Word 39

I think this is my third time starting this post. I held off for about a year, waiting to write a magical ending to " Deep Waters - Part 1 ." But the ending, like all extraordinary stories, was an unexpected plot twist, different from any closure I thought God might possibly bring. It's an ending rich in texture, complex in nature, and full of beauty and wisdom: My husband died. I got the call at work in the parking lot. I headed to him in rush hour traffic about 8:30 a.m., and by the time I got where he was, after having waved bye to him two hours before, he was gone. I mean, how do you write a story about God pulling you from deep waters when it ends this way? This is how... Two weeks before Craig passed, I began counseling with someone I had picked mainly because they were older. I wanted - scratch that... needed - someone with life experience under their belt. I was struggling with how to be in a 21-year marriage with someone with chronic illness. How was I to discove...

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy... -  John 10:10 (AMP) He came walking across the parking lot pushing a baby stroller. Riding inside was a baby boy with no clothes, about a year old. As the man was further across the lot and had passed the cart corral, he stopped the stroller and knocked it over on purpose. Then, he picked it up, looked around to see if anyone was watching, and knocked it over again. Then, he took the baby out of the stroller and put him in a car seat in the back of an SUV, closed the door, and walked away. He entered a different vehicle and proceeded to drive away. I immediately went to the SUV to get the baby out, and I held and comforted him. This was a dream I had in the midst of believing God for something incredible. I was having to wait for this promise, and the wait was causing doubt about his will. God gave me this dream to show me what was happening. Symbolism Store = Thing(s) God has "in store" for me; a storehouse Man ...

Therefore, do not be foolish and thoughtless,  but understand and firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is. -  Ephesians 5:17  I hesitated to write this testimony for a while because I had recently finished a 7-part series about how God had called me to quit a different job. (If you feel it would be encouraging for someone to get into the nitty gritty of how that process looks in practical terms, you can begin reading that  here .) At the risk of looking flaky, I decided to hold back for a while and also just take time to process. But after some of my stories came up in natural conversation with people more than once this weekend, I felt inspired to finally tell the tale ...of a creature that has a tail and changed my world. And more importantly, how the whole process led to my getting to know God just a bit more. So maybe grab a cup of coffee and a blanket, or whatever works for you, because I LOVE telling this story! It's a good one, and the great thing is th...

"You're going into deep waters," he said over the phone to my husband. This was an acquaintance that we knew to operate in a prophetic gifting, and he had called to relay this message. Continuing on, he said that God was overtaking my husband, and that this wasn't happening in a matter of months, but coming in the following days. "Interesting," I thought, while at the same time analyzing from different directions what deep waters could mean. The night before this call, I had dreamed of being in some sort of community center, similar to a YMCA, with two pools. I was actually trying to get to the restroom, and I jumped into the deep end of one pool with my purse, and found swimmers racing from the other end of the pool. Here they came in their lanes kicking up white water and heading straight for me.  Then, the dream shifted, and I was standing in a hallway by the childcare area of this community center. But  taking up most of the hallway was another pool! It ...

Where can I go from your Spirit?  ... If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.  - King David  (Psalm 139:7-8) I heard crying outside my front door the other day.  At first, I thought one of our neighborhood kiddos had taken a tumble. They're often outside with their parents, so I expected a little comfort to ease the situation.  But about half a minute later, when the crying hadn't resolved, I went closer to the door to look.  Seeing no one around, I stepped outside to find out who was crying, and it was a little girl I knew.  Rivers flowed from her eyes, and her emotions were a whirlwind.  As soon as she saw me, she hysterically cried out, "My parents left me!"  This was alternating with, "I can't find my parents!" I tried to convince her they hadn't left as I picked her up, but she was quite insistent that they had. I reassured her we'd figure it out together, and I wouldn't leave her until we found them.   Turns out she ...

"For you shall eat the fruit of [the labor of] your hands." -Psalm 128:2 "And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child."  -Revelation 12:4b In the midst of a high pressure decision, I was feeling a familiar internal conflict.  Holy Spirit had led me to Psalm 128 already, and as I continued praying, I was led to Revelation 12.  As I read it, I realized the internal conflict was coming from not being fully convinced of the impact and importance of tasks God had called me to in this season, nor the spiritual warfare surrounding my decision.   This was causing me to vacillate between the knowing in my spirit-man and the pressures from the natural world.  The decision I made would either take me into or away from a stronger focus of these tasks.  I began to see there was an lying voice (vs 10) speaking things in my ear that seemed like wisdom, but it was really trying to get me to a...

"The steps of a good man are ordered (established) by the Lord:  and he delights in his way."  - Psalm 37:23 This is the last post of a very long "series," I guess we can call it at this point, about how God called me away from a job that took me 2.5 years to truly hear and obey. You can start the story at the beginning if you want to catch up.  For now, I am approaching this post as if the reader understands the story to this point. I mentioned in my last post that there was a (night) dream that came to me as I was resigning from my job.  I didn't have a clue as to what the dream meant, but I knew God was showing me something, assumably not about myself, as I was an observer in the dream rather than a participant.  There was one part of the dream that I was  able to seek out for understanding, as the dream contained a map, with two blue GPS dots.  I supposed the map to be of the city where I lived.   And since the setting of the dream was ...