God brings life to comatose baby!!!!!

I cry and praise God every time I see this amazing miracle! JUST HAPPENED December 19, 2009 in Durham, NC. My God is real, and powerful, and totally awesome!!!!!

Happy 5th birthday, Henry Keating Scheck.

The enemy has been defeated!!

Can't help it.... this song is my victory chant! JESUS! WE LIFT YOUR NAME UP!!!!!

Goodbye

Hello all (although I'm not sure there's anyone left out there reading this blog).

In case you haven't noticed, I have not been here at NAM lately. I am struggling with this a little for nostalgic reasons, but really the course has been set and it is pretty clear. I need to take a sabbatical from the world of blogging. There are a variety of reasons. Some are pretty clear. The computer is clearly a self control issue for me personally. I seem unable to walk away from this blasted thing once I sit down here. The only real reason I want to keep the internet is for church reasons (planning Sunday school lessons, watching church services, learning new songs to play at church for worship service). And email for communicating with family and my kids' teachers. It is the other stuff that side tracks me.... blogging, face booking, email conversations with friends, surfing, my ridiculous obsession with BAD NEWS on CNN, on and on and on. I will never ever get my prayer life and my relationship with God where it needs to be if I don't lick the computer issue. I must discipline myself, and this is where it starts. Facebook is next. I have to!!! I'm a little sad about stopping my blog after 5 years, but my relationship with God FAR FAR outweighs the value of this blog (DUH!!!). So... until further notice, I will be leaving this site and drawing closer to my wonderful Savior Jesus. No comparison!! I'm excited! Please pray for me, okay?? Thanks for reading! You are faithful, and I pray you have been blessed!!

Hot Pursuit

God is in hot pursuit. He's been after me for a long time, but the pursuit has heated up in recent weeks. He is wanting me to spend more time with Him. I, however, have been dodging the bullet, and catering to this relentless flesh that seems to have FAR too much control over me. In my spirit, I DESPERATELY want to spend intimate time with Jesus in prayer. I WANT IT! And I spend lots of time listening to and singing and playing worship music, listening to apostolic preaching online ALL THE TIME, and listening to CDs of preaching from my own church. Plus I spend time studying for Sunday school lessons. But the call to prayer is loud and relentless, and I long to answer it. I just don't know how to crucify this flesh. Every time I try, I fail. Does anyone have any suggestions? JUST DO IT won't work, because I have tried that and failed. Please help!

Living for God in Bangladesh

Okay... the bunny is no longer the top post! Yes, my blog has been sitting idle for a while. I have actually been trying to spend my time on more worthy tasks, like... my prayer life! And like practicing worship songs on my piano, and learning new songs. I've also been spending time trying to be a witness to my neighbors, building relationships with them and trying to talk about God with them whenever the opportunity avails itself. I'm sorry for not posting more. However my pastor challenged me this evening after church to post about our missionary service we had this evening. It was a tremendous service.

First, I must begin by telling you how much I love missionary services! It's so cool to see what God is up to all over the world! I get to see pictures of my brothers and sisters in the Lord whom I will eventually meet in heaven. I like that! And it always manages to put my life back in perspective when I hear what the missionaries are up against. No joke. My attitude always needs a huge adjustment after I hear them preach.

Anyway, this evening, we had Bro. and Sis. Corbin and son from Bangladesh. They are the ONLY resident missionaries in a nation of 14 1/2 million people. Yeah... that is totally overwhelming. And Bangladesh is one of the three poorest nations in the world, with an average wage of about $1 per day. How would you like to end your labor intensive work week with a paycheck of about $6 or $7?

The nation is 83% muslim, 16% buddhist, and 1% hindu/other religions. Bro. Corbin wrote a VERY GOOD bible study that compares and contrasts the religions of Islam and Apostolic Christianity, and how to reach the muslim people with the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. It is a very thorough study... I'm already 10 pages into it.

In his message tonight, Bro. Corbin used hurricane Katrina as a mental picture of the lost in Bangladesh and all over the world. He talked about people smashing through the attic roof and climbing up onto the roof in hopes of being rescued by the many helicopters flying overhead. But 1, 836 people who cried SURELY someone is coming to save me were in fact never saved. He compared them to the lost souls in our dark world. People are desperate to be saved from the hopelessness of life. We are the ones with the lifeline! But will we be willing to reach out to them? Will we get there in time, before they slip away from us?

Bro. Corbin and his wife and son began their work in 1993, learning the language and praying for God to open doors for ministry. They moved to the largest city, Dhaka, in 1997, with just 7 people in their church. Today in 2009, they have 107 churches/preaching points, and over 13,000 souls in the church! It brought such conviction to me! I haven't personally won anyone to the Lord in years! I've taught lots of Bible studies...but no one is in church because I told them about Jesus and they responded. He is facing all kinds of opposition from the enemy, and I am here in my comfy little life, complaining about things that don't even matter! Yeah, I was at the altar tonight, repenting about just about everything in my poor excuse for a Christian life. I intend to change that. God sees my heart and its sincerity and desire to do right in God's eyes. He sees my desire to be an effective and powerful soul winner in the kingdom of God. And so the bunny will remain..........
The flesh must be crucified and submitted to the will of God. Prayer is the vital link to my Savior. His Word must be read every day (NOT as part of the BREAD program, but just to be read) to remake my mind... refocus it daily on the will of God in my life. Fasting is one thing I've NEVER been successful with, because my flesh is in total control of my life. James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed. Yes, I'm confessing my faults here so you will PRAY FOR ME!! I really need and covet your prayers. My mind is focused on God daily, but time spent in intimate fellowship daily is lacking. I love the Lord! I love to worship and praise Him! I love to be in His presence at church and at home. I love His Word. It is the flesh I fight. And so I will fight! And I will be victorious! The enemy shall not prevail against me. In Jesus' name. Good night.

Working on this...

Frustrating day to be a Vermonter....

Well, it is pretty much world wide news about Vermont legalizing same sex marriage. I am nauseated and heartbroken. And angry. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Montpelier is one of those high places where spiritual wickedness has a STRONG foothold. I am not so much angry at the people who voted this sick law into existence, although I am very disappointed in them... but it is SATAN and his stupid imps who USE these people to destroy the Godly institution of marriage. I was reading devotion to my son this evening, and the story for April 7th had these verses attached:

Psalms 5:4-7
O God, You take no pleasure in wickedness;
You cannot tolerate the slightest sin.
Therefore, the proud will not be allowed to stand
in Your presence,
for You hate all who do evil.
You will destroy those who tell lies.
The Lord detests murderers and deceivers.

That, my friends, is straight from the God who created everything, including people!! He created us, and knows exactly HOW He created us to live... and you will find NOWHERE in the Bible where two men got married, or two women. I am doing my level best to keep my response of anger directed at THE DEVIL, not the people. But I will stand up and draw the line, because I KNOW the devil is not going to stop, but will continue to use people to push this outrageous sin into our schools to corrupt our children. I WILL STOP the devil in his tracks IN JESUS' NAME if he thinks he can get the minds of my children. He will not. My boys are following this whole process, and think it is totally sick. They have both told me they will stand up and speak out if confronted. I am so proud of them! Jason and I have worked hard and prayed even harder to raise our little men with GODLY morals and principles. It is working. They are mad, too!

I am rambling, but I must vent. Vermont is full of good people with Godly values who HATE this ruling that has been FORCED upon them. Our government failed us. Our elected officials voted the will of the aggressive minority, NOT the will of the majority of the citizens of Vermont. Our governor is a courageous man who took a stand against evil, and took a TON of heat for it. The "loving" homosexual community showed their true identity when the fangs came out and they spewed their hateful venom at our leader when he said he would veto. They DID the very thing to him that we are accused of doing to them. Our state is totally polarized. The atmosphere is very tense in Vermont. People are afraid to talk about it at work for fear of being austricized. I am finding shelter from the storm in the presence of God. He is the peace-speaker. He will be the final judge on the Day of Judgement. Jesus himself said in John 12:48 "He who rejects me, and does not receive my words has one who will judge him: the WORD that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." They will be judged by the Word of God on the last day, which clearly condemns homosexuality. I am so looking forward to Heaven! There is NO SIN there! This world is so sick and twisted and morally bankrupt, I can't take much more of it. Heaven is my reality! I'm going there, and it will be worth the wait!!

Interesting video

I popped over to Sister Sunshine's blog today, and found this video on her blog.... it is very interesting...... the guy is making a smoothie the whole time he's on his soapbox, kinda funny... but he is SOOOOO RIGHT! You just have to watch it to see what I mean.

Special time with Nick

I just want to share the wonderful moments I just shared with my youngest son. He is about to turn 10, and hasn't yet committed his life to Jesus... although I know he wants to! Anyway, he was just getting out of the shower, and I was RE-watching an amazing sermon from last night in Maryville, TN called the focus factor (I highly recommend it... click here and go to archives... Sun. evening service 3-29-09). Anyway, the message caught his attention and he sat down beside me. Mind you, it's after bedtime.... but he said, No mommy, I want to hear it, I'm interested in what he's saying. So, we watched. He was CLEARLY being dealt with in his spirit, and processing this message. I had to push pause a few times as he asked questions and posed "what if" scenarios... too bad there is not a PAUSE function during live preaching so you can process what was just said!! Anyway, he was so open and sensitive to the Spirit... I am excited to see God at work in our youngest son's heart!! Maybe soon he'll be able to call himself my "rapture buddy" as the preacher mentions in the message! Praise God!!!!

Infuriating!!

To my Vermont readers...

PLEASE watch this video!!! And then call our VT legislators and tell them to vote NO on the same sex marriage bill.

If this bill becomes law, it will mandate that schools teach children that the union of two men, or two women is completely equal to the marriage of a man and a woman, that there is no difference between these three distinct family types, and that dissent is bigotry. This has already occurred in Massachusetts, where a father of a five year old kindergartner was jailed for objecting to blatant indoctrination of his child, incurring $200,000 in legal costs to defend himself and his family. I personally don't want to have to go through all this, just because the special interest folks are pushing this bill through at lightning speed to avoid a referendum, which would clearly reveal that the majority of Vermonters do NOT support this bill.

Sincerely....

Okay... tonight was mid-week Bible study. I cannot go to bed without blogging about part of tonight's lesson. We are doing a series on the Tabernacle, and it is really good (the Tabernacle is one of my FAVORITE Old Testament topics of study). However, in the middle of his lesson, Pastor made a very powerful statement that I just have to share before going to bed... because I know I won't sleep tonight if I don't "get it out there". He was talking about the brazen altar and made reference to altars that were not built according to the way the Lord wanted the altars built. And then he made an incredible statement....

It doesn't matter how sincere a person is about serving God. If they are doing it the wrong way, then they are SINCERELY WRONG. They may be the nicest person in the world, the most spiritual person in the world, etc. But if they are not doing it (serving God) according to the Book (the Bible), then they are wrong.

Wow... that was serious meat to chew on... but then he went on!! He said,

This whole concept that we can be approved by God because of our sincerity is a relatively new notion. These days, it doesn't matter if you get the right answer, as long as you feel good about it and you tried your best. That doesn't fly with my stats professor! I can "feel good" about my answer, and sincerely believe I got it right, but if it's not right, he marks it off 5 1/2 points!

Anytime we begin to judge what is true by how we feel about it, we are setting ourselves up for the distinct possibility of being deceived. Deception is one of the major spirits in this end time age.... and NO ONE IS IMMUNE! If you think it could never happen to you, then you are in dangerous territory! It is a very dangerous place to be when your feelings become the barometer of what IS truth and what IS NOT truth. I hope you don't always feel good about the truth! I hope it cuts a little, I hope it stings a little, it's supposed to !! The lies and deceit will BIND you, but the truth will SET YOU FREE!!!

There. It's out. I want you to think about this! The Bible says that those who are deceived DO NOT KNOW they are deceived. How scary is that? We need to be praying, "Lord, please do not let me be deceived!" I love the Lord, and I love His truth. Lord, keep me in the light. Amen.

A cool little moment!

Our family has been having some fun this past week, going outside in the evening to watch the visible passes of the Internation Space Station over our house. It is amazing to think that this bright "dot" that looks like a star is carrying human beings at speeds of 17,000 mph around our globe. And to add to the excitement, the space shuttle was docked there, bringing the total number of people aboard to ten. Anyway... last night, we went out to view it one last time. We spotted it, and then Nick said, "Hey, there's another satellite traveling right in front of it." I said, "Quick, go ask dad to look on the NASA website and see if the space shuttle is detached from the space station yet. " Sure enough, it had detached just 4 hours earlier. We could clearly see BOTH the shuttle and the ISS, travelling separately in orbit. It was just a neat thing for us. The little things you aren't expecting keep life fun and interesting.

Thank you Lord!

Despite my emotional upheaval of a week, God is still awesome, and tonight at the end of our church service, God filled James (a young man at our church) with the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues and overflowing with joy! It was the coolest thing, because in my rejoicing with James, the burden of my week was lifted from me, and I just feel so refreshed! I love living for God... in the tough times as well as the good times. There's no better way to live. :) Thank you Jesus for the newest member of the body of Christ! You are awesome!

abundant life revisited

Well, back in October of 2008, I created a post entitled "abundant life". You should click here to review the little diagrams I created so you will understand what I am about to type. Click on the "abundant life" link below:

Abundant life

So.... this week has been a week of incredibly abundant life, so much so that I have wondered how I would survive the mental stress of the week. My husband was in a car crash that totalled his vehicle and sent the lady he hit into the hospital. We had negative equity in the truck, and after all our VERY HARD WORK over the last year and a half to pay off over $10,000 in debt so we could go for a mortgage, in one moment of time, we found ourselves back in debt $7,000 the DAY BEFORE our meeting with the mortgage officer at the bank. I cannot tell you the weight of discouragement that overcame us that day. We have been reeling for the past few days, coping with the consequences of this accident, and wondering where we go next. Therefore........ I cannot tell you how much I have LOVED this day!! It started with humble service to my fellow man...serving at the local community food shelf that my husband and I are involved with. I talked with people there who had situations that were far worse than mine, and I was able to encourage them and lift their spirits, if only a little. Then, I gathered up my son and his friends (churched and unchurched) and we headed up to our church for youth fun day. We played board games, ate pizza and m&ms (oh my word!!!), jammed on the keyboard and drums, and THEN....... we sat down and watched Louie Giglio on the BIG projector screen give his message about the enormity of God and his intense love and care for us.... and it ministered to me so much! I have it posted on my blog, and to watch it you can click the LAMININ link below... you REALLY SHOULD watch it... even if you've already watched it! It blessed me so much.

Laminin

And the cool thing? Adam's best friend from school was describing it to his mom when I dropped him off, and he was pointing to his heart and saying, "Yeah, it does something to you deep down inside when you listen to him." PRAISE GOD! He was feeling the tug of God on his heart, and that is exciting!

So...... I have a big God who loves me and knows my needs. He knows my heart, and will give me the strength to face this new uphill battle. None of this takes God by surprise, and He has a plan that will put us right where He wants us to be. Thank you Father for your incomprehensible, mind-blowingly intense love for me! I love you more than words can say!!!

This is great!

Ok, I just had to share these with you! This is my brother... his department purposely burned a barn down, and there were many photos taken. But the next one is my favorite....

This is my brother in a recliner, watching the remainder of the barn smolder. HA HA HA! Tax dollars at work! Just kidding, he's doing exactly what he's supposed to be doing! Just thought it was funny, and wanted to share. I am VERY proud of my brother! He's an excellent firefighter. GO TIM!

In the studio

Nick was given a unique opportunity today by his Aunt Jennifer. Jen works at a local TV station selling advertising, and arranged for some 3rd and 4th grade students to come in and film a spot for the weather (a weather promo). My neice Laura told Jen, "Nick would be PERFECT for this!" It's true... he is all about drama. So, in we went this morning. First, they went into the audio studio to record the "weather rap". Then into the filming studio where they filmed all the sections of video that would go along with the rap. It was hilarious to watch! As the producer, Dave, would explain about the shot, the kids would be all into it and super dramatic, but as soon as they were in front of the camera, all the drama went out the window, and they were timid and SOOOO funny!!! I can't wait to see how it comes out! We'll know in about 2 weeks when the DVD arrives in the mail. Here are a few pictures from the shoot.....

The gang, with Adam the weatherman

Nick and a couple of the kids filming the umbrella scene.

Nick and two others pretending to "rock out" in the headphones to the weather rap. (Actually, not filming yet in this picture).

The crew. They did so great! Congratulations, TV stars!

NOT MORE SNOW!!!!! ACK!!!

Ya know... I am just totally sick of winter. Check this out... (grrr.....)

A *WINTER STORM WARNING* is in effect for the Champlain Valley and Vermont from 7 AM Sunday until 7 AM Monday. Snow will begin around daybreak Sunday, and become heavy at times Sunday afternoon and Sunday night, as a storm system quickly strengthens off the coast. It will become windy Sunday night, causing blowing and drifting snow. The snow will taper to snow showers Monday afternoon.Total accumulation will be 6 to 12 inches for the warning area, with 12 to 18 inches possible for the Green Mountains.

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

I found this awesome cartoon on another blog, and find it so appropriate that I must share....

At our school last week, we did a musical called "Follow the North Star Home". It was really great! And the opening song has become my theme song! The words say...

I'm so tired of snow, I wish that it would go
I never thought I would see the day
When I'd wish the snow would go away.
It would be such fun, just sitting in the sun
I'm tired of looking at all this snow
And I really truly wish that it would go!

Man... I wish I had the money to just take off and go to Florida or someplace where it is in the 70s for about 2 weeks. I am longing for the day when I can leave my house in just my clothes... no coat, no boots, no hats and mittens, no fleece pants under my skirts, JUST REGULAR CLOTHES! *sigh*.

breaktime

Hello all...

Well, I've been here, but I have not been posting. I have been busy, but the things I have been up to have been too personal to blog about. I am feeling a need to step back from NAM and just take a little break unless I feel led to post something important. Don't worry. I'm not getting "done". Just taking a little break. I am focusing on some things that are really important right now, and do not want to be distracted. You are all great! I will pop on every once in a while to say hi, I promise!!
And whatever you do, DON'T STOP PRAYING FOR HENRY!! He needs the miraculous hand of God to deliver him!! I love you Henry! And your family!

God bless you!
Michelle

When I Speak Your Name

Okay, this was probably my most favorite song we sang at Winterfire... it has penetrated my soul, and I just sing it over and over in my mind. What a blessing!

Winterfire, Day 3

Okay...it's a good thing this conference ended today, because if it didn't, I may have exploded, or gotten raptured, or something! It just got better, and better, and better, as the Spirit of God moved deeper, and the people of God worshiped more fervently, and the praise became literally explosive! New England is ripe for a massive outpouring of God's power!

1. Again, we walked into the sanctuary, and the presence of God at 8:55 am was so thick that I began to weep immediately. Now, normally, the Friday evening service is packed out and the Saturday morning service is noticeably less in attendance. Not so! The place was PACKED at 9am with people hungry for more and more of God. The worship was amazing. And then, Dr. Gerald Jeffers came to the pulpit and ushered the people into the presence of God with an amazing 15 minute message on restoration.

He discussed, as most of the previous speakers had done, about how 2008 was a year of unprecedented attack by the enemy on our relationships, our finances, our minds, and our bodies. It was widespread throughout the body of Christ. We won many great battles in 2008, but they left us wounded, weary, and, like Samson after killing 1000 Philistines with a donkey jawbone, dying of thirst. Ps. 23:3 says, "He restoreth my soul". But over in Ps. 29: 10-11, the Lord speaks of the floods that come against us, like the ones we have faced in 2008. It says, "The Lord sits upon the flood. The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace." The reason God wants to restore us is because He does not intend to stop the floods. Instead He will give us strength to rise above the flood and have peace in the midst of it. There was more to the message, but that was the main point. The altar again filled with souls hungry for the peace of God in the midst of their own flood.

2. THEN.... Bro. Steve Willoughby, a missionary to the nation of Singapore, got up and just blew us away!

This man is an apostolic hero. If you need someone to model your life after (other than Jesus, of course), look to this man right here. He is a spiritual giant in my eyes, and he showed me exactly what kind of a Christian I want to be. This man has stage 4 cancer, and so does his wife. They have 3 children (2 who are still at home), and I have NEVER NEVER seen anyone worship and praise God with such passion and fervor, and reckless abandon!! He preached about fear. His scripture was from 1 John 4:17-18 Perfect (mature) love gives us boldness before God. There is NO FEAR in love. Perfect (mature) love casts out fear. Fear hath TORMENT! In the Strongs... torment means dwarf, curtail, restrict, minimize, diminish. Fear minimizes your impact and effectiveness in the kingdom. He gave his testimony and the people just BURST into incredible praise and worship that couldn't be stopped! I am so excited that we bought the DVD set of all these messages! I will share them with EVERYONE!!! And I will watch them over and over as well... gleaning all I can from these great men of God and what the Spirit speaks through them.

Finally, Bro. Morgan from San Francisco gave the closing message, entitled "The Tale of Two Trees", referring to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents the wisdom of man... the fruit of that tree is is contentious and selfish. The tree of life represents the wisdom of God, and the fruit of that tree is peaceful, full of purity, and easily intreated. Those who are not born again eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Those who ARE born again eat from the tree of life. BUT, there are those who eat from BOTH trees, and they are the CARNALLY minded. They eat from the tree of life on Sunday morning, but Mon-Sat they eat from the other tree. James says that a double minded man is unstable in ALL his ways. You can't lead double minded people into revival. And also, you can't have carnally minded people trying to LEAD the church into revival... because you never know which way they are going to go.

By the end of his message, I was so drained and so overwhelmed, that I just sat. It was too much to process. We heard NINE preachers in 3 days, and it will take some time to digest all that we heard and experienced. All I know is that we DEFINITELY intend to go next year, because it will be the 10th anniversary of the Winterfire Conference. We intend to be part of what God is doing in these last days!!

If you would like to see pictures of what the facility we worshiped in looks like inside and out, click here to see the facilities brochure.

Winterfire Update

Here we are at the end of day two of this incredible conference. We have worshiped God with depth and fervor, and we have truly heard from God, and seen mighty things come to pass. The worship here is on an intense level. The people of New England are so hungry for a move of God and so desperate for revival, that they worship without being told to do so... it's kind of funny... these preachers are from areas to the west and south, and are used to preaching for response. So they come here with the mindset that they need to "jumpstart" the saints. Well... really, they didn't need to. The response to the Word of God has been absolutely phenomenal. We have felt walls come down, we have done major battle with the spirits of darkness and torn up their kingdom, and the liberty has been something I have never experienced before. You can FEEL the difference! Here are some of the topics we have heard about today.

1. Bro. Sam Emory preached "consider the calling".... and talked about the difference between being called and being chosen. The difference is in the process. He encouraged the young ministers to stop before saying "I have a ministry"... and consider the call of God on their life. He used Paul as an example. Paul considered the cost of his calling, and God CHOSE him to impact the kingdom. I can't really do the message justice here.... I have heard 3 other messages since then, and don't remember all of how it went. But the altar was flooded, and the Spirit was in operation.

2. Bro. Steve Warman from Detroit spoke next. He preached on the topic of... AGAIN. It was pretty good, encouraging the saints not to quit, and to press on... not letting anything keep you from serving God. No matter what happens, get up AGAIN, never letting the enemy have a toehold on your life. Even Jesus gave us the "AGAIN" example when he prayed for the blind man once, and he said, "What do you see?" and the man answered, "I see men as trees walking." So Jesus prayed for him AGAIN a second time, and then the man saw clearly. If JESUS can go back and do something AGAIN, then who are we to think, if it doesn't go how I think it should go the first time, I'll just quit?

3. The final morning preacher was evangelist Greg Godwin. That man is a fireball of a preacher! His message was a confirmation of the previous message.... DON'T QUIT! BE APOSTOLIC! His message was kind of all over the board, in true evangelistic style, so I can't really give you a "main point", but it was very encouraging as well.

Worship from beginning of evening service

4. Tonight's message from Bro. Mangun, however, was the one that really hit home, at least for Jason and I.... Matt and Emily too. His message was on sacrifice, and how if the devil can get you to stop sacrificing, then he can destroy you and make you desolate. It was actually a warning to the church as well, stating that if your church stops giving and praying, it will become a desolate church. Jesus said "My house shall be called a house of prayer". Not a house of preaching, not a house of good singing by the choir, not a house of good works. A HOUSE OF PRAYER! I just told Matt and Emily today that I am not reading my BREAD this year. Because I have read it through 7 times already, and I'm not interested in doing it again to add another notch to my belt of "spirituality". I will definitely still be in the Word, but my focus this year is on my prayer life. Because the ONLY way we are going to make a difference in these endtimes is if we are CONNECTED to the power of God in prayer. And that was totally confirmed to me tonight in Bro. Mangun's message. We had such good conversation with Matt and Emily about it all, and we are just so encouraged about what God is getting ready to do!

Altar call... young men being prayed for, ages 15-30... God's army!

On a much less spiritual note, we went to IHOP for a late dinner after church tonight (10:30), and had a real life C*O*P*S* experience. Our poor waitress got all tied up with this obnoxious table of people refusing to pay their bill blah blah blah blah.... I won't get into it, except to say that the cop in Jason wanted to go buckle her up in cuffs for disorderly conduct and causing a public menace. The police showed up, yada yada yada... it took us a LONG time to get our bill... but we blessed our waitress with kindness, patience, understanding, smiles, and a BIG tip. Pray for her, her name is Linda.

Well, it is almost 1 am. Time to hit the sack. We have three more speakers tomorrow, and then we head on home to the kiddos! I sure miss them! God bless you all!

God is here

Hello all! This is a quick post to tell you that we are having an amazing time here at the Winterfire Conference in CT, and GOD IS HERE in a powerful way! Last night, on top of just seeing so many of the saints of God that we know and love, we heard two incredible messages from the Lord, one delivered by our General Superintendent Bishop Kenneth Haney, and the other delivered by the General Foreign Missions director, Bro. Bruce Howell.


Our superintendent, Bishop Kenneth Haney

Bro. Haney's message was about having passion and zeal for the Lord and for reaching souls. His point about "entitlement" was a powerful eye opener, and his encouragement to find your passion was so uplifting!

Bro. Bruce Howell's message was equally powerful, and it was simply called "UNTIL". Really, I don't have time to explain that message this morning, it was so incredible.... maybe if we have some down time this afternoon, I'll be able to explain it out to you. But MAN it was powerful!!!!!! I believe cancers were healed in Jesus' name, and ministries were birthed or renewed as well.

One of the coolest moments last night was reconnecting with an old old acquaintance of ours, Bro. Owens. He came to our church as an evangelist 14 years ago (Jason and I had been married less than a year), and he stayed in our apartment with us. We have never forgotten him, and talk about him every so often with others. I never imagined we'd see him again, and BOOM! there he was last night... we got caught up on family life and such, and then during service he came over and prayed with us. God is so cool how he orchestrates our every step.

I'd love to write more, but it is almost 8am, and church starts at 9.... I'm not even close to ready to go! This morning, we are slated to hear from Bro. Sam Emory, Bro. Steve Warman, and Bro. Greg Godwin. I will let you know what God does in these meetings! I am expecting God to show up and do something great in me! Praise God!

Almost reached the top

On the days when you feel overwhelmed and you just don't think you can make it, this song is a great reminder.... we're almost there, folks! Jesus' return is right around the corner!!! Halleluia!

Look what the Lord has done!!

Congratulations to my amazing husband, the REVEREND Jason Ziter!
Monday, he and I went before the district board (mostly him!!!) to interview for his local minister's license. It was a nerve-wracking day, but well worth it in the end! I am immensely proud of him for answering the call of God on his life, and I know that God will do amazing things through Jason. Way to go, Jay!!!!!

Introducing...... TUCKER!!

Here he is... the newest member of the family.... FINALLY!!!!! LOL! He is absolutely perfect!!!

He arrived by C-section at 3:30 am on Jan. 6th.... 7 lbs 14 oz. A loooooong night for mom and dad. But everyone is doing great! Welcome to the family, Tucker!

UPDATE!!!!! MORE PICTURES!!!!

George prepares for Tucker's arrival...

Proud dad!!

I love this picture... George and Tucker.

Brand new family!

Tucker James Mitchell.... you are so adorable!

Waiting on baby....

My brother-in-laws girlfriend Laurel has been in labor since noon-ish today... it is now 1:30 in the morning.... and she's been pushing for way too long... a couple hours. If baby doesn't arrive in 10 minutes, they will do a C-section. I am tired, but determined to wait this baby out!! I'll post pictures once they are available!

How Great is our God

Sometimes there just aren't words to express the mind blowing concept of our amazing God. But Louie Giglio does a pretty exceptional job getting the point across in this incredible message, dripping with the anointing of God! My boys were blown away by the bigness and majesty of God, and how HE cares for US....

Go ahead and watch these five segments (about 42 minutes total). You will be changed forever in how you look at God.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Teach me to pray

My God is faithful. My God WANTS me to draw close to Him. He sees my desire to deepen my relationship with Him. In my last post, I told you that instead of reading my Bible through beginning to end for the 8th time, I was going to work on developing my prayer life. My youngest son Nicolas and I stayed home from church this morning as he is just 4 days post-op, having his tonsils and adenoids removed on New Year's Eve day. He's still really sore. So... because of this amazing thing called the internet, I went to church with my in-laws in Denver this morning instead.

Oh my word! What an amazing God I serve! The worship was powerful and the Spirit of God was moving in an amazing way. Then, Pastor Haymon II got up and preached a dynamic message that I felt was directly targeting my heart here in VT, all the way from Denver, CO! The title of his message was "Lord, teach me to pray". I am telling you.... once they archive this message, you should go listen to it!! Click here to go to their website. I'm not sure how long it takes them to upload the message to the archives. But I feel like the Lord was answering my prayer. Pastor Haymon was looking at the Lord's prayer and showing the principles of how to approach the Lord in prayer. Here are the 10 principles he mentioned:

1. Approach Him with tenderness
2. Approach Him with reverence
3. Approach Him with NAME recognition (Jesus)
4. Approach Him with boldness
5. Approach Him with humility
6. Approach Him for what you need (not want)
7. Approach Him with forgiveness for forgiveness
8. Approach Him for security
9. Approach Him for help
10. Approach Him with appreciation and affirmation.

And at the end, when it says Amen, he told us to replace the word Amen with the word YES! Total agreement! And the entire prayer is one that is about ATTITUDE and RELATIONSHIP. If you don't have the right attitude in your prayer, you can't expect your relationship to grow.

I just can't say it the way this guy said it! ARGH! I can feel the power as I type the words, because I HEARD and EXPERIENCED it. But I'm not really saying it effectively ( how frustrating!).

So... I feel like I am on the right track. I am going to BE the change our church needs. I am going to BE the one who fills the prayer room. I am going to BE the one who fills the pews by inviting people. Like I said in the previous post... I am going to BE a revival of ONE. And I am going to pray that others catch the vision and jump on board! Thank you Jesus!

Happy New Year to all!

I found this wonderful poem online, and just had to share it with you!

A New Year With The Lord

A new year is about to unfold
With new opportunities to explore
Doors will open for new experiences
New adventures with the Lord

Remember not the former things
The things of this past year
The Lord will do new things in us
Much more than we are aware

For He will make a way for us
As we put our trust in Him
And He will guide our every step
By His presence we have within

What God has placed within our hearts
We find we’ll be able to do
If we look for the opportunities
We’ll see the door to go through

We mustn’t let anything hold us back
But rise up and take our place
And be all that God wants us to be
With a fresh touch of His grace

© By M.S.Lowndes

The author of this beautiful poem has a website called heavens inspirations. I encourage you to check it out.

I have been thinking a lot the past couple days. I am in charge of recording attendance at our church, and with 2008 behind us, I had to tally up the averages and report them to my pastor. I was disheartened to see that the numbers stayed pretty much the same throughout the year. And I KNOW beyond the shadow of a doubt, that until our church becomes a church that really PRAYS and really touches God, we will remain status quo... in maintainance mode. I do NOT want that!!!! Therefore, instead of committing myself to an 8th year of reading my Bible through cover to cover, I intend to work on the spiritual discipline of PRAYER... my prayer life has lots of room for improvement, and I so desperately want to know Jesus in an even more intimate way. I am a revival of ONE. Lord, if it's going to happen, let it start with me. I pray for the courage to boldly share the truth of God's Word with those who do not know it in the year 2009. Help me to look for those opportunities and walk boldly through the door! I trust you Jesus.