Jehovah Shammah with Suzy

Come meet Jehovah Shammah, 'Jehovah is there', with Suzy Debayle. When Suzy met the Lord Jesus Christ as her savior she jumped in head first and never looked back. Listen along with us as Suzy shares her story of healing, resurrection, miracles, fire, passion, and contagious joy for God. She gives Christians their 'job description' straight from Matthew 10:8 in scripture, and prays over the audience whenever the Holy Spirit led. You don't want to miss this exciting, Spirit-filled episode. Have you read my memoir, Healing Wings, by Natalie Sherwood? If not, go grab a copy on Amazon today CLICK HERE to walk along side my healing journey from Guillain-Barre' Syndrome. You will hear much more than a recovery story and see the hand of God in my life and yours today. I also have a marriage workbook called The Mission of Marriage CLICK HERE that can help you and your spouse either reconnect or connect for the first time. Dive deep into the mystery of WHO your spouse is and what makes them tick. Want to get your very own Young Living Essential Oils? CLICK HERE and grab yourself some of my favorites like Lavander, Thieves, Frankincense, and Lemon. Honestly, I have so many favorites it can be hard to choose.

Vision: Consume the Fire of God

Vision - Consume the Fire of God - December 2021 I had this vision before church on a Sunday morning while praying at the prayer altar. This vision is a commission to consume the Fire of God and therefore speak and breathe out truth and righteousness wherever you go. Have you read my memoir, Healing Wings, by Natalie Sherwood? If not, go grab a copy on Amazon today CLICK HERE to walk along side my healing journey from Guillain-Barre' Syndrome. You will hear much more than a recovery story and see the hand of God in my life and yours today. I also have a marriage workbook called The Mission of Marriage CLICK HERE that can help you and your spouse either reconnect or connect for the first time. Dive deep into the mystery of WHO your spouse is and what makes them tick. Want to get your very own Young Living Essential Oils? CLICK HERE and grab yourself some of my favorites like Lavander, Thieves, Frankincense, and Lemon. Honestly, I have so many favorites it can be hard to choose.

Vision: Seed of Righteousness & River of Fire

Vision - Seeds of Righteousness, I had on Friday, March 12, 2021, and a follow up response from the Lord on Sunday, March 14, 2021. This Vision is a call to accept the equipping God has for each of us. Vision - River of Fire, I had on Sunday, April 18, 2021. This vision is a call to jump up and pull down the River of Fire; enter into the spiritual things God is doing. Stepping out of the idolatry of the world and into the deep things of God. Have you read my memoir, Healing Wings, by Natalie Sherwood? If not, go grab a copy on Amazon today CLICK HERE to walk along side my healing journey from Guillain-Barre' Syndrome. You will hear much more than a recovery story and see the hand of God in my life and yours today. I also have a marriage workbook called The Mission of Marriage CLICK HERE that can help you and your spouse either reconnect or connect for the first time. Dive deep into the mystery of WHO your spouse is and what makes them tick. Want to get your very own Young Living Essential Oils? CLICK HERE and grab yourself some of my favorites like Lavander, Thieves, Frankincense, and Lemon. Honestly, I have so many favorites it can be hard to choose.

Hearing God's Voice with Wayne & Natalie

Join Wayne and myself, Natalie, as we talk about simple steps to hearing the voice of God. We pull from scripture in Habakkuk 2:1-3 to gather keys to learning to hear the voice of God for yourself. Have you read my memoir, Healing Wings, by Natalie Sherwood? If not, go grab a copy on Amazon today CLICK HERE to walk along side my healing journey from Guillain-Barre' Syndrome. You will hear much more than a recovery story and see the hand of God in my life and yours today. I also have a marriage workbook called The Mission of Marriage CLICK HERE that can help you and your spouse either reconnect or connect for the first time. Dive deep into the mystery of WHO your spouse is and what makes them tick. Want to get your very own Young Living Essential Oils? CLICK HERE and grab yourself some of my favorites like Lavander, Thieves, Frankincense, and Lemon. Honestly, I have so many favorites it can be hard to choose.

Vision: Vat of Oil

I had this vision back on April 11, 2021. In this vision God is calling us to run and receive His anointing, not standing back ignoring the work He is doing, and not being paralyzed by fear. Have you read my memoir, Healing Wings, by Natalie Sherwood? If not, go grab a copy on Amazon today CLICK HERE to walk along side my healing journey from Guillain-Barre' Syndrome. You will hear much more than a recovery story and see the hand of God in my life and yours today. I also have a marriage workbook called The Mission of Marriage CLICK HERE that can help you and your spouse either reconnect or connect for the first time. Dive deep into the mystery of WHO your spouse is and what makes them tick. Want to get your very own Young Living Essential Oils? CLICK HERE and grab yourself some of my favorites like Lavander, Thieves, Frankincense, and Lemon. Honestly, I have so many favorites it can be hard to choose.

Vision: Caught in the Father's Net

This is a vision I had in the latter part of 2021. In this vision we will see that sometimes what seems scary can simply be a call to surrender allowing us to be caught in the Father's Safety Net. Have you read my memoir, Healing Wings, by Natalie Sherwood? If not, go grab a copy on Amazon today CLICK HERE to walk along side my healing journey from Guillain-Barre' Syndrome. You will hear much more than a recovery story and see the hand of God in my life and yours today. I also have a marriage workbook called The Mission of Marriage CLICK HERE that can help you and your spouse either reconnect or connect for the first time. Dive deep into the mystery of WHO your spouse is and what makes them tick. Want to get your very own Young Living Essential Oils? CLICK HERE and grab yourself some of my favorites like Lavander, Thieves, Frankincense, and Lemon. Honestly, I have so many favorites it can be hard to choose.

Freedoms Lost and Restored

 For lack of a better title I called this dream: Freedoms Lost and Restored

I had this dream just over 1-year ago on the night of September 15 / morning of September 16, 2019.  I have shared this dream with a handful of people over the last year, and they can vouch for the fact that I had it BEFORE this election and the time we are currently in.  

I tend to lean toward this dreaming being for now, but as I do not know the future it could certainly be for another time.  Time will tell, or you can feel free to ask God yourself.

 Setting:

A beautiful white sand and blue water beach on the shores of the USA.

 Dream:

As this dream begins I am standing alone on the beautiful white sands of a beach somewhere on the shores of the USA.  I can see the crystal blue water, feel the soft gentle breeze and even taste the slightly salty air.  It is pristine and peaceful. 

 As I stand there I begin to look around and notice very specific items dotted around the beach.  The first thing I see is the Bible lying on the sand.  Then I see the American flag.  As I look more I see prayer, then the Ten Commandments, marriage, food, money, homes, jobs, the justice system, law and order, and the white house. 

 As I spy each new object I realize two things.  One, these are our freedoms; and mostly freedoms that we take for granted like food and prayer.  Two, these freedoms had been gathered and placed in this one location.

 While making these observations I begin to notice other believers popping up all over the beach with me, and each of them had the same bewildered expression on their faces as to say, “Why have our freedoms been gathered here?”  There were hundreds (maybe thousands) of believers dropped onto this beach at this same place and time.

 While we were all standing, pondering and observing the waters began to rise like a high tide and covered all of the freedoms set about on the sand.  The water rose until every last freedom was under the water, but as we stood on the sand above we could still see our freedoms just under the surface of the clear blue water.

 Then a thick, putrid, oily sludge began to move across the waters starting from the horizon line as far as the eye could see and moving toward the shore.  This foul smelling toxic sludge was thick and sticky and moved to the shore to cover every drop of water, quickly burying our freedoms under it until they could no longer be seen or felt.

 The believers gathered there on the shore began to weep, mourn, wail and cry out to the Lord in deep groaning prayers to restore our freedoms to us.  We cried out in unison as one loud wailing voice of a mother that had lost her child, full of grief.

 While the believers were falling to their knees weeping and praying, a riotous mob formed in the distance on the dry land behind us.  They were screaming and uttering foul and diabolical threats while charging toward us to kill us and make us stop praying.  As they ran toward us in one evil accord the large hand of God slammed down in front of them creating a wall between them and us.

 We were unmoved and continued to battle in prayer on our knees.  The more fervent and united we became the more I saw what looked like a sweet smelling incense rise off of us into the heavenlies above. 

 Once this fragrance reached a thick cloud a strong, fresh wind began to blow across the face of the water.  The wind pushed away every last speck of that thick putrid sludge and restored the beautiful beach and clear waters.  The wind also brought the water level back to normal and exposed our once hidden freedoms. 

 We praised and thanked the Lord that our freedoms had been restored, but then I had a deep internal knowing that the restoration of those freedoms was temporary.

 

The dream ended.

To me, this is a call to prayer right now.  Believers, call out to God for our freedoms to remain on earth as it is in Heaven.  

The Black Sheep of the Family

Ok friends, we have have a huge misconception that needs a little clearing up.  This particular blog post is being written to discuss the commonly avoided subject of a 'Christian' family having a homosexual family member(s) and now that family member(s) being seen as the 'black sheep' of the family.

First, notice I put the word 'Christian' in quotes in the paragraph above.  The reason for this is because many people consider themselves or their families as Christian because they are good, because they have a God consciousness, because they are of a particular nationality, because they live in a particular place (like the United States, England, Australia, South America, Texas...), because they have not committed heinous crimes, and more.  Spoiler alert, those things do not make a person or a family Christian.  

Second, you will see 'black sheep' above also in quotes above.  This is because we, as sinful people, tend to measure each other by our personal standards and beliefs.  We label some sins and actions as bad and stamp those with the 'black sheep' label, and other sins as no-so-bad and let those slide with a shrug and a pass.  

Now for the words that drove me to write this blog post.  My precious cousin, who I have ALWAYS loved, wrote this: 

"I’ve always been okay being the Black Sheep in my family."  

Then she clarifies her statement with: 

"I’m the lesbian democrat that moved from TX to OR."

Kelly, this is for me, you, and maybe a whole lot of other people.  So lets dive in.  

Sheep is a great term to use for all of us in the human race.  The Bible calls us sheep.  Jesus calls us sheep in John 10.  David calls Jesus our Shepard in Psalm 23.  And guess what, being called sheep is not a compliment.  Sheep are dirty, smelly, need help with EVERYTHING, and they follow the crowd even if the crowd is running off a very high and jagged cliff.  They do not think well for themselves.  They must be led, guarded and cared for by a good shepherd, or else they will be neglected, get sick, get hurt and possible even self destruct until death.  That describes sheep, and according to the Word of God, that describes us.  We are sheep. 

Misconception:  Being a lesbian makes you a black sheep.  Were gonna get real clear here.  Being a lesbian does not make you a black sheep.  WE ARE ALL BLACK SHEEP at some point during our lives, and many, if not most of us in the human race will stay black sheep for our entire life.  

What causes us to be black sheep?  SIN.  All sin.  Any sin.  There is no BIG sin or little sin, sin is sin, and it is what makes us ALL BLACK SHEEP.  Isaiah 59:2 states, "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." (NKJV)  

It does not say your homosexuality, your murder, your political party...it says sins.  Homosexuality is NOT the dividing line.  Being born into the lineage of the old sinful nature of the fallen Adam is the dividing line.  And God HATES our sins.  All of them.  They separate us from Him.  These sins keep us in bondage.  They blind us from the Truth (the Bible says that Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Light), so sin keeps us from the Truth that IS Jesus.  And that is scary because Jesus is not only the Truth, but He is also the Way.  Way?  What way?   Jesus is the way away from sin, away from the consequence of sin, which is death and hell, and the way toward truth and everlasting Life, freedom and a joy that overflows from within no matter the circumstances we face without.

There is absolutely nothing we can do to remove the black from our fleece.  Being good does not remove the stains on our wool.  We are black as sin.  We are black sheep.

Isaiah 64:6 (NIV) says, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."

Friends, our sins sweep us away.  They start off small and enticing like a gentle breeze or a soft lapping wave.  They feel good and and thrill us.  We let the lusts of our body be pulled into the calling of that breeze or wave and allow it to pull us stronger and stronger, deeper and deeper until we are caught up in a tornado or tsunami of sin, drowning and being pulled apart by the very thing we thought was once so enjoyable.  We are in bondage to the sins we've chosen, and they call to us so we can have our momentary thrill, until we are lost in the pain of always seeking that next 'feel good' moment while simultaneously losing our soul.

We gossip until we hurt everyone around us.

We lie until our thoughts are so twisted we can no longer remember the truth.

We hang onto our addictions until our addictions grip us in their vice and refuse to let go.

We use our bodies for what 'feels good' until the normal pleasures no longer thrill us and we have to move to deeper and more perverted lusts.  

We call on ungodly spirits and enjoy the games, teasing, and power until that playful power begins to demand unthinkable things and we are unable to leave its grasp.

Sins start off small, fun, and a bit thrilling, but they sweep us away to languish in the ocean until we are eaten alive by the shark that is Satan and send us to hell.  That is how sin works.  It is deceitful, vain, and a liar.  

Yet there IS a way out.  We do not have to stay trapped in sin.  Remember, even sins that feel good are wrong.  If what we are doing does not line up with the holiness of God it is sin.  And we are all sinners.  Holiness, which is God, demands perfection.  Not because God is harsh and doesn't love us, but because any fault, misstep, lie, lust, hate, sin...standing before God, even the tiniest speck of sin, just one rude thought or slip of the tongue standing before a Holy and Perfect God would cause us to be utterly destroyed in His Holy presence.  He would not destroy us, His Holiness would destroy us because of our unholy sins.  Unholiness can not stand or survive in the presence of pure holiness.  Let that sink in.  Unholiness CAN NOT SURVIVE in the presence of holiness.  

So now what?  

Jesus.  Jesus is what.  

Jesus is God and is the Son of God.  "In the beginning was the Word.  And the Word was with God and the Word WAS God." (John 1:1)  The Bible clearly states that Jesus is the Word.  Jesus was in the beginning.  Jesus was and is God.  And Jesus came to live on this sinful earth, in a body of flesh, yet live a perfect life without sin; FOR YOU.  Jesus lived a perfect life without sin for you and for me and for everyone centuries past and future.  For all.  And being God and having come as a man he had the power to conquer sin, death, hell and the grave once and for all.

2 Corinthians 5:21 guarantees, "God made him who had no sin (Jesus) to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

John 3:16-18 tells us, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (Jesus), that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."

And when we choose Jesus, the lamb of God that lived a perfect life, was slain on a cross as a sacrifice for all mankind, and raised from the dead defeating Satan, death, hell, the grave and SIN for us, then we can now shed our black fleece and become new creatures through Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old as gone, the new is here!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."

Isaiah 1:18, "Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool."  Do you see it?  White as wool.  Sheep with white wool, not black fleece.  We can be set free from being black sheep, we can now be white sheep with Jesus as our Shephard.

It is an easy thing to do, but you must first count the cost.  The cost is living a life set apart.  Set apart from what?  A life set apart from the worldly desires that so entice us.  This may mean giving up an 'enjoyable' sin.  This may mean losing friends when they shun you for your new stance.  This may mean being misunderstood as you attempt to love a person yet call them out of their lifestyle of sin.  But guess what, it is FREEDOM and feels freeing; like a weight being lifted off of your shoulders, a weight you never knew you carried.  

When you ask Jesus to wash you white as snow, to be your Lord and Savior you are now free to NOT sin.  When before you were simply following a life of sin, you are now able to turn away from sin and still have a very fun, thrilling, joyful and amazing life.  There is so much more joy, freedom, and life on the 'Jesus side' of salvation than on the 'black sheep' side of sin.

And how do you get washed white as snow and lose your black fleece?  You just ask!  You  repent of your sins, declare that you are a sinner and that you are walking a road to hell.  Acknowledge that you are not following God, but that you need to.  You apologize for those sins and turn away from them asking Jesus to be your Lord, to be your savior, and to literally be the 'boss' of your life.  That's right, you now listen to God and follow Him.  Just ask Him, he will hear you and transform you into an amazing, new and beautiful creature.  

Oh, and don't just ask Him to save your soul so you can go to heaven as if in a 'get out of hell free card'.  Too many people do that and call themselves Christians.  And maybe they are, but God knows our heart.  God does not look on our outward appearance, but rather God looks on the heart.  We cannot hide from God.  We can't say a prayer with our lips and fool God by keeping a black heart.  No!  Allow Him to save, change, transform all of you.  Your spirit, which is eternal and will go to heaven, through this transformation, once your life here on earth is over.  Your soul, which is your mind, the way you think can also be transformed.  And, your body, in which you live out your daily life, can also be fully set free and healed through your salvation.  When you give God/Jesus all three parts of you, He is faithful to begin, continue and complete an excellent work in you.

Let us be clear, being a lesbian, a democrat, or living in a particular area does not make you a black sheep.  We were all black sheep...we only became white sheep when we surrendered all of our self to a Holy God, and no one is too far gone to take that step.

Also, the true 'white sheep' LOVE the so called 'black sheep'.  We LOVE YOU!  We were once you.  We just want you to experience the same freedom we have experienced, and to spend an eternity with you by our side.  I love you, pray for you, and always will.

7 Reasons | Full Abortion Movie 2019 (HQ)

Abortion is a HOT topic these days.  Actually, I remember it being a hot topic in the late '80's, so it seems not much has changed, but rather it has just become more of an inferno.

7 Reasons is a long-ish 42 minute movie consisting of spontaneous interview clips.  It is thought provoking.  If you will take the 'dare' to watch this and allow yourself to be challenged, then you must watch from start to finish.  No turning it off a few minutes in, half way through, or near the end.  You must watch it all.  And you need to commit to watching it without yelling and screaming at the screen in front of you, but rather just listening and processing.

So many of us get into heated debates on this subject and we are so ready to yell and spew our thoughts that we never allow ourselves to sit, think, absorb and process both sides of the debate.  Here is your chance.


Lets remember what the Bible says in

Pslam 139:13, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." 

and what God says in the Bible in 

Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

God knew us, knit us and created us while we were still in our mother's womb.  We already had purpose and worth.

Moved! (Part 3)

Now we had an offer on the table for the blue house, and it was time to also put our house on the market to sell.

Immediately God began speaking to me.  Much of the messages He spoke seemed very cryptic at first, but looking back we can see how each and every word He spoke fit perfectly into His plan.

From the very beginning God said to me "I've Got This."  Seems like funny words coming from the God of the universe, but He said them nonetheless.  Those words said so much to me.

First, they said that He does indeed 'have this' blue hose buying, and current house selling situation.  He is in control no matter what we think, or what could possible come down the road.

Second, it seemed to be a warning that this would not turn out to be the simple buy-and-sell process that we expected.  A reminder for us to lean on Him when confusion and trials come.  Proverbs 3:5 - Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Another thing He kept repeating to me was the words "1-week."  Although He said 1-week, He never did tell me exactly what that 1-week meant.  Hubby and I made various speculations.  Everything from 'we will sell our house in 1-week' to we will sell our house with just 1-week left on our contract.  But this 1-week phrase kept us on our toes and on our knees in prayer with God.  After-all, He was the only one that could answer the questions about His timing.  We ended up accepting the offer 1-week before our original closing date of June 8th, 2018.

Then God started speaking to me in dreams...again.

I had two dreams that both happened in real life just as they had played out in my sleeping hours.

The first dream was me in our house and many people coming wanting to buy it.  Two of the people that wanted to buy our house in the dream were people I recognized from our neighborhood.

Well, that happened.  We had over 30 people come to look at our home.  That feels like a lot when you home-school 3 kids and have to keep the house clean and make yourself disappear at any given time so strangers can come look at your home.  Also, two of the people that wanted to buy our house were from our neighborhood!  One was the newly married children of some neighbors of ours, but they were not sure they could scrape together the money or not.  And another one was a couple that was buying a larger house in the neighborhood and didn't like how the inspection reports came back, so they were trying to decide if they should make an offer on our home or not.

Then I had another dream.  In this dream we had 3 offers on our home and in the end of it all had to choose which offer we were suppose to take.

Guess what?  That dream also happened.  We had one offer on the house that we decided not to take.  Then we had two more offers and we had to decide which one we was for us.

The offers were actually pretty stressful because they were basically the same offer by different people, and they all came near the very end of our contract period.  It all came down to timing.  We were running out of time for when we needed to close on the Blue House, so we needed to choose the offer that would fit into that time frame and not drag out the selling process even longer.

You see, the sellers of the Blue House said that they simply would not extend our closing date, so if we accepted an offer that dragged out the closing of our house then we may be left homeless due to the owners of the Blue House not cooperating with us for an extension.

So, we prayed.  We prayed and prayed and prayed.  We did not want to move twice.  We didn't want to go hunting for another home when it took us years to find this one.  We didn't want to be homeless trying to find a place to live in a lurch.  We were down to the wire for our contracted closing date on the Blue House.  It was the end of May, and our closing date on the new house was set for June 8, 2018.  Yikes!

So what did we do?  I sent out text messages to some of my prayer team friends and asked them to pray.

I also sent messaged to a few of my close prophetic prayer teammates and asked them to let me know if the Lord told them anything about me to let me know.  (I did not give them details about my situation because I wanted them to hear from the Lord and not be swayed by my personal details.)

Wayne and I sat in the closet and prayed a lot.  God spoke a lot.  But the decision was ultimately ours.  Do we move forward and lean on God, or do we pull the plug and stop now?

I told God that if this all worked out and we did indeed close on our New Blue House on the official closing date that I would make a stone of remembrance to sit at the front door: Established - June 8, 2018 - By the Glory of God

After all those prayers and prophetic messages coming in from my friends and all the words the Lord had been speaking I decided that Wayne and I needed to sit with two men that I have known, loved and trusted since I was a small child.  They are both prayer warriors and prophetic prayer ministers, and maybe what they would say would make sense of this situation for us and help us decide.

The men agreed to let us come sit with them, and they prophesied over us, then they listed to what was going on, gave advice and prayed.  We left feeling like we should keep moving forward.

I'm sure that everyone we spoke to throughout this particular time thought we should just stop, but that was not what Wayne and I were feeling.  Would we pass this test or go down in a brilliant flame of destruction?

You see, at this moment in time we had the ability to halt everything.  We could not accept the offers on the table to sell our house.  Then our contract on the new house would fall through because of the inability to sell our current home and close timely.  We would simply stay where we were, lose our earnest money and and continue life as usual.

The problem was, I knew that God was calling us to something different, and I also knew that if we didn't move now we probably never would move and step out to that something more that God was calling us to.  It reminded me of that dream I had about my hubby's birthday where we were all still in the same place, a family, but discontent and not living to the potential God had for us.

Or, we had the power to accept one of the offers on our house.  Pray it would close on time (the realtors and title companies said it was impossible to close that quickly because turnaround was longer than 3-weeks.  They insisted that we WOULD NOT close by June 8th.  Period.). 

Or not close on time and know we have to now look for another home while living in a temporary place and moving twice.

Since we felt like we must move forward to obey God, which offer do we accept?

Will we sell and close on our house in time to close on the new home?  According to the Title company that was impossible.  But we serve a God that make the impossible possible.

Eeek!

Moved! (Part 1)

(The story is long, but the adventure is worth the read if you can hang with me awhile.  I will do this particular post in parts.  Welcome to Part 1.)

Did I mention that we moved this past year?

Yes, we did, and it was a fantastic struggle in the spiritual world.  Apparently the enemy did not want us to move from our old location to our new location.

Any person in their right physical mind would have given up and found another home.  Well, we are different.  We clung to the hopes God had given us.

Let me back up and start from the beginning.

My hubby and I have lived in our very first starter home since our 1st wedding anniversary; the past 15 years.  It was a cute home in a good location that started off in a suburban area.  Over the years that area turned into a very busy concrete jungle of a city.  This 'city' had been my country haven as a little girl growing up, but now very little of that good country feel remained.

We worked and lived in that starter house with a tiny backyard and neighbors directly next door.  We had wonderful neighbors for the first several years, and although many of them where still there when we moved, many of them had moved themselves and we lost that wonderful family feel in the neighborhood.  The new families that moved in around us kept to themselves and did not want to get to know the rest of us.

While we lived there we had friends over, Bible studies, a dog, fish and turtles, a vegetable garden and then finally 3 children of our own.  As our family grew from the inside and the city around us grew from the outside our tiny yard and beginner house began to feel more like a closet for this country girl at heart.

I had begun longing for a move to a more country location with the minimum of a large backyard in which the kids and I could escape the confines of walls and artificial lighting.  Not only that, but I connect with the Lord through nature.  I feel most at peace, and hear Him more loudly when I am surrounded by His creation.  This deep longing to move drew straight from my soul.

My husband and I began looking at houses with more land, but several years past where we were unable to find what we liked and what fell in our price range; not to mention our location parameters.  After years of looking we stopped browsing for awhile, and my heart grew more restless.

One day my husband was looking at houses online, and he found one that he thought might work.  It was a blue country home that had not been lived in for a while.  The first time I looked at it through the lens of the computer screen I wasn't so sure about it and couldn't tell if it would be a good fit for us or not.  (Spoiler Alert: this 'blue house' would be the one we move into.)  So the two of us picked a handful of homes to go look at in person to see what we thought and felt.  We decided to take the kids with us too!

That first drive we took to see these country homes felt very long, and made us unsure about the location we had chosen.  The kids were squirmy and restless in the van, and I wasn't sure if I could ever lean the back road route to get there. 

But, one thing that did happen on that drive was an overwhelming sense of peace.  The further we drove from our starter house and the closer we drew to the blue house seemed to lift all the cares and heaviness off my shoulders.  I was surrounded by peace and calm. 

We finally reached the property and the very moment it came into view I KNEW this was our home.  It felt like home. 

All three kids said, "Can we move into the blue house?  We love it!  It's going to be our new home."  This was a HUGE deal to me.  My kids are not proponents of change.  Ever since we had begun talking about moving and visiting a few prospective houses over the years before they would cry and declare that they would never move.  After years of struggle, we pull into the driveway of this blue house and all three kids immediately wanted to live here.  They hadn't even gone inside yet!

Let me give you a picture of what we saw so you can understand that this was NOT the dream picture every family wants to see.

The house had not been lived in for some months.  The grass was overgrown.  There were lawnmower tracks of mud in a low spot of the front yard.  All the flower beds were tall weed beds, and many of the the bushes were dead.  Tree branches and pine cones littered the yard, but the feeling of peace and home were overwhelming.

The swing-set in the backyard needed a lot of work to get it usable.  Broken boards, broken swings and rusted metal.  The vegetable garden was nothing but 6 foot tall briers and thistles surrounded by an old and sagging fence.  It would have to be completely ripped out and started over.  Yet I had visions of God touching and healing people on this land.  I saw a ministry where roots of bitterness were ripped out of those that stepped foot here, and hope restored.  I saw more than weeds and work...I saw a vision of life.

The realtor led us inside the house and it was covered in dust and dead bugs.  Not a pretty picture when showing a home to potential buyers.  But those dead bugs didn't stop our kids.  They ran right in, claimed their rooms and started chanting that they would be moving to the blue house.

The more I saw the more I was convinced that after years of searching I was finally home.

Over the next few weeks we looked at several more houses, but kept coming back to this blue house.  Every time I came back to visit and see if it truly was what we were looking for the more solidified it was in my mind that this is where we should be. 

I began dreaming about the blue house.  I began having visions of ministry and family there.  It became home in my heart before it became our home. 

But...my husband was not so sure. 

He crunched numbers, thought manly thoughts and simply could not decide if this actually was the home for us or if we were just being 'emotional' about the house.

'Operation Blue House' began.  The kids and I began praying daily that if we were suppose to have the blue house that God would save it for us until hubby was on board.

Then my husband announced that he would NOT be making a decision to move until his 'busy season' at work was over.  That was four months away!  That house would most definitely sell before his busy season ended.  We begged and pleaded, but he explained that trying to buy a house, sell and house and move during his busy season at work was a heart attack waiting to happen.  Too much stress.  He had to be past that time for us to have a move, and if the house was still there we would make an offer; if it was sold, well, then there were other houses out there.  (Yeah, well it took us YEARS to find this one... I was NOT ready to wait more YEARS!) 

So I simply doubled 'Operation Blue House'.  Talking to God about this alone and with the kids.  Asking Him what His will was.  Asking Him for dreams and visions about what our next step should be.  We asked him to hold that house through the busy season so it would be ready for us in the new year.

We asked...what would God do?

Wisdom Wednesday - The Retreat

Scripture in Dining Hall

This Wednesday I decided to post two tips.  The first one was about coconut oil, but this one will talk about health in a completely different light.  Taking care of yourself emotionally, mentally and spiritually.  Health comes from many different aspects of life, not just what you put into your body through your mouth.  Our health is also effected by what we put into our minds, how we deal with our emotions, whether or not we take care of our spirit man, and also by stopping and getting away emotionally.  Don't get me wrong, I spend time with God and in ministry, but do I ever just get away for me?  No.

This past weekend I was given the opportunity to go on a Women's Retreat at our church.  I use to do this annually (starting in my youth group days), but the last one I had taken was 6 years ago before my first child was born!  Having taken the time out to go retreat again this year made me realize how much I really needed it, and not just this one time, but on a regular basis.  I need to spend time with just me, just other women, and just God to recharge, fill back up and rest so I can come home and be the best wife, mom, daughter, friend and minister that I can be.  Not only that, but this retreat gave my husband and I the idea to begin the weaning process from my son.  No, I did not believe that after only two days gone he would be completely weaned, but I did expect that he would not have 'mommy milk' any more.  So....drum roll please...Micah has been 'mommy milk-free' since Friday at noon; 4 days now.  Yes, he still asks for it, but thus far I have been able to use other comfort measures.  So a retreat can also be used to kick start a new stage of life!

Some highlights from the retreat:

 The topic or theme of the retreat was four one hour sessions about the sisters Mary and Martha (brother Lazarus) in the Bible.  We all know these stories, but they were presented in a new and fresh way directly from the potter's wheel by Carole Wolaver aka The Pottery Lady.

 Picture of Carole and her husband Wayne.

 

Pottery she made the last session still on the potters wheel.

 

Pottery from the first couple of sessions.  The small jars are tear bottles!

 

The pitcher on the top left was the first piece she made during her presentation.  It looked just like a vase and we all thought it was complete until with just one touch of a finger it became a pitcher.  It was so amazing and profound that the entire room did a quite gasp in unison.  That is just like God.  He creates us as a vase to learn the function of holding water, then with just one touch He turns us into a pitcher to pour ourselves out for others!

 

These are completed tear bottles.  I think they are beautiful, and no larger than your hand.  The scriptures inside the scrolls are: Psalm 56:8, "You number my watering's; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?" and Revelation 21:4 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.  There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."  I think this is a great gift for anyone grieving anything, and even for an emotional child so they can use it for a visual when upset.

 

This young lady, Lauren, started be.the.joy ministries that helps young girls in Uganda go to school and have a better life.  She sells the heartbead jewelry the ladies make out of old magazines to raise the funds.

 

Here is a necklace and bracelet made by the Ugandan women.

 

Here is a close up, can you see the edges of the magazine paper that creates the beads?  Who ever thought to recycle magazines into beautiful beads!

 

 I took part in the local mission ministry made available during the retreat.  We made Martha & Mary dry soup packages filled with all the ingredients, love and prayer to make a hearty meal.  These will go to our churches Care Ministry to be given out to families in times of need.  I made the bag you see above along with another one.  I believe 50 packages were made in total!

 

 Do you see that tree with the cross in front of it?  Do you see the ribbons on the tree?  That was our prayer tree for the weekend.  Various colored ribbons were made available the entire weekend for women to go select, sit at Jesus' feet, pray and then attach the ribbon to the tree as an act of giving it to the Lord.  Each colored ribbon represented a different thing.  When completed it was a really beautiful sight to behold.

 



I really enjoy nature, actually that is when I feel closest to God and to who I truly am.  This tree had ferns growing all over it.  Breathtaking.

 



 Part of the lake and view at the retreat.

 

 A group of ladies assembled approximately 140+ of these bags in yellow, green and pink.  One for each lady at the retreat filled with information and love!

 

Another lady made these notebooks (front and back) with a friend for all 140+ ladies!  They were beautiful.

 



Do you allow yourself time to get away and grow closer to God?  Are you the clay in the potters hands?  What is He creating you to be?  What are you now and what will the finished product look like?  That is true health!

 

Dreams

I had a dream last night (and the night before).  Actually, I dream every night, but most of those dreams are just silly or nonsense, and I forget them as soon as I wake up.  But then there are THOSE dreams.  The ones that have meaning.  The ones that are very real and every detail is remembered when I wake up.  I try to document those dreams, but sometimes I forget.  I believe dreams can come from a number of areas stretching from what we ate at dinner, the movie we watched before bed, an event coming up in life, the enemy of our soul, and God.  The question is, Do we have the ability to decipher what dream came from where?  I believe we do have that ability with the help of the Holy Spirit, and not only to know if it was a 'spiritual' dream or last night's dinner, but also the ability to interpret that dream. 

Joel 2:28 "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions."

My dream?  Yes, my dream.  Last night I had a simple, yet strong dream that went like this (abbreviated version).  I was over at a friends house enjoying the company of several 'girl friends'.  We were all standing around chatting and eating snacks.  I had just come to the early realization that I was pregnant.  It was still to early to take a test, yet I KNEW that I was, and I was the only person that knew.  One of my friends from the long past was there with us.  I have not seen her in person for at least 12 years, but here she was in my dream last night.  She began to speak to me from across the room.  She made perfect eye contact, she was smiling, she was full of love; yet she was stern and almost rebuking and convicting at the same time.  She said, "What are you doing with your life?  I know you are a mother and a wife and you are busy raising your family, and all of that is very good.  But, what is your PASSION?  Are you doing your passion?  What are you passionate about?"  I answered her in a very calm and thoughtful way by saying, " I am passionate about the things of God, and the things God has provided us.  Things like birth and essential oils and nutrition and healing and prophecy."  While I was still speaking this friend said over me, "You should be doing that!"  Then I woke up from the dream. 

I woke up feeling like God had just told me something important, yet I was not sure exactly what?  Oh, and did I mention that the long time friend's last name is Christ (pronounced differently from Jesus Christ, but still spelled the same)?

Then there was the dream from the night before.  Here is the abbreviated version of that one.  Another long time friend that I have not seen in at least 12 years had taken us (my husband and I) to one of the houses they owned and informed us that they no longer wanted to 'deal' with it and desired to deed it over to us as a gift.  The house was in better than perfect condition, it met all of our current and future needs, it was in a beautiful location with an amazing view, and some amazing furniture of our choosing came with the house along with the funds to keep it up for the next several years.  This family was simply tired of paying the taxes and was never here in town to enjoy the house (they live out of state) so if we wanted it, it was ours!  And again...I woke up, and again I had the strong sense that the Lord was speaking to me, but what was/is He trying to say!?

I have some interpretations that make sense, but nothing exact because, well, that is how God works.  He let's us in on the secret but doesn't reveal the details; we have to obey, step out and live by faith while allowing Him to work.  Scary and exciting, huh?  He involves us without spilling the beans, so to speak. 

Do you think God speaks in dreams?  Has He ever spoken to you?  What do you think the above might mean...other than "She's crazy"?

Oh Precious Sleep

Do you ever find that your sleep rhythm is completely off, and no matter how hard you try you just CAN NOT SLEEP?  Or, do you suffer from insomnia? 

Well, you are not alone!  I think everyone has the occasional sleep issue, but for some this is a chronic problem, and the harder you try to sleep the less you seem to be able.

Before we get started I wanted to let you in on a secret.  Did you know that the Amish typically do NOT have sleep issues?  That's right!  They also do not have electricity.  No television, radio, video games, computers; no electric light or stimulus at all.  Oh, and no alarm clocks; unless you count the rooster.  Actually, they tend to get up with the sun and sleep when the sun goes down.  They follow their bodies internal clock, given by God, and follow nature!  They also do not eat processed foods or drink empty calories, and caffeine is pretty much not in their culture.  Exercise is built into everything they do from raising kids, growing crops, tending livestock, building houses and more.  If they don't do it then it doesn't get done!  I am not Amish, and never plan to be, but I think we can all glean a little from their lifestyle and apply it to our own.

Having said all of that, here are a few tips to get you started on the path to great sleep!

1. Stay hydrated all day (with water) so you are not thirsty in your sleep.  Sodas, coffee and processed juice do not count!  You should pee clear all day, every day.  If you do not then you are dehydrated.  Dehydration is not just about being thirsty, but if you are thirsty then your body is literally dying of thirst!  Your organs can not operate properly without water; remember, our bodies are 50% - 65% water as adults and 70% - 80% water as babies.  The human brain is about 85% water and our bones are about 10% - 15% water!  Sounds pretty important to me.

2. Eat a nutritious diet.  Remember that sleep is the time that our body repairs, stores information from the day and grows.  Without a nutritious diet we can not expect our bodies to do what they were designed to do in our sleep.

3. Eat a satisfying yet not heavy meal that ends at least an hour before bed (to give your body time to digest your food).  Your body shuts down most major functions during sleep to allow for repairs to be made, so digesting food should not be it's top priority.

4. Turn off almost all electric stimuli an hour before bed and begin a relaxing bedtime routine.  No computers, telephone, television or bright lights for an hour before bed.  This allows your brain time to slow down and prepare for sleep and sends hormonal signals to your body that sleep is drawing near.

5. Begin a relaxing bedtime routine that does not alter too much on a daily basis.  For example: Take a nice walk after dinner, then take a relaxing bath/shower, then read a book/talk to family in person/or listen to soft music, worship God or pray.

6. Turn off your brain.  I know that sounds silly, but don't we tend to lay in bed thinking about everything!  Check things off in your head and turn off your thoughts.  If you tend to think about something over and over then have a pad of paper and pencil by your bed and write those things down that way you won't forget them and can pick them back up in the morning.

7. Exercise.  Yup!  Even light exercise like a nature walk or vacuuming the floor counts.

8.  If you find that you have not fallen asleep in 15 minutes and show no signs of heading that direction, then get up and do something non-stimulating (reading, praying, worshiping...) until you are sleepy.  Do NOT turn on the computer or television!

9. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day (even on weekends!).  You can establish a body sleep routine in just a few weeks time if you do this every day.

9. Use essential oils or other natural means of sleep enhancement.  (I will be doing a future post on essential oils with sleep issues).

10. Deal with any spiritual issues you may have in your life.  Things like unforgiveness, bitterness, broken heartedness, anger issues, generational curses, current or past sin issues...  Take these to God and/or see a professional counselor (some churches provide these for free).

11. If issues persist, go see a professional.  Some things need a doctor's touch and have a deeper issue.

When God Shows Up

Don't you just love it when God shows up in the little things?  I know I do.  Actually, that is what this blog is dedicated to...God in the little things.  That is why I write about nutrition, breastfeeding, babies, essential oils and more; I believe God gave us those gifts and can be seen in all of them.

Today I was feeling stressed.  Nothing big, just Mommy stress.  My oldest was being belligerent and rude at every turn, and my efforts at teaching her kindness seemed endlessly hopeless today.  My youngest is beyond tired, yet my three efforts to get him to take a nap (which he usually loves) have all failed. 

So, I did what any wonderful Mom would do; I packed them up in the car and took a short drive.  That is where God showed up!

First, it began to rain, and God's nourishing goodness rained down on our parched land bringing a refreshing over our plants and trees.  (Maybe that is why everyone was grumpy...we were waiting for rain). 

Next, as KSBJ was playing on the radio I began to hear my youngest's voice echo out the words to Hallelujah:

Jesus, please come, please come today
Heal me, hear me, be near me I pray
Hallelujah

Let me tell you, there is nothing that straightens out an attitude so quickly (especially a grumpy Mom) than hearing her son sing praises to God!