Let the Healing Begin

The first few days I was home I felt great.  My mom is a nurse so I had my own private one.  She made sure in between meds via the phone that I was breathing deeply on my triflow, coughing until it hurt, and walking several laps around the house.  On the third and fourth day I was feeling the effects of a not so happy tummy and a fever that came in the evening.  I could not seem to get warm and lived between a blanket and laps around the house.  My poor husband worked himself to a frazzle taking care of me and would absolutely fall out at night.

Getting out of bed was a chore since I was getting up every couple of hours and I was afraid I was going to rip wide open. Also, I am a belly sleeper and sleeping on my side was yucky!  Every little thing I did pulled on my tummy muscles.  I could not believe I had been using my tummy muscles all this time to blow my nose.  It was crazy!

The second week,on Friday night, I noticed that my incision was oozing between my staples.  That didn't bother me I felt like it must have been something that needed to come out.  I just started placing gauze and bandages over it to keep it sterile.  On Saturday night a stream of something started to ooze and I started to become very concerned.  At 11:00 P.M. I did not want to alarm my mom who would have gone willd.  Tim convinced me to contact my recovery nurse who had been checking on me and she suggested I called the doctor just for safety purposes.  I really didn't want to go to the E.R. because the next day was Sunday and I didn't want Tim to have to miss church or be up all night and then have to preach.  So, I called the doctor who was so sleepy it was not a big deal to him.  He told me just to watch it and if it was still draining a lot on Sunday to call him.  I changed dressings about once every hour and was exhausted the next morning. 

At 4:00 A.M. Sunday morning Tim makes trip to get more bandages and gauze.  I had used a box of 25 overnight and feared I would not have enough until he returned from church.  He returned with lots of bandages and concern about leaving me.  I assured him I would be ok.  I ended up telling mom what was going on only to be sent my little brother to baby sit me.  LOL!  He was so sleepy I watched him sleep. 

God moved that morning that let Tim and I both know everything was going to be ok and he was free to go and preach.  I lay in bed very drowsy as he got ready for church.  A sermon came over the television entitled "The Woman With the Issue of Blood."  Through that message God gave my husband and I both a peace.  He prayed with me, we chatted about the message, he went to church, and I had no more oozing to the extreme measure.  Look at God! 

The next Tuesday I had a doctors appointment.  I had developed a siroma which is a pocket of fluid that didn't absorb which is quite common during abdominal surgery.  That is the main reason the doctor didn't want to cut me because he said that often happens whereas that is not something that usually occurs with the laproscopic procedure.  He informed me that he had to cut me because my uterus was the size of a large cantelope and weighed two pounds.  The normal size is the size of ones fist.  That day the nurse opened my incision and literally squeezed the extra juices out of me.  Thank God I didn't feel a thing because I was still numb around my incision.  Then, she packed my open wound with saline and gauze.  She told Tim to watch her and he could do it when we got home.  He felt very uncomfortable so we opted to get a home health nurse. 

Much to my surprise insurance only paid for 3 days of services.   On the day of the tornados the nurse was caught between storms and could not make it. I knew Tim was not quite ready to take on such a big task.  I prayed about it and asked God to work it out.  The next morning after the first round of storms mom called and said she would come to take care of my incision.  God is just AWESOME like that!  Mom used to work the surgical floor at Huntsville Hospital. She came to fill me in. Hahaha (literally)!  Two days later the home health nurse returned to train and watch Tim to make sure he could fulfill the task.  He was great!  He has been stuffing me like a build-a-bear every since.  My incision is almost closed and I'm feeling stronger each day.  I am hoping to be able to do a few more things like picking up more than five pounds and lotioning my own feet after my next appointment on Tuesday. 

I am blessed to have a marvelous husband who took on many task like cooking and caring for a patient.  He has never once complained and even told me when I am well he will do more chores than before to help me out.  This journey that we have been on has taught me to be still and know that He is God and there is none like Him.  I knew it before but now I really know it.  We never know what for better or for worse will be but we vowed to be there through it all. I'm thankful that even through the uncomfortable spots my partner never left me in the fire (Fireproof).  He stood strong for me even when he was feeling weak.   Finally, I have learned that God has purpose in everything that He allows to occur in our lives.  Don't question....... just know that "All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose."  I don't know what is written in the next chapter of my life but I do know that I've been blessed to be a blessing and I'm annointed for such a times as this.  I know God has healed me because there is a great assignment on my life that I needed to be whole to fulfil. 

Thanks you for all the prayers, visits, flowers, gifts, cards, messages, meals, money and time that you gave to us during this time of healing.  Each one was greatly appreciated and we love each one of you!  Remember whatever you are experiencing you can heal from it but you absolutely must trust God! Phillipians 4:13 says,  "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

There is Nobody Greater

I have been on a journey for the past few months and I finally am well enough to journel about it.  I am reminded of the song entitled "Nobody Greater by Vashawn Mitchell."  This song has become somewhat an anthem for my life.  I am a witness that with all the people that are on the earth there is NOBODY GREATER than my Heavenly Father.  The lyrics are as follows:

 [Verse 1:]I climbed up to the highest mountain
Looked all around, couldn't find nobody
Went down into the deepest valley
Looked all around down there, couldn't find nobody
I went across the deep blue sea
Couldn't find one to compare... to Your grace, Your love, Your mercy
Nobody greater, nobody greater than You

[Chorus:]
Searched all over, couldn't find nobody
I looked high and low, still couldn't find nobody
Nobody greater, nobody greater no, nobody greater than You
Searched all over, couldn't find nobody
I looked high and low, still couldn't find nobody
Nobody greater, nobody greater, nobody greater than You

[Verse 2:]
Nobody can heal, like you can
Oh Most Holy One, You are the Great I Am
Awesome in all Your ways and mighty is Your hand
You are He who carried out redemption's plan
You are He who carried out redemption's plan

If you have never heard this song I admonish you to go to you tube and listen to it.  It is life changing.  For the past eight years my doctor has been completing routine testing on my female organs monitoring a condition I had called endometrial hyperplasia. Endometrial Hyperplasia is a thickening of the lining of the uterus.  In the month of November following a D&C my doctor informed me that my cells were now changing and surgery was needed.  He assured me that I didn't have cancer but that if we didn't act appropriately the cells would turn cancerous.  I was prepared to go to surgery in December but things didn't work out that way and I am so glad.  God is a master planner!  I was trying to figure things out but He had already worked them out for my good. 

To my suprise my doctor referred me to an Oncology Gynocologist.  This as the enemy would have it startled me a bit because he (my doctor) made a big deal about the fact that there was no cancer present. If that is the case, why is he referring me to an oncologist?  I found myself heading to a doctors appointment in the very location I had to take my father just a few years ago for chemotherapy and he is no longer with me.  Yet, I decided I had to put my big girl smile on and do what was needed to be done.  I entered the oncologist's office in early December spent 3 hours there and left knowing that the surgery would be on February 15th, there was a 56% chance cancer could be present, I would have laproscopic robotic surgery but they may also have to cut me, they would check my lymph nodes during surgery and if cancer was present he would remove them, I would begin chemo and radiation soon after and depending on how I was feeling I would be out of work approximately two to six weeks.  Whew!  Thank God He had prepared me to know that there is Nobody Greater and He has my whole life planned out.  All I have to do is trust in Him!

Needless to say, I was not fearful and actually excited about the surgery because God let me know in my spirit that everything was going to be all right.  Is that saying that everything would go well? Is that saying that I would not die on the table or have complications?  No! It's saying that I had decided that whatever God wants to do with my life He can.  It is His!  I gave it to Him to do what He wills to do with it and whatever state I am in I am at peace.  (Thank you Lord for your delivering power!)

February 15th arrived and my loving husband and  mother were right by my side.  Mom brought the prayer team (her pastor and his wife) and we shared a joyous time while I awaited my opportunity. Mom's pastor even commented that I needed to get off that bed and go home there was nothing wrong with me.  That is just a testimony of how good and marvelous my God is.  We can be falling apart but there is a peace that can't be explained.  I don't know about you but I love him more today than I did on yesterday.  He gets sweeter!  My scheduled time of slicing was 1:00 P.M. but that didn't happen.  The surgery took place finally and  I awoke to a nice little pain pump in my hand and a cozy hospital room around 10:30 P.M.  I justed wanted them to let me sleep.  Tim spent the night watching me from a very uncomfortable seat and he sent mom home which I later found she wasn't too happy about.  :) After I realized I wasn't in pain I layed the pump aside and napped in between the nurse and tech visits. 

The next morning the doctor arrived and said he planned to fast track me and send me home that day.  I didn't even spend 24 hours in the hospital and they are sending me home.  That's what I call drive by surgery.  I walked although I was very dizzy from the meds, I tinkled, and I went home with 21 staples, a toy to blow on, and a smile. 

Faith Produces Miracles - Part 4

Let’s look at:  1^st Kings 17:15-16

II.  Unlikely Abundance

This woman must have recognized that Elijah was trustworthy and not ordinary. She’s in the presence of a man that is so blessed by God that He sends him carryout twice a day.  She must have seen blessing all over him.  In her hopeless situation, her faith produced her miracle. 

She prepared the cake, and Elijah sat down to eat it -- there was enough to go around for all three of them. The next day she looked and there was a little more cornmeal in her bowl. And there was a little more oil. She thought she remembered using it all up, but now there’s more. So she uses it and makes another little cake, and the three of them eat it. And day by day by day, God continued to provide for them. 

For over two years, Elijah, the widow, and her son were fed on a faith produced miracle. When everyone around them was struggling to get by, they had their needs met by God. It wasn’t a feast, it wasn’t steak and potatoes, but it is was food, and God was providing. God has a marvelous way of taking care of us. Sometimes God uses miraculous ways, and sometimes not. But he has always taken care of his people. Paul said it best in Philippians 4:19, "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus."

It is our faith that produces miracles in our lives.  God has unlikely sources, unlikely people, and unlikely abundance waiting to bless us. Elijah had to follow God’s step by step process.  He had to:

       A. Tell the truth 

   B. Hear God   

C. Obey God

      D. Move with Go

         then he & others were   

            E.  Sustained by God

Faith Produces Miracles - Part 3

Let’s look at:  1^st Kings 17:8-14. 

II.  Unlikely People

Faith Produces Miracles!  Like a faithful servant Elijah does exactly what God has told him to do.  He makes the dangerous journey to Zarephath.  When he got there, he did not find a scene of comfort or abundance. The first widow he saw was on the brink of starvation. But he knew what God had said to him–the widow had been assigned to sustain him.  Have you ever heard the voice of the Lord and obeyed exactly what He said to do, but it seemed like you must have missed what God said, because what you found yourself in the midst of did not seem like a blessed place?  That’s where Elijah finds himself.  He leaves a dry place expecting to find blessing and ends up in another dry place. Hmmm! "By the way, Elijah, I’ve arranged room and board for you. I’ve picked out a poor woman who is about to starve to death. She’ll take care of you." If Zarephath didn’t make sense, that made even less sense.

Paul said in 1^st Corinthians 1:27 “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”  God always wants us to keep on the forefront of our minds that without Him we can do nothing. But, through Christ we can do all things.  No, it does not make since to our natural minds that God would send Elijah to be sustained by a starving widow who is preparing her last meal.  However, we can’t possibly process within our finite minds such a mighty and infinite God.

As Elijah approaches the city gates, he finds this woman gathering sticks. As she explains, she is going to gather a couple of sticks and cook her last meal, and then she and her son will die.

Elijah does what seems to be a very cruel thing. He says to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.” You take your very last bit of food, give it to me, then you can have what’s left over.

That seems cruel. And yet Elijah is acting according to the Word of God. God told him to go up to Zarephath and said, "A widow there will provide for you." He didn’t say, "A widow there will allow you to starve, and she will starve along with you." God promised to meet Elijah’s needs, so that’s why Elijah makes this request of the widow, because he is confident that God is going to meet her needs and his.

God isn’t going to allow her to starve. He’s promised to sustain them. Now, you have to understand what this woman had. (She appears to be a young woman. She had just one child, and the child was very small. She must have had a very tragic life and had lost her husband at an early age). She was down to one bowl of cornmeal. She also had a little vial that contained oil, and she was going to prepare a little pancake out of the oil and cornmeal, cook it, eat it, and then die. She had just enough to prepare one little cake. Once she pours out the oil, there will be nothing left. That was her plan. That wasn’t God’s plan.

Pulling Together

Pulling Together

Faith Produces Miracles - Part 2

Read 1Kings 17:1-3 

When the Lord gives His prophets a true word there will always be those who resist truth.  Because of their lack of salvation or spiritual immaturity they will become angered at the one who is the deliverer of truth.  That is what happened here.  The Northern Kingdom of Israel had no faithful kings to lead them in the ways of God.  They all were wicked, and lead the people into worshiping heathen gods. Many of the priest appointed by Israel’s kings were corrupt and ineffective.  Imagine that.  The folks you are suppose to look to for spiritual guidance are corrupt & ineffective.

 That tells me we must be careful in who we follow.  God wants us to use some discernment.  Discernment is our Holy Ghost radar that lets us know in our knower that something or someone is righteous or unholy.  It’s that keen awareness that God gives his children.  Be aware.  Don’t put your blinders on and let stuff go that doesn’t sound, look, or act right just because it’s at church.  The Devil goes to church too.  That’s where he gets some of his best recruits.  Don’t get sucked into TV ministries & these pop up ministries that many are quickly drawn into.  You better check to see if it’s God or Satan that they are following.  Measure the ministry by the Word of God. 

Elijah was one of the first in a long line of prophets God sent to Israel and Judah.  God sent Elijah to King Ahab to tell him that Israel was going to be punished because of its great wickedness. There are always consequences for our actions.  Always! But God is such a loving God that even in the midst of our wrong He’ll send us a strong word of warning.  You better listen to what God is telling you.

Ahab was wicked and he was married to the wicked Jezebel.  This is what the Bible says about King Ahab in 1^st Kings 16:30-33 (KJV)  (turn with me back one page) 

“³⁰And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.  ³¹And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.  ³²And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.  ³³And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.” 

       Baal was believed to be the god who brought rain and bountiful harvest.  Through the influence of Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel, Israel had started worshipping Baal, Ashteroth, and other idol gods.  So when Elijah came into the presence of this Baal-worshiping king and told him there would be no rain for many years, Ahab was shocked.  Ahab & Jezebel thought they were in charge of things and they didn’t take too kindly to Elijah’s words. Ahab was known to be powerful, but Elijah told him about “One” who had far greater power than himself, his priest, or the gods they worshiped. 

God chose to stop the rains from falling, as punishment for their wicked ways.   For three and a half years, it didn’t rain. Imagine no rain for 3 ½ years. They would not get a drop.  That’s why we need to be so careful when it rains for more than an hour and we start saying things like I sure wish this rain would stop.  I need to cut my grass.  Be careful you might just get what you asked for.  My advice is to leave the weather to God.  He knows when we need rain and when it needs to stop.   

I’m sure they probably dismissed Elijah’s prophecy at first but as time went by and they had no rain, they remembered the words of Elijah and their anger kindled against him.  However, God always has a protection system for His children.  God protected Elijah by sending him to the Cherith Brook near Jordan. 

Speak this boldly in the atmosphere

My faith can produce the miracle I need!

Let’s look at:  1^st Kings 17:4-7. 

I.  Unlikely Sources

Elijah has earnestly prayed that the rains would not fall and God answered his prayer.  But now we see that God has sent Elijah to hide by the brook Cherith as a place of refuge from Ahab & Jezebel.  This journey we are on for Jesus is not for the stationary.  Elijah knew that Israel needed a reality check on their behavior towards God, God answered, and now he’s on the run for his life,  from a wicked king and his wife Jezebel.  Elijah, the prophet of God, who is obeying his Father, had to leave his place of comfort to go and lay low in isolation in the woods because the bad guys are after him for telling them the truth. 

God does not have to tell Elijah 3 times nor does he have to send several people to confirm His words.  God tells Elijah in verse 3 to “get thee hence” and in verse 5 it says, “So he went and did according to unto the word of the Lord.”  Elijah knows the voice of God and he quickly by faith obeys his voice.  Elijah doesn’t ask how he’s going to get food or what he’s supposed to do when he gets there. He hears and he faithfully obeys. 

(Proverbs 3:5, 6) says "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths."  Quit staying up all night long worry about things and obey the voice of God.  He just said in Proverbs to trust in Him and quit trying to figure things out with your little empty mind, recognize Him, and He’ll give you a step by step process to what you need to do next.  Elijah did that and look at what peace he’s in when hostility was all around him. 

God’s has ravens (unclean birds /unlikely sources) bringing Elijah (food) meat & bread in the morning and meat & bread in the evening.  Look at God! He has his own delivery service.  Elijah had all the drink he needed right there at the brook.  And look he’s satisfied with the provisions that God is making for him.  Tell me God won’t supply your needs.  Quit trying to figure it out, God’s already worked it out.  Just pray, have faith, obey and (get satisfied) with God’s provision.

Tell your neighbor don’t get comfortable. Once God has blessed us he usually sends us out to be a blessing.  Elijah has been bountifully blessed at the Kerith Brook & I’m sure he’s gotten real used to being pampered & protected by God but God has work for Elijah to do.  So, he dries up that situation so he has to move to a new place.  That’s a word for somebody.  You’ve been getting upset because it looks like things are not going well where you are but I believe that God will dry up your current situation so you have to transition.  See we get comfortable when things are good.  But at your greatest level of comfort ………….God says move! 

So the word of the Lord came to Elijah. And it must have sounded like one of those good news/bad news jokes. "The good news, Elijah, is that you get to leave Kerith. The bad news is I want you to go to Zarephath." Zarephath? Isn’t that just like God to send us to minister in a place where our enemy used to hang out?  From the brook Kerith, east of the Jordan, all the way to Sidon, was a long walk. Worse yet, Sidon was Gentile, and the home territory of Jezebel, who wanted Elijah’s head. God sends Elijah straight to Jezebel’s old stomping ground.

Faith Produces Miracles - Part I

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God.  Do you have an ultimate desire to please Almighty God?  Do you ever just wake up in the morning and think, God, today I want to please you in everything I say and in everything I do?  Well, according to this passage of scripture if you need a miracle in your life you must have faith.  Faith produces miracles! 

We are living in an economically unstable time.  Jobs are being lost, wages & hours are being cut, homes are being foreclosed, and prices are skyrocketing.  Folks are worried to death about what’s going to happen.  Crime is on the rise, drug usage is on the rise, solicitation is on the rise and church attendance is way down.  Satan has been very effective in his job.  The hearts of mankind are being so enwrapped by him that young folks are dropping dead due to stress and anxiety. 

But in the midst of so much negativity and pain I have some good news. Your faith in God can produce a miracle in your life.  The body of Christ does not have time to be distracted by what things look like.   This is our greatest time in history to be about our Father’s business.  He’s opening doors of ministry like never before.  God’s church is not a game.  God has need of workers in every area that He lets your foot tread upon.  It’s time to get some God knowledge in your head and some boldness in your spirit.  The Bible says this race is not given to the swift nor the strong but the one that endures to the end.  Someone reading right now is ready to give up and call it quit.  I speak to you by the power of the Holy Spirit now is the time to get so hungry & thirsty for God that you chase after Him to be fed.   Start chasing after God and see what happens!

So many times we ask God for something and we say that we are praying & praying and he never answers.  Well first of all God always answer.  The problem is we get so caught up in the way that we expect to get His answer that we miss it.  It’s time we quit praying our will and really start praying God’s will for our lives.  Quit expecting God to send you checks in the mail and lump sum increases in your bank account.  Don’t get me wrong He’s God and He can do all that.  But you asked Him to meet your financial needs.  He had a sister & the brother to give you some vegetables from their garden, a friend treated you to lunch and somebody anonymously cut your grass for you.  He just blessed you with a $100 package but because he didn’t send it to you in cash your crying out saying, Lord when are you going answer.  He already did!

       When Peter walked on water, he did so not through his own faith, but by looking to Jesus. When he was focused on Jesus, he transcended natural laws and walked on the turbulent waters despite the huge waves. However, the moment he stopped looking to Jesus, and focused on the ‘terrifying’ waves instead, he immediately sank. But were the waves any larger or more dangerous than those during the brief moment when he walked on water? Of course not! The only difference is that when he stopped looking to Jesus, and focused on his ‘problem’ instead, he in effect relinquished the power he had in Jesus, and allowed his surroundings to affect him. Always remember, Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith, and He ALWAYS has the first and last word in every situation. By looking to Him, we allow Him to work in our lives, and our faith grows.

       We can actually say we have faith when we are not moved by our circumstances or the way thing look all around us and we rest in Jesus.  Bills and no money, rest in Jesus!  Health issues and loads of medication, rest in Jesus!  Folks in your house acting like heathens, rest in Jesus!  Tossing & toiling all night long, rest in Jesus! 

          When we rest in Jesus, we are telling Him that we trust Him, and believe that He’s already worked it out. Instead of constantly worrying and fretting about that which we can do nothing about, we need to start praising like David.  He said “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”. There is nothing we need that God cannot provide! Everything we could possibly need, He has an abundance of it.  The question is can you handle the blessings of God? Hmmm....Let that marinate.  Stop running away from Him until you need something but rather cling tightly to Him at all times.