Tough news from back home

The human spirit is an amazingly stubborn thing. It is driven by this force called PRIDE. WHY are people so stubborn and full of pride that they can't ask someone for help when they need it? I am not pointing a finger at anyone, because I am a #1 offender in this area. But it was a glaring reality this week when I received a phone call from a dear, dear friend whom I love very much. She and I grew up together and have been very close over the years, even though separated by many miles. She called me this week to inform me that she has been involved in a battle against cancer (among all the other battles she's confronted that I already knew about). She was diagnosed in September (I think). The doctors are pretty sure that surgery has taken care of it. She fought this battle mostly alone (except for her awesome husband and children) and just reached out to me here in mid-November. I do not condemn her or blame her... because I know. I've been there. When I was battling my depression, I fought alone for two years before finally taking the advice of my husband to get help and get meds to bring balance. Pride is an ugly thing. It does no earthly good, and only causes problems in the long run. Again, been there. I love my sweet friend dearly, and I will be here for her 1,000,000 percent! I have cried and prayed a lot over the past couple of days. My husband was interceding for her in prayer yesterday in the Spirit. I'm considering a weekend trip home.... I soooo want to be with her and be able to just love her and help her and minister to her. Just be there. So we can laugh, cry, and do whatever... together. I thank GOD for our friendship! She is awesome. Love you, my friend!

What's up?

This is a test.... my blog seems to be inaccessible, but everyone else's is. So I'll see if this works or not... Thanks for your patience.

Me

Hard message

It is Sunday afternoon. I've been "chewing" all afternoon on the message my pastor preached this morning. It was like an arrow through my soul. His message was about living in the NOW. He talked about how people who live in the future seldom do anything in the now to change the outcome of the future. They just hope that the future will turn out alright when they arrive there. That usually doesn't happen. How did this affect me? Our financial status is less than desirable. But do we have a plan in the NOW to fix it so that when we reach retirement, there is something THERE?? Nope.

Then he spoke about people who live in the past. There are nostalgic people who live there because they liked how it was back then. They can't even enjoy the present. There are also those who hold on to a hurt from the past and refuse to let go of it and move on in God. He gave the example of a woman who never forgot how her dad gave the best lollipop to her younger sister and not to her on her fifth birthday. She's now 83. How sad.

The really sad part is that I saw myself in that example. I have held onto a hurt from years ago. I said I forgave the person, and in fact, I willfully chose to say "I forgive him." But it wasn't enough. The root of bitterness that pastor spoke of this morning is buried deep within my heart, alive and well, and keeping me from moving on in my relationship with God. It doesn't show itself readily. But it will occasionally spring up and rear its ugly head, causing all kinds of emotional havoc in my life. For years, I have known this root was there. In fact, I acknowleged its existence way back before I was married, when I read a wonderful little book called "Hind's Feet in High Places". In that allegorical story, the girl named Much Afraid makes this journey that leads her to a stone table where she willingly lays down and asks the Shepherd to rip out the bitterness by the root. It was painful. But it was worth it. I have actually prayed many many times to have God do the same for me. I have laid down my will and my pride and asked Him to rip it out by the roots. But it continues to spring up and frustrate me. I am at a loss as to how to get rid of it, because it is so deeply rooted. The person that I held my forgiveness from for so long lives far away from me. I am unsure if a phone call will suffice... or if I will need to make a very long trip to handle it face to face. I have tried... but have always been a coward when face to face with this person. I am really chewing on this. Pray for me. Time to head to church.

A Saturday with no plans? Thas amasing!

Today was one of those rare, precious days. Saturday... with NO PLANS! That almost never happens, and I can vouch for it! But today was beautiful! First, I slept in until 9:22 am! That in itself is a gift from God! Also, my boys spent a large amount of time playing with the new game cube Adam got for his birthday last week. They played together...say it with me... together... and they were getting along... and LAUGHING! Another miracle of God. I just LOVE the sound of their laughter. God says that a cheerful heart is good medicine... esp for MOM! LOL! Anyway, I made the boys a hearty candlelight breakfast of bacon, cheesy scrambled eggs, and toast with cinnamon. Mmmm Mmmm! They spent the entire morning playing and laughing together. I spent the entire morning on the phone. I called my mom in Florida and we had a wonderful chat. THEN... I called my dear friend Britt in Mississippi, and we talked for WELL over an hour. It was soooooo great to reconnect and really really talk like we used to when she lived here. I miss her a ton! Well, then we decided to go to the Ultimate Racing Experience at the mall and use Adam's gift certificate from his birthday. Sandini met us there, and so did my brother, who happened to have a gift certificate there, too! We did three races. Sandy rode with Adam, I rode with Nick, and Tim drove solo. Let me just say two words.... MOTION..... SICKNESS. O my word! I was so sick when I climbed out of that car, I was sure I was going to either throw up or pass out. It was bad. The boys had a BLAST!!! On the last race, my brother was in 1st place on the last lap, when Nick decided to take out Uncle Tim! It was hilarious! Anyway, we all sat in the food court and I had a soda to try to settle my woozy innards. Then Tim left, and Sandy, the boys, and I went into FYE to check out some of the Christian CDs. What a blast! We were singing out loud and worshipping right there in the store. Sandy bought Toby Mac's "Welcome to Diverse City" CD and Byron Cage's new one called "An Invitation to Worship". Both awesome choices. On our way out of the mall, we ran into Sue Hazenburg and Grace and Adele. OH yeah, we also saw Donna and Andrea right after the racing, but I was too sick to socialize. I probably looked green around the gills.

But by far the best part of the day occurred this evening while putting the boys to bed. I always read what we call DEVO (Bible devotion) before lights out. But tonight, DAD held the honor, because he was actually HOME! *gasp* Anyway, the boys begged him to read in a funny voice, so he read in a chinese voice, and it was hilarious!!! We could hardly breathe! And even though it was fun, the message got through loud and clear. He read about Joseph and his brothers. My favorite part was when he was going over the names of the other brothers... Reuben the sandwich man, Levi the jeans man, and Issachar, not issatruck. ROFL! The boys will definitely remember the details of this particular devo. It was great!
WHO SAYS LIVING FOR GOD IS NOT FUN!?!?!?!?? I think it's awesome!

Well, that is the course of the day's events. What else can I share with you? Let's do some short news announcements here:

• For an interesting article on the neuroscience of what occurs in the brain while a person is speaking in tongues as the Spirit of God gives the utterance, click here.
• I checked my "site meter" on my blog today... you can click on the world map to see where in the world people are finding your blog. This week I have had hits in Hungary, Paris, Honolulu, Manitoba, California, Colorado, and lots of places all over the USA. Neat!
• I heard a powerful little sermonette today (10 minutes long) called "Twinkle, Twinkle" about the rapture of the church, preached by a 17 year old young man. Whoa. To take a listen, click here, then click on the Sermons link. To see the YouTube video he is referring to in his message, you can see it on our youth web page here.

Ok, I could go on and on, but this post is getting too long. Let's wrap this up by saying, Jesus died for YOU! You owe him everything! Give him your life NOW while the choice is yours. If you die and leave this life without doing so, the choice of destination will no longer be yours. Give him your heart and every area of your life TODAY. You'll NEVER regret it! Living for God is the best choice I ever made! It'll be the best one you ever make, too! :-)

Revival notes

Whew! It has been a whirlwind since revival started here on Thursday! It took me 2 days just to recover.... revival is exhausting! But also exhilarating! God is truly amazing and so very good. We ended our revival with 5 people receiving the Holy Ghost for the first time, two young adults who had walked away from God praying and renewing their walk with the Lord, and 6 people baptized in the lovely and powerful name of JESUS! We had 8 first time visitors, including the great Sandini's dad! Praise God!

Now... here's the trick. Revival "services" with Rev. Jay Stirnemann are over. Now it is up to US to keep the revival spirit moving and active. It is up to US to continue praying, fasting, and inviting people to church. It is up to US to continue preaching the salvation message and teaching Bible studies. If we go back to "church as usual", it is not God's fault. We must continue to act in FAITH, believing God wants to do the impossible. God help us!

Life group is at my house tomorrow! So..... that means I need to stop blogging and start cleaning. I will write more later.

Michelle

REVIVAL IN JERICHO!!

WHOO HOOO! What a time we are having in Jericho!! We are two nights into our revival services, and God is moving in amazing ways! We have had 3 people receive the Holy Ghost, and 3 people baptized... a fourth will be baptized tomorrow night at the youth revival. We have had healings occur, and deliverance from bondage... and I KNOW God isn't done yet!

Tonight's message was a heavy hitter about a topic people don't like to hear... Hell. Yep. Hell. It's amazing how many people say they believe in a place called Heaven, but they don't believe in a place called Hell. I think they just don't want to THINK there could be a place called Hell. But it's as real as the town you live in, and there are people there right now who would give ANYTHING to be able to tell you "DON'T COME HERE!!!!!" There was a deep move of God at the end of that message, and people were at the altar making sure they don't end up there! It was so awesome.

Tomorrow night is the youth revival service, and it looks like it will be a phenomenal time! They have spotlights, a fog machine, lasers, and fabulous music geared for the teen generation.... I fully expect to hear of many teens being filled with the Holy Ghost, because Jason McAllister is a dynamic preacher with a tremendous burden to see teens give their lives to God... and he preaches it straight.

Sunday morning, Bro. Stirnamenn will be preaching again, and then Sunday afternoon, we will be having our VT churches rally... packing around 160 people or so into our church... with an awesome time of children's church next door, including puppets, games, singing fun songs, and hearing good preaching! Tell your friends and don't miss this opportunity to come and work out your own salvation with Jesus! We are located on Rt 15 in Jericho. See our website for directions. www.lifeteaching.com . See you there! I love you Jesus!!!

Happy Birthday Adam!!!

Hey hey hey! Look who's turning TEN today!!! Wow! Hard to believe you are in the double digits, little buddy. I sure do love you a ton! Have an awesome day!

Love, Mom