I have a father and mother who have always loved me and cheered me on. What a gift I have been given! They have believed in me my whole life. Mom and Dad raised us in church. They raised us to trust Jesus at all times. They lived their faith at home.

Your Father God loves you so much! Your view of God is most likely how you viewed your earthly father as a child. If you had a father that was difficult you will have to transform your mind to believe what the Word says about your Heavenly Father. You will not grow in God past your love and forgiveness you have towards your earthly father.

It is amazing how much that relationship affects your relationships now. God is completely faithful. God is love. God is forgiving. God is trustworthy. God is merciful. God provides for your needs. God loves to heal you.

If you have been wondering why God felt distant or that there was a wall between you and Him then make sure you are walking in forgiveness with all men. Then if that is taken care of and you still feel He is distant I recommend a good hearty dose of the Word and specifically focusing on Scripture that helps you comprehend how wonderful He truly is! Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the character of God to you.

We must trust the Lord. Pure trust is like a little child who is instantly calm just by holding hands with a trusted adult even in the middle of a scary situation. They know the adult they are with is going to take good care of them. There are times in life we are affected by tragedy. We must roll that care over onto Him. We must take His hand and know He is near.

One day while flying on a plane with my, then, little girl we were ready to take off. This disturbed her. She was in the seat by the window with her seatbelt on. Once the engines started she put her blanket over her head. She just sat there still as a statue. However, when she felt movement a tiny hand reached out quickly from under the blanket to take my hand. Once I firmly took her little hand in mine she calmly relaxed.

So, let’s put on the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit with one hand and take the Master’s hand in the other.. we have some work to do and places to go! We can see by looking around us the Lord is coming back shortly! Don’t be afraid but trust!

In my latest book, Within My Reach, which will be available soon, there is a devotion entitled, Trusty Brown Bible. It is a short fictitious story about a mother who has two little children but is also called to be a prayer warrior. She starts off just building a prayer relationship with God beyond her own personal needs. She wonders if her prayers are really doing any good until one day one of her old High School friends calls her for a visit. Just as the visit was finishing the old friend reveals her husband has left her and she knows no one else who prays.

Over time the young mom finds new confidence in the Lord that her prayers are potent. She has new determination to pray for things the Lord lays on her heart that are well beyond her sphere of influence. As her prayer time develops it reaches into war-torn countries she will never visit in person, but on her knees, she prays for peace and the comfort of families caught in the middle of war.

As we grow in the Lord our prayer time takes on much of the same pattern. When our faith in Him grows we find ourselves asking Him, “Lord, what is on your heart today?” Our prayers travel the globe for Him. We pray for laborers to be sent into the harvest, we pray for war-torn countries to find peace, we pray for evangelical outreaches to be a success and then there are times we just pray in the Spirit. The Lord will be the only one who will have the final count on what prayer has accomplished through the years.

Please do not underestimate your prayers. Please do not stop praying for nations, ministers and ministries that God has laid on your heart. Your prayers are succeeding in the matter for which God sent it and accomplishing what He desires.

The Healing Power of God is so powerful. We can live in it, use it, believe it. What is holding us back? What is making us timid to believe? Circumstances….

We believe the Word. We believe the stories in the Bible like the woman with the issue of blood, Lazarus, the man with the withered hand, and Jairius’ daughter. Take these stories as living proof of how infinitely intense God wants you well.

God’s healing power is like a mighty rushing river. Picture your physical need as a glass in your kitchen cabinet. Picture God’s healing power as mighty as Niagara Falls. Now picture yourself holding your glass of need up to His powerful rush of water…. would it be hard to fill your glass? Would it be hard to overflow your glass? No on both questions… So, believe in God’s power to drive out sickness from your body.

I recommend that you create an atmosphere of healing. Have the Word of God playing as much as possible. It can be any Scripture passages being read outloud. Charge the atmosphere of your room, home, car and life with the Word of God.

By Jesus’ sacrifice we are healed.

I love to write notes in my Bible, date it and put initials for the author of the note. Here is a note that the Holy Spirit shared with me on 6-10: When you are more in tune with your problem than with Jesus, you will have your eyes on people and serving will be a task and not a joy!

Over a year ago I was asked to serve as the first service pre-school teacher…every Sunday…. indefinitely. I wanted to serve but there was a problem, that is not where I wanted to serve. My eyes were drawn to the problem and serving became a burden. I went to prayer.

“Lord, please help me. Your word says that if I give a cup of cold water to a little one in Your name it is the same as if I have given it to You. I need your help to adjust my attitude.”

God answered my prayer. A dear friend decided to help me by copying all of the handouts, cutting out all of the crafts, assembling the weeks lessons…. every Sunday.. indefinitely. I was astounded at her sacrifice. Then both of my girls decided to help me… every Sunday.. indefinitely. They help me teach the lesson, play with the kids, prepare the room, clean the room and they love it! It is so amazing as a mom to watch your children mentor younger kids and teach the kids what you have taught them.

There are more precious moments than I could ever write down. Little ones crawling up in my lap, running for a hug out in the sanctuary when they see me, little hands tucked gently in mine when we pray and short but meaningful sinner’s prayers prayed with those who are ready and understand they want Jesus in their hearts.

O, how I don’t want my attitude to spoil the richness of God’s gifts towards me. I nearly missed one of the biggest treasures He had for me and all because I had my eyes on the problem and not on the answer. His name is Jesus!

Caterpillars…. cute little fuzzy bugs that are waiting on their big day. They are waiting on the day they turn into a beautiful butterfly. From fuzzy-wuzzy to glorious butterfly just by unzipping the suit, er, I mean cocoon…. they grow and by instinct know the timing and the way to step out of their comfort zone into glorious beauty.

God is very interested in us thinking bigger. We live in routine, safe secure habits, you know…. the comfort zone. He wants us to think really, really big. Our thoughts about our life are like a drop and His thoughts are like the ocean. One drop in the ocean would not even be noticed. He says that He will do beyond all that we ask or could even come up with.

The other day His anointing was so strong in my prayer time. It was like every part of my soul and spirit was plugged into a heavenly electrical outlet. I immediately knew I have been thinking very small. The problem with thinking small is that we limit Him.

When we are serious about moving ahead with His plans for our life then we must be willing to unzip the caterpillar suit. The suit of comfort, the warm safe cocoon, and we must be willing to be very obedient. He is interested in our lives being the best they can be… He knows for that to take place we must think His thoughts and live His ways.

The men and women of God that you admire, the butterflies, were not born that way, they decided one day to unzip the caterpillar suit and fly!

Worship in Chapel was amazing! There were 4 teenagers leading worship: 2 singers and 2 playing acoustic guitars. They ushered in the presence of God!

One of the singers that day was a young lady named Abbie. For the third song she sat at the piano and played a song the Lord had given her. It was all about a time in her life when she wondered if the Lord was listening. She asked Him how come when she prayed it seemed He was not there? Then at the moment she was most frustrated, most vulnerable, yet the most quiet… she heard Him. ”I am listening.”

This song is a beautiful heart felt quest for the Lord Himself. The devotion to Him above all else poured from her. It made one feel completely understood. Haven’t we all felt this way at one time? The important process here is to walk through those moments and not stay there. Listening, true listening to Him, requires us to become very quiet.

I had the privilege of speaking in both Middle School and High School Chapels at our school.  Please understand, I have worked with these kids for the past 5 years. I love them and their success in the Lord is one of the things I pray about most.

The Principal of our Middle School asked me to include their theme, the prayer of Jabez. Jabez asked God to bless him and to enlarge his borders. I questioned God on how to speak to 11-13 year olds about that. I felt led to share with them about my testimony of God healing me of an 8 year battle with Candida and how God helped me to cope when my parents divorced.  Physical and emotional healing are from God. When we are healed we are blessed and we grow in Him, that also includes enlarging our borders.

The next chapel was the High School Chapel. The Principal of the High School asked me to share about being set apart for the ministry. I felt led to share my own experiences in High School and throughout my life knowing I was called to preach. I shared how Matt and I met, and about how at first I was not even attracted to him even though he was my best friend. God has things planned for us that we would not choose for ourselves but they are far better for us than what we would pick.

I sensed the anointing to pray over the ones who felt called to the full time ministry. I then asked all the rest to come to the front also and prayed for them explaining they are the business men and women of the future. They would be called upon by the Lord to fund the ministry and they would reach people in the work place that would never darken a church door. Their role was just as vital.

What a wonderful day it was to share with some of my closest young friends the goodness of God. There is no one like Him!

The other day one of my friends commented that it is important to be authentic. I thought to myself, “I have not heard that word in a while. That is a good word to chew on!” To be authentic means to be genuine.

My parents are the kind of people, what you see is what you get. They raised us to be genuine. Matt and I endeavor to raise our own family with integrity in regards to being genuine.

Here is what authentic is not: uncertain, undependable, impure, unreliable, unsure and unfaithful. We have a world to watch that gives us plenty of examples. When you take Jesus and love out of the equation of life you will certainly take out being genuine. However, the word of God from Genesis to Revelation is a picture of Jesus and his authenticity.

It is cloudy and overcast in the Northwest today. Why, in times past, would 10 months of this annually, get me down? When my home state of Oklahoma has tornadoes and extreme heat and I never thought anything of it?

I went to the Lord in prayer. He revealed to me my bad attitude. I was holding Him in my heart in a state of frustration. He had asked me to move to the Northwest and I was frustrated it was not a tropical paradise in every way. He gently and lovingly asked me to release my frustration. He explained that when He calls us He does not promise complete comfort and ease. (You get the fact that this entry is more than just about weather, right?) David fought Goliath; Israelites marched around Jericho; Moses brought Israelites right up to the Red Sea, toes in the water, mean army behind them… It is the moments of frustration that are the brink of our miracles!

My ode to a cloudy day, “This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!”