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Grace's PERSONAL NEWSLETTER UPDATE |
August 2005 - see contents below
Archives - INDEX to Personal newsletters
August 2005
Dear
friends...there is a lot in this long newsletter, and many of you may
not have time to read it all; others have heard about bits and pieces
of it. Therefore I have put it into smaller sections for easy access to
the sections you are interested in reading as able.
I
hope this helps :)
"May
GOD HIMSELF, the God of peace, sanctify you
through and
through. May your whole
spirit, soul and body
be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The
one who calls you is faithful and he
will do it." 1 Thess 5:23
Dear Praying Friends;
How are you all doing? I hope you've been having a wonderful, restful, encouraging and rejuvenating summer!! I would love to hear what's been happening in your lives if/when you have a chance!
FINALLY I'm hoping to get this update done today! It is lonnnnnnng overdue!
I had finished it about a month or so ago, except for the last paragraph, which I was working on, when it suddenly disappeared (though I'd saved it all the way through!) and I've not been able to recover it. It took awhile to get up enough energy to re-write it - it's never the same the second time, it seems...know what I mean? Before that part of the delay was my several month computer crash in March, which caused further backlog.
With my upcoming hand surgery (now probably taking place in spring 2006 because I'm still needing to find a hand physio that can come to my home and also need to raise the extra finances before that so I can have the hand physio here in my home since that seems the only option that will work for me with my health as severe as it is), there have also been all kinds of preparations that have had to be made since it will be about 6 weeks that I'm not able to use my right hand while the cast is on, after which it will take more time to strengthen it...so it has taken a LOT longer to get this out than I had hoped!!
Anyway, there is lots to share with you, and this update will barely be able to begin to touch on what's been happening...but I hope it helps to fill you in a bit...
COME
UP HIGHER
-----------------------------------
As many of you do, every Christmas/New Year's season I spend time asking the Lord for more specific direction for the coming year, or a sense of what He is wanting to do in my life in that year.
A few of the main things I felt He was saying to me at
that time this past Dec/Jan. were that He was inviting me to:
+ ARISE! and COME UP HIGHER
+ Break up my unplowed ground
+ and letting me know that everything that could be shaken would be shaken
+ I also felt that He wanted to give me a deeper understanding of the
Kingdom of God and the Church's role in that in
these days.
As I prayed and meditated on all of this and asked for further clarification on what this all meant/might mean, some of the things that came to mind were the following. Interestingly, as the year has been going by, I have found that these are similar things He seems to be doing in much of the Body of Christ in these days! Perhaps He is also doing similar things in your hearts in these days?
So what does it mean to COME UP HIGHER?
For me, here is some of what it means: click here: COME UP HIGHER
SO WHAT HAS THIS BEEN LOOKING LIKE IN MY LIFE THIS YEAR?
A major thing that God seems to have chosen to focus on in my life for the past year (you may recall when I fell off my Scooter last summer?), but especially since 2005 began, is my FEARS...and having me have to face many of them head-on!
One of the interesting and encouraging things in this horrifying process, in each situation, has been that I have sensed that He was with me IN the situation, and that when I asked Him what to do, He led me or impressed on my heart what to do in those situations! ("...a very present help IN trouble...")
For example:
CHOKING: A couple times this year I was choking so badly that I really didn't think I would live through it!
The first time I was choking and when I asked God what to do, I felt that He said to 'rebuke it', and as soon as I did, the choking quit!
The second time I was choking on one of my big vitamin pills. I'm amazed that I did, cause I've taken a whole handful of pills at one time almost my entire life and have never choked on them before, let alone on ONE pill!!
The pill got stuck just a little below my neck region, and no matter what I tried, it would not go up or down. It was stretching my esophagaus (or felt like it!!) and it was very painful and scary!! I didn't know what to do and didn't think I could stand the pain for too long, and I didn't know how serious it was!
So because I'd felt God had told me to 'rebuke it' the other time and it had worked, I tried that again and nothing happened!! I realized that this may need a different answer so asked Him what to do.
I felt like He impressed on me to drink some hot liquid to help melt the pill so it would eventually go down on its own. So I did that...however it did not seem to move and I was starting to panic as about 15 min. had passed and it seemed like the longest 15 min. I think I've every had!
So I thought, well, maybe I 'heard' wrong. So I called 911 to see what they would recommend. Since I was still able to breathe, they said it wasn't life threatening but the only way it would go down is on its own and they recommended that I DRINK SOME HOT LIQUID SO IT WOULD MELT and go down! I was very encouraged cause that's what I'd felt God was saying to me, too!
However, it wouldn't go down, and I kept drinking more and more liquid and couldn't concentrate on anything else cause it was so painful/uncomfortable!
Finally I thought maybe I should go in to my doctor's office and maybe he could get it out? So I called first to see what he would recommend and he said the same thing the 911 folks told me - which further encouraged me that I had heard God correctly!!
Several hours later, at one point I just said, 'God, I don't think I can take this anymore!! Would you please turn the pill so it can go down?!!?' Immediately I felt it literally turn in my esophagus and down it went!!!!! I cried and cried I was sooo relieved and soo happy!!! Especially since the doctor said it could days DAYS before it went down!!!!!!
So although it was a horrible experience in many ways, I was amazed at how God used the situation to help me to realize, better, that I DO hear His voice, that He IS with me even in my deeply fearful times!
ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN: Several months ago I was working in my office (in my bedroom) during lunch-time, when suddenly I heard someone banging very loudly on one of my windows in the back of the house. I thought it might be my landlord's son wanting to get let in due to possibly forgetting his key or something. But when I went to check the big kitchen window, I couldn't see anything, so I went to the bathroom - the only other window it would have been.
Just as I was walking into the bathroom, a hand covered with a cloth shot through the top part of the bathroom window and glass flew into the room!
I was rather in shock
and so said something very intelligent :) "What are you doing here?!"
I said firmly but calmly. To which the person responded with a similarly
inane response:
"Oh, I must have the wrong house! Sorry about that!"
I saw his dark figure (he sounded about mid 30s?) take off... I was quite surprised at how calm I was, though perhaps I was also somewhat in shock, since I didn't even think of calling the police till several hours later when my landlord came home! (Thankfully he had the window repaired within the hour!). But I felt like God was with me IN the situation and therefore I wasn't very afraid. PTL!!!
Interestingly, several days later a friend was over and told me about a mutual friend of ours who lives several blocks away who had had a similar attempted break-in and who had basically the same conversation with the person! (It happened about 15 min. after he was here!). Apparently he left when she asked him the question, too, but then he also apparently had come back and broken in after all and had broken into a number of the apt.s in her building! (sounded to us like it was the same guy)
I wondered why I had been so fortunate as to be spared, and what came to mind immediately is that I always ask God to surround and fill my home and vehicle with His angels...and He has confirmed to me in some very unusual and very encouraging ways that He really is doing this; and so I felt that He was reminding me that He is looking after me and is answering my prayers for His angelic protection, as well. Glory to God!
Also several months ago, not too long after my Mom had a grease fire in her kitchen, I also had one! First time ever...
I was working in my office while cooking lunch and suddenly I heard this strange, quiet but distinct 'pphfff!!!' sound! I got up as quickly as I could and by the time I got to the kitchen, there were flames all over the pot/element!
I had a fire extinguisher next to the stove under the sink, but it dawned on me that I had no idea how to use it! I didn't know what to do and started to panic as I stood there watching it burn!
I called out to God to help me and to tell me what to do, and I didn't sense that He was saying anything, which made me panic more!! I knew He was with me IN the situation, and somehow I felt like He would get me through it, but I had no idea how and He didn't seem to be saying anything!!!!! I was feeling quite let down, to say the least!!!
As I thought of various options - ie. pouring water over the fire, trying to smother the flames with a towel, etc., somehow I didn't feel I was to do either! But no answer was coming to me! Suddenly, as I kept praying for an answer, I noticed that the fire was starting to go DOWN and eventually went OUT!! and I hadn't done a THING!! I was sooo relieved!!!! and immediately called my Mom and brother to tell them what had happened and to ask them to show me how to use my fire extinguisher the next time they'd come over!
What I found VERY encouraging was that they said that it was a GOOD THING that I HADN'T done the water thing or the smothering of flames thing in this situation with the grease cause it could have made it much worse!! And so although I had panicked, it was as though I felt God was letting me know that even though I felt He wasn't saying anything to me about what to do in this situation and even though I was feeling like He had let me down, for me NOT TO DO ANYTHING probably WAS His answer to me in THAT situation at this time!! And again I realized that He WAS WITH ME even though I didn't feel that He was being very helpful and protective at the time!!
FALLING & FEELINGS OF HELPLESSNESS:
Also in the spring, one of my major fears happened! That is the fear of falling, because even over 10 years ago when I was in MUCH better shape than I am in now, if I fell, I was totally helpless and unable to get up! Even THEN it took several men to get me up!!
Therefore, over the years I have learned to take EVERY STEP very consciously so that I don't fall, and by God's grace I have not fallen in about a decade!
I had been thinking, on occasion, of the possibility of getting myself a PERSONAL MEDICAL ALARM so that IF I ever were to fall, I would be able to call for help with my personal medical alarm. However, they were too expensive for me to consider so I had just sort of left it on the back-burners.
INTERESTINGLY, this spring some of my family/relatives were over and out of the blue my uncle asked if I'd ever considered getting a personal medical alarm. I said that I had considered it, but it wasn't feasible for me and so I had it on my back-burners. He strongly suggested that I get one and gave me some deeply appreciated finances to help! (Unfortunately I had more pressing health issues at the time so needed that for that right then. It was a huge help!!! PTL!!!).
Anyway, what was interesting is that just before they all left, he again strongly recommended that I get one of those alarms.
Problably about 5 minutes after they left, I went into my office to go back to work and was bending down to pick up a fallen printer cartridge from the floor just a bit out of my grasp under my desk, when suddenly I slid on some piles of paper on my floor and there I was - on the floor, totally helpless!! I was about 3 feet from my phone and no amount of moving around could move me even an inch from where I was towards the phone! I was totally stranded! My landlords were away for I didn't know how long, and I knew I couldn't get up on my own! I didn't know what to do!!!
At first I tried everything I could to get up. Since my joints are so wrecked, and the cartilage on my knees has basically disappeared and my nerves are so exposed, getting onto my knees has been impossible for over a couple decades already, due to the sheer pain. I knew I couldn't use my knees to get up even if I could get them into the right position to get me up!
Some deep feelings of helplessness started to rise and before long I was starting to panic and totally in tears!! I knew God was with me and I could sense His Presence but I was still terrified and feeling soooo helpless!!!
I cried out to Him to tell me what to do cause I knew I had to get up somehow, though I knew it was impossible and I had already tried for about half an hour with no success whatsoever!!
All at once I felt like He said I should grab a pillow off my bed (I was in between my bed and my desk) and that I would HAVE to kneel on it even though the pain would be horrible, but He would be with me. So I grabbed the pillow, folded it and put it beside me on the floor, and then said, 'God, I need a miracle to get me up cause you and I both know this is impossible without a miracle!'.
Suddenly the story of Samson came to mind, where he was standing chained between the two pillars of the temple and asking God for strength to bring them down just before he died. I felt like God was encouraging me to ask for supernatural strength to enable me to get up, and so I did! - and then I told God I was going to trust Him and took a step of faith and tried to get into a position where I could get on my knees and then get up.
The pain was indeed excruciating, but I was so focused on GETTING UP and counting on God to provide the miracle I needed, that it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be! I grabbed my desk and the edge of my bed and amazingly got up!!!! I almost slipped back down but God in His mercy allowed me to get up and STAY UP!!!!
I was sooo relieved and soo grateful for this huge miracle!!!
I then was so tired out and emotionally traumatized that I lay in bed and cried for over an hour!
I realized that my feelings of HELPLESSNESS were WAYYYYYY too exaggerated for the situation, so began asking God what was behind all of that...
Well, I guess He was glad I asked, cause He revealed a bunch of things to me that day which He has been busy working on in my heart since then in various ways and in varying degrees! - dealing with some of the root sources of the fears of helplessness, etc.
So once again God not only enabled me to sense His Presence IN the fear, and spoke to me in the fear when I asked Him what to do, but He also used this to be a catalyst to begin some deeper healing in some areas of my emotional/spiritual life which He had been gradually bringing to the surface in all kinds of other ways over the past year!! These feelings of helplessness just triggered some deep root issues which He is now in the process of healing!
I love how He LOVES to use what the enemy wants to use for evil, in all of these fears, and turn it to GOOD! and how He desires to change the lies that are the roots of these fears, and replace them with His Truth!
Another encouraging thing to reveal His protection and provision in the MIDST of this fear was the fact that while I was crying on my bed later on, I felt like He made it clear to me that the ONLY place I could POSSIBLY have gotten up anywhere in my house, was RIGHT WHERE I HAD FALLEN! It is the ONLY place I would have been able to grab onto things that were low enough, close enough and sturdy enough to handle my weight while getting up!
So while this was a very traumatic event for me, it was also very encouraging in a number of significant ways!!
As for the PERSONAL MEDICAL ALARM system, the timing of my fall, just minutes after my uncle stressed that I should get one, definitely made me think perhaps God was confirming to me that I was to get one, so I began to pray about that, since I felt like the money my uncle had given right then needed to pay some of my current medical bills at the time before adding to my medical costs.
More later about how God has also been in the process of answering that prayer!!!!! : )
FEAR OF REJECTION/ABANDONMENT, etc:
Some of the fears that the above sense of helplessness triggered were also fears of rejection and abandonment, which I had not realized were an issue for me anymore, since I have worked through some of that in years gone by. But God obviously has been wanting to go deeper and it seems this year is when He has chosen to do some more work on that area of my heart!
So, in order to bring these issues even more to the surface since I began praying about this when I fell, He has, in the past several weeks, brought several relational situations up in my life which have seriously triggered these deep-seated fears to a new depth and I've been feeling like somewhat of a basket case lately as emotions are feeling very raw in various parts of the healing process!!
It is NOT a fun process, but, just as a wound needs to be cleaned out (painful) before it can be dressed so it can begin to heal properly, so various parts of God's heart-healing process are also very painful (more about this under COMING UP HIGHER). Thankfully He also has ENCOURAGING parts to the healing as He dresses the wounds with His TLC!!
Though I do not like the process, I am encouraged as I focus on the goal - increasing healing/increasing freedom in Christ, and especially increasing intimacy with Him and others!
EYES: Some of you have been asking how my eyes are now that it's about a year since I had my cataract replaced in my right eye last summer.
Although it still absolutely mind-boggling that I CAN see with my right eye now!!, which I couldn't at all before!, it has been taking a lot longer to improve than my eye doctor had predicted. Both eyes are still not working together all that well for about 2 weeks every month and so during that time I lose a lot of my depth perception, still. Also, during these approx. 2 weeks per month, my operated-on eye is also blurrier than the rest of the month, and gets strained much easier, plus has been getting sorer again the past while.
I was to tentatively have my other cataract replaced last winter, but because my eyes are not doing as well as hoped by this time, we have decided to hold off until my operated-on eye is a lot more stable.
The other eye has gotten worse, as well, so hopefully I WILL be able to have that cataract replaced this year or early next year, as well. One of the reasons for my eyes struggling so much is because I've also been on the verge of diabetes, and found that our in fall. More about that below.
I was expecting to have the 4 knuckles on my right hand - the ones joining my hand to my fingers (not the thumb one - that one has already had surgery many years ago) - replaced in January. I had to postpone the surgery for a number of important reasons, and so have since been waiting for a surgery date - which was to be in late spring. Since it has been postponed this long, I've been praying that it will hold off until late Oct. or Nov. unless the Lord knows it's better to have it earlier. So far, so good! I don't like the idea of having to finish the summer with an itchy hand in a sweaty cast :) and not be able to use my Scooter during the remainder of the nice days this summer/fall (since my main hand to use the Scooter is my right hand). I'd rather recuperate from hand surgery when I can't use my Scooter anyway due to the weather.
It's supposed to be about 6 weeks with the cast on, I believe, and then will take some time to heal after that, yet, as well, so it will be an interesting time.
I'm verrry grateful for the group of friends and family that are willing to help me during that time since I will be able to do far less for myself then than I am usually able to do.
There has been a lot to prepare for and think through in considering how to manage during that time and to consider which things I need to deal with before that in terms of work that I may not be able to get to for some time once I've recovered due to all the additional backlog at that time..
I would sure appreciate your prayers regarding the upcoming surgery - that it would be successful!!! - and that all of the preparations re the recovery time would work out even better than I had asked or imagined! Please pray that I will not get an infection from the surgery. I will be taking extra antibiotics before the surgery to help prevent infection but would appreciate prayer that that would be effective. Thank you! : )
3-PRONGED INTEGRATED APPROACH TO HEALING:
It has also been an interesting year in that God seems to be dealing with my health with a 3-pronged approach: physical, emotional and spiritual.
Perhaps He always does deal with our health in this way, but if so I had not noticed it as blatantly as I am seeing Him doing with me now.
Last year, I heard about a book on 'It's a New Day' and immediately I felt I was to get a copy of it, as it is about a subject that I had increasingly been wondering about...that of the spiritual roots of disease. The book is: A More Excellent Way: Be in Health - Spiritual Roots of Disease - Pathways to Wholeness - by Henry Wright.
I bought the book and began reading it - and got to about half way through. I usually read about 10 books at once so I had gotten distracted with some other books for awhile, even though I had really appreciated much of what I had been reading, since it includes a lot of Scriptural basis, etc.
It was interesting to me that just AFTER my fall when I felt so helpless (see above), which I felt God used to unearth some of my deep-rooted fears of rejection/abandonment and other related things, etc., that He wanted to heal, I had felt I was to finish reading the book.
INTERESTINGLY, the very things that Henry Wright says are the spiritual roots of the diseases that I have, ARE THE THINGS THAT I FELT GOD HAD REVEALED TO ME THE DAY OF MY FALL!! So when I finished the book, it was, to me, a confirmation of the things that I had felt God was saying to me needed to be healed in my HEART in order to help the healing in my BODY.
Also interesting is the fact that, during this past year, we as one of the prayer/fellowship groups that meets in my home have been experiencing God leading us further into some aspects of 'listening prayer' (etc) inner healing ministry as the Holy Spirit leads. At this point we're dealing with the things God is bringing up in our lives personally - on our own and together as a group where we also minister to each other. It seems like God's hands-on training school for us as He is preparing us to also minister more deeply to others in the future as He then potentially brings others when He thinks we're ready.
So at the same time as this is happening, my naturpath has also recently changed my course of action, as well. More about that under the 'Co-Enzyme A' section.
I think so often that in the western world we tend to categorize everything (and tend to focus on the cerebral approach). More and more, however, I'm getting the impression that God is bringing us back to a more INTEGRATED/HOLISTIC approach to life (which I believe is a more eastern but also more biblical approach to life). I believe the integrated approach is a more effective, well-rounded and nurturing approach to life (as well as a lot simpler in many ways - though one might not think so initially).
So also in God's seemingly integrated approach of working on my physical, emotional and spiritual healing all at once...I'm really encouraged and hopeful that it's not going to be too much longer before some of the big changes I've been waiting for for seemingly forever actually begin to take place!
In fall my naturpath told me that my tests indicated that I had crossed the line and now officially had diabetes (at that time we knew my Father had it also but have since also found out that another one of my siblings has it as well).
Needless to say, this was not very encouraging news considering all the other health issues I was already struggling with, not to mention some other 'major changes' my body is going through in this phase of my life after going through earlier stages for about a decade already. I was feeling totally overwhelmed and cried all the way home!
Thankfully, though, my naturpath had also given me hope that if I went on this diabetic diet and took some of the products she recommended, I should be able to reverse the process since it wasn't too far along, yet. So that was encouraging! even though the thought of having to restrict my already very restrictive diet was pretty overwhelming, and it took quite awhile, after much prayer, to finally manage on it pretty well for awhile, before losing it again...
So on the way home, in my tears, I felt the Lord encouraging me that He would help me with this.
Thankfully, the diet and the other products DID help and apparently the tests show the process was reversed (PTL!!!!!!!!!!), though I have to continue to be careful of my diet due to my body's leanings in that direction!
CO-ENZYME A: Over a year ago, my naturpath told me about this apparent 'cure' that was now on the market, which she wanted me to try. Of course both she and I were and are quite skeptical about the 'cure' part, but she was really hopeful that it could help me a lot even if it doesn't cure me, and so I have been on it for about 7 or so months now.
It's expensive but according to the tests, it has been making some big changes in the function of my kidney and heart!! and my naturpath is now focusing on seeing my pancreas function improve as well.
She says that once my pancreas is functioning better (I'm now on a different diet for this and on some other products to help with this as well), my body should finally 'turn the corner' and my health should start to also FEEL BETTER!!!!!!
This will be awesome when this happens, because at this point I have been feeling worse and worse since I started this Co-Enzyme A - apparently because it is ridding my body of so many toxins that it's been holding onto for so long which didn't seem to get cleaned out with all my previous cleanses, etc.
My walking is more painful and restricted than I think it has ever been (it's even hard to get to my back door or sometimes to get from room to room in my suite) and I've been extremely exhausted. Doing the smallest thing has been taking so much energy.
Last time I saw my naturpath I was about to tell her I wanted to stop taking the Co-Enzyme A, but when she showed me the test results and was sooo encouraging and hopeful that we were 'almost there', my hope was renewed and I decided to stick with it...so that's what I'm currently doing. I think I need to stay on this for about 2 years or so??
So please pray that this stuff will continue to work as it's supposed to and that I'll be able to keep doing the things I need to do while my health is worse before it gets better.
ARAVA: Arava is a pretty new drug that my rheumatologist has wanted me to go on for the past few years. It, like so many others these days, is supposed to be a 'wonder drug'. I have become very skeptical of 'wonder drugs' over the years, since cortisone, also a 'wonder drug' has done great damage to my body and life, even though there have been some positive aspects as well.
I had done some initial research on the drug when he first asked me to consider it. I was not at all impressed with what I found; in fact I was more determined than ever NOT to try it. However, my rheumatologist (who has been my rheumatologist since he diagnosed me when I was a kid) has tried me on pretty well everything else that they can do for people with rheumatoid arthritis, and so since he has seemingly heard only good things about this drug, he is really hopeful that it can help me.
I told one of the prayer/fellowship groups that meets in my home about this , and they, too, really encouraged me to try it. So I told them about my cause for great alarm at the side effects I had read about, and about the many law firms who were dealing with claims about this drug due to the awful effects, etc., and said that I would only be open to it if they found out, now, some years later, that there was enough evidence that it would be a GOOD thing for me to consider.
They came back to me saying that they would never want me to go on it!!
So I told my doctor. He was not happy about my response, and this was the first time ever in my 30ish? years of going to him that he ever gave me a lecture - though he did that very kindly, too. He has been very good to me over the years and I have been so grateful that he has been so open to working with me in conjunction with what I'm doing with my naturpath, as well, etc.
Anyway, he said this is the only thing that he knows of which he thinks can help me and he is very hopeful that it can help. He said the only other thing that might help is an even more expensive drug (many thousands of dollars per month if I remember correctly!) but I would not be considered for any potential partial funding for that one if I didn't try this other drug, Arava, first.
Arava is also very expensive...I think it's about $600 per month? but apparently I am eligible for some type of partial funding for that so am in the process of finding out how much that is.
At this point, other than my doctor visits getting paid for through BC Medical, this is the only medical/health care financial help I would be getting. So it would have to be some very significant funding help if I was to be able to even consider the Arava.
My rheumatologist was so dejected when I told him what my friends had said about the research they had found, that I said that I wanted to first try the Co-Enzyme A for a long enough time to see if it was helping before I would consider something like Arava which I was very very concerned about. But I did tell him I would be open to considering the possibility of going on it if the Co-Enzyme wasn't helping and if it was financially feasible.
So I have been praying about this...My appt. with him is coming up soon, and I have sent him a letter about the positive effects of the Co-Enzyme A, so we'll we what he says when I see him next...
At this point I'd like to keep going this direction and see if we can see things 'turn around' soon like my naturpath is feeling is not far away; but I am open to TRYING the ARAVA IF God makes it clear I'm to do that, and one way would be to see the finances come in specifically for that. I've not finished finding out how much I would have to pay for that per month, but from the info I have so far, I think it would still be about $200 / month, which would be in addition to my already very high monthly medical costs.
Sure could use prayer for wisdom and confirmation of direction about this! Thank you so much!
Part of the weariness of having a disease like this is the constant need to keep doing research about every new potential drug change or whatever...
My family has been going through all sorts of health ordeals this past year...
I think there have been about 8 surgeries in my family since last summer! I'm soo grateful to the Lord that all of them seem to have turned out well!!
As mentioned above, one of my siblings just found out, too, that she has diabetes. Please pray that she will also be able to see the process reversed through diet, etc.
And after about 2 years or so, already, of wondering what is wrong with my younger brother's health (he has had to be on disability the past couple years or so as a result) - which wasn't diagnosed until several weeks ago - apparently we now know what it is: Addison's disease - a rare disease which a close friend of mine also has, interestingly!
While the only known treatment for this disease is working quite well for my friend, it seems to be making my brother much worse, and so the doctors are trying to figure out what to do. He, too, is hardly able to walk at all. Please pray that the doctors will soon find something to help his health improve. Thank you!
As with many (all?) of you, there continue to be many transitions that I'm in various stages of going through.
- health transitions - see above
- family health situations
- see above
For the past year or more, I have been increasingly sensing that God has been impressing on my heart that He is in the process of preparing to move me into a different housing situation at some point.
The reasons for a move would be:
1. my place is increasingly becoming too small for me (though it should have a bit more space for awhile once I manage to get through all my stuff in the next while and get rid of the things I don't need, especially old papers in file boxes!).
I need a larger meeting room for the various kinds of meetings I have in my home, and until my health is such that I can get out again more, I will need to have more of the meetings in my home. At present a FULL living room is about 6 people. I would like to have room for about 20 or more.
2. The other reason for considering a move as the Lord leads and works things out, is because it is getting harder and harder to get around even in my half basement, and so it may be that I will need to find a place big enough that I can ride around inside my house on my Scooter...this place is definitely far too small for that and also has a couple small height differences which would keep me from being able to use the Scooter in my current living situation.
I had thought a potential move MIGHT be before the end of 2005, but I'm now thinking it may still be a couple years down the road, possibly, due to one of the Scriptures I've most recently felt that He gave me about this.
Here are some of the Scriptures About Potential Upcoming Housing Changes, which I've felt the Lord has been impressing on my heart, etc.
And here are some of the housing NEEDS AND WANTS that I felt to write down in faith as I continue to pray about this: housing needs & wants
So I'm waiting for His timing and to see what He has up His sleeve...most of the verses that I feel He keeps impressing on me when I'm not looking for them are about Him working on my housing situation - ie. I am preparing a place for you...so I look forward to seeing what He has 'up His sleeve!' : )
MINISTRY/WORK: It has also been an interesting year of transition in that while I have been increasingly sensing that I'm getting closer and closer to seeing more of the visions on my heart coming into being 'above ground', so to speak, instead of being mostly in the foundation-laying stages which many have been for years, I have also sensed the Lord increasingly asking me to pull back on various aspects at various times in order to spend more time with Him as a preparation for the 'birthing process' etc...
I've felt it's been/is somewhat like a pregnancy not too long before the birth takes place. There is that increasing anticipation at the 'baby' coming, and so there are a lot of preparations that are needing to be done, yet it is also a time of having to get some rest.
I've often had the sense of how important it is to spend this time in additional prayer and time with my heavenly Husband in order to protect what is about to be born...since the enemy is noted often, in Scripture, for destroying things just before or just as they are about to come to birth, or just after. I have often thought of the picture in Rev. of the woman and the dragon and how the dragon was about to destroy the woman's baby just as it was about to be born...and how Herod tried to kill Jesus just after He was born, and how Moses nearly was another statistic just after he was born.
THE
MOMENT OF BIRTH - a TIME TO REST (a helpful article about that)
Also some excerpts from: www.nikaonews.com
- Angela Renee
"God says in Isaiah 66:9 "Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth? Shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb?" (my note - this is also a Scripture God has been impressing on my heart a lot the past months when it seems He's had so many of the visions/dreams on hold in many ways)...
The following are usually the 4 basic steps in giving birth:
Step 1: Conception - Your dream is a seed.
Step 2: Pregnancy - Usually 9 months. During this time you feel like the
birth will never happen but this is the time you really begin to prepare.
Step 3: Labor - This is the most intense time because birth is taking
place.
Your dreams are manifesting.
Step 4: Delivery - Your dream has come alive!
God will not bring you to the point of
delivery and not cause delivery to
take place. Determine which step you are in. Are
you praying for something in particular and just can't see any progress?
Just remember God has heard your prayers. Pray Isaiah 66:9 and know God
will not bring you this far and abort the mission. Your labor pains can
be so intense but this is the time you can't stop. You must know that
delivery
will take place..."
Another related article:
A
Sudden Change Is Coming! Bret A. Wade
Read Isaiah 66:7-9, "Before she was
in labor, she gave birth; Before her
pain came, She delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who
has
seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or
shall
a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth
to her children. Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?"
says the LORD. "Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?"
says your God."
The hardest labor pains come at delivery."
---
It is also through intimacy with Jesus, our Husband, that we 'have children' - Is.54:1 "Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child. Burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor, because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband." v.5 "For your Maker is your Husband; the Lord Almighty is His Name..."
Resting, to us, does not make sense when we feel that it is almost time for 'the baby'/our visions to be 'born' - but it seems to be God's way. Here's a helpful article about Entering Into His Rest. This resting time is also often uncomfortable, as in the last stages of pregnancy and delivery...it is also often a time of spiritual wilderness and a sense of weariness of waiting for the birth to finally be over with so you can enjoy the 'baby' that you've been anticipating and preparing for for soo long!!
Often this is also a time of pruning when He is cutting back areas that WERE fruitful in order to make you even MORE fruitful in the future - but of course the pruning is never fun!
So it has been with me this year...Many times I've sensed God asking me to put things on hold for yet another year or pull back and spend more time with Him, etc. as He has been bringing me through this transition time...In some ways He has made it easier for me to do that since my health has been worse the past months, and when my computer crashed I felt that He had caused it to crash to help me to focus on some other aspects of my work and more time with Him during that time, so I didn't want to get it fixed until I felt I had His permission to do so. Although it caused a lot of backlog, it was actually a wonderful time to be able to finally be away from my computer for awhile! : )
And as I said earlier, I believe this is also a transition time for many/all? of you and for the Church as a whole in the point we're at in Church history...the birth pangs spoken of in Scripture are getting closer and closer in the transition before the birth of what He's about to bring into being!
Another aspect about transition and my work/ministry involvements, etc. is a verse which has really struck me lately. I don't know, yet, exactly what it will mean for me re the things I'm involved with, but I have seen this happen many times already in my life and so it is not a surprise that this is something that is coming up again...
It's similar to the verse in John? which talks about the corn of wheat having to fall into the ground and die before it can bear much fruit.
This verse, 1 Cor. 15:36-38..."what you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, YOU DO NOT PLANT THE BODY THAT WILL BE, but JUST A SEED, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But GOD GIVES IT A BODY AS HE HAS DETERMINED and to each kind of seed HE GIVES ITS OWN BODY."
So when we have a vision/dream, it seems we envision it a certain way...-the seed. But then God causes us to come to the place where we realize we need to let it go and let the vision die if it's to bear much fruit... and this particular verse seems to indicate why....the plant that He wants to bring out of the ground out of the seed is far greater than the seed! If we fixate on the seed as we envision it, and don't allow the seed to die, we may eventually have a nice seed, but we will miss out on the supernatual and divine qualities of what GOD is wanting to grow and therefore miss out on the 'bearing of much fruit' that He desires to accomplish. (The Process of Seeing Our Visions Becoming Reality)
So I'm at a place again these months, too, where I've been sensing God has been asking me to let various visions go...and in the future they may look very different than what I had envisioned as I laid them down. At this point I don't know what that will look like or what He will have 'die' at this point...funny how it's happening at the same time as I'm also sensing it's about time to 'birth' some new things...so I don't know yet how this will all work out in reality and am just waiting for Him to lead and confirm my steps as I keep taking steps of faith as I listen to His voice.
The past couple weeks it seems he keeps bringing John 10 to my attention from every hand - especially the part "MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE" - and is reminding me often of the passage (also in John, I believe) which talks about Jesus only doing the things He sees His Father doing and saying the things He hears His Father saying...which is what I am increasingly sensing that He's asking me to do more and more, as well, and not go by what my human wisdom/common sense would dictate.
A good friend reminded me, this week, too, how God sometimes leads us very clearly and strongly in one direction, only to get us to a place where we would be willing to go in the direction He actually wanted us to go in to begin with, but which we may not have even considered if He hadn't led us up to the other point first.
For example, after I came back from the 1 year mission trip I was on in 1980, I felt soooo sure that God was calling me to return to India. I ate, breathed and slept India for about 10 years and then, lo and behold, He made it clear that I was to join the mission I'm with and work with Ms. If He had first said He wanted me to work with Ms, I'm pretty sure I would not have been able to handle it, so it seems He got me hooked on the India idea first, which has a lot of M history, and that set the stage for the many things He has had me involved in ever since, though I've never been back to India (though that could happen yet, once my body is healed!!) : ) But I rather suspect He used that to get me to the place of focusing on Ms, instead...
I'm now at a transition point where I'm beginning to wonder whether He has me at another one of those places, perhaps, and that maybe instead of continuing in a straight line in the directions I'd been sensing, He may be re-directing me some more to get me to the new position He has for me??
Sorry if this is confusing because I can't say too much right now cause I don't know too much right now...I'll keep you posted as I know more...I just feel I'm in a transition and that things could potentially change rather SUDDENLY as they often did in the Bible...so I'm just trying to keep my 'ears on' and keep my eyes and heart focused on what He is doing so I can keep in step with Him.
As you may recall, it has been about 8 or 9 years now that I've been part of the facilitation team of the Canadian House Church Resource Network, in order to encourage Canadians and others that God has been stirring in these directions to hopefully provide opportunities for many of the people that are not going to traditional churches to experience life in Christ in Christian community through house/simple churches - whether they meet in homes, schools, parks, places of business, restaurants, etc.
I personally believe that this is an effective way to reach postmoderns, ethnic peoples, musicians/artists, etc.
The mission I've been with all these years has been planting house churches overseas among Ms since the mission began. In the past number of years, it is also seeking to plant house churches among Ms in N. America etc.
One of the ways our mission is wanting to move forward with this, this fall, is to have the Canadian House Church Network help to sponsor a house church planting track. This is to be a part of a church planting among Ms. conference in Toronto, which they are working together with others to do.
As you may or may not know, I had a longing to be involved in a 'New Testament-style' church ever since I first read the book of Acts when I had recommitted my life to the Lord when I was in my late teens. This longing kept growing stronger over the years.
However, I didn't feel that God released me into that direction until about 5 or so years ago!!, and for the past 4 1/2 or so years have been so blessed by the various house fellowships which He started in my home (I'm soo grateful to those that are a part of them for meeting here, since it is so hard for me to get out).
It has indeed been an incredible learning experience and has been one of the biggest blessings and joys in my life the past several years! There are many reasons for that...but if I get started I could write and write and write......!!!
It has been interesting to see how God has been working! Each group that has been meeting has started differently than the others. Each group has it's own dynamics. I'm learning more and more that God has no cookie-cutter approaches, and He wants to give specific direction for each group because He knows who He wants in the group, how He has gifted them, and who He wants them to reach out to, etc.
To God's glory, the first group multiplied into two groups after about 1 1/2? years. Then after about 3 years it multiplied again into another group, and two other groups have begun in the past year or so as well. Currently there is another fledgling group that is beginning from that first group.
So far, all the people that are a part of these groups came as Christians. I'm hoping that now that we have a better understanding of how to move forward with this as the Lord leads, we can also soon begin to multiply by reaching out into our multicultural and postmodern neighbourhoods, etc.
Anyway, various house churches in the Fraser Valley are sensing that it's time to begin to get more connected with other house churches in the region and to begin to have corporate times of worship, etc. etc. together, so we're looking forward to seeing how God puts that together. It seems that most folks that I know of that are involved in house churches are really wanting to WORK TOGETHER with the rest of the Body and hold themselves lovingly accountable to each other.
Sometimes in the past house churches have had a bad rap for all kinds of reasons, including becoming cultic, etc. It seems that the current move of house churches consists largely of folks that want to grow in intimacy with Christ, experience deep fellowship with other believers, allow Christ to live fully through them, REACH THE LOST in the marketplace and all around them, and do this together with the rest of the Body.
I'm hoping that one of the various ways that we may be able to work together in the future, too, if the Lord brings this together, is to have regional house church networks working together to help prepare their neighbourhoods, etc. for potential emergency disasters. These could be amazing opportunities to reach out into the marketplace with the love and Presence of Jesus. (see EMERGENCY DISASTER PREPAREDNESS Resources etc)
I believe God's musicians and artists can also have a potentially significant part in seeing house churches planted among postmoderns, ethnic groups, musicians and artists, etc. etc. See HOUSE CONCERTS / ART SHOWS ANYONE???
- Personal Medical Alarm - the beginning of this is above under the FEAR OF FALLING. But shortly after I began praying more about God's provisions for this financially, He unexpected connected me with a dear nurse who had just retired. For some reason He seemed to give her major compassion for me about getting a Personal Medical Alarm and she has since sent me the finances to get the initial set-up installed and has paid for the first 3 months of the montly fees. I'm hoping to soon have it installed and will trust the Lord to provide for the upcoming months. I never cease to be amazed at how He continues to provide in such unique and unexpected ways!
- Custom Shoes - Then there are my custom made shoes! I have such crippled/mis-shapen feet that I have not been able to wear shoes for several years and can only wear large flip flops. However, needless to say it gets very cold in winter, especially if there is snow squishing between my toes when I walk. Also, they are dangerously slippery in the snow and wet weather because of lack of proper tread.
Sooo..I had been praying for several years for God to lead me to a place that could make me some custome shoes. I checked on the internet, on and off, for about 2 years, all to no available. When I'd find a place that seemed hopeful, as soon as I'd send them a photo of my feet to make sure they weren't 'too much' for them, I would get an email saying they were not equipped to make shoes for feet that were this disfigured.
I was becoming rather discouraged when one night I 'happened' to see an episode of RIPEY's BELIEVE IT OR NOT. On this episode they had a guy with feet in about the kind of shape mine are in, and they had a place in Denver make some custom shoes for him! I was amazed at what they made for him and this gave me much hope! I felt that these folks were probably my answer!!
So I contacted them and they sounded quite hopeful. I hadn't sent them a picture of my feet because I thought that if they could make shoes for the guy I'd seen on the Ripley's show, surely they could make some for me!
They said I would need to come to Denver for that. I said I was unable to travel and could they send some kind of kit so I could make some casts to send back to them. They said they hoped to have that available in a few months and would send it to me when they did. So they contacted me and I was about to order the kit when suddenly I thought I should send them a photo of my feet before that, just in case.
Thankfully I did, because they responded and said my feet were too disfigured for what they were able to do! Okay, then I was feeling quite discouraged because I was sure they were my answer, noly to have my seemingly one last hope also fall through!!
I share with one of the groups that meets in my home about my discouragement and asked for prayer for God's solution.
A week or so? later, one of the women excitedly emailed to say she had felt compelled to stop in at this shop on the way to or from her work. She had never noticed this place before but felt she had to go in there. So she did!
It turned out to be the shop of a shoemaker who learned how to make shoes by hand from his grandfather and father and has passed the skilled on to his son. They make custom hand-made shoes (here in New Westminster!!!!) for people just like me!!!
When my Mom and brother and I went in to see whether he would be able to make shoes for me, we said that we would know by his face when he'd see my feet whether he could do something for them or not.
Amazingly, he didn't bat an eye and confidently said he would be happy to make me some shoes!! So we began to discuss what they might need and look like. I didn't see how he could make anything that looked decent to cover my very odd feet, but the end result, which I hope to include below in a picture, is amazing! I think they look pretty contemporary and almost make my feet look normal!!!
Anyway, the way God led me to this place through my friend, and a place where it could be done so close by, and in Canadian prices rather than US prices, and where I can get them fixed any time it's needed, is an absolute miracle to me!! I'm totally blown away by His answer to prayer!
But there are more miracles to this story!!
Another miracle about my sox (which I'll have to tell you in person), since I suddenly remembered after I had ordered the shoes to be made, that I can't reach my feet to put sox on...so how would I be able to use them now that I would have them? I couldn't tell the shoemaker that I didn't want them cause I'm the only person on the planet that they would work for, most likely! Anyway, God provided a solution there, in an amazing way, too! It takes about 15-30 min. for me to get my shoes/sox on and off, but I can do it!! :)
The other miracle is the financial provision for the shoes, which costed $1000! (that is a lot of money, but when you think of the mass produced Nike's etc. which are not NEARLY this kind of quality and are selling for several hundred dollars, then this is very reasonable! And there is only one pair like it anywhere!
Well, I had no money for the shoes and so before I actually ordered them, I asked God if He could bring in about 60% of the total by a certain day so I would know it was the right time to order them. I needed them before the cold weather and I was confident that He had led me to this place, but I didn't want to jump the gun on the timing. So I set a date, by faith, for Him to bring in the first 60% so that I would have confidence to trust Him with the rest of the finances for the shoes once I had ordered them to be made for me.
Amazingly, within 2 weeks 60% of the money came in almost as though from nowhere... And then the finances stopped coming in.
It was getting closer and closer to the date when I was to pick up the shoes and pay the balance, and nothing else was coming in. I wasn't sure what I would say to the shoemaker if I arrived to pick up the shoes and still didn't have the rest of the money!
Well, the Lord is faithful, though He lets us sweat sometimes, and though, in our estimation, He may sometimes seem late...
I kept praying and finally my appt. to pick up my shoes was a few minutes away. I got into the car and decided to stop by the post office to get my mail before picking up the shoes...and GUESS WHAT??? In the mail, ON THE WAY TO PICK UP THE SHOES, was the remaining 40% needed for the shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let me tell you, there was MUCH REJOICING and screaming Hallelujah's in my car on the way to the shoemaker's!!! GOD IS AMAZING!!!!
All of this story continues to amaze me as I think of how God works!!! I hope this encourages your heart and may He blow you away with His love and provision for you as well! in the midst of your faith stretches!!
- Scooter batteries - another wonderful answer to prayer was that although my Scooter batteries (which are quite expensive) seemed to die in last winter's cold), God unexpectedly provided for them to be replaced through some family members! I was/am deeply touched! He has also been providing through some family members in some other deeply-appreciated ways!!
OTHER STUFF HE'S BEEN TEACHING ME
It's been an amazing year in many ways, and I've felt like I've been in God's school this year in an intense program, coming at things from all kinds of angles!
One of the many aspects that He has been increasingly making clearer to me, is the whole subject about the KINGDOM OF GOD.
BEING THE CHURCH IN THE LARGER CONTEXT OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
As growing numbers of people across the planet continue to pray for and have their hearts stirred to see God's restoration and transformation taking place in communities, cities and nations, it is important to remember that these transformations are not the goal or an end in themselves, but a vital part of the journey towards God's purposes for His people, cities and nations.
Some of God's key purposes
for His people, of course, are:
+ to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength
and our neighbours as ourselves (Mark12:29-31);
+ as we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom.12:2), to be
conformed to the likeness of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18) and to walk as Jesus
did (1 John 2:6);
+ to express our love for Him through obedience to Him (ie. "…if
you love Me, keep My commands…" etc. - 1 John 2:3,4; John 15:9,10;
John 8:31,32) as we are led by His Spirit (Rom.8:14);
+ love one another (John 13:34,35)
+ to work together with Him, in unity with Him/His Body (John 17:23),
to see the nations discipled (Matt.28:19);
+ to cooperate with Him in seeing His Kingdom come, and His will being
done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt.6:9,10; Matt.6:33 - seek FIRST
HIS KINGDOM and His righteousness…)
Many of us have been raised up in Christian traditions where we prayed the Lord's prayer, even in our secular schools, and frequently read the verse about 'seeking first the Kingdom of God'...
But did we really understand what the Kingdom of God is? Did we realize what we were praying when we prayed 'YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN'?
Did we/do we understand what it means to SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM?
Matt. 24:14 (NIV) says, "...And this GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM will be preached in the whole world as a TESTIMONY to all nations, and then the end will come....",
Have you ever wondered why, if Jesus' focus was to establish and teach about/demonstrate the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM, it seems we have rarely, if ever, heard any teaching about that? Surely if that was Jesus' focus which He also trained His disciples to focus on, and which we were commanded to SEEK FIRST, we as the Church should have an understanding about what THE KINGDOM OF GOD is all about! And yet it seems we are very familiar with the Gospel of salvation, yet the GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM is still pretty fuzzy for much of the Body!
However, in this time of great transition that God has His Church in - where He is increasingly waking up His Church - it seems that the Holy Spirit is unveiling more about this as He in the process of bringing His Church to maturity. There are growing numbers of people around the globe which are beginning to grasp a greater understanding of this mystery (Eph.1:9; 3:9, etc.)!
I personally believe this current shaking, where God seems to be in the process of 'shaking everything that can be shaken' (Heb.12:27-29), along with this growing understanding of the Gospel of the Kingdom, is setting the stage for the fulfillment of Matt. 24:14 above. We are in an amazing time!
The more we understand of what His Kingdom purposes are, the more our hearts will begin to understand what GOOD NEWS the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM IS and how everything we are/do, including life as His CHURCH, must be seen within the MUCH larger context of the KINGDOM OF GOD!
Following are some resources to assist you in your
understanding of this as well.
(capitals in the verses are mine)
An Intro to the KINGDOM OF GOD
Lots
of articles/resources etc. on the KINGDOM OF GOD
Kingdom
of God series of articles:
"…The kingdom of God is one of the great themes of the Bible.
From beginning to end it speaks of the glory of God and the greatness
of his Kingdom. The Old Testament is full of prophecies about the time
when the Lord will establish his Kingdom. One example is Habakkuk 2:14:
The earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover
the sea."
Small helpful booklet on the GOSPEL
OF THE KINGDOM available free through here:
Recover:
The Gospel of the Kingdom - article
PREPARATION FOR GOD'S PEOPLE IN THE CONTEXT OF ANNOUNCING,
PROCLAIMING & DEMONSTRATING THE KINGDOM OF GOD - PREPARING TO TAKE
THE LAND - excellent articles!!
http://www.morningstarministries.org/pages/word_week/2004/word_week_menu_2004.html
http://www.morningstarministries.org/pages/word_week/word_week_menu.html
SOME BOOKS ABOUT GOD'S HEART FOR CANADA and CITIES/NATIONS
Another thing that God has been increasingly putting on my heart and teaching me about through Scripture over the past years but especially this past year is His heart for cities and nations! I feel like He has a lot more He wants to teach me about this in the coming year/s!
At the following web site are some very encouraging helpful books for those whose hearts are being increasingly stirred to 'stand in the gap' for Canada and to see her coming into her God-ordained destiny. http://disciplethenations.org/GRNResources.html#Canada
STAND ON GUARD: A Prophetic Call & Research on the Righteous Foundations of Canada - http://www.flyhighministries.com/Books%20and%20Audio/Stand%20On%20Guard.html
CANADA AND GOD'S ETERNAL PLAN - Len Lindstrom (from Kelowna, BC)
http://www.lenlindstromministries.com/content/ShopProduct.phtml?0/0/8
THE NATIONS CALLED: Theology of the Nations and Their Redemption -
Pieter Bos
http://www.servingthenations.org/booktnc.htm
MORE INFO ON THE BOOKS and how to order, here: http://www.disciplethenations.org/GRNNationsRedemption.html
The Bible tells us the JUSTICE & RIGHTEOUSNESS are the FOUNDATIONS of God's throne.
This is a thought which God began stirring in my heart some years ago and upon which He has been building and building the past several years. The more I read Scripture, the more I see how packed it is with God's heart for social and justice issues as expressions of His Truth and Love, etc., and the more I see His heart to show love to mankind by His desire to work through us to stand up for those suffering injustice- by bringing justice, righteousness, healing and relief/restoration in these areas as the Holy Spirit leads.
It is not something we can do alone...we need each other. But more than ever, the Body of Christ is being called to take her place as God's ministers of justice and healing in these days.
As a result of what He is and has been putting on my heart about these things, I have been asking Him to show me how I can, with the gifts and resources He's given me, cooperate with Him and others in the Body locally and internationally to take the part He wants me to regarding social & justice issues, as a part of the bigger picture of being used of Him to draw people to becoming whole-hearted worshippers of Jesus.
A specific prayer has been how I can use the artistic gifts and networking gifts, etc. in these ways, and how I can encourage musicians and artists and others to use their gifts as well, as the Holy Spirit leads them in similar directions.
As a result, He has been making that clearer to me over the months and there will be more about that next time. I trust that the things He's leading me into here, personally, will not only affect local Ms and Ms overseas, but other peoples locally and internationally, as well, as He networks me and partnering ministries together with others that share similar vision locally and internationally.
I continue to be amazed at the many 'divine connections' He keeps linking me with that do share similar vision and who want to work together as He leads us! PTL!!!!! May He indeed accomplish all of His purposes in and through us as we seek to, as the Body of Christ, cooperate with the things on His heart. Your prayers and financial partnership and support in various ways is sooo deeply appreciated and you are very much a part of what is happening and I pray your hearts will be encouraged as I am able to share more with you soon, too!
WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?? on various fronts
Wow, where to begin??
+ Lower Mainland Christian Musicians & Artists (and Arts Supporters) Networking Directory
Finally after almost 2 years, I was able
to get the first edition of the free Networking
e-directory out to local believers that are interested or involved in
the arts. The purpose is to provide resource information and opportunities
for local artists, churches, ministries, etc. to network and hopefully
WORK TOGETHER to see God's purposes for the arts increasingly coming into
being in this region (and beyond).
I believe that people of various multicultural backgrounds, post moderns and people of many other groups that tend not to come to traditional churches are often very open to being drawn to the Lord through the arts and loving & authentic, godly relationships...whether here locally or internationally.
+ First Book Hopefully Out By Early 2006
After working on it a bit at a time for about 10 years so far, I'm hoping that my book about utilizing music and the arts in the Great Commission - with a focus on encouraging ethnic Christian musicians & artists (especially among Ms), will be finished and available early in 2006. I hope to work more on it this winter, Lord willing.
+ International Council of Ethnodoxologists
As you know, for many years, now, I have been a part of the facilitation team of the International Worship & Arts Network, which initially began as the AD2000 Worship & Arts Network. Out of that network, various ministries have been birthed, one of which is Heart Sounds International and another which is the International Council of Ethnodoxologists, which began about a year ago. (The vision of ICE, an association for global Christian worship, is that Christians from every culture will have the opportunity to express their faith through their own heart music and arts. To further this vision, we seek to promote the application of insights drawn from the field of ethnomusicology, worship studies, and other disciplines in Christian ministries worldwide.) My role in this is as one of their resource people. ICE was basically founded as one of the outcomes of the Global Consultation on Music and Missions (GCoMM), which took place in TX in fall 2003. Although I was not able to go, I was able to be a sponsor and to help provide resources for this consultation as well. The second GCoMM is scheduled to take place in 2006. I've been asked to come and speak, and would LOVE to do so, but my health will require some major improvement before that is possible. It looks unlikely for this upcoming GCoMM, but only God knows...May His will be done!)
+ Transform World - This past year one of my involvements has also been to be a part of the team that worked together to put together the vision and direction of the Transform World - Indonesia, event:
"...What is God doing in the world?
Transform World Indonesia
2005 brought together over 500 Christian leaders from 55 nations on
May 1 - 5, 2005 in Jakarta, Indonesia, to gain a perspective of God’s
work in the world. The mission of Transform World is “to serve communities
of servant-catalysts in motivating the whole body of Christ to bless the
nations by connecting, motivating and equipping the body of Christ for
prayer and collaborative action to see all nations redeemed, restored,
and transformed, as cultures increasingly reflect the value system of
the Kingdom of God.” It was organized by well-known and respected mission
strategist Luis Bush
I have recently been invited to attend the upcoming Transform World - Bihar (India) - 2006 but am in the process of finding out what they need and seeing whether I can serve them through email instead, as my ability to move around even in my own home is so restricted.
It is a joy to work together with leaders from around the globe for the sake of God's Kingdom and the glory of our King!
It has been a couple of years since I've facilitated or co-facilitated any network meetings locally. I had felt that God had wanted me to pull back in this regard for some time in order to focus on some other aspects. But recently it seems God has been moving me in these directions again as it appears He seems to be leading people, on many fronts, into new seasons.
- Fraser Valley House Church Network Networking Gathering - we recently had the first FVHCN networking gathering that we've had in a couple of years. We look forward to seeing what God wants to do in the future. More about this above under HOUSE CHURCHES in the TRANSITION section.
- Gateway Restoration Network - The GRN is something that has been brewing in prayer and in various foundation-laying stages for the past several years. Recently some things happened which seem to indicate that now is the time to finally launch this network, as well. So several of us that met about this the other day felt that we are to plan for our initial networking gathering in this regard for mid-Sept. and see how the Holy Spirit leads from there. The Gateway/Whalley region is a couple minutes from where I live and has been known as the underbelly and worst crime area of Surrey.
However, the past number of years God has been raising up increasing numbers of intercessors, Christians involved in business in the region and Christians involved in many other fields in that region, who share a heart/vision to see God transforming this community by His love and power. It is with these people that we desire to meet to see how He is leading us and the local churches/street ministries, etc already involved in the area as we seek His directions for us, together, in reaching out as His Church into this region.
Rough draft of GRN vision:
"By the power and leading of the Holy Spirit,
we seek to see the Body of Christ WORKING TOGETHER in order to see God's
intentions for the Gateway region coming into being in His timing and
way. We desire to be Christ-centered disciples of Jesus living out every
aspect of our lives in the marketplace in order to see God's Kingdom come
and His will being done in this region as we work together with families,
businesses, ministries, churches, educators, professionals, politicians,
artists, etc. and those in all influential sectors of society that share
similar vision. We desire to see the love and power of God flowing through
us to see whole-hearted-total-life worshippers of Jesus raised up, becoming
true disciples of His, whom He uses to transform this region and beyond,
for His glory."
I continue to send out the mostly-regular Lower Mainland-focused
resource networking e-newsletters:
+ Christianity & The Arts - newsletter
+ Lower Mainland Ethnic Ministries Network newsletter
+ Fraser Valley House Church Network newsletter
as well as the monthly Ethnic Worship & Arts Focus newsletter
(int'l) and the quarterly (usually) Canadian House Church Resource Network
newsletter (international).
I have had a lot of company this year and especially this summer. It has been wonderful as I have met a lot of new people that God has been connecting me with, and have been greatly blessed to be able to spend some time with many of YOU!!!
+ Our MISSION'S International Meeting in Europe
This past summer our entire mission was invited to Europe for a conference. I have been to two of these in the earlier years that I was with our mission when my health was still up to travelling. They have always been highlights for me!
Although I have not been able to go for many years, I'm glad I'm still able to participate minimally by contributing resources for our missionaries/church planters, etc. Thank God for computers and CDs that can be reproduced quickly and inexpensively so resources can be easily passed on. As a result, along with our mission, I'm able to provide many of the music/arts and house church resources to our people overseas.
- upcoming hand surgery - see above
- housing - see above
- transitions - see above
- family - see above
- health - see above
- work - wisdom, timing, right people, funding, etc.
- books/articles
There is so much more I would have liked to have shared...but more next time...this is already extremely long but hopefully if you just read certain sections it didn't get too long for you!
Thank you for taking the time to read what you did and thank you soo much for your on-going interest and various types of investments and encouragements into my life and the things God has me/us involved in as partners with what He is doing!!
It is such a joy to be cooperating with Him along with you!!! What a privilege we have to be a part of His cosmic purposes in the earth today!!
May God's blessings be poured out on you in every way and may your hearts continue to find increasing intimacy with Him!
With much love and prayers and with much appreciation,
Your sister,
Grace