My near death experience was worth it if it inspires you!
I was at a meeting on Sunday with a great group of people. We
were meeting at the headquarters of Healing Waters (www.healingwaters.org). Healing
Waters International is a nonprofit organization providing safe water solutions
in communities where poverty is compounded by contaminated water. While I was
listening to the presentations I was reminded of something God put on my heart.
Some of you might know this story but in August 2009 my
family was in England enjoying a home exchange. My husband had just returned to
a meeting in the US and I was going to spend the last week with my three
children who were 14, 13 and 11.
I woke up one morning feeling off. I was nauseous and a bit
week. I just didn’t feel good. Over the next five days I deteriorated. I went
to the doctor who had no answers. Another doctor came to the house –no answer.
My husband was wondering if he needed to fly back. My mom wanted to get on a
plane and help. My kids didn’t know what to do.
By day five I was scared. I really couldn’t do anything. I
hadn’t eaten anything. I wish I could help you understand what I was going
through – every cell in my body felt like they were dying.
I was taken to the hospital –no answers but they gave me lots
of IV fluids. I flew home needing a wheel chair to get on and off the plane. I
know the people sitting near me really wanted their seats moved because they
did not want what I had. The flight home brought the most challenging hours of
my life.
From the plane we went straight to the hospital – no answers.
Back home for a day and back to the hospital. We finally had a diagnosis. I had
a parasite (cryptosporidium) from the drinking water in England. I know, who
goes to England and gets a water parasite.
By this time my digestive system was in bad shape and my
liver results weren’t great either. For 13 days I didn’t eat and then for 10
days an extremely restricted diet. Not a good way to lose weight!
So back to what God reminded me of at the Healing Waters
office last Sunday. I believe God allowed me to go through this so that I could
share it with you. I know this because one morning when I was lying in bed
asking “WHY??” I heard the word “inform”.
So often when I am talking to someone about a challenge in
their life they say, “You can’t understand what I am going through because you
haven’t walked in my shoes.” I have walked in the shoes of someone who is
suffering from a parasite. I have felt the incredible misery of this disease. I
would have died of dehydration if I didn’t have access to medical care. My kids
would have watched me die.
It makes my heart absolutely break for the moms who watch
their children die from a parasite.
There are great ministries whose goal is to allow everyone a
clean glass of water. They bring them physical water but offer them living
water too.
Healing waters has developed a purification system that
takes disgusting water and makes it safe for drinking. They are looking for
people who are willing to band together and make a change. Click here to see how you can get involved
I really mean this….. I am thankful that I went through this
experience if it changes any of you to be moved to action. Like I said, I have
walked in their shoes and I felt their pain.
Don’t fall into this trap.
OK so here is a trap I think many of us fall into, we fear human
rejection more than we crave praise from God. John 12:43 says this, “For
they loved human praise more than the praise of God.” How many things do
you do or don’t do because of what people will think of you. Really, stop and
think about that – how does your concern about what people think influence the way you live?
When I turned 40 (also when I became a believer) one of the
biggest changes I noticed was that I was freed for being too concerned with
what people thought. Not that I don’t fall back to old ways but for the most
part I do not worry what people think of me. What a difference it makes when
you don’t have to make decisions based off of what others will think of you.
This is when life really becomes fun!
If you are searching for peace this is one change you can make
that will help bring peace into your life. You can try and live by God’s
standards rather than the worlds. The world will have different expectations
for you. One person wants you to live this way the other has a different path
in mind for you. Focusing only on God’s path frees you from all the confusion.
You might be thinking well you can’t just disregard what people
think because I don’t want to hurt people’s feelings. I believe if we really
try to follow God’s ways He will guide us to say and do what we should do. I
find the challenge can be in feeling confident that I am hearing how God wants
me to handle situations. If I pray and move in the way I hear God guiding me
than even if things don’t turn out as I had hoped (feelings get hurt) I still
have peace. The more I read the Bible I see that Jesus was always true to what
He was here to do. He was super kind and loving but He had a purpose and He didn’t
allow what people thought of Him to take Him off his path.
Along with John 12:43 here are three other verses that help me
when I fall into worrying about people’s opinions of me.
Galatians 1:10: Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of
people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s
servant (live this!)
1 Thessalonians 2:4: Our purpose it to please God, not people. He
is the one who examines the motives of our hearts.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14: Be on guard. Be true to what you believe.
Be courageous. Be Strong. And everything you do must be done with love. (what a verse to live by!!)
I hope this helps you have more peace and joy!
Michelle
Can You Give It All?
I played this song in class today. I told them how this song is such a great reminder that God doesn’t just want us Sunday morning, He doesn’t only want us during our quiet time, He wants us to focus on Him in all that we do. He doesn’t want all of us so He can feel better but because when we give up and turn everything over to Him our life will be better. Take a moment to really let the lyrics of this song get into your heart.
Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice and let me sing
always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
every power as You choose.
::Chorus::
Here am I, all of me.
Take my life, it’s all for Thee.
Take my will and make it Thine
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is Thine own
it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord I pour
at Your feet its treasure store
Take myself and I will be
ever, only, all for Thee.
Take myself and I will be
ever, only, all for Thee.
Here am I, all of me.
Take my life, it’s all for Thee.
Back on TV
Some of you might have read this on my Facebook but wanted to let you all know that Faithful Workouts is back on TV. Here is the airing information:
NRB Network Monday – Friday at 9:30am EST
On Directv – #378
On SkyAngel – #126
Online only at 9:30am EST http://www.nrbnetwork.tv/WatchOnline/Pages/default.aspx
Angel 2 Newtwork Thursday at 5:30am EST
On Dish – #266
On SkyAngel – #102
My son asked me, “How did the show get back on” I answered with all sincerity “God”
Just to tell you a few parts of this story. My biggest challenges were music and production costs.
I was flying to a MOPS convention, as I walked to baggage claim I saw one of the greeters holding a sign with someone’s name with “MOPS” written underneath. I was pretty tired from a very delayed flight but I felt the urging to go introduce myself to the person who was also attending the MOPS convention. During the introduction I learned they were there to film the convention and they were based in CO. We spoke for only a moment but as I walked away I thought, “I wonder if that was a God moment”
I didn’t think too much about it until just after I returned from the convention and I received a call from the owner of the production firm. After several conversations this amazing man offered to film 20 TV programs and said we would worry about the money later. He brought his crew, tons of equipment, edited all the programs (takes hours) and said for the most part, pay what you can when you can.
As for the music – I had just said talked to my husband once again how challenging the music for the TV program and DVDs was. I went to teach a class and there was a women there that I had met briefly once before (her husband and I sit on a board together). We started to talk and I asked her what she did. She told me she was an intellectual property lawyer. I was like, what’s that. Part of her answer was, “I deal with music licenses”. After a few discussions and without me knowing she went to her firm and asked them to take on Faithful Workouts probono (no charge) they agreed!!
I also found a group of Christian artists whose hearts are all about sharing God’s word through music. They agreed to allow me to play the music on TV for either no cost or minimal cost.
So like I answered my son, the reason the show is back on the air is because God allowed it to happen and some incredible people listened to God’s urging to help Faithful Workouts.
Thank you God!!
Excerpt from “faithful – 2″ guidebook
I was rereading the faith section from Week 24 of the faithful – 2 guidebook. This is the fourth week based on Jeremiah 29: 11 – 13. I felt God encouraging me to send this out to you.
GOD HAS A PLAN
Week Twenty-Four
FAITH
The Importance of “Seek” and “All”
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29: 11-13
It’s the last part of this passage that I want to focus on this week. Specifically, I want to focus on the words “seek” and “all”.
Notice the word “seek” shows up 2 times. “Seek” is a verb. An action word. And actions take place in real time and require time. I think if I went around asking Christians, “Do you want to seek God so you can follow His plan for your life” I believe most would answer “yes”. The challenge is you need to dedicate the time it requires to seek… and hear.
One thing I hear from my husband, who helps people understand God’s will for their life, is that some of their biggest breakthroughs come from long, extended periods of time (1-3 days) alone in silence with the Lord. This is different from squeezing in 10-20 minutes a day. There’s something about being alone and silent for a long time that enables people to hear God better than short, daily quiet times. I think it has something to do with what it takes to quiet our minds and really listen. This is hard to do in short bursts of reflections that are bookended with busyness.
Now I know for some of you finding the time to get away for 1-3 days is almost impossible. If you feel this is something you really want to do, pray and ask God to help you clear out your schedule. Don’t be afraid to ask a friend if she can take your kids for the day (you can always return the favor). Ask your spouse if they are OK if you sneak away all of Saturday to spend some time alone with God. It might take some effort, but it will be worth it.
Busyness is a major weapon for Satan. In fact, I once heard an acronym for BUSY.
B – Being
U – Under
S – Satan’s
Y – Yoke
My husband was just telling me about a book by C.S. Lewis called The Screwtape Letters. In the book the senior demon, Uncle Screwtape, writes letters to his nephew, Wormwood. Screwtape is advising Wormwood on what he can do to keep people separated from God. After teaching him many ways to take advantage of pride, jealousy, greed and other sins of human nature, he tells Wormwood, in so many words, “after exploiting all these weaknesses, above all else, keep ’em busy. Whatever you do, keep ’em busy”
The reason Screwtape gives him this advice is because busyness prevents us from scheduling time alone with God. Can you imagine the revival that would take place if we all made time to be alone with God? Imagine if we looked forward to our alone time with God more than we did our first cup of coffee. Imagine is we set aside time to do silent, solo retreats of a half day or more.
OK if I’m going to be open and honest, busyness really is my biggest challenge. I am thankful that I am at a point in my life now where so much of what I am busy doing is really good, God-honoring activities. The problem is, I believe, that too many of my good activities are keeping me away from great growth. I don’t set aside enough time to be still, silent and attentive which allows Gods words to fill my heart. I haven’t scheduled the time to do a solo retreat to spend in quiet. I’m working on this.
In an interview with Mother Theresa, a reporter once asked her what her biggest concern was about the work she was doing with the poorest of the poor in India. Her answer was enlightening. She said “My biggest concern is that my service will get in the way of my relationship with Jesus.” Think about that.
Let’s now look at the word “all” in this verse. Are we seeking God with “all our heart”? I think a reason, other than busyness, that holds a person back from seeking God with all their heart is fear. We are afraid to completely let go of control of our lives. We’re afraid God will ask us to do something we don’t want to do. We’re afraid people will think we’re weird if we live completely for God. Fear keeps us from living life to the fullest. Fear keeps us from really prospering.
Seeking God with all your heart, while living in the world, is not easy. The world continues to draw us in to its values which differ from God’s values. I found that only when I was able to let go of what the world thought of me and put my attention on God’s desire for my life was I able to really seek Him with all my heart. If I am seeking the world’s approval, I won’t be able to completely turn my life to God.
Do you remember what I wrote in week 19, “I am growing in the awareness that God wants my whole life, not just part of it.” So much of the journey forward involves letting go. It means letting go of your own agenda, it means letting go of control, it means letting go of the worlds desires for your life, it means seeking God with all you are.
Deuteronomy 4:29 reiterates Jeremiah 29:13, “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
If you want your life plan to include hope and prosperity, not harm, then grow closer to God and seek Him with all your heart. Don’t allow busyness, fear, or the world to keep you from the One who loves you and wants you to live abundantly.
What do you think keeps you from seeking God with all your heart? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What can you do to begin eliminating this roadblock?
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What fears do you have, if any, about seeking God with all your heart?
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Faith Goals, Week Twenty-Four
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My “Why God??” moments
Sometimes in life things happen that don’t make sense. Sometime in life things happen and you can’t figure out how it will possibly bring about good for the kingdom. Sometimes in life things happen and you don’t want them to.
I just went through a few weeks where quite a bit didn’t make sense. Things happened that I didn’t want to happen.
It began over Labor Day weekend. I was up in Breckenridge and decided to take advantage of a truly spectacular day. I packed up my backpack with a great book, “Forgotten God” by Francis Chan, a bottle of water, a banana, my ipod and my two dogs. I was going to hike and spend the day talking to God.
I wish I had a picture to show you of how totally breathtaking the view was. I was driving up this big mountain. I was driving high above the town of Breckenridge. It felt like I was leaving the world behind. A great song, called “Learning to Fly” by Tim Davis was cranked up loud on the car stereo. The words of the song struck me. Here’s a few of the lines:
“I’m over conforming to the worldly norm.
I’m learning to fly.
By your grace I’m gaining altitude, climbing to the highest point of views of you,
Soaring through the skies of gratitude, high above the dried up desert life of mine.
I’m learning how to fly.
Show me how ugly my ground use to be.
Come teach me to fly.”
The day was off to a great start and I could really feel God’s presence. I loaded the dogs out of the car and off we went. I had a playlist with all my favorite Christian songs so I turned on the tunes and set off. We had hiked about 5 miles and I was looking for a place to sit down to read and continue talking to God. It was such an awesome morning and I kid you not I had just said to God, “I think I am the happiest person in the world right now”
Well, I noticed I couldn’t see one of my dogs. What I saw next was crazy, my dog MoJo’s face was covered with porcupine quills I’m talking so covered I thought he was carrying something. They were covering his tongue, down his throat, in his nostrils – so freaky looking. (you can check out the pictures on my facebook)
After my initial shock we started running down the mountain. I was so thrilled to see a car, I flagged them down and they were so nice to drive me and my two dogs to my car. I jumped in the car and started my drive to the vet. While driving I asked God, “What is this all about???” “Why!!!”, “I had plans to spend the day with you – it was all so perfect”
The answer I got is, “I am with you” Could there have been something dangerous around the next bend? Could Satin have jumped in to pull me away from God? I don’t know. But the fact still is, God was with me every moment on that mountain.
Two days later, I had just driven back home after the weekend in Breckenridge with my family. It was my son’s birthday and we had left his untouched cake in Breckenridge. So although it was late at night I said to him, “Let’s run to the store and get you another cake”. As I pulled out of my driveway I crashed into my daughter’s friends car that I forgot was there.
My thoughts were, “seriously God what’s this?? You know I am trying to save my money to get Faithful Workouts back on TV why do I have to not only pay for MoJo’s porcupine surgery but now the cost of car repairs too?” God’s answer was, “I am with you”
Two days later I was going to the Dr. with my mom to get the big thumbs up that her back surgery went great and she can hop on the plane in two days and fly home to FL. Instead, after he looked at the new xrasy, we were told the surgery didn’t hold and she will need another surgery. My thoughts were, “God, you know how much I prayed for your direction with my mom, you know how much I have been praying for heeling. Why is this happening?” His answer again, “I am with you”
A few days later I was looking for my dog Micah. I couldn’t find him. My husband and son had taken him down to our creek a few hours earlier and said he was acting a bit strange but they hadn’t seen him. It was dark out so we put on some headlamps and went looking for him. My son and I drove, while my other son and my husband went on foot. We couldn’t find him anywhere.
I went to bed that night with such a heavy heart. He had an odd little cough but it didn’t seem like much. Other than that he was healthy, he had just turned 7 the Monday before. When I closed my eyes that night they were filled with tears, fearing the worst.
When the sun was almost coming up the next morning my husband and I set off looking for him. I heard my husband cry out in a voice that said so much, “I found him” I ran toward him and my heart broke. There was Micah, only a few feet from where my husband was with him the evening before. He was so peaceful looking yet he was dead. I said, “God why??? He was such a good dog, I loved him so much, why did he have to die?” “I am with you” was God’s reply.
We all have had or will have seasons in our life where we are thrown one challenge after another. We have to hold on to the fact that through it all God is with us. We don’t have to understand it and we don’t have to like it. The only way to get through times like that is to know that God is with you. Nothing that happened to me during those two weeks surprised God. He was with me and offered me peace that goes beyond all understanding.
Someone emailed me the words to the song, “Praise you in the Storm”. Here are some of the lyrics.
I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say “Amen”, and it’s still raining
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away
And I’ll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm
No matter what you are going through, God is with you. He feels every tear you’ve cried and He’s never left your side. God loves you.
You have a choice to make when things go bad. Are you going to draw closer to God so he can hug you or are you going to give Satin that opening he was waiting for? Satin wants to jump in and say, “God doesn’t love you, if he cared about you why would you have to go through all this?”
I am so thankful that God drew me towards Him during all of this and that He gave me the strength to say, “Satin don’t even think about it, you cannot pull me away from God!”
Back to School Advice
For some of us this time of year brings about big changes – Back to School. For me I have mixed feelings. Thankful that I will have more time for me to devote to Faithful Workouts but sad that we will be back into the school routine. School time means I have less time to spend with my kids and more energy I need to put into keeping them on task – “Wake up, eat your breakfast, don’t forget your lunch, did you do your homework, don’t forget your football gear…..”
It’s way too easy to get so into the school routine that we don’t make the time to talk to our kids about what really matters. If you ask your child, “What is your purpose for being alive?” They would most likely answer, “Um I don’t know” but isn’t really our purpose for being on this earth to give God glory? Isn’t it all about bringing His light into the darkness? Isn’t it about loving God and loving others”
If that is our purpose and our kids’ purpose for being here we need to talk about it with them. Imagine if we all sent our kids off to school with the lyrics from the song, “These are the Words I Would Say”
“Be strong in the lord and,
Never give up hope,
You’re going to do great things,
I already know,
Gods got his hand on you so,
Don’t live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don’t forget why your here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say”
If kids around the world started their day hearing these words and put them into their heart and mind – imagine!
Some of you probably already know this about me but I am really into music. I love music that has an important message. Here is another song that has awesome lyrics for your kids to listen to before they head off to school. This song is called, “Don’t laugh at me”
“I’m a little boy with glasses
The one they call the geek
A little girl who never smiles
‘Cause I’ve got braces on my teeth
And I know how it feels
To cry myself to sleep
I’m that kid on every playground
Who’s always chosen last
A single teenage mother
Tryin’ to overcome my past
You don’t have to be my friend
But is it too much to ask
Don’t laugh at me
Don’t call me names
Don’t get your pleasure from my pain
In God’s eyes we’re all the same
Someday we’ll all have perfect wings
Don’t laugh at me”
Talk to your kids about being kind. Let them know how you feel about teasing. Remind them to look out for the kid who doesn’t have anyone to play with. Reward them for acts of kindness not just for good grades.
My 15 year old daughter, Denika, came home yesterday from school and told me about a teacher that was having a lot of pain from an abscessed tooth. She asked if she could make him some chicken soup.
My heart smiled when I saw her cutting up the veggies and chicken and making the soup. My husband made a point during our family prayer at dinner to thank God for Denika’s kind heart for caring for her teacher. He told her how what she did was showing God’s love not just talking about it.
My family is far from perfect but this was one of those moments when I was so thankful that God had tugged on our hearts and drew us close to Him.
It’s so easy to get caught up in what the world values but keep your focus on God. Pray and ask Him to direct you.
God Heard Me and Answered
OK - I have to share with you an amazing thing that happened this morning. So….. I’ll start by saying I am not one who typically prays for God to show me a “sign” of His presence. I know He loves me and He is with me. Well, I have been doing some major praying specifically about my mom’s back surgery. She is having her 2nd major back surgery as I write this.
A few weeks ago when I was thinking about my mom’s upcoming surgery I said to God, “God, how cool would it be if the Klove verse that I get emailed to me every morning would be my mom’s favorite verse on the day of her surgery. I know you are with us but it would be amazing if you made your presence so clear”
Well, I forgot about this until I did a quick email check before heading to the hospital this morning. I clicked on my KLove verse and guess what came through today…… MY MOM’S FAVORITE VERSE. OK how good is God. I’m not basing my faith on the fact that He sent it. If it didn’t come in this morning I would not have thought God wasn’t listening to my prayers but it just freaked me out when it came in this morning.
The last time my mom had back surgery she would keep her spirits up by saying, Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Ever since that it is the verse that brings my mom comfort and makes me think her. Think about how many verses are in the Bible…. I found that there are 31,103 verses so it’s a 1 in 31,103 chance that this verse would come today.
When I saw the verse come through this morning I ran to my mom and told her what happened. You can’t imagine the peace that came over me. Guys, God is there, He hears you and He loves you. Sometimes He doesn’t answer our prayers the way we would like but know this – He Hears You.
God just gave me yet another testimony to share. I will never stop being completely amazed that the God who created the universe hears me. He said today, “Michelle, I know you are concerned about your mom and I just want to send you a reminder that I am here and I have this all figured out.”
My mom is still in surgery as I write this and I know no matter what happens in that operating room God is with us!
An Irish Prayer
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! A friend sent along this prayer (thanks Amy) so I decided to share it with all of you.
| An Irish Prayer |
| May God give you… For every storm, a rainbow, For every tear, a smile, For every care, a promise, And a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, A faithful friend to share, For every sigh, a sweet song, And an answer for each prayer. |
Enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day!!