Are We Really Ready To Be Astonished?

I have really enjoyed having my mornings back! I started walking in the mornings before everyone wakes up in our house about a month ago. It's been great, because I get to have that solid time with God. As much as I miss snuggling with my amazing husband until the last possible second and the sound of diapers and pull-ups rustling with the pitter patter of little feet running into our bedroom in the morning, I have really enjoyed getting that quiet in my mind to start the day!

While I love it for myself, a lot of that time is spent praying for a lot of other people that God lays on my heart. A lot of other people who really need God to intervene and give them a miracle in what seems to be a hopeless situation. Yesterday morning, I was moved to tears praying for a certain one and I found myself pleading with God to give this person the miracle that they so desperately need. I said to God, " Please God, just give them their miracle, astonish your people and the people of this world." As soon as I said that, I heard the Holy Spirit say, " My people are not ready to be astonished." I was like, whoa...what? Wait. What do you mean God? Of course we are. We want to see You do the amazing and the miraculous. You know what I'm saying if  you are on any kind of journey! We need God to prove Himself and astonish us everyday!

After my walk this morning, I got a little more clarity regarding this. On our journey, God continues to astonish us, but with that comes a great price and a great reward. To explain, after this year, God has revealed so much truth and given us so much growth that we can't and don't want to go back. In other words, we are now accountable for that truth and that growth and it's almost impossible to go back to where we were. We can no longer be who we were a year ago because of God astonishing us. It's a great and amazing thing, but not easy. You get my point? I believe that's what God is saying. We may think we are ready to be astonished by God, but if we are, we better be ready to change and hold true to that change in our lives. Some of us, including me, may not be ready for that kind of accountability, but I know how God gets us there!

Faith. Belief. In our journey and pretty much every story of the miraculous in the Bible we have had to believe first and then the astonishing or the manifestation of that faith and belief starts coming to pass. My body is not perfect...yet. But I wake up every morning and say, " Thank You God that I have perfect health." That's my faith and then God chooses to prove Himself to me as I go.

It's an endless cycle...first we have to learn to have faith, walk in it, God proves Himself and then we are hooked, we can't stop believing Him! It's pretty incredible.

Romans 4:20-21, " Yet he (Abraham) did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God (in my case, perfect health and restoration), but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised."

God astonished Abraham and if you read Abraham's story, he could never go back to where he was. So if you are looking for God to intervene and He hasn't yet, there could be a multitude of reasons why, but if you are like me, you look everywhere else but within yourself to see if there's a problem!

Ask yourself in all honesty, am I ready to be astonished? Am I ready to change from the inside out in order to receive my miracle? Am I ready to completely submit to the Holy Spirit in order to receive those promises? Because I know the Word of God and He Himself to be true, I'm pretty sure once we can answer these questions, He will astonish us and we will be ready.

The Black Stool...A Chance to Step Out

This is the first opportunity since my last post to really sit down and write! Our sweet little Sammy turned 3 this past Friday! So we had lots to do all week to get ready for his big day and his birthday party. It was a ton of fun and we are so blessed to have him!

Last Wednesday was another one of our incredible worship nights. We have been celebrating Black History month and we did this by having a whole set of high praise with a mass choir and a brass section. It was awesome, powerful and a lot of fun! Originally I wasn't supposed to be on the stage for the first part of the night, just for the middle section where I was going to be singing along more and able to sit and not exert so much energy. HOWEVER, God had some different plans for me that night.

I ended up being up the whole time and not just that...this time...I was able to sing all the high praise songs and the rest of the night and I STOOD THE WHOLE TIME!!! The first ETS (Engage the Spirit, that's what we call those nights) I sat the whole time while on stage. The 2nd one I did, it was about half and half and now to get to this one and for God to give me the strength and the ability to do this was so amazing. A miracle wouldn't you say?

The biggest miracle that night to me was when it was my turn to sing with our main worship leader that night. I usually stay pretty close to my little black stool, just in case. Well, that night, God pushed me to the front with our worship leader, farther away from that black stool than I have been in a long time. And I hardly even thought about it in the moment and then afterwards is when it hit me! I stepped out...I obeyed and God took care of. I didn't allow fear and doubt to control that moment. The Holy Spirit did and victory came!

Psalm 138:3, " When I called, You answered me; You made me bold and brave." The stool isn't my crutch anymore...Jesus is and I'd say He is a lot more stable. It's so hard to change our thinking and our patterns. What or Who we depend on.

Challenge: If there is a black stool in your life, try and and step a little further away and see what God has for you. Do you trust Him?

Why yes, Parker, you do have SUPER POWERS!

Our sweet, fun-loving 4 year old, Parker made an incredible decision to ask Jesus into his heart for the very first time while we were on vacation in Alabama. Thursday, January 24th to be exact! Chad and I couldn't be prouder of him. He started asking all of these really serious questions and then by bedtime that night he prayed with Chad and I and made, what we would classify as his first actual decision to have Jesus in his life. Now, we get the fact that he might get saved about 20 more times by the time he hits middle school but this was his first decision where we could tell he understood and truly meant it. So exciting!

Anyway, as the next couple of days were unfolding, Parker was asking me all kinds of questions and one of those was, " Mommy, do I have super powers with Jesus in my heart?". I had to stop for a minute so I could answer carefully...I didn't want him to start flying off of buildings and doing all things superhero, you know what I'm saying LOL! As I stood there God's Word started stirring in me and this is what came to mind. Joel 3:10, " Let the weak say, ' I am strong'." So I said to Parker well actually yes, Parker, you do have super powers! I began to explain God's Word and how it works and how all of God's promises are real to us and how we are stronger when we have Jesus and how we can do all things through Him who strengthens us and on and on. What an amazing conversation to have with your 4 year old!

This week, both boys have had fevers for a couple of days(both fine now), Chad was in bed sick yesterday and I started thinking about how when everybody in the house gets sick, somehow, Mommy never does! It's amazing, it's hilarious, our super powers of immunity totally kick in and we just do what has to be done. Now I'm not stupid, I know it's totally God and His grace that keeps us in those times. I know it's the Holy Spirit who is my ultimate Helper because of my submission to Him.

I started exercising two weeks ago. Walking everyday for 30 minutes. For those of you who know our journey, this is an absolute miracle! Talk about the weak being strong. I am so motivated by God that some mornings I am up before the sun, now that's the real miracle!

If we access God's Word, we have His power and authority on our lives. Let me say it one more time, if we access God's Word, we have His power and authority on our lives. So yes, we have super powers or rather supernatural powers...we just got to use them!