Answered Prayer

Ok two post in one day, but when God gives you a miracle you have to tell everyone!
I had planned on having all my kids here Monday September 3rd for a little get together before Dustin left for boot camp. Well; news came Dustin was leaving Sunday at 12:00 noon and without going into detail my oldest son was not going to make it. To say I was bummed was an understatement but I just accepted that was the way it was. I did pray for a miracle though. Then they said Dustin was not leaving until Monday at 12. That made me happy but only a miracle would get Michael my oldest here and Jordan our daughter was going to be gone to a church retreat and she would be coming home right after Dustin left. She was bummed that she would not be able to say good bye to her brother. We needed a miracle for sure. Today Dustin came home and said " Mom I have good news, I don't have to leave until Tuesday at 12:00!" I was thrilled; at least Jordan would be here to tell her brother bye. Still no Michael. Well all in Gods timing. I get this call about an hour ago from Michael. He will also be here Monday!!! And he gave God all the credit! That is the other miracle. No one and I mean no one will ever convince me that God does not listen to our prayers. He is an awesome God and I love Him!

Be joyful always; pray continually;give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ. 1 Thesolonians 5: 16-18

Signs

I saw a sign in front of a church today that said " Where God Guides, He Will Provide." I like that. After all do you think God is going to lead you somewhere or put something on your heart and say "OK see ya later?'' I don' think so.
Even when life is unfair and we are dealt bad situations because of the poor choices of someone else, God is still there with you. He is our strength, our comfort.
I saw a friend today. She is going through some stuff that she shouldn't have to go through. But because of poor choices made by someone else , she ends up holding the bag so to speak.
She is a remarkable woman. I have always admired her. She has kept on going when many in her situation would have fallen into a pity party. Want to know the difference between her and those who sit in a pity party? God. She doesn't blame Him for anything going wrong in her life and gives Him all the glory and honor for the peace that dwells inside of her and for the strength that keeps her going. I have no doubt she will be just fine.
OK about these signs from God. A sign in front of a church, bumping into a friend at the exact time you both needed to talk, circumstances, a bible verse pops out at you, a dream, the peace deep in your spirit that only God can give you. He will get your attention one way or the other. The deal is you have to know Him and study His word. If you don't you are going to miss the signs.
The Lord will guide you always Isaiah 58:11

Life as I know it...

Will soon be over. My youngest son is leaving Sunday for Marine boot camp. That would be Dustin in the white t-shirt. We thought he was leaving Monday. Now it is Sunday. 24 less hours to have him near me. For 30 years I have had a son around, now all of them will be on their own. No more listening to belching or other bodily functions while we watch TV. No more stinky bathroom or scary, dirty bedrooms. No more filthy sports attire piled up in front of my washing machine. No more. Ouch, I think my heart just broke.

You raise your children and there are days you think " I can't wait until they move out!" Then that day arrives and you think "please don't." My kids are everything to me. When Dustin told me he was joining the Marines I was so upset. Not my baby boy, not in this crazy world. All he ever asked me for was my blessings and I could not give that to him. I prayed and sought wise council from Dr. Cannon. One day I am driving to work and I hear this voice say "Elaine, I will take care of him, it will be ok." It was so audible. Since the radio was off and I was by myself I knew that was God talking to me. This peace came over me. That evening I was able to give Dustin my blessings. The hug and the grin on his face was worth it.

Now it is me and my daughters. Three of them. How blessed am I?

Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for everthing under heaven.

We know these times are coming, what we need to do is prepare our hearts and embrace them.

So even though my heart is breaking a little bit I will embrace the next chapter. After all it is a gift from God.

You know, that you know, that you know

This is one of my favorite things that our pastor says. It is true. To me it means you can't explain, you just know. That is how I feel about starting this new ministry. I know, that I know that I know. Oh there has been confirmation left and right. Words from sermons, people showing genuine interest, scripture and most important the peace God has put in my heart.
I am so excited. There is no feeling like the feeling you get when you know without a doubt that you are doing what God has called you to do.
In Joshua 14:8 there is a sentence that says " I however followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly." That is what I want to do. 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith: test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you-unless, of course you fail the test? I would hate to fail that test.

New Beginnings

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. Philippians 4:6 August 22, 2007 around 9:07 a.m. I turned all my worries, concerns, frustrations over to God. That's right He can have them! He wants them, I sure don't. I am leaving my job. It was a hard decision, but I feel it is time. I am stepping out in faith to pursue a calling God laid on my heart many years ago. So all the worries about finances, the ministry I am starting up, my marriage, kids, my weight, age, staying healthy, my youngest son leaving for the Marines. You name it and I turned it over. So with that being said...............tada! I decided to get active...I mean like walk/run active. See, I have these great size 10 jeans in my closet. They are faded, have holes in the knees and I love them. I miss them. I am sure they miss me to! We sure did look good together in the day. Well I decided we can look good again. So I went for a walk,a fast walk, then attempted to run, well really it wasn't a run more of a well, not a sprint....hmmm I don't know it was either an extremely fast walk or a very slow run, call it what you want. Any who I tried to step it up and that lasted about 5 seconds. Then I thought God is right here by my side and in Proverbs 4:12 it says When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Ok, I can do this. About a block and a half ahead of me there was a stop sign and I thought to myself; there is your goal, you can run to the stop sign. Here I go, not so fast, I tripped over a speed bump of all things! Good grief. Ok satan funny, very funny. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3 Off I go and I made it!!!! Glory to God! If my neighbors hadn't been outside I would have done my get jiggy dance & song! Two hands up, praise the Lord! Bring your hands together in prayer. Now satan won't come near you, oh no he won't, he wouldn't dare! That's the song to my jiggy dance. Can you tell I made it up? So how was your day? :)

Stepping out in faith

Oooh makes me tremble! Yes, you can be faithful and still be a little nervous. We are human. Hello! the point is to step out in faith. So here's the deal. A couple of years ago God laid on my heart to start an adoption ministry at my church to help families who are lead to adopt with some of the financial burdens. My pastor was very supportive. I found out that it could be a conflict with my work which is an adoption agency. Why you ask? Well it is the fundraising part. So I put A Hug Away on the back burner and felt when God was ready for me to do this full time he would let me know. Well it's time. I felt God saying to me "Elaine how can I do my work in you when you will not step out in faith? You have to trust me completely." That means leaving my job at the agency. October 2nd will be my last day. gulp. I did it. Now I believe God will provide everything I need. One of those things being a part time job and some money to pay off some unwanted debt I have. I have no doubts. The other deal is I am suppose to take my 2 older daughters to Korea. Hmm... we will see. If it is Gods will it will be done. I was watching the DVD series I have been studying "Discerning the Voice of God" He started doing this work in me a long time ago, but I had to listen to Him to tell me when the time was right. The time is now. As I was getting ready to type in my blog I grabbed my bible and it literally opened to Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I know you, before you were born I set you apart: I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Now I don't believe I will be a prophet of any nations but He knew before He formed me exactly when all of this would take place. Pretty well says it all.