of door knocking mentioned in Scripture. Its found in the Book of Revelations:

20 "Behold, I {Jesus} stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
Rev 3:20 (NKJV)

Jesus is standing outside of our hearts, our lives and knocking. He is wanting to come in. Have we left Him in? Have we allowed Him entrance to all areas of our life? Or have we become like my backdoor bell~finicky, and for whatever reason won't let Him in, because we don't hear Him? Or have we clearly heard the knock, and refuse to allow Him in certain parts of our lives? Next time you hear a doorbell, remind yourselves, as I do, of this verse. How are we responding to Jesus' knocks?

My 100th post!!!

This is it!! My 100th post. Below are the names that several of you have emailed me. (For more info see the two posts below this~ for some reason blogger is not letting me link within the post).

As the angel Gabriel said to Mary in the first chapter of Luke:
37 "For with God nothing will be impossible."
Luke 1:37 (NKJV)

we are claiming also that the following 100 + people will someday come into a relationship with Jesus. Won't this be a great rejoicing party in heaven someday!!

BC, Larry, GP, HRK, Nori, Mike, JM, James, DT, AC, Alex, RB, Phyllis, MC, MI, JK, Maura,Unspoken, TS, Carol, JAT, Kari, GRH, Tim, Daniel, Unspoken, GAH, Elyse, YSH, Keith, Tracy, CAG, Dolores, Chuck2, Ty, Bryan, Luann, Carol, Nick, Carolyn, Olku, Donna, Diane, Paul, Kim family, Alex, Unspoken, Charlotte, Melanie, Denise, Barb, AK47, Christopher, Crystal, Betty, Dan, Tammy, Bob, James, RK, SJ, ADK, Greg, MK, DK, Juanita, IB, Grace WG, MG, Joyce, JB, SB, JR, Kathy family, Linda, RSG,Carol ,VR, June, Ellen, Evelyn, Dorothy, Chuck, GN, JN, Caitlyn, NH, Unspoken, MH, Chrissy, JH, Taylor family, Unspoken, AH, CR, Cheryl, MR, Deb, MR2, MG, Pat, DG,Leon, AG, TH, Dan, TRG


Please join me in prayer....
Dear Father, We thank you for this opportunity to pray for these people listed above. Lord, you have told us in your Word that NOTHING is too hard for You. These names are all of those that You love. Please move upon their hearts with the Holy Spirit, drawing them, wooing them, into a relationship with you. Cause any blinders, bondage, or walls that are preventing them from salvation, to be broken and released. We rejoice in You...........

Readers....feel free to add your own prayer to this in the comment box.

Almost there

I really want to thank you for your encouraging responses to my 100th post idea. Please, if you haven't already done so...read the post below this and if you want submit your list via email. I want to get the list up soon. However, as I logged onto Blogger, I noticed there will be an outage at 3pm pacific time today...so I'll give you all some more time because of this. Also, the creating post function doesn't look the same. I'd like to get the 100th post up by early next week.

Here's a couple of verses that I found and am contemplating. Feel free to share your comments.

5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:5-7 (NKJV)