Well Worn

A friend loves at all times. ~Proverbs 17:17

A blog I ran across recently asked What do you love? One of the answers made me smile.

old abandoned buildings and barns













Me too!! They are beautiful, wouldn’t you agree? Think of the life they once contained. The homes spilling over with holiday cheer, back yard weddings, late nights brimming with laughter, countless meals celebrated. And the barns…baby animals born each spring, tools to tend and harvest, games of hide and seek in the lofts.

If only walls could talk! Oh to hear stories of when they stood the test of time, sheltering those within from being…

Pelted by the rains.
Burned by the sun.
Blown by the winds.
Beat up by life.















I admire these structures. Even after all the years of weathering the elements, protecting those within, these buildings beautifully offer…

A roof for shelter.
Walls of sanctuary.
A firm foundation to stand on.
Windows from which to gaze and dream.
A place of refuge from the pelting, burning, blowing, beating.

And so, I ask myself, What do I love?

I love my relationships that are so like these sweet, weathered buildings. I love my friendships that are full of life, laughter, love. Vibrant with cheer, celebrations and care. I love my companions who weather life with me, beautifully offering…

Shelter when rains fall.
Sanctuary when I’m burned.
Foundations to stand on when the winds blow.
Hope to gaze ahead and dream for me when I can’t dream for myself.
And a place of refuge when the pelting, burning, blowing, and beating come.

Oh, and I love old abandoned buildings and barns too!

Have Mercy

Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great. ~2 Samuel 24:14
LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. ~Habakkuk 3:2

Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. ~1 Kings 8:28

Who knew a lawnmower would be a tool of mercy?

I didn't until my grass was knee-high forcing me to drop to my knees. Many times in prayer. And several with my scissors.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back up....

I moved into my home when the weather had the potential of snow. Lawn care was the furthest thing from my mind! Late winter rolled into early spring rolled into the dog days of summer. Along with crickets and dusk at 9, summer gave birth to revived grass. Grass that didn't get the memo this girl did not own a lawnmower. Nor did she or her roomie have money to buy one.

So, what's a girl to do who lives surrounded by neighbors who can afford manicured lawn care? A girl breaks out her Fiskars of course! And when her hands are too blistered to continue cutting her grass with said handy scissors she goes to a yard sale (in case you're interested in giving this method a whirl, a square foot takes around 15 minutes). At said yard sale, she buys an ancient avocado green hedge trimmer. Brings it home. Connects every extenstion cord she owns (that'd be a whopping grand total of 2). Hacks the now nearly waist-high weeds, er ... grass, in the 25 foot radius her extension cords reach. And soaks her blistered, and now throbbing, hands in hot water. Have mercy.

Oh, and did I mention she avoids the persistent phone calls from her landlords reminding her of the lease which requires proper mowing, edging, trimming, and leaf blowing? The landlords who live three doors down with a bird's eye view of her yard. Have mercy.

And so she sneaks in well after the sun sets to avoid seeing in daylight what she knows is there--tall grass and annoyed neighbors. And then one day [night] she can't belive what her headlights tell her...the front yard is mowed! Mowed, edged, trimmed, raked, blown!! Have mercy!

Some mysterious person gave her the de-luxe lawn care package! To this day, she doesn't know who rescued her from breaking out the scissors and hedge trimmer again. Have mercy.

A month later a friend of a friend gave her an almost new mower. From Sears. With a bag. And blades. That cut a square foot in 5 seconds. Have mercy.

So, what's a girl to do when she receives a new mower? Well, for starters her roommate's dad changes the oil. And her friend's brother cuts the now eye-high grass for her (the backyard hadn't been mowed by Mystery Person.) Have you been outside in the South? In August? At 1 PM? Pushing a mower? Through a jungle? Have mercy!

And when it's all said and done she drops to her knees again; this time scissors and trimmer tucked snugly away in the utility room. She drops to her knees overwhelmed. She drops to her knees amazed. Amazed that she asked for mercy. Amazed that God gave it in so many ways. Have mercy. Mercy, indeed.

I honestly wasn't sure what I was going to do the rest of the summer/fall about my yard. There I stood before the proverbial Red Sea, knowing that unless the Lord parted the grasses (just roll with me here), I had no other way out. Part them He did.

Part them He does.

Sweet Heavenly Father, thank You for the character only You can develop in us as we stand before our "Red Sea," surrounded by the desert, the enemy, a massive impasse, and our own fear. We know You are the only One who can deliver us from the scorching dryness, the evil pursuer, the ocean of impossibilities and ourselves. We place our hope in You, to get us through this difficult season, and thank You for answering our cries for Your mercy. For the glory it will bring Your Name...for Your renown alone, Amen.

I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. ~Psalm 116:1

Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me. ~Psalm 69:16

Resting on the very Word of God

The counsel of the LORD stands forever,the plans of His heart from generation to generation. ~Psalm 33:11

Yesterday I shared how my name was found resting on the name of God: Jehovah-Sabaoth, meaning the Lord of Armies.

In the midst of a lot going on at the conference, the voice of God whispered louder than the collective voices of 600 women attending. Amazing how His whispers to our hearts can drown out the masses.

One sweet whisper was a scripture He gave me from a pile of hundreds of verses.

Proverbs 19:21, Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

This is truth. Not circumstances. Not the journey. Not the outcome. The truth is God's sovereignty prevails. Or one could say His will is superior in strength, power, or influence; triumphant; wins out. God's will is predominant.

For this I am utterly grateful. I'd love to hear your verse from SS, or one that has spoken to your heart recently.

The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps. ~Proverbs 16:9

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. ~Zephaniah 3:17

Resting on the very name of God

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. ~Psalm 46:10

I just returned from a conference that was the efforts of 8 months of planning, a week of schlepping heavy boxes, loading and unloading and re-loading and unloading again trucks, setting up tables, breaking down tables, and 4 days of running up and down corridors of a hotel at the beck and call of 600 women.

Tiring? Yes. Chaotic? Nah. Why? Because the peace of God meanders about us in so many ways. One very special way is a small oasis in the hub-bub: the Prayer Room.

Soft music plays in an otherwise hushed room. Dim lights cast a soft glow on about 20 of the names of God. And each of the 600 names of the women attending and the helper/volunteers rest on one of His names.

Walking from one name to the other, I found myself on the last name of God I looked at and here is where I rested...

Jehovah-Sabaoth: the Lord of Hosts. The Lord of Armies.

The Lord of the hosts of heaven will always fulfill His purposes, even when the hosts of His earthly people fail.

So sweet. Such perfect words for the season I'm in.

If you were there I'd love to hear which name of God you were resting on. Thanks!

Ears to Hear

The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. ~Exodus 33:11

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. ~Matthew 24:25

Mondays tend to be a bit manic. They brim over with a full day's work and evening commitments.

Sweeping in the door around 6 pm this week, I scrammed to freshen up before heading back out. All systems were a go.

Then it came. The pause. The momentum stopper. The exhale.

The sweet nudge from the Holy Spirit – it stops us in our tracks nudging us to ask what's on His heart. "Lord, what do you desire for me to do this evening?"

And I felt Him respond, "Take the night off and go shopping."

"Not at all what I expected, but let's go!" I swiped my day planner clean and sauntered over to one of my favorite stores to mosey around. There that tender tap came again. This time it was to go to a particular grocery store.

Why that one? I rarely shopped there. And I'd just been grocery shopping.

But the directions were specific. Go to that store at 7. Not before. Not after. Right at seven.

Seven o'clock I swung into the parking lot swarming with shoppers loading their cars.

"Excuse me Miss. Excuse me. Do you have a cell phone I can borrow?"

Sweating, hot and tired, a sweet grandma, mom and her baby were locked out of their car without a spare key or phone to call for help. How easy it could have been for them to ask any of the twenty or so people in the parking lot that were there before me. But they asked me.

After she made her call, I figured I'd check out the store while I was there. Oddly enough, the entrance door wouldn't open so I tried the exit door. I didn't get far! One of the workers met me as I tried to enter. "Sorry ma'am, we're closed."

Closed?! What grocery store closes at 7 pm!?

And then it hit me. That's why God asked me to clear my calendar. Meander around for an hour. And visit a completely random grocery store at a very specific time.

To be His hands and feet to the neat family in the parking lot. Not only so, but they were Jesus to me.

Do you ever falter in the security of discerning the Lord’s voice? Whether it's the Lord refining, your flesh, other people's words and actions, or the enemy ... it’s easy to wonder if that voice you hear is you or God. Over the last few months I’ve been tottering on the edge of uncertainty myself. What has seemed so clearly from the Lord has taken some battering blows, making me wonder.

Driving home from the random, closed, grocery store, the presence of God filled my car. And I heard Him say (yes, this time I was sure!), "My daughter, you do hear Me." What a sweet, clear confirmation.

I pray any areas of doubt and insecurity you may be struggling with are defeated at the crossroads of God's divine intervention and your obedience to His voice. May you hear His sweet voice and rest assured that whether you turn to the right or left, you will hear His voice guiding you...speaking to you.

For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. ~John 3:34

A Kind of Rhythm

The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. ~ Psalm 119:130

Jeremiah captures my sentiments exactly when he wrote, “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight.” God’s written Word…I can think of nothing more intimate and amazing. What a tremendous Ebenezer!!

There’s another form of God’s word that stirs within me. His spoken word, through the Holy Spirit. Hearing from the Lord through conversation, prayer, thanksgiving and praise, and petition is so sweet.

The beautiful pairing of knowing the Lord and hearing from Him through His written Word and spoken word is summed up nicely by John Piper:

I don't think there is anything more basic to knowing the supremacy of Christ, loving Him, and obeying Him—and being the church for each other and for the sake of the world—than to hear God speak to us in His Word and then to speak back to Him with the praises and the longings of our hearts.

God has ordained for Himself to be known primarily by the Word. Through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we are enabled to read that book with illumination and let our hearts cry back to Him what we see in it. It becomes a kind of rhythm.

It is absolutely crucial that my prayer be saturated with the Word and that my Bible reading be saturated with prayer, because this is how we commune with God. And this communion of hearing and speaking is what leads to our transformation, which is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian.

Here is an example of that kind of rhythm…

Pray the beatitudes: Father, grant that we would recognize our poverty of spirit. Let us mourn for our sins and not be indifferent or unconcerned for our own soul. Work a meekness into our heart. Grant us to be hungry and thirsty for righteousness. Give us the heart of a peacemaker and a reconciler. Make us pure and keep us pure, O Lord. And if You will for us to be persecuted, give us grace to count it all joy and to remember that our reward is great in heaven (source: www.desiringgod.org).

Worlds Apart

Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy. ~Psalm 99:9

I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. ~Jeremiah 10:23

John Piper's known for saying, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." I like that. And I like this song. To me, it says well what it takes to be most satisfied in Christ.

Worlds Apart
Jars of Clay
(this is the third song on my playlist)

I am the only one to blame for this
Somehow it all ends up the same
Soaring on the wings of selfish pride
I flew too high and like Icarus I collide
With a world I try so hard to leave behind
To rid myself of all but love to give and die

To turn away and not become
Another nail to pierce the skin of One who loves
More deeply than the oceans
More abundant than the tears
Of a world embracing every heartache

Can I be the one to sacrifice
Or grip the spear and watch the blood and water flow

To love You- take my world apart
To need You- I am on my knees
To love You- take my world apart
To need You- broken on my knees

All said and done I stand alone
Amongst remains of a life I should not own
It takes all I am to believe
In the mercy that covers me

Did You really have to die for me?
All I am for all You are
Because what I need and what I believe are worlds apart

I look beyond the empty cross forgetting what my life has cost
And wipe away the crimson stains; dull the nails that still remain
More and more I need You now, I owe You more each passing hour
The battle between grace and pride I gave up not so long ago
So steal my heart and take the pain and wash the feet and cleanse my pride
Take the selfish, take the weak, and all the things I cannot hide
Take the beauty, take my tears; the sin-soaked heart and make it Yours
Take my world all apart, take it now, take it now
And serve the ones that I despise, speak the words I can't deny
Watch the world I used to love fall to dust and thrown away
I look beyond the empty cross forgetting what my life has cost
So wipe away the crimson stains, dull the nails that still remain
So steal my heart and take the pain; take the selfish, take the weak
And all the things I cannot hide; take the beauty, take my tears
Take my world apart, take my world apart
I pray, I pray, I pray…take my world apart

Abraham Samuel

Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow... ~ Isaiah 1:17



It's a boy!!

What?? It can't be! We've only sponsored girls. We're a women's ministry! It makes sense to sponsor a girl!!

That is a rough draft of the converstion that ensued at my work when we received information on the new girl we were sponsoring through Compassion International. For years we had a relationship with, Meri (how much do you love her name!). Late last year God opened the door for us to sponsor a new child as Meri seasoned out of CI's program. When our package came in the mail we were sooo pumped to meet her through her letters, photographs, colorings, and information.

So how surprised were we when Abraham Samuel popped out of our envelope! Well, we didn't hesitate to sponsor Abraham Samuel...and a little girl Johanna! Y'all, she's the sassiest thing ever and we love her!

Yet there is a special fondness in my heart for Abraham. I just love this little fella. One day I'll fully describe how God has uniquely used this boy in a world far away to minister His truths to my heart. Abrahams letters are dear. His background and current situation touches a deep, real place in my heart. I long to play kick ball with him, smell the air he breathes, pour Christ's love out in person, share a meal with his family...share Jesus with his family. And so my heart's cry for the millions of Abrahams and Johannas and Meris, and their families, is best summed up in the ever so eloquent words of...

Paul a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you - that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and tobarbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. ~Romans 1

These blogs are sweet to follow http://compassionbloggers.com/trips

He Surrounds Us

The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety. The High God surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders. Deut. 33:12

I love babies! Holding them just delights my heart. If a baby and I are in the same room, you can know it won’t be long before I’ll be holding it! In fact, it’s so well known amongst my friends that they’ve dubbed me with nicknames such as Baby Velcro, Baby Magnet, and Baby Whisperer to name a few. The last one is a play on the Horse Whisperer, the lady who can calm unruly animals.

That’s me with babies y’all! Hand me a crying baby and within a few minutes they typically calm down and fall asleep. Now, please know this is not boasting…no, no. Jeremiah 9:24 tells us “Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord…”

So that is why I’m going to reveal my top secret formula to quieting inconsolable children. It has a 100% success rate: God. Yep. It’s that simple! Actually, the presence of God through worship.

I wrap the upset baby in a blanket, pick her/him up in my arms, hold them close and start gently singing. There are three songs in my rotation. Within minutes of quietly worshipping the Lord the tender presence of the Holy Spirit is tangible. It is one of the most endearing moments to share with God as His little one becomes still as our awareness of His presence surrounding us grows.

The three songs are each short, sweet and simple and are ones which the Lord and I actually share as “Our Songs”…they are special between Him and me. You may know one of them:

I love You Lord and I lift my voice to worship You
Oh my soul, rejoice

Take joy my King in what You hear
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ears

Just as I sing these over babies, God often sings one of “Our Songs” over me, calming my troubled heart. It happened just this week during a prayer meeting! All week my soul had been crying out to the Lord, inconsolable, upset.

During our prayer time someone started singing…
I love You Lord and I lift my voice to worship You
Oh my soul, rejoice...

…and I became still, my awareness of His presence growing. I felt God wrap me in a blanket of His Love, pick me up in His arms, hold me close and quiet me with His song.

Y’all, as a servant of the Master Baby Whisperer, I am honored He would hold me and sing over me…it was especially sweet that He chose one of “Our Songs.” Calming my fears, soothing my heart and teaching me once again to be still and rest in my knowledge that He is good, faithful, provision, enough. He is our Father. He is our God who surrounds us with songs of deliverance (Psalm 32:7).

With Everything

Love this song! It’s the second one on my playlist.

With Everything
Hillsong

Open our eyes to see the things that make Your heart cry
To be the church that You would desire; Light to be seen

Break down our pride, and all the walls we've built up inside
Our earthly crowns and all our desires, we lay at Your feet

So let hope rise, and darkness tremble in Your holy light
And every eye will see Jesus, our God, Great and mighty to be praised

God of all days, Glorious in all of Your ways
Your majesty, the wonder and grace, in the light of Your name

With everything,with everything
We will shout forth Your glory

With everything, with everything
We will shout forth Your praise

Our hearts, they cry
Be glorified
Be lifted high
Above all names
For You our King
With everything
We will shout forth Your praise

Believe and See

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. ~Hebrews 11:3

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. ‘Oh, my lord, what shall we do?’ the servant asked. ‘Don't be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ‘O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ~2 Kings 6:15-17

“The Bible assumes as a self-evident fact that men can know God with at least the same degree of immediacy as they know any other person….We apprehend the physical world by exercising the faculties given us for that purpose, and we possess spiritual faculties by means of which we can know God and the spiritual world if we will obey the Spirit’s urge and begin to use them. God and the spiritual world are real. We can reckon upon them with as much assurance as we reckon upon the familiar world around us. Spiritual things are there (or rather we should say here) inviting our attention and challenging our trust.” ~A.W. Tozer

Here is one such example…

Excerpted from On Call, a missionary autobiography by Dr. David Thompson. It takes place in Cambodia in the early 1950s during the French-Indochina War.

We had been in Kratie for perhaps a year. French troops were garrisoned in the city because it was a provincial capital. One day the French commander received secret information that a large force of rebels was going to attack the French rubber plantations outside of the town of Snoul, 80 kilometers away. Confident that his information was correct, the commander loaded his troops on trucks and raced to Snoul, hoping to surprise the rebels. The purported attack never materialized. It was a rebel trick.

The actual plan was for a rebel force of about 2000 to attack Kratie where we lived. As dusk fell…Father and Mother prayed. God had not brought them to Kratie to be destroyed before they had done the work they were sent to do.

I remember having to stay under the bed with my sister while Dad and Mom knelt and prayed. As Dad told it, around 2 a.m. a white flare lit up the square. The attack started soon after.

Bullets flew everywhere. Suddenly, a red flare shot up and burned briefly in the night sky. The shooting tapered off. In the morning there was no sign of the rebels and nobody understood why the rebels had abandoned the attack. The French commander returned later that day from Snoul and was surprised to find the city intact.

In 1955 the French granted independence to Cambodia, returning power to the king of Cambodia. The king promised amnesty to all the rebels who would turn in their weapons and pledge allegiance to him-some of the rebels were communists. On the announced day, the provincial rebels came by the thousands to the town square and stacked their weapons in a great pile. There were speeches and ceremonies all day. Towards the middle of the day the retiring French commander asked Dad to translate for him while he spoke to the rebel commander. After introductions, the commander asked the rebel leader, “Why did you not take the city the night we were diverted to Snoul, leaving Kratie defenseless?”

The rebel commander seemed surprised by the question. He remembered the night very well, he said, and suggested that the French commander was mistaken, for when the rebels attacked Kratie they were confronted by thousands of French soldiers. There were troops everywhere-more than he had seen at any other time during the war! Since the rebel force numbered only 2000 men, they had decided to flee!

With Dad interpreting, the French commander and the rebel leader argued about the events of that night. Only Dad understood what had happened: the army of the Lord had saved us. God’s angels had appeared as French soldiers in such great number that the rebels withdrew. (pp 17-19)

Believe in God; believe also in me [Jesus]. ~John 14:1

In Full

“…like streams of water in the desert…” ~Isaiah 32:2

And I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, Who calls you by your name. ~Isaiah 45:3

I’d like to sing a simple song of love to my Jesus, about my Savior. How He held me in His arms, even when I was unaware.

Sometime in 2008 the Lord spoke to me, “Sweetheart, you’re going to be completely debt free by the end of this year.” My eyebrows rose, along with my doubt and fear.

You see, I had gall bladder surgery and between that and a ton of pre-op procedures, my bills were excessive. So much so that I was still paying on them five years later.

I also had incurred three credit card debts. Even if I scrimped on everything, didn’t eat, and walked everywhere (not buying gas), there was not enough money left over each month to pay off my hospital and credit card bills by the end of the year.

The months went by and I chiseled away bit by bit, paying off two cards, but still having my hospital bill and one card looming over me. The end of the year was fast approaching, and thankfully my last car payment was in October. But even with that additional money for the months of November and December, I wouldn’t have enough to totally pay off my debt, unless God intervened…

And intervened He did! My car loan was through a credit union and set up to automatically withdraw from my checking account from another bank twice a month. So come November, I only had a small amount left to pay at the beginning of the month and then I’d be paid in full. Much to my surprise, the regular full payment came out, not the little bit remaining on my balance!

Disappointed, thinking I had mistaken how much I owed, I called the credit union. “Could you please tell me my balance owed on my car payment?” The credit union confirmed I was paid in full. They were baffled as to why they had withdrawn so much money from my checking account. While looking into it, the teller asked if I wanted to know my balance in my savings account. I had opened a savings account with $25 in order to get my car loan, but have never made another deposit, so I assumed with interest I may have $30.

Oh was I wrong! There was more than enough money in my savings account to pay off my massive hospital bill!! How could this be??? I had never ever deposited more than the original $25! The next day I went into the credit union to transfer my savings money to my checking account to pay my hospital bill. The teller asked how much I wanted to take out and I asked my balance once more. Y’all, it was even more than I was told the previous day!!

No one behind the counter or in the entire loan department could figure out where this money had come from. There was no record of me making a deposit…ever. They said it just had always been there as far as they knew. Wow! The Lord tells us He has treasures in darkness. Mysteries that only He can reveal! Truly, this was one of them.

Flabbergasted, I went to work later that day only to be handed a bonus check. Do you know how much it was for? The exact amount I needed to pay off my credit card!!!

As I called the hospital to pay my bill in full, I was surprised once again! The sweet lady whom I’ve paid for the past five years told me my balance and it was much less than I had thought! I asked her if she was certain, and of course she was! She’d been deducting my payments herself all this time! And sure enough, the same was true of my credit card bill as well! I owed less than I thought! Y’all, when the lady at Visa told me I was paid in full, I burst into tears. The simple love of Jesus, His fulfilled promises, the deep streams in the desert I waded in, were all too much for my heart. I was truly overwhelmed by the goodness of God. He fulfilled His promise of me being debt-free by the end of the year. I paid off my debt in December of 2008.

One last sweet thing. Gifts is my number one love language. Wanting to be diligent paying my bills, I anticipated not being able to spend money on Christmas presents last year. However, with the Lord providing for my hospital and credit card bill, I had money to buy presents for my family and friends! What a gift to me from God Almighty!! I pray you hear the promises of the Lord for you this year and remember that He has secret storehouses reserved just for you...treasures hidden in darkness that are yours from your Good Provider.

Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise… ~ Daniel 2:20-23