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Sunday, February 24, 2008

AWESOME ANSWERS!!!

So many times, we take things for granted; like our health. With so many people coming down with colds and the flu (my kids included) I just wanted to take a break to praise God that I haven’t gotten anything!! I hope that I will be spared from catching my kids’ colds and that God would continue to keep me healthy - so I can keep up with everything!! My prayers go out to all of you who are battling illness or injury. May God’s blessings and healing be with you as you recover.

So, since our kids were sick, our plans for church changed a little today. We were both scheduled to give blood at the blood drive at church today. So, Mitch went first and I stayed home with the kids. Then, I went to church when he came home.

Today’s blood donation experience was rather pleasant!! As many of you may know from reading my past blogs, I usually have a difficult time of giving blood - if I even get to at all!! Often times, my iron is one point low and I get turned away. Or, once I give, I get nauseous, dizzy, etc. and just take FOREVER! However, today was a GREAT day!! I was one point above the minimum (praise God!) and gave my pint in an all new record for myself: eleven minutes lol. So, I was also excited because being so quick, I could still catch the last half of the service and hear the message. However, this was one of those Sundays in which they chose to switch it up. They did the message FIRST and THEN the worship time. So,…. sorry peeps!! I will have to wait until they upload the audio on the church website, for me to listen to, before I can blog about it. Anyways, that’s ok, because I never did get around to blogging about last week’s message (which I will blog about once I finish THIS blog lol). By the way, feel free to listen to any of the past sermons I have blogged about on the church website!! Chad’s parable of the sower series (entitled “Noise”) is now on the site in its entirety!! If you liked my blogs on that, you’ll love to hear Chad preaching it!

Ok,….anyways…..I got a little bit more to say today because after church, I went to a prayer appreciation lunch. Members of the prayer team all gathered together for lunch, sharing, and prayer. It was great because Kim, Alicia, and Chris all shared about the vision, goals, and experiences of the prayer team and how they hoped God was going to grow us in the many different areas! I just can’t wait to see what else God will do in peoples’ lives and I‘m happy to be a part of the team!!

One of the high points of the lunch was when Kim had a family testify about the power of prayer and the greatness of God through their tough times; as well as the better times that followed. They had stepped out in faith and moved to Life Church’s sister church when we did a church plant a few years ago. They were also going through some tough medical circumstances with their son who was at Riley Hospital and getting surgeries for Spina Bifida. They were wondering how they were going to be able to pay for all their bills and miraculously, they said that God found a way and when they got their bills, they were ZERO!! She thought there must have been some mistake, but no. The doctor (who is a believer as well) had their costs reduced and then, the hospital eventually just wrote everything off. AMAZING!! God sure does provide and He always makes a way!!

He also made a way for them to adopt a special needs child; a child with Spina Bifida just like their son. The biological parents already had two children and they didn’t want a third. They had considered abortion, but then decided not to go through with it. Then, when they found out that the baby was going to have disabilities, they considered it once again (yeah, that just made me cringe and want to vomit!). But, they decided they couldn’t because it was too expensive to get one and they would have to go out-of-state to get a partial birth abortion (I know… the thought is horrifying!). I just thank GOD that even though that these parents are believers, God saved this child and found a new family for this precious little girl that we got the pleasure of seeing at this prayer lunch today!! It was just amazing to see how God orchestrated the whole thing, saved the baby, and provided a grant to the family to adopt since the child has special needs. God just took care of everything!!

These were just some of the many blessings that I was privileged to hear about today!! I am just so thankful that through prayer, we can move the hand of God!! I too have seen MANY answers to prayer in my life and in the lives of others that I pray for, as well as the people who tell me their “God-stories“. It would take me DAYS to tell you about them all!!

I’m eager to see more answers to prayer, which is why I’m going to mention a few requests right now. Of course, I am still requesting prayer for Haley Chaney. She is making amazing progress considering her brain injuries, and will be entering rehab soon. You can find her updates on her care page (you will have to register to view it). But, to briefly update you, she is trying hard to sit up, stand, and even WALK! She isn’t talking yet, but she is making motions and gestures. She is just amazing everyone with that determined and willful spirit of hers!! She is a living breathing miracle!! Continue to pray for healing and her progress and that she would be completely restored!! She and the Chaney family greatly appreciate your prayers!!

Also, continue to pray for Alyssa Shutt and her family (Alyssa was the one driving the car). She’s having an especially rough time emotionally. This whole community has just been hit really hard. A lot of our youth have been suffering lately. I think Satan is desperately trying to silence and oppress the young generation that is rising up against him and that is why so many of our youth are being afflicted. Well, Jesus is Lord in our community!! Satan, you are not welcome here and we are praying against you!! You can’t touch this!! :P We will not be silenced, torn apart, or destroyed!! We are united in prayer and love!!

I also have a request that Chris brought up before the people at the lunch. A little boy named Alex has leukemia and his brother, Samuel, is going to provide him with the bone marrow transplant this Friday. So, be in prayer for that. I guess Chris also said that their father had died from leukemia. So, they have been through a lot already.

I also have two unnamed requests. One is the one that I brought up in a blog previously (which I don’t have any updates or progress on as of right now). And, the other one is another request of GREAT importance!!! I can’t mention specifics, but just pray for God’s provision, healing, and just for God to do MIRACLES!! God has brought about much progress recently, but much more prayer is needed!! So, I thank you for being in prayer about these urgent requests!! If circumstances get better and allow me to reveal the nature of these requests, I will be sure to disclose it and let you know what your prayers have done!!

And, my final request is that you be in prayer for Mike Huckabee today. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, a bunch of people have been rallying for prayer for Mike today. So, please remember him in your prayers!! I don’t care what anyone says about his “chances.” Republican nomination or not, he STILL gets my vote; even if it comes down to a write-in!! None of us have to compromise our principles and vote for someone who doesn’t represent whole-heartedly what we believe in!! We STILL have a voice!! Please, pray hard for him and that God would just amaze everyone by making a way for Mike to become president!! There is NO ONE better suited for the job. There is NO OTHER CANDIDATE that is 100% pro-life, pro-marriage/family, pro-faith and freedom, etc. (and he ALWAYS has been!! He has NEVER wavered, flip-flopped his beliefs, or changed his position right before running for election…..unlike McCain….please read his contradictions for yourself at the link provided).

Anyways, I’m thankful for all that God has done, is doing, and WILL do!! Prayer is awesome!! It really does wonders!! Let’s all keep tapping into God’s power so that we can keep seeing his awesome answers and miracles!! Keep praying and keeping the faith everyone!!! God bless you!!

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