Where Do Your Feet Fail

"Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)"

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine

This is one of my favorite songs by Hill Song . Many of you know it. It's an awesome praise song that we
sing as part of our worship but I would bet the person who wrote it lived it first and then it became a song 

We sing it with all our hearts, but do we mean it? Do we really want to trust the Lord without borders? Do we really want to walk upon the water? Do we really want to go deeper with the Lord?

The Lord asked me this very question a while back and I said yes,  that was right before we moved onto Storm Road.....

Gems the only way to go deeper with Jesus is to go with deeper with Jesus.

Many times in my life the Lord will use things in the natural to coincide with things happening in my spiritual world. 

For example, when Jessica and I first moved to Florida many of you know we moved in with friends. The Lord told me it was going to be a time for me to rest. He said He was putting an umbrella of protection over  us where everything we needed would be provided for us. The Lord said I was to enjoy the covering and rest. What I don't think I ever told you was we moved into a house on Parasol  Lane. 

God has such a sense of humor.

About 5 months ago the Lord moved us into another house but this time we moved onto Storm Rd.

2014 has started with some major storms for me and my family. Storms that cause you to go deeper. Storms that makes me call out to Jesus as I try and keep my head above the waves for fear I will drown.

Storms where the Spirit's leading is taking me deeper and with each wave I remember He asked me if I wanted to go and I said yes....

I'm not going to share all of the storms with you but I want to share one that we are in them middle of right now. My oldest daughter Amanda was called to the mission field in Mbale Uganda. She was very excited about it and I was trying to be. Africa is very far away!
She was only there a few short months before the storm began. Amanda had a small lump on her neck that was rapidly growing into a big lump. It got to the point where it was causing her problems breathing so she decided to see a doctor. It was determined she was going to need surgery to have her left thyroid lobe removed. I of course thought this meant she would be coming home... she didn't.
She said she felt God telling her to stay and have the surgery done in Kampala.
Now if you know me you know my mind can be CRAZY! The vision in my head of this surgery looked something like this. A guy sitting on a stool with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and a dirty knife in his hand. Over his shoulder was a woman holding a flashlight and 2 men at the door holding a cooler to put my daughter's organs in.
I warned you I'm crazy.

I tried my best to talk my daughter into coming home but in my heart I knew the Holy Spirit was telling me she would be staying there. A dear friend offered me her frequent flyer miles to be with Amanda but the Lord said NO.
He was calling me deeper.

My daughter had her neck cut from one end to the other and before either one of us had a chance to comprehend what happened the next wave came, there was cancer and she would be having a 2nd surgery to remove the other side of the thyroid and a tumor. A second surgery in less than 10 days! An ocean away and nothing I could do to fix it.  I felt like I would drown! He
was calling me deeper...

I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves.

The only way to go deeper with God is to go deeper.

Gems the thing is we sing about going deeper and we say
we want to go deeper but the truth is we don't. The minute things get a little uncomfortable we bail. The minute we have
to rely on that faith without borders we jump back into our life raft. The minute it's totally out of our control and we can't figure out how it's going to work out we cry UNCLE! 
I can't tell you how many times people tell me God told them to do this or that and they are so excited about their upcoming journey with the Lord.  I see them a few months later and the plan went out the window and when I ask why? They tell me God must have changed his mind. Really?
It sounds more like your feet have failed. Gems don't ask people what God is thinking. If He changed the plan He will tell you. This is the only way your faith can be made stronger you have to go where He calls you.

The sad truth is we want to go deeper but we don't want to hit any real storms. We want to skip over the hard part and just have all the provision before any waves come. The problem with that plan is you get the glory not God and He is all about His glory!
We want it to be easy but God never said it was easy to be in the center of His will.
What He did say is He will make a way when there seems to be no way, IF we trust in Him. 

I don't know what ocean your in right now but I can tell you, you can trust the one who made it. God wants to go deeper with everyone of us. He told me "the bigger the problem the bigger my glory." I'll be honest I'm no super human without fear, my first response was I'm not ready for bigger glory especially when it's my child we're talking about. God knows all to well what it's like to give a child for His glory.
Gems if we are truly going to be the bride of Christ we better start looking like her. These can't just be songs we sing they must be lives we live. Get in the water, go through the storm and let's walk on these waters where we know our feet will fail because it is only then that Christ will carry you.  You can rest in His embrace.

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Comfort Tomb

I was having a Nana day with my grandson Lucas and he was telling me the story about Lazarus from John 11. As he retold the story to me in Lucas version he said “And God called Lazarus out of the grave, out loud so Lazarus would be the only dead guy to come out.”

Gems at that moment I had a mental picture of a bunch of mummies sitting up, looking at each other and saying me you me you????

This of course got me thinking that God does call each one of us by name. We may not be called to raise someone from the dead but we may be called to raise someone’s hopes from the dead.

 I think sometimes we think if we don’t have some huge calling that we are not being called at all but that my friend is a lie from the pit.

I love the story of Elijah when he wanted to hear from God.

1 King 19:¹¹ And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: ¹²And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire 

Gems most times it’s the still small voice inside of you that is telling you what God wants from you but you are in your comfort tomb, wrapped up tightly in your garment of security and you don't want to come out.

A few months ago a new woman joined my weekly ladies Bible study. Her name is Karin and as I introduced myself I felt the Holy Spirit say “be a good friend to her.”

Karin seemed like a nice enough woman but the truth is I could tell she was a bit older than me so we wouldn't have much in common and my plate was full right now. I had a pretty packed tomb and while I had no intentions of being a bad friend I didn't ask the Holy Spirit what He meant by being “a good friend” because knowing Him He would tell me. Bottom line Jesus was calling me out of my tomb. 

Over the next few weeks I couldn't help but grow closer to Karin. She had the sweetest spirit and was a genuinely kind person. We had a bond knit together by the Holy Spirit and I couldn't be happier to be her friend and knew she was my friend too.

One Wednesday she missed our Bible study and I ran into her at a store that afternoon. I told her we missed her and being the nosy person I am I asked where she was. Karin told me she was just coming back from Moffit Cancer Center. I had no idea she had cancer.

Over the next few weeks I would get together with Karin at her house as her condition seemed to worsen quickly.

I would visit her on weekends and my days off from work. We would pray together and I would read the Bible to her. Sometimes I would read one of my jewels, did I mention she was a Gena's Jewels fan :)  My stories seem to encourage her as we had a lot of the same family issues.

Hospice was eventually called in. It has been hard watching my dear friend deteriorate right before my eyes. In spite of her condition she always had a great attitude and NEVER complained! As I would read God's word I would look up to see her small fragile face with the most angelic smile on it.

 She absorbed God's word and He was so faithful to tell me exactly what passages He wanted read to His beautiful daughter. They were having a very personal experience

together and He used me to be His mouth piece. He took

me from my tomb to let Karin know the tomb could not contain Jesus and it wouldn't contain her either!

A few days before she died I was able to sit with Karin, actually I climbed into bed with her. I stroked her soft hair and sang songs quietly into her ear. I reminded her how much Jesus loved her and how He was waiting for his sweet bride to come home to the room He had prepared for her.

Her still small voice asked me if we could do communion one more time. As I held her fragile head in my hands and lifted the tiny cup to her awaiting lips to partake of our Lord's supper it brought her such comfort. She understood that Jesus shed blood was her promise of eternal life.
Gems it was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

It was at that moment I heard the Holy Spirit thanking me for being a good friend to His sweet servant. 

I wept as I thought of my initial response to stay in my tomb and not be imposed on.

I was honored Karin and her family allowed me to be a small part of Karin's last trek on her journey home.

Gems I'm not telling you this story for any praise on my part but to remind you that we all get comfortable in our personal tomb and God is calling each one of us to come out.

We so often think ''someone else will do it” but God has called each of us for a certain purpose. Don't miss yours, don't stay in your comfort tomb when Jesus says out loud

“ your name here COME OUT!”

Greatest Gift of All

Well it’s that time of year again when people say things like Jesus is the reason for the season and they shop and bake and are usually nicer than other times during the year. It can be the happiest and saddest time of the year.

A few years ago the Holy Spirit gave me a challenge. He said if I really wanted to celebrate Chirst birth to do it without partaking in all the worldly stuff like wreaths, trees and gifts.
I agreed and as you can imagine took major crap from people about my personal challenge, but that’s another jewel.
It was hard at first as I was a major decorator during the Christmas season and I loved doing it. I have lots of ornaments the kids have made over the years that I treasure. I loved the tradition of placing them on the tree and savored every memory that came with it.  

As you know I’m not big on cooking but we always made a birthday cake for Jesus and sang to Him Christmas morning.

In spite of all the good feelings for me I would take this personal challenge.

Gems it was a very eye opening season for me on so many levels and 7 years later I continue to celebrate without all the fixins.

This is not an “atta girl Gena” jewel or a "you should do this too jewel," it’s just me sharing with you my little world.

I sat on my couch one day clicking through the channels on TV and was overwhelmed by the amount of commercials trying to get us to buy their perfect holiday gift. I remarked to the Lord how crazy it all was.

I wondered, what kind of gift can you actually give Jesus if that’s who you’re really celebrating?  Without skipping a beat the Holy Spirit answered me.

Its funny because it was more of a thought than a question. Not something I was waiting on an answer for.  How many questions do we ask intentionally that seem to take forever to get an answer to?

Yet the Holy Spirit challenged me once again. He said there is a gift you can give Jesus that He always really wants yet seldom receives. He would love the soul of the lost. He said it’s the only gift He came to give and the only gift we can help give back.

The Holy Spirit challenged me to look back over all the years of tree trimming and birthday cakes and see how many people I actually shared the good news of Jesus with.

I am ashamed to tell you that the number was very small. I didn't wake up each morning thinking who can I share Jesus with, I woke up thinking who else do I need to have a gift for. And then there were the spare gifts I kept just in case I forgot someone. When all the while I had the most precious gift, the gift of salvation.

Maybe the best gift I could have given any one was the opportunity to go with me to the mall or anywhere people were and ask someone, anyone, do you know Jesus. Helping someone including myself to obey God’s COMMAND!
Mark 16:15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

Gems this is a command not a suggestion. The Holy Spirit said to me “Gena if you really want to do something for the so called Jesus Season how about doing what He commanded.” He said there is nothing more special than sharing Christ with someone and seeing them give their heart to Christ for Christmas.

OUCH…

It doesn't say expect them to come to church because besides Easter it’s the next best day. Jesus said for us to go and find them.

I’m not slamming inviting people to church. After we share the gospel sure, invite them to church but we have to stop waiting for the lost to show up where we are.

I was really convicted and felt it my Christian duty to convict you too J All in love brothers and sisters.
I challenged myself that the next day I would talk to at least one person and ask if they knew Jesus.

Frances Chan gave a great example. He said imagine you’re at a football game and your favorite team gets into the huddle, goes over the plays, slaps each other on the butt then goes back and sits on the bench. They never actually do the plays they have practiced. Can you imagine if game after game they did this?

He said church can be like that. We come week after week, hearing a great message, getting filled up but never doing anything with what we learned. Then we show up again the next week ready for more plays we won’t use. Frances said it way better but you catch my drift.

Gems we were, are and will continue to be the tool God chose to use to share the gospel.
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven Luke 1:76-78

Gems I’m not telling you how to celebrate the birth of Christ or change your Christmas traditions but we have to ask ourselves, why are we so committed to our traditions yet willing to sit on the bench to His commands?
So my gift to you is the same challenge, make sharing the greatest gift of all with someone this week because

                  


My dear friend Evelyn wrote this poem and I wanted to share it with you.

Reminder: Jesus Is the Reason for the Season!

Twas the night before SK Christmas, when all through CFM,

All the volunteers were ready to give their embrace.
The bags of hope were placed on the tables with care,
In hopes that are guests will soon all be there.

The children came running in hope of some toys,
As Paula and Lisa laid out clothing overjoyed.
While Lyn and Mark prepared for the night,
Our volunteers and leaders were full of delight.

When out on the darkness there arose such a clatter,
We all turned our heads to see what was the matter.
Away to the sidewalk we flew in a flash,
As David and Kevin arrived with the stash.

The prayer team prepared by the glittering lights,
As Maureen and Wendy registered on site.
When, what to our wondering eyes should appear,
Bill Collier and Deacon Mark spreading some cheer.

With a microphone ready, so lively and skilled,
We knew in a moment it must be our Bill.
More rapid than eagles our guests came,
As he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Brian! now, Nancy! now, Larry and Lee!
On, Susie! On, Les! on, Tony and James!
To your feet all at once! Together they shouted!
Together in Jesus let us all be United!"

As we handed out pizza, hot cocoa and cake,
We watch in amazement and were there to partake.
As our Christmas Celebration began to unfold,
Pastor Steve watched in contentment, oh bless his soul.

And then, in a twinkling, we felt through the night,
The presence of the holy Spirit right here at our site.
As we praise our Lord, and were turning around,
We could feel the love of Jesus so very profound.

There before us stood a man dressed in rags,
Dirt from head to toes and carrying a bag.
His clothes were all tarnished, smelly and with holes,
As if someone had beat him and ripped off his clothes.
A bundle of his belongings he had flung on his back,
And he looked destitute, as he stopped in his track.

He looked tired and longing for some sleep,
As he looked to see if we had something to eat.
His skin badly burned from sleeping outside,
His garment with blood drawn down from the side.
The beard on his face was prickly and long,
Made him look years older and completely withdrawn.

The sandals he wore on his feet were so worn,
His feet were all dirty and slightly deformed.
He had hands of a carpenter, so rough and so tough,
Let us to believe he was experienced and knew his stuff.

He was skinny and tall, a once handsome man,
Down on his luck, and in need of a plan.
A look in his eye and our faith in the Lord,
Soon gave us the feeling that his heart he implored.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to a seat,
And filled his belly with all the food he could eat.
And as we watched him leave our site,
He gave a nod of thanks, a glance of delight.
We knew we had done everything right!

As he sprang to the street, and vanished into the night,
We were sure we had served our Savior tonight.
But we heard him exclaim, as he walked out of sight,
"Blessed Christmas my Servants, and to all a blessed-night!"

Written by His Servant for Life,

Lyn

Corner of Cross & Hope

^{Words are so powerful and how we use them have more impact on people than we sometimes realize.
This is such a story and we find it in John 5.}Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda^[ and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. ⁵ One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

 

OK so Jesus tells this guy to pick up his mat and walk and he does and he’s healed. This may be a familiar story for many of you and like me you may feel thankful that after 38 years this guy is finally healed. You may even find it interesting that Jesus didn’t put him in the pool, he told him to get up so he had to do something as part of the healing. But this isn’t the part I want to talk about.

After he is healed the Jewish leaders find out about him and as usual are trying to get Jesus in trouble for breaking the law. Here is the part that struck me. They ask the guy what’s the name of the man who healed you and the guy has NO IDEA!

¹³ The man who was healed had no idea who it was

That Gems is pretty crazy. He wasn’t healed because he knew who Jesus was or because he had great faith in him it was because Jesus told him to pick up his mat and walk.

There was something in what Jesus said this man needed to hear.  Jesus saw something in this man he didn’t see in himself.

I’ll give you an example of something that happened just the other day. My Bible study group went to visit one of our sisters who is battling cancer, we will call her Betty. She was having a really bad day both physically and emotionally. Our friend Beverly told her she needed to come to an event with her that night and she would pick her up.

Now I gotta be honest here. I thought to myself  there is NO WAY Betty is going to be able to go. What is my friend thinking? Does she not see how sick and frail she is? I even tried to help Betty out by interrupting, how unlike me, and telling Beverly to call first and see if she is up to it. Obviously Beverly needed my help evaluating this situation......

Well to my surprise Betty did go with her. Not only did she go she drover herself!

I went to see Betty the next day and she said something really profound to me. She told me that when Beverly first invited her she said no but as Beverly persisted, she does that, Betty thought to herself “if Beverly thinks I can do this than maybe I can.”

And with that she got dressed and drove herself! Why? Because someone believed she could! That paralyzed man got up because someone said he could.

Gems I'm writing this jewel as a reminder for all of us to invest ourselves in those around us. In whatever community God has placed us in, find out who needs cheering and do it. 

I heard a wonderful analogy the other day about community using eggs as an example. The writer said community shouldn’t be like boiled eggs. Eggs in the same pot but still have a hard shell on so they are still sheltered from one another. He said we should be like fried eggs.

When several eggs are in the pan the whites overlap each other. The yoke stays because we are all individuals but as a community we should be touching each other's lives. Was that great or what!
Wish I would have thought of it.

The day I found that sign I was with my new friend
Jenny. It was God's sense of humor. She was
sharing her life with me and I was cheering her on
as we drove in my car. When we parked I told her we needed to read the street sign so we could find my car when we wanted to leave. I think we joked that God would give us a sign.... 

Gems sometimes in life we come to the corner of Cross and Hope in our lives. We can have hope because of what Christ did on the cross. We can also gain hope when our brothers and sisters rally around us and ask, do you want to do this? Do you want to be healed, forgiven, reunited, validated you fill in the blank. Sometimes we need someone to firmly tell us to take up whatever is on our mat and walk.
To not only be in the same pan but be a part of it.
So to whatever Gem needs to hear that word today here it is
YOU CAN DO IT!!!!! I believe in you, I have faith in you. Carry your cross and find hope!

Reflect-son

I don’t know about you Gems but living my life to reflect God’s son is a constant battle. I like most of you have struggled with the age old question “Lord what is your will for my life today?”

The Lord gave me a new answer when I asked the question AGAIN this past weekend.
He started by asking me what my reflection looked like. He then told me “my will is that you reflect me in whatever you do.”
Colossians 3:  ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Huh? Whatever I do…. Did you just “whatever” me?

I realized that in each new thing I do my reflection isn't always the same.  Sometimes when I begin a new adventure I can’t see Jesus in me to clearly. You know what I mean?

But why don’t I see Him clearly? Is it because I’m being self-centered? Am I looking through the eyes of doubt? Am I basing my results on my promises to God instead of God’s promises to me?

After seeing the verse in Colossians it appeared to me God might be more interested in the how I do than the what I do.
Is this what your saying God?  This thinking seemed to bring more clarity to my reflection?

I’ll give you my latest example:
My car was falling apart and needed a lot of work.  After getting a quote I realized I would be paying way more to fix the the car than it was worth. This of course raised the question should I get a newer car? I have not had a car payment or any monthly payments in years and the thought of having one was not appealing to me at all. 
I started praying about the car situation and felt like the Holy Spirit said to lease a car. He also sent my friend Cynthia to see me who had just leased a car. She said she felt like God told her to tell me to lease a car.
Mind you I had not told anyone what I was praying about.

I reminded the Holy Spirit that leasing still required a payment,

 as if He needed that information.

You would have thought at this point things were pretty clear right? But nooooo! I asked my Spiritual Guru Jessica, my 18 year old daughter what she thought, her response “why are you still praying about something God already said yes too?”

After a couple more days of praying I finally met with my friend Evelyn’s husband Rob who works at a car dealership to talk about my options. I decided I would put out a fleece for confirmation. If I got approved for the loan with a part time job income it was definitely God saying yes. 
Really spiritual I know.

The night before our meeting I prayed AGAIN to God for clarity and this is what He said “Gena you can have the car and I will provide IF you can accept my provision without bringing it up over and over each month when the payment is due. If you can’t, then don’t get the car.”
Being the level headed Christian I am, I said back to the Lord what I thought He said to me. I decided to use part of Colossians just to be on the safe side. I just wanted to be clear, I learned this in a communication class :)

"So what you’re saying is if I’m doing whatever I’m doing in the name of the Lord, in this case leasing a car, then I would automatically be doing your will so it’s your will for me to get a car."

Are you confused? Welcome to my world….

Gems this may shock you but I don’t think God is too concerned with what car I was going to drive.

What He was concerned with was that I was going to believe that He said He would provide.
This may not have been a great example but it’s what I was dealing with.
The bottom line is as time went on I started reflecting more and more on what God was saying to me.
I was like the picture of this lake. You only see part of the sky in the reflection because clouds covered the rest.  Sometimes things look cloudy to us when we are asking God questions and we're not sure of the answer because of our own doubts about God's answer.

The thing is Gems maybe we keep asking God over and over for something He has already answered yes to. Maybe we are cloudy because of our doubt to His word or in my case  I didn't think I deserved what He wanted to bless me with. 

The truth is if we are walking our whatever in the guidelines of God's word than maybe we don't have to ask at all. He will give us our desires before we even bring them up. He will do this because His desires become our desires and that's the only way you can do things in the name of Jesus.

In other words just do whatever it is your gonna do the way Jesus would!

What questions are you asking the Lord right now? Maybe like me you are focusing on the what instead of the how. Maybe the Holy Spirit is asking you to focus your “whatever” in the name of the Lord and give thanks to God that in all things we have the ability to be a reflection of His son Jesus.

Just Say Yes

Y e s, 3 small letters that can change your world. Sometimes saying yes can feel like your jumping off a cliff with a blindfold on having no idea where you will land. That's pretty much what it felt like for me about 9 years ago.
It was yet another one of those times the Lord was setting me up for something larger than I could have imagined. He asked me to join a group of women that was starting a community Bible study and I said yes. What I didn't know was these women had been praying for years to also start a crisis pregnancy center for the community. Had I known that part I would have said NO. Why you ask? Because at that time in my life I had not been freed of my own abortion nor did anyone know about it. BUT God moved in my life in such a loving way that I FINALLY agreed. Having the sense of humor the Lord has not only was I a part of the founding board I was the President. And so Life's Choices Crisis Pregnancy Center of Lake County was born.

I'm telling this story, again for some of you, to express the power of your decision to say "yes" to something the Lord asks you to do no matter how difficult or out of your ability it is.


Luke 11:28  But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

This decision was made by 5 women whom the Lord hand picked and brought together. I only knew 1 of these women personally going in but I can tell you that all 4 of them were WAY more qualified to act as President.
This picture is of our marketing team, Suzan Jenkins and her son Jett.

Jett was also our IT guy. We were a humble group of women coming before the Lord with no clue what we were doing. The entire organization was 5 women, our children, and 1 very Big GOD.

My time with the board was short, I started when God said and ended when He said. During that time we prayed weekly together, 5 women seeking God's will for His Center. As time passed we began training. When the Lord told us we hired a Director, Marcia McNaney.

We traveled to Colorado for a huge convention with crisis pregnancy centers from all over the United States. All of us stepping out in faith for wisdom, direction and finances. 

I remember telling some friends I was going to Colorado having no idea where the money would come from and they advised me to wait until I had the money. But this was not how God asked any of us to do it.

Acts 5:29 “We must obey God rather than men."

I'm sharing this with you today because I was invited to the annual banquet for Life's Choices and for the first time since my position ended I was able to go. They were celebrating the 8th birthday of the Center!

8 years!!! Gems I had never really thought about the results of that decision until this past weekend. I never truly realized what God did with those small 3 letters of y e s from 5 women until I pulled into the parking lot of the reception hall where the banquet was hosted.
I was shocked at all the cars.
Was there another event happening tonight? I"m sure there will be a sign to where Life's Choices is meeting. These are the thoughts that were going through my head.
Why? Honestly I never thought about the end result of what God was doing. I was always so amazed at what God did with me and my dear sisters Kathy, Suzan, Donna and Dina I never thought about what he was doing with Life's Choices Pregnancy Center of Lake County. I was always focused on my unworthiness instead of God's worthiness.
I walked into the entrance and was brought to tears by the amount of people that were there to support the Center and God's command to choose life.

Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

Gems this jewel is not an "at a girl" to me or the women I served with, however, I was truly proud for the first time of what we had started. Proud that God took our small offering of obedience and multiplied the seed for His glory.I was honored that He used someone like me, completely guilty of the very thing Life's choices was fighting, killing the unborn. He used me in spite of my past to be a mouth piece for his unborn, slain babies. I am humbled to the point of weeping even as I write this. This jewel is about knowing
Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
isn't just a happy quote to make you feel better on an off day, it's a promise from God!

Genesis 4 "What have you done (Gena)? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground."

This was God speaking to Cain about his brothers death but I believe it's also God speaking to all of us about the unborn.
Blood has a voice, it cries and it's heard by God.

This jewel isn't necessarily about abortion although it's an important message, it's about obedience to God when you feel like you are the least likely to say yes.
During the banquet there was a large screen where they showed a live sonogram of a baby about 17 weeks old.

My very own grand baby is a little older than that inside of his/her mother's womb. Just as Vangie Berry, the Master of Ceremonies, said the womb was one of the most dangerous places for a baby that sweet baby lifted his/her hands together toward the sky and held his hands together as if she were praying. We were all in awe of God's ability to give us such a live visual.

Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

BUT the enemy was quick on the scene as well. As soon as I saw that precious moving baby he whispered to me "that could have been your baby but you killed it." Tears rolled down my face in sorrow and guilt BUT just as quickly I felt the presence of my sweet Jesus wrapping his arms around me and heard the Holy Spirit say "Gena I brought you here to see the fruit of your labor. To show you that I am serious when I tell you I can work ALL things out for good to those who love me."

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Gems I was called to His purpose and I said yes.  I cannot begin to tell you how good it feels to know I was part of a good thing for God. Marcia, the director, decided to recognize me that night as a founding board member and I was so proud to stand and be recognized. It was awesome hearing my name be mentioned with all the other people that are actively a part of the Life's Choices. But what will be far more rewarding to me is when I hear my Savior call out my name and say "well done good and faithful servant."

Gems I don't know what God is commanding you to do. It may be something you think is way too big or something you think is too small for it to be from God. You may be like I was and think mercy and love do not apply to your sin and therefore you can't possibly be the one.

Psalm 145:8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

I don't know what He's asking you or what your doing but I do know the sky is the limit in His strength. All He's looking for from you is one small answer to One big GOD!

http://www.lifeschoices.net/
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