Get A Glimpse

So I got yet another glimpse into myself a few weeks ago....


I was at a conference with a friend, I won’t tell you which one to protect the innocent :)

There were a lot of amazing Godly speakers and praise music so you would have thought I would have been Christ like for the entire event.  Not the case.

There was a photographer there as you would expect during a conference. The photographer was doing her job taking pictures.

I don’t know if you have ever paid attention to that but if you have attention deficit like me you can’t help but notice what others don’t. As she took pictures, many one after the other, you could here the camera click as she was snapping the photos.

After a while it got on my nerves and I said to the woman sitting next to me (you  think I would have learned by now to keep my comments to myself but NOOOOO) “that photographer is so distracting.”
The woman gave a polite smile and went back to listening to the speaker.

There was a break between speakers and I went to get a drink. When I came back the event had started and I was in the back of the room.

At this time the main speaker gets up to share and as she walks across the stage I notice the friend who invited me waving her hand at me to come up to the front where she was sitting.
I thought to myself how sweet she saved me a front row seat and doesn’t want me to miss the amazing testimony that was getting ready to be shared.

I made my way through the sea of people and sat next to my friend. This is where what I call the Holy Spirit hokey pokey comes in.
My friend leans into me and says “the photographer had to leave and the Lord told me to have YOU take the pictures.”
She then mentioned this was the main speaker "so make sure you get some great shots.”
WHAT!!!!! I could here the Holy Spirit say “let’s see what you got.”

Gems I truly cannot make this stuff up.  
First of all it was one of those cameras that you had to self focus, you know the ones with the long lens.
That would have been hard enough but it was also digital so I had to look and see if the pics were clear which would have been kinda OK if I had glasses on and could actually see them.

I was freaking out! I immediacy repented for my former thoughts and asked God to save me. He was kidding right? No.

I now understood why the real photographer was taking so many pictures. The subject was not standing still and of course was talking the whole time so you had to shoot a lot to hopefully get one good picture.
I had become the distracting clicking away camera woman.

This of course got me thinking about how quick we are to judge others when we have no idea what their going through.

Luke 6:37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

It’s so easy to run your mouth about someone else until you’re running in their shoes. I know this isn’t a new teaching, more of a reminder for me that I thought I would share with you.

We have to be careful about even our thoughts. True, I didn’t really say anything mean about this photographer but somewhere in my mind I obviously thought I could do a better job.
Did I mention the first picture I took the lens fell off the camera and hit the floor?

It was a humbling moment and Gems, I’m happy for them.
They keep me real and hopefully from becoming self righteous.

I’m so thankful that when my Father asks me to get a glimpse of what’s inside my head He does it to correct my thinking. He does it so I don’t lose my love walk for my brothers and sisters or more importantly His sons and daughters.

Thank you Jesus for giving me a glimpse into my head and heart and for loving me anyway. Thank you God that you don’t keep the bad pics of me on record because all you see is Jesus. Thank you Holy Spirit for that the first glimpse doesn't have to be the last one.

Butterfly Ballet

Today is my birthday!!!!    I have had the most wonderful day already but what I want to share with you is my morning.

We will have to go back in time for a moment for you to understand how special the following event was.

A long time ago I was telling Jesus that one of the things I miss about not being a part of a couple is the little intimate moments.

For example when two people in love look across a room and make eye contact and smile. When they laugh at the same thing cause it's an inside joke or brought a shared memory. The little touches as you pass by one another or that look that seems to see your very soul and says how much you love each other without using words.

I now I'm a hopeless romantic.

Anyway I was sharing these things with my sweet Jesus and He reminded me how much I love butterflies. He told me that He would show me butterflies in random places and different ways and each time He did, He would be saying He loves me.

Is that romantic or what?

Over the years the Lord has done just that. Whether it be a picture of a butterfly, a T-shirt, or the real thing , Jesus has been consistent. 

One time while visiting Tennessee, my favorite place, I was looking for a hotel for the kids and I to stay at. I decided to pull into one of the many I had passed and hoped it was the right one. As we walked up to the front entrance there was a wooden bench outside the door. Guess what it looked like? You got it, a butterfly bench.

One time I was walking through the woods and butterflies were floating around me and I put out my hand and one landed right on my finger. I just looked up toward the Heavens and said “I love you too Jesus.”

The Lord has used butterflies to help me know I'm making the right decisions like when I was moving to Tampa and the Lord told me we would live in the Ruhe house. 

When I walked in their kitchen they had this huge butterfly artwork on top of the cabinets and as soon as I saw it I felt peace.

OK so you get the picture, back to my morning.

I woke up and made some coffee and decided to drink it on the porch. While I was standing there looking at my beautiful view the Lord has blessed me with something caught my eye. 

 

There in the tall grass I noticed a bunch of butterflies dancing all around as if to say Happy Birthday. I of course said “show off” to my sweet Jesus and thanked Him.

That would have been enough to make my morning, watching them dance about as a group but suddenly something unexpected happened.

One at a time a single butterfly would come to the area of grass that was cut and fly up and down and all around in front of me as if it were performing a solo in this butterfly ballet I was witnessing.

As soon as one went back to the group another would come out. Each one a different color and size. I stood there enamored by this unexpected surprise unfolding in front of me.

The final butterfly was a baby one. It was so small you had to really focus to see it. It flew out and did it's performance before me and the King then unlike the others it landed on the ground as if to take the final bow.

Gems it was incredible!  I know I must have had the biggest smile on my face. 

 

I thanked my sweet Jesus for such an amazing birthday present,

for a sweet intimate moment between us that I will forever cherish.

When I went back inside Jessica came home with a dozen long stem roses. I have never received long stem roses before!

I was so surprised! As I was still taking in the moment I heard the Lord whisper to me “every great performance ends with the Prima Ballerina getting flowers.”

Now you may be saying, man this girl has one vivid imagination. And ya know what I would say "yes I do."

 I have an amazing, vivid, animated, brilliant, colorful, dramatic, dynamic, expressive graphic, spirited imagination and guess who gave it to me?

My sweet Jesus so I wouldn't miss one of His blessings, especially Butterfly Ballets!

I'm Not Sorry I kicked a Chihuahua

You read that right I totally kicked a Chihuahua today. I was out doing my morning walk minding my own business and enjoying the scenery. I had my head phones on singing to my praise music and feeling pretty good about the morning.

THEN.... all of a sudden out of no where this Chihuahua comes at me! Full speed barking, growling, snarling like a rabid animal. It all happened so fast I had no time to think, before I know it this wild beast lunges toward my ankle.

I am literally screaming as if being attacked by a wolf. I start kicking at it, BAM one good hit but it's not enough to maim it. Another lunge, OH NO it's got my sweat pants, I can only imagine my ankle is next.

Still screaming, heart pumping, (more than if I had actually been running) I'm in a panic!

It's got me again, I kick it repeatedly but it doesn't let go. My lighting quick reflexes engage and I take my other foot and hold it down my it's neck. It's squirming beneath my foot and I'm still screaming not sure what to do next.

I look up and to my surprise, there's a man running toward me. He may or may not have been in his boxers but he definitely has no shirt on. He's yelling “NO! NO!” in what appears to be an Italian accent.

Is he part of this crime scene? I don't know. He finally reaches me bends down and picks up the squirming animal who continues to foam at the mouth. My heart still pounding I'm not sure of my next move.

The shirtless Italian man finally has the dog in his hands and I begin to yell at him in my prayer language, I figure praying the perfect will of God is a good idea instead of using the English words that were on my mind... OK I exaggerated here I didn't really do that.

He has the dog and as my adrenaline is still pumping he lifts up the gums of the snarling beast and with his Italian accent yells “he has a no teeth, he has a no teeth.”

I was stunned.... I suddenly get a mental picture of myself screaming in fear with this 2 pound dog on my leg and it's all I can do not to burst out laughing.

The poor man nearly had a heart attack running to save his crazy toothless Chihuahua. I can't make this stuff up Gems.

I'm pretty sure no one has ever been gummed to death by a small dog, by any dog for that matter.

I think I heard the Holy Spirit chuckle for the first time. In that very moment I heard Him say “isn't it just like the devil to fill you with fear and he's got no teeth.”

Of course this got me thinking as I continued my walk home. How many things does the enemy use to fill us with fear? How many times have we exaggerated situations in our minds before they ever happen? How many times have we become paralyzed in fear when we can keep the enemy under our foot?

The Bible tells us in

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

16 take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

What are the flaming arrows? They are whatever causes you to fear. They are the things that keep you up at night. The worries that cause you anxiety and depression. They are Chihuahua's that have no teeth because God is in control even when the enemy attacks.

Gems I hope this silly story will encourage you in your daily walk to remember God is bigger than the enemies flaming arrows. Don't lose your peace, but if you do, feel free to kick the “Chihuahua.” With a spiritual foot of course :)

Labor Day

Today is Labor Day.  Well it was when I wrote this.

 How ironic that I find my head whirling with thoughts and questions about my life and decisions I make.  A day America celebrates the working class. A day we look back on our jobs, careers, income and future. 

 Is it a day we celebrate how well we have taken care of ourselves? How far we've come or how far we need to go? Do we celebrate our self sufficiency?
 

Where is God in all this? Where is the line of responsibility, good stewardship and relying on God? 

I know the Lord chose to use money as a means of making a living and it's money that's needed to pay for things. 

Jesus even had Peter get the coin from the fishes mouth to pay their taxes. Peter was a fisherman, that was his trade, his job. He knew how to fish but he had never found money in the mouth of a fish before. 
So even though God had Peter do what he does, fish, He still performed the miracle.

How is the miracle performed in my job? 
    
I am unemployed this Labor Day. I look back over my life and I see the constant provision but I find myself asking, was I supposed to leave my last assignment? 

Everything in me screams "yes "but I don't see the manna turning into provision yet.

 I check my bank account and what do my eyes see?  As if the font is twice the size of my account information “Activate Credit Card?” I quickly say "NO. "
I will not live on credit.  I will not be in bondage.  

But for a brief moment I find I did think about it..

My thoughts are drawn to John The Baptist. When he said I must decrease so you may increase did he realize he was days away from having his head chopped off? 
Did he wonder as he walked to his death if God was going to save him or had the Lord prepared him for this ending? What does my ending look like?

Where is the line of trusting too much? Is it really only trusting when you have NOTHING to contribute?

Or is it thanking God each day for the job you have knowing He supplied it? Thanking Him for another day of not having idle hands.

No one can answer these questions for you because each one of us are called to a personal relationship and each relationship can look very different.

My concern is not can or will God provide it's more did I miss something? Did I hear you right? Am I still on track?

Gems the conclusion I came up with is even if I get off track the Lord will bring me back. His word says He will be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 
Perhaps I'm worrying about the wrong kind of labor. Maybe we should put as much emphasis on our spiritual jobs as we do our worldly jobs.

1Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
 

This kind of job always provides, always honors, always rewards and you can never get laid off or fired! 

There is no unemployment line in Kingdom careers. 
I have decided to celebrate a new Labor Day and if your looking for a job I know God's hiring :)  

Imagine That

I have a great imagination! When I was a kid the 2 little girls I played with in my neighborhood were Karen Tagner and Frances Elvington. As you know it's always hard to have three girls, one is usually left out. This was the case for me. Mrs. Tagner and Mrs Elvington were not very fond of my mother so they would take their feelings out on me. Mrs. Elvington bought Frances a beautiful doll house. One of those that you can stand up to play with. It was three stories high complete with furniture in every room. There was a little family a pet and a car in the garage.

I was so excited when Frances told me about it and couldn't wait to get home from school to play at her house with her and Karen. To my horror Mrs. Elvington decided I was not allowed in the yard where the new awesome doll house was placed. I was not nearly as cool as this doll house so Karen and Frances would play for hours together with me sitting across the street watching. In comes my imagination.

My father owned a nursery when I was growing up so there were rows and rows and rows did I mention rows of trees in our very big yard. I would play for hours in the nursery pretending I was a school teacher and the rows of trees were my students. I would talk to them and tell them to get in line or do their homework, you know all the things one would say to a shrub I mean student. I remember one day overhearing my father say to my mother “what the hell is wrong with that kid? She's out there talking to the trees again!” This explains a lot doesn't it :)

I could turn an ordinary couch into a ship on an ocean filled with sharks. I would to jump from one piece of furniture to the next so I wouldn't be eaten alive!!!

I had lots of brothers and sisters in my imaginary world and it goes without saying I was the favorite child. I also gave myself a different name. If your going to be imaginary you need to go all the way. My name was Sandy.

I wondered as I was writing this why I named myself that. I didn't even know a
Sandy. I decided to look up the meaning of that name on Google and this what I found.

Gender: Female

Origin: Greek

Meaning: Defender Of Mankind

That's a bit prophetic.

On different occasions I imagined I was a ballerina or singer. If you have ever seen me dance or sing you know what a stretch that is.

Watch any group of kids and they can be anything from a super hero to a ninja in minutes. They can be an animal, a truck, a doctor even a Snuffleupagus. Little kids have such great imaginations I think that's probably one of the reasons God loves child like faith. Children have no limits to their possibilities when they are imagining. What freedom.

Something I found when I googled. I like to Google.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagination

When children develop fantasy they play at two levels: first, they use role playing to act out what they have developed with their imagination, and at the second level they play again with their make-believe situation by acting as if what they have developed is an actual reality that already exists in narrative.

They act out what they developed like it's real.

Warning: this can be a good or bad thing depending on what you imagine. I imagined it would be a great idea to drive a car through this huge mound of snow the snow plows made. In my mind I saw the fluffy white snow softly falling all around us, kind of dancing little snowflakes one by one. NOT! We hit the gas slammed into the pile of snow and it completely covered the windshield. We could see nothing! With wipers going full speed and no visibility we almost hit a tree. Not quite what I imagined.

I still have a very active imagination although I try to think things through a little more. I think it's part of why I'm so visual and can find a jewel in just about anything.

Our imagination is from God. He obviously had a great imagination just look at some of the things He's created.

The problem is we get older and we use this powerful part of our brain less and less and sadly some people stop using it all together. When we stop imagining we stop dreaming and when we don't have dreams we become stagnant and I believe this affects our faith. We stop asking God for things we can't give ourselves. We stop believing Him for things He gave us the imagination to posses. We don't act out what we developed believing it will ever be real.

What do you imagine? What dreams are you believing God for?

For me, I imagine every generation in my family from now til Jesus returns to be serving the Lord. To one day have books that are shipped all over the world. I dream of Gena's Jewels classes being led nationwide. I see “Gem Homes” for women who are abused or rescued from human trafficking or just a place for a hurting person to rest. I want to help orphans find families.

I want to take my children to the Grand Canyon. I want my future husband to take me to Italy. I want to teleport to Africa. I want to fly and speak different languages, heck I want to cook without burning anything, imagine that!

I don't want to be like the horse on the carousel that just goes round and round never experiencing new things. I want to jump off and explore new possibilities.

I could look back on the day I was banned from the yard and be sad but I gotta tell ya every time I think of that day it still makes me giggle hearing my father say “what the hell is wrong with that kid?” I'll tell ya what's wrong with this kid I don't care what the world taught me. I want to imagine things unseen as if they were real so they will become my reality. Gena's Jewels would still be a dream if I didn't start writing.

Gems I never want to stop using my imagination. Thank you Jesus for creating such a beautiful place in our minds.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

And by the way now that I'm back to using my own name (most of the time) I looked up the meaning of it:

Gender: Female

Origin: French

Meaning: Queen

Imagine that...... 

It's Greek To Me

I'm dong a study by Ken Ham called Foundations and it's pretty eye opening. You know when I'm learning things I like to share them with you so here goes.

Gena translation of what I studied so far.

The issue we are having today in reaching the lost is we are trying to change our culture. We are supposed to preach the gospel and make disciples not change the culture.

Mark16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

We are spending time, money and effort on trying to change the symptoms of our culture instead of preaching the gospel. We want to talk about abortion, gay marriage, and religious teachings that don't honor God. What we need to be learning is what is the root of these issues. What is the foundation?

It's no different than when we talk about an individual who is addicted to drugs or alcohol, we say that's the outward symptom but what is the root of the problem.

We spend tons of money going to counselors and psychologist trying to get to the bottom of things. I know I had my own counselor bills.

I am restudying the book of Acts. I'm not going to give you all the verses but I do want to point out parts a few key ones. As always I strongly suggest you read the chapters for yourself.
Acts 2

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem,

21And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

22“Fellow Israelite, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Peter preached the gospel. He didn't talk about the social issues that were going on in the culture at the time, he didn't have to introduce who God was and the Bible says that 3000 were saved!!!

When was the last time you went to a church service and only the gospel was preached and a large number of people accepted Christ as their Savior?

Why is that?

Probably because you were in a service with a bunch of other “Greeks” who don't know anything about the Old Testament teaching of who God is and how we all got here.

Let's move on to Acts 17 where we will find Paul teaching.

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship —and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” At that, Paul left the Council. Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed.

Notice in this account Paul doesn't just preach the good news, he goes all the way back to explaining who God is. He had to teach the Greeks His Jewish background.

He could have preached that same sermon today as we too are a people with many god's. We leave services every week with people sneering and asking what we're babbling about. And just like that day, thousands aren't saved. Just some of the people become followers.

The interesting thing I learned was Peter was talking to Jews who had the same foundation. They knew the one true God so he only had to share the part of Jesus and refer to the Old Testament to back up his facts.

Today, we like Paul are teaching the Gentiles. You and me. We don't have a foundation of one true God.
Our President said in a speech he gave, “we are no longer "just" a Christian nation, but a nation of many other faiths as well.” Whether you like him or not what he said is true.
We have many faiths just like the Greeks Paul met. We can't begin the gospel at the same starting point as Peter did with the God fearing Jews. We have to go back to Genesis like Paul did when sharing with the Greeks.
Our churches are starting with Jesus and there is no foundation of who Jesus is or why we should believe in Him. We water down the word of God and make church more entertaining to attract the culture instead of teaching the culture, ourselves included, why we serve the one true God. Why is there sin? Why do we need to be saved from it? What are the facts of what your teaching? All of this in found in Genesis and knitted together throughout scripture.
We have no foundation.
Psalm 11:3 When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
I am so guilty of saying to my older kids, it doesn't matter how old the world is or how the earth was populated, but that's not true. It is important and that's why our kids think we have Bible stories and the world teaches “real” history. We talk about Bible characters instead of Historical figures. We read them bedtime stories then send them to school to learn World History.
Gems as always I am at the top of the guilty list in this jewel.

Bottom line is we have to learn our own history. We have to stop trying to make converts and fix social issues and start making disciples.

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Gems we can't walk around saying it's Greek to me, we have to reach a culture that has no foundation so they can understand the gospel and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.

I believe once we accomplish this the culture, just like me, will begin to change .

Don’t Ask Again

Have you ever had someone say that to you? Have you ever said it? When my kids were little and they would ask for something like “can I have ice-cream” and I say yes, but they ask a few minutes later. ”Can I have ice-cream” and I say yes, than a little later “can I have ice-cream” and I yell, “I said yes but if you ask me again the answer is no!”

Have you ever heard God tell you to stop asking for something?

I had it happen to me. It’s a strange phenomenon. You know you’re supposed to pray without ceasing and bring all your request before the Lord so when He told me to pretty much “shut it” I was caught off guard.

My request was for very dear friends of mine that were trying to have a second child. Gems it was so weird because I prayed faithfully, fervently, tenaciously as if I were praying for myself or one of my children. Why did I want this prayer answered so badly? Yes I was and am a good friend and do pray faithfully for my friends but I was a praying machine over this one.

I called my friend and told her what God said. I laughed when I told her she got me in trouble with our Father. I explained that I was not going to stop believing for her son but I was going to stop asking :)

The truth is I had a prayer request of my own that I desired as much as I believed they desired a child. I totally understood their plight. I went before the Lord almost daily and I knew the answer was yes. I knew beyond a shadow of doubt they would have a baby and it would be a boy. The part I was having trouble with was the waiting on God.

I remember clearly the day I went to the King again to ask for this little boy and He said “I already told you yes quit asking.”

Why was I still asking? Like I said the problem was, it wasn’t in the time frame I thought it was going to be. As if God does anything based on our agenda. When we pray an unselfish prayer for our brothers or sisters with clean motives I believe it touches our Father's heart but the bottom line is it will still be answered when He decides it's best for His kids.

It made me think of David. The Prophet Samuel comes to his house and announces he would be the next king. I don't know how old he was I'm thinking a teenager. So try and imagine this day. Picture yourself as David the night of the big announcement. He must have been like, oh yea call me king baby. He must have had trouble sleeping that night thinking he's moving to the big house tomorrow. Thoughts of finally getting out of the pasture and taking care of smelly sheep. No more harassment from his older brothers.

Can you imagine how he felt when he woke up the next day and Samuel was gone and his dad said “get back out to the pasture and take care of the sheep.” WHAT? Where's my chariot? My Castle? My servants? It was years before David became King, but the Bible doesn't say he spent that time asking over and over, can I be king? He knew the answer was yes he just had to wait on God's timing.

I was so sure this baby prayer was answered and it was specifically a boy just like we believed for. I even bought him an outfit for his mom to hang in his one day closet.

I remember every time I heard someone was pregnant at our church I would think, “Lord why isn’t it my friend?” I was happy for the person with child but sad for my prayer waiting friend.

I'm sure there were days David asked, is this the day Lord?

Part of me subconsciously felt like if this prayer wasn’t answered for my friend mine wouldn’t be either. I have no idea why I felt that way. One thing had nothing to do with the other I’m just telling you what went on in my irrational head. It was that desires of the heart verse that kept swirling in my mind.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Did He mean it? Did He mean it for me?

I have concluded that God didn't always answer prayers quickly in Bible times and He doesn't always answer quickly now. It's good to watch other people waiting on a promise from God because it encourages us when our prayer is taking a while. It's good to see people struggle through so they can encourage us when their on the other side of their answer and we are still waiting.

I remember the day I found out my friend was pregnant, I literally burst into tears. I was so excited for both her and her sweet husband. I praised the Lord that His answer had arrived. The one He gave about 5 years prior, that they would indeed have a son.

Gems he was so worth the wait. He is such a cute little boy and I know the Lord has an amazing plan for him as he does all his babies. For me, every time I see his picture posted on Face Book it encourages me. When I look at pictures of him and his family (and there's a lot of them, you know who you are :) I can't help but be filled with joy.

The bottom line on this lesson was “don’t ask me again” meant believe now. Believe when others seem to be getting their answer and you aren’t. Believe when others are telling you not to. Believe when you are telling yourself desires are for others not for you. Believe and quit asking when you know the answer is yes and start preparing for your request.

Unlike me in the above example, God would not change His answer just because I was driving him crazy asking for ice-cream and wanting it now!!!!

Thank you Lord for answered prayer and perfect timing.