Oh, how I
have missed blogging lately! I have had
so much to say and no time to say it. My
plate has been full, but most importantly; it has been full of what God had
planned for me. I have said before that
I am not a person who enjoys being busy, busy, busy, but I do love following
God and sometimes that requires a little busy, busy, busy. Lucky for me this busy season has come to an
end and things are slowing down and getting back to the pace I enjoy. I find that when I am busy doing God’s work, satan
is his busiest trying to trip me and get in God’s way. I have witnessed so many close calls, almost
failures, and some mountains that were reduced to a mere stumbling block and
able to be avoided. I have seen miracle
after miracle during this busyness and I wish I could share all of them in this
venue, but I will settle for sharing a few.
Most of what
has made me so bust lately is coordinating our church wide serve day, which
really ended up being a weekend full of citywide events and activities. I am the coordinator of Cityserve at our
church, which is easiest explained as a 6-tier focused local outreach ministry. The church assembles to reach those in the
areas of single parents, orphans, prison fellowship, schools, hospitals, and
our city. There were times I was certain things were not going to come
together, and yet, God was faithful. I
had to constantly remind myself that I was only responsible to do the possible;
the impossible was God’s job. The church
had a booth in our local Christmas festival (which ran Friday through Sunday),
we had our church wide serve day that Saturday morning until 1:00, and we had a
float in the local parade Saturday evening.
All of these things were a first, not only for our church, but for me as
well. The day included eight different
ways for our church to serve our city and they all happened
simultaneously. God really showed off
for us and everything went smoothly with no major hiccups. The cool news is that Citymark Church was voted
the overall winners of the parade—a big deal for us float-rookies! I wish all of you could have seen how much
fun we were having. We were able to
touch so many lives as we committed to being the hands and feet of Jesus. I am still in amazement that it all worked
out, even when it looked like there was no way it would. Looking back, it doesn’t even make sense how
it all came together; that’s how I know it was all God!
Part of our outreach
was to love on a group of foster children with an ice cream social and giving
them backpacks filled to the rim with necessities and gifts. My friend Veronica led this team to great
success! It was so fun to watch. This Cityserve project followed the weekend
after the church-wide event because of scheduling conflicts. Therefore, during the church-wide serve day, teams
loaded the backpacks for the children and were even able to pack several extra
for the facility to give out to future incoming children. Then the ice cream party was the following
weekend. During these two weeks. We witnessed miracle-after-miracle, but it was
a specific event working up to the ice cream party that really impacted me and brought
me to tears. Veronica was working with
some local vendors asking them to donate ice cream but was struggling to get commitments. However, the day before the party they all
came through for her, and it was amazing.
The ice cream had to be picked up Saturday morning so it took a few
people to drive to each location collecting it all. These vendors went above and beyond and
provided not only ice cream, but bowls, toppings, cones, etc… When someone from our church went to one of
the stores to collect, the owner asked if he and his daughter could serve with
us—I have goose bumps just typing that.
They were moved so much by the initiative that they felt called to join
in! It was amazing to see them there serving
the children. I believe they were
blessed in return when they saw the joy on the kid’s faces as they enjoyed the
ice cream they personally donated then helped actually serve to them. There are few words to explain the awe and
wonder of watching God at work—but outrageous generosity comes to mind!
Now, in the
midst of all of this greatness going on, satan was determined to get in the way
and mess things up…again! He was clearly
having no luck affecting our church and God’s plan for us, so he decided to
attack my husband and I personally.
First let me say this; God has been working on my husband and I with
some financial obedience lately. We have
had some hard lessons, but the blessings that have accompanied these lessons
have far outweighed the uncomfortable times.
My car was in the shop having some warranty work done so my husband gave
me his car and he drove the loaner car, which happened to be a brand new Chevy Camaro. I know, I know, what a sacrificial giver he
is! The day he was to return the car and
pick up mine he stopped to fill up the tank and when leaving the gas station
was broadsided by a car he did not see coming.
The other car hit him directly on the driver’s side door. He had to crawl out the passenger side just
to get out of the car. He calls me from
the side of the road:
Steve: “I am ok. I have been in a significant car crash, but I
am ok. I am standing outside of the car,
and I am ok. I think the car is totaled,
but I am ok.”
Me:
“Are you sure you’re ok?”
Clearly this is a man who knows his wife very well and knows
just how to tell her bad news. Though I
believe satan meant for this to be a mountain for us to try to climb over
unsuccessfully, God was able to turn it into a minor stumbling block that we
have been able to step over. We will
probably have to pay a deductible, which is going to hurt right here at
Christmas, but God has got this. We have
been able to navigate through this with very little stress or worry, which is a
huge miracle! Oh, and the good news…God
spared our personal property from damage and Steve sustained no injury!
Just to make
this story even crazier, when Steve was asked to preach at Citymark a few weeks
ago, he spoke on this exact incident.
Here is how it happened. Our
pastor called Steve on a Thursday evening and asked him if he could preach the
following Sunday. In his sermon he
actually talks about a car wreck and not looking back through the rear view
mirror but to focus through the windshield where God can make change in your
life—how prophetic.
Well, check out minute 17:00 – 19:00 of this video link (or
watch the whole thing):
After this, I told him to preach of lottery winnings from now
on!
What satan means for harm, God can
and will use for good if we will let Him in.
“You intended
to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done,
the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).
It is amazing
to watch the hands of God at work right before your eyes. God wants to do amazing things for each of us
every day, we just have to get out of the way and allow Him access to our
heart. What miracle do you need
today? What miracle is God waiting to
bestow upon you that you are missing because of stubbornness or lack of
faith. Let’s get out of God’s way today
and watch Him do great things in and through us.
Here is my man bringing God's word to our church family! I sure love hearing him preach.
No comments:
Post a Comment