MY STORY IS BLESSING PEOPLE IN DUNWOODY,GA wi -SO SAYS MY HAIRDRESSER!!

  I bet that title got you going, didn’t it?  It shocked me today when I sat down in my hairdresser‘s chair for only the 2nd time, because that was how she greeted me!  She didn’t know that I had had another little stroke on the 15th of March or all the things that God has done for me in between. I am so overwhelmed I am typing with tears running down my cheeks,  when I think of this past several weeks. Some of you know that I am a recruiter and a good one by the grace of God, but sometimes things don’t go your way-not my way, but God’s way is the way it has to go and that kept me from making enough money to pay our basic bills.  I guess I finally had to realize that whatever I have comes from Him our Holy Father and not from what I do-even though I thought I knew that-had already learned that lesson, time and time again. This  time I literally could not make a deal happen for anything and this was the worst of times: I had just moved to a new city expected  really great things coming “back home” if anyone really does that. And then I woke up on March 15th with my left side frozen and unable to communicate with my husband to even help people understand where the new doctors I have were. You’ve read that story, but what happens when you come home from the hospital and you have to see all the doctors and do all the physical therapy and it only seems to make you hurt worse? On top of that you have to get back to work, those bills didn’t stop coming in and now more are coming! What can anyone do? I do what I always do, I put my head down to the ground and I go to my Heavenly Father. He is all I’ve got. Now don’t mistake my meaning here. I have a wonderful husband (Mr Wonderful) and wonderful daughters and son and grand girls. but my Heavenly Father, HE IS IT.  He is the only one who can solve my problems, give me peace, show me what to do next.  And the Lord did tell me just what to do next, which I did and I can tell you that my most pressing need-my health insurance policy payment- is paid through June. I simply could not believe the news when I got it but again, overwhelming gratitude doesn’t begin to cover the feelings. There were others in my own family who saw a specific need and just handled it-so many different people contributing to the whole. And some of you are wondering where did she get the money for her haircut? I got an insurance check yesterday. I found out that you can have supplemental insurance to cover you for the number of days you are in the hospital through AARP/UNITED HEALTH. I wish I had known about it a lot sooner!! But I got a little check  and so here I was sitting in Jennifer’s chair.

Jennifer is also a believer-well I guess  that is obvious- but I didn’t know it when I sat in her chair the first time.  I had looked at everyone’s website within a reasonable driving distance that had a salon when I first moved to town. I was really anxious about choosing a new hairdresser.  My hairdresser from Tampa had taken care of me for about 20 years!  She had become a confidant and friend. I had no illusions about replacing her, I just wanted a decent haircut and hopefully highlights if they didn’t cost me  a week’s groceries. I  looked and looked and then I read Jennifer’s story. She is a 3rd generation stylist-she really loves her work but there was just something special in the way that she wrote about herself that made me call. She couldn’t even take me for like 3 weeks I think, but for some reason, I waited. The day arrived; I had my directions; I started off in plenty of time. I still couldn’t find the salon! They were tucked into the corner of a large shopping center and she had to direct me there when I finally called! I hate being late-even 5 or 10 minutes-but she was so nice, put me right at ease and you know how it is, you just start chatting and when you are me, you talk about things that are on your heart, are important to you, like the Lord Jesus! Oh was she happy and then we were just off to the races! We were sharing stories back and forth and of course I told her some of my special ones.  She told me when I was there then and again today that she always knows when somebody is in her chair that is just supposed to be there and that it is a “God Thing” not to let go of it until everyone is satisfied. And that means with just the sharing or the helping or the whatever.  So I came in using my jazzy cane today and she asked about that and I told her what had happened to me in March. That’s when she told me that my stories were blessing people all over Dunwoody-that she had been sharing then with her clients and her clients were blessed by the story. Isn’t that amazing? Somebody else telling my story and people still getting a blessing? Oh that is such a God thing!!

So I have opened up my heart raw tonight ya’ll not cry poor mouth, but to show you that we all can wind up in serious consequences, not through our own doing and we can not look down on that person or badmouth that person or whatever else you might be inclined to do. My circumstances come from catastrophic health incidents that both my husband and I suffered within 19 months of one another. I have been fortunate enough to have had a job, a passion, a career that I can do with a phone and a computer wherever I am.  He was not so fortunate. His heart was badly damaged which I have also written of before, but it didn’t keep him from being Mr. Wonderful, it just keep him from being employed.  My job, career, passion is always just a deal away from breaking even again.  And that part, thankfully is not up to me, it’s up to God.

A New Award That I Don’t Deserve!

Very Inspiring Award

This award was given to me in January!!! I was thrilled and wrote what you see below. The only problem was doing the the rules that go along side of the award. So I thought I would just save it for a day or so till I felt better and as you all know, things got only crazier. Until I was going through the dashboard last night and cleaning up a bit, did I find this sweet award from my dear Cheryl (please forgive me) so here it is Cheryl. Thank you so much. You also inspire me!

“Cindy, I nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award because you know what trials and tribulations are about, and still you glorify the Lord. You have no idea, but as I have been suffering with chronic (constant) back and leg pain, your testimonies have been an encouragement and an inspiration for me. I think to myself, “If God can do that for her, He can surely do it for me too.” Thank you Cindy!”

Let me tell you why I don’t deserve this award or even an award for when I was in the hospital with meningitis. I have so tired of hurting! and so tired of hospitals! and blood tests, xrays, MRIs, any and all thing that test a person in some way!!I know I have to do my blood test in the morning. I have put it off the last 2 days. No reason, just didn’t think about it till I’d had coffee with a lot cream, etc. Pretty much since I came home from Atlanta, I have been sidelined with this sciatica-and oh yes! have I complained! Loudly and long to the Lord and my husband had heard it! I still have leftover issues from the meningitis. I didn’t know that it could mess with you cognitive abilities-certainly not for so long, but now that I have spoken to other survivors, I’ve found that this is pretty common. One of my nurse friends today urged me to see my doctor. So I will this Friday-when I had been considering canceling it since I have a new deductible to cover! This is one of those ‘keep you posted kind of things’

So you can see for yourself  how undeserving I am  and yet, exactly why our Lord allows the suffering-so that I will understand completely and utterly the suffering of the other person. I need to learn to keep my mouth shut and just bear it-but sometimes like this time it was too hard. Cheryl, I should have shared it and then you would have shared also and maybe there are others who suffer in the same way? I intend to find a solution. I hurt too much to live like this for long..much less 102!! what are you thinking? Besides our Lord Jesus is coming back before then. I am sure of that.  So here it is April instead of January and again so much has happened. The Lord is still teaching me, I am still learning. He is still bringing people to me to share with and that is exciting. The more people who come into the Kingdom of God the faster we bring Jesus to get us! And with the headlines as they are, it can not be too soon.

OK  enough, here’s for fun!

Acknowledge person who has given you the Award.  Miss Cheryl “Burningfireshutupinmybones”

The Award logo should be placed in the post.  it is

I have to include 7 things about myself  what don’t you know?                                                                                                                                                   1 I spent a couple of summers on a real farm-my grandma’s she raised cotton and tobacco
2  I’m not ready for grey hair/can you tell?                                                                                                                                                                                       3  I have to watch my mobile minutes super close every month and just barely make it!                                                                                                    4  I am the oldest of 6, being 17 when the youngest was born, a unique perspective                                                                                                                    5  I don’t like chocolate by itself-Great with p’nut butter though!                                                                                                                                                     6  My husband has spoiled me rotten-he takes such great care of me                                                                                                                                               7  Unless you’ve gone back into the archives, you don’t know that I used to be a ‘wild woman” loved fast roller coasters, fast dancing, would  have loved bungy jumping if they had invented it before my neck had to be fused. I was always the kid you didn’t dare.                                                                                                              

Nominate (although 15 is suggested I will nominate 8 as I have nominated several previously, but it’s been awhile since I did this, so these are people that lately have inspired me…in no particular order

http://TotheAssemblywithLove.wordpress.com, http://VesselofGod.wordpress.com,http://mychristiancoffeehouse.wordpress.com, http://possesshispromises.wordpress.com,http://aviesplace.wordpress.com,http://tellGodthankyou.wordpress.com,http://lilliessparrows&grass.wordpress.com, http://forhisgloryandpraise.wordpress.com

   The nominees should be advised on their site.

 

Need Prayers Again! and Not Just For Me!

As I write you this night I have so many rolling around in me! I know that this is the One Way that The Lord uses my writing because otherwise I do not have any talent at all for it! This has been a hard day, probably because it was a hard night before it started. I had gone to my first physical therapy lesson and although we only did four little leg exercises, I managed to get my sciatic nerve all stirred up again and every time I moved last night was agony! for those of you who have suffered with a sciatic nerve problem, you know exactly what I am talking about! There is no comfortable position to be in, no real relief with drugs-its just a misery. Still I must do my leg exercises  to get my legs strong again. I have some good goals. First to get rid of my snazzy walker and graduate to a cane which is pretty snazzy itself, but so much easier to deal with! Second, I want to be able to walk my dog again and go up and down the stairs by myself. I have to be steady on my feet to do that. I want to drive myself again. I like my independence! And my younger sister is turning 50 next month and has planned a cruise for all of her friends and family in 2 months time. I must be better for that!

What I didn’t say was how I am struggling with working between the doctor visits and tests and yes, the PT, with strength left over to do a great job. God did answer my fervent prayers last week for existing searches to continue, people to get back with me, everything to go forward well. That I am so very thankful for. Part of that is because you prayed for a client who is recovering incredibly well from his brain tumor surgery and now is able to continue his own duties. So we are both thankful for that! Now I have to ask you again for a very special person . He’s a little guy –only 9 years old and his name is Maddox. He is in the hospital. He needs his very high ketone levels to come down. Will you pray with me for that to happen? And very quickly too? I know you will. when you all prayed for me the last time, I was better. Still, I did eventually have to be in that hospital again as you know. And this continuous “visitation” is becoming  or already is just way over the top too much financially! So that was certainly part of the emotions rolling around in me today. I mentioned in my last post about stopping the gamma globulin infusions because my new doc had mentioned the side effects. Well, tonight I took a walk out in the internet world to see what I could find out about the side effects. How bad were they for others? What other effects are there? All those pertinent little questions…I hate to tell you that to my absolute horror, I found out that for a person with my history this was or should have been an expected event and not only the clots, but the meningitis also!!  I read that several doctors had pointed out that anyone with these factors should be carefully examined, followed, and at least told about the possible issues. I know that I was told nothing at all.  Nothing except that I needed this stuff like a diabetic needs insulin, but after reading very carefully, I don’t think so! Now I know I am dealing with the after effects of a somewhat wrecked body however temporary that might be, hundreds of dollars in medical bills, and certainly issues with future insurance should I decide to make a change. I guess i should be grateful I am alive to have to deal with anything, but right now, I am feeling my human anger at the cavalier attitude of doctors and the drug companies-and mostly at the drug companies. I don’t believe that my docs deliberately put me in harm’s way. they might have never read any of the materials  that I read tonight. 

Now I am sure  that everyone is saying, Wow, Cindy, what’s gotten into you tonight?  Well, I’ll tell you what I think and hope that it is. I hope it is righteous indignation! but I know that if I am off the mark, I will be hearing about it from the Lord as well as everyone else. But I believe that the laws are put out there for our protection and unfortunately no one is paying attention these days because there are more and more problems with the drugs that are out there. I don’t know what I am going to do about this if anything. but I am not going to be silent about it, that is for sure! I don’t think that would be right at all!  so I hope if you have an opinion about this, you will write me. If you have had a bad experience yourself, please tell me about it. I know I am not the only one  and I know people have died.

I have really gone out on a limb tonight and asked for your help. I hope you will give it. Please pray for Maddox. Please pray for me. I need strength and guidance, I need some financial return on my work. Only the Lord can make these things happen so please let me hear from you!

 

THE LORD IS WORKING ON MY TRUST FACTOR

And now it has been a  week again! This time, except for a couple of Doctor appointments, I was in all week, but once again dealing with a bacterial infection. and not much   voice either, but God has beenvery plain spoken with me and I have read the most wonderful  scriptures and devotionals t hat were directed right to me in terms of trusting and of course faith.

I have not been given permission to share all of this yet. but I will share what  I can.

the last 2 -3 weeks have been very difficult physically, regardless of being on antibiotics. I have still had C Diff which is not any fun to have  even if you are on meds. and it was still August, my worst asthma month-it has felt like I have had it all month. Now it  is September and I am starting it off the same way!  And not only me, but I have watched as my family has been attacked. My sister’s husband started his chemo this week. Part of  the “cocktail” is Rituxin. He was on it 20 min, when he started reacting.;He had hives, then the nausea , then a small seizure–all of  this totally freaked both my sister and my brother in law out.And did I mention her youngest son had been out with a virus for most of the week, and her car engine blew something up to the tune  $900$ She called me while I was on the phone with my new BSF Bible teacher–so we immediately prayed.  Then my daughter called. She was on the way to the hospital with my 7  yr old granddaughter. She had a pretty bad  case of bacterial pnuemonia!! I reassured my daughter as much as I could, reminding her that she had also had pneumonia twice one winter and her sister once!! That medically things were so much better now and that I was sure that our girl was going to be fine.I would be praying and so would all my great friends.  (of course I was right. the doc thought 4 days. she was only in for 2)

Suddenly my eyes were opened and I could see that my family is being attached even more than usual==I immediately got on my face before the Lord. I asked Him for  protection because I was going to have to confront this  devil -, I am even having to type this a third time-my words keep disappearing on me!  I remind you Satan who won? I did! Because of Jesus!! Go Back to Hell and Leave ME and MY FAMILY alone in the name of Christ Jesus the Son of the Living God!

So let’s go back to last Sunday night and my first scripture. I will type what I can, but there is a lot. I may have to let you look up too.  or I am send you to a particular blog .  Numbers 23: 19-20  God is not a man,  that he should lie, nor a son of man, t hat he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act?  Does he promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless;  he has blessed it, and I cannot change it

Is that not just the most beautiful 2 verses? And given to me 2 minutes after I asked for confirmation!  The Lord really wanted me to know, didn’t he?  And then the next day He sent me to Avie’s Place a blog I follow-what a wonderful teacher of the Word she is! Today is was Psalm 119:1658 Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make you stumble.  I wait for your salvation, O Lord, and I follow your commands.  I  obey your statutes, for I love them greatly. I obey your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you.  This post was about peace, the peace you get when you trust absolutely. and then I think this was next although I wondered why it wasn’t 2nd.  It is 1st Peter 5:8 -9   Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil  prowls around likes a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.  Now you see why I needed this verse reminder a little earlier?    

Then we went to Ecclesiastes written by the way by Solomon -son of David, a man after God’s own heart When I read David’s story or even Solomon’s story or anyone’s story for that matter, I know once again that God can forgive anyone, anything, anytime, anywhere–JUST BECAUSE HE LOVES US.  But we do have to be obedient…as Solomon discovered late in life as he also finally found the purpose in life. He had looked for it everywhere,  in everything, But of course our purpose is only fulfilled in our Lord–when He fills up that hole in our hearts  we all come with  —and that hole is only filled by the Holy Spirit of God Himself, then, can you know your purpose. We will be talking about that in the future.”

So my week has been all about the Lord talking trust me, Trust me TRUST ME. The first night that He spoke to me, MY  Lord God said “Cindy, I love you, I love you, I love you, I  love you. ..but you don’t trust me.”…his first words almost and when I said,” no,I do trust you,” He again replied,”" no, you don’t trust me, but you will.”  I have come to find out that Trusting the Lord  with all my heart is the most important  thing to Him NEXT to  Honoring and Loving Him and Putting Him first in all Things.-which is the first and greatest commandment. And I will tell you that it is easier to follow than the learning to trust so completely. How very, very hard it is.But  it is what we are called to do and when the Lord singles you out for something and  He consistently confirms it,  You know you have to do it, even if it scares you, and it doesn’t seem the right thing to do. But Obviously I will know soon if I must do this thing.   and if I must then I will be calling  on you to pray for me like never before. I feel like the t he guy in the Raiders of the Lost Ark or the sequel when t hey   were looking for Jesus’ chalice from the last supper.  He had to take a step out on faith that there was a bridge when there was no evidence of a bridge–but of course as soon as he put his foot out there-it was there for  him. I am hoping for that for me. And I should be able to explain further later this week.

 

             

CONNECTIONS!!

I have often described myself as a conduit and truly that is what I feel like most days! What a fun, terrific feeling, knowing that My God has me meeting all of these wonderful different people. People that you just don’t walk out there and meet every day! let me see if I can describe what one connection did for me. I met Valerie who lives in London, UK on a website. We had a lovely chat there and then she called me a couple of days later and what a wonderful conversation we had. We both were trying to network and see how we could help each other. It turns out that Valerie helped me a lot more than I have helped her-at least so far. She introduced me to an attorney in Washington, DC. I said, “call me!”  So Tonya did call and we had a great conversation, infact, I want to speak with her more often. She really lifts me up! That day though she told me that she had lost her dad just 3 weeks previously; so of course, I told her all about GriefShare. I had her look it while we were on the phone and pick out a meeting close to her, with a convenient day and time. She said would go to it and we agreed to talk again later. The next thing I know she is introducing me to the lovely Janet -the author and coach I have already written about!  Janet is published and does her own publishing with Ebooks too. She is one of the ones who is guiding me through my process. She has been more helpful than she knows. Most of all, she gave me validation like ya’ll do whenever you come or comment. Ms. Tonya got busy again, and this time she posted a reference for me, recommending me as a legal recruiter. And she put it in the  very special group that she belongs to–ex-white house staffers! I didn’t know she had posted anything until I got an email from a  man with the perfect background, experience and education for a search I am doing with an associate. I didn’t know where he came from-his cover letter had mentioned that his wife had given him my contact info. But this guy is in the  midwest and Ms Tonya in DC, so it couldn’t be that way. I called Tonya anyway and she told me  about the “special group” she blongs to on LinkedIn. So full steam ahead, I called the candidate who actually had some time to speak with me and I got most of questions asked. His wife also would like to send a resume, he told me but couldn’t talk now would email her resume and make an appt with me. I got her resume that night. What an incredibly accomplished, smart woman she is!  She had been an undersecretary to the UN under GW Bush and that was the last job she had with him. Before that,  probably the things she had done in the White House and the Pentagon-let’s just say I was almost speechless! That’s a biggie for me! What has been nicest of all is that everyone is a believer-truly easy to talk with and work with; another area of peace I could do with  in my life.

Now can you believe all that came from one person’s referral? But that is what happens when you truly let go and let God take over your job or your business or in my case, what we call my practice. I know it’s not “me”, knowing me or listening to me. But I do know what a kick it is when someone you have invested in time wise and caring wise,  starts saying back to you all the things you have said to them because  now they are reaching out, most people for the first time. Are they so surprised when nobody bites their hand off!  Yes, they are surprised, but now they have experienced that “rush”. I would not equate it, because that would be so wrong-but Paul even spoke about this “rush” this feeling of incredible peace, love and goodwill that comes over you when you have shared Jesus and  of course it makes you want to do it again, and again.  It works, you know, time in, time out, regardless of the industry of the moment, the state of our union and the state of the people of the United States. They can try and ban everything, but what they can not ban is in each believers’ heart–that alone is going to keep believers going during the bad, hard times coming.

And then there was another connection I made through LinkedIn.  Just someone I ran across, saw the picture and the business and God said connect with her.  So I sent out an invitation and forgot about it. She called me Monday and let me know that she had been out of town, but now was back and could we talk? I spoke with her abut 4-5 min, when all of a sudden, she loudly said  STOP!, just STOP!  of course I did, I wondered, what had I said or done wrong this time?  I should have more faith in the Master and what He is about or I would not have thought that. Here is what she said. “Can I just tell you that 2 weeks ago, I prayed –I prayed for God to send me someone to help me. Someone with wisdom, who understood my business.” She continued ” I need help in knowing what direction to go, I need to get back to God and so many other things, Are you that person? And you are a Christian too? ” I answered, “yes and yes”. Deciding that we had much more to talk about than just a nice phone conversation, we arranged to meet for lunch.  I must say, I don’t ever think I have had a 2 1/2 hr lunch before, but it was marvelous, wonderful, and amazing. For the first time, I was speaking to someone who had really done some walking in my shoes in term of her personal life and her business life. Of course I can’t go into any details except to say that there is no doubt on our parts that God Himself put us together.  What was wonderful is her immediate commitment to some times and events that  will make such a difference in her life. Follow through is everything.

So you see why I might be excited all the time? I wish I were not so wordy, I would share more incredible connections that happened the week before. But I think I have said enough that if you want the same connections and excitement over what you are doing, You have to seek the Lord first. And when you have done that and trusted Him and the blessings start to flow, you know you are on the right path-you are at peace at last-which is just what you wanted all along.

Two Nights Without Asthma Issues! Prayers Answered! What A Wonderful Life!

My puppy dog likes to get up at six and if I haven’t already gotten up at 5 or 5:30, for sure I am up at 6. This gives me time to read the Word that the Lord has for me and some wonderful devotionals that I get online. Today’s messages were so strong that I felt I couldn’t wait all day to write what the Lord was saying to me. Bear with me, I am going to be in two different books and it doesn’t even look like they could be related, but they are, so stick with me.

My first reading was out of Jeremiah. I started in Chapter 16 and read through 23. I am not going to write out all of that this morning.  But there were little jewels in each chapter to shine the light on; to bring to the forefront because of the world we are living in. I think it is the most exciting time in history because every time you open a newspaper you can see prophecy being revealed as all of the things that God has said would take place are actually happening.  The first verse in chapter 16 refers to the remnant being gathered together to form the nation of Israel one last time. God says He is restoring them to the land He gave their Fathers. But He is talking future, because right now He is very angry with them and going to scatter them by the hand of the king of Babylon. Jeremiah does write at the end of that first chapter:

O Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, ” Our fathers possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols that did them no good.  Do men make their own gods?  Yes, but they are not gods!” THEREFORE I WILL TEACH THEM, THIS TIME I WILL TEACH THEM MY POWER AND MIGHT. THEN THEY WILL KNOW THAT MY NAME IS THE LORD.

I would say that at such a time as this in our own nation, we should be coming to Him or ours will also go the way of the other nations that have scorned the Lord God Almighty.

In chapter 17, there were some special truths that stuck out at me this morning. Starting in verse 7  through 10

But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water  that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.  The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.

Wow that says a lot in just 4 verses. First for me, it was convicting. Am I like the tree planted by the water. I know that water can be the word of the Lord God and yes, I am planted right next to it every day. But am I planted financially so that I don’t fear when heat (hard times) come? No, not any longer. However the lack of that has made me throw my total trust upon the Lord for His care and providence and I know that I have that every day, just as I see fruit of my witness every day. Did I always? Oh no, not at all.

And last but not least what God says about the heart! Oh, do I know it!! I have to keep a close eye on that heart of mine. It would like to act any way it wanted to anytime it wanted to-read whatever, see whatever movie or play or even TV show. But God has shown me that certain ones aren’t good for me. They may not bother the next person at all. For me though, they take my focus away from Him and of course that is not good for either of us. When The Lord is speaking to me about something I need to let go of –of course He has already examined my mind and heart and knows it all, yet I  sometimes still pretend,…”What are you talking about Lord, did I know do this and this? and now you want this?” But truthfully we both know I know exactly what He is talking about. What I have found out is that is it much simpler to just say Yes Lord. Obedience does bring its own rewards I have learned.

I see that I am going to have to skip over to Philippians as otherwise I would be writing so many words no one would read anything. I’ll come back to Jeremiah tomorrow and finish up.

Oh the precious book of Philippians! It was the first book study I ever did and so remains special in my heart. I know I won’t complete what I want to say about it either today and so will hope to finish it tomorrow with Jeremiah.

In the first chapter, verse 6 Paul starts with a very important verse. In fact, I base my life on this verse and then 9-11

Be confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus… And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with fruit of righteousness that come through Jesus Christ –to the glory and praise of God.

So now you know exactly why I was not afraid I was going to die of that pulmonary embolism I had in July nor of the asthma attack I had this week or of anything else that Satan may throw at me because I stand for Christ, my Savior. He has given me a task that is yet undone and so I will be here at least that long. The prayer that Paul prays is also certainly mine, just at Phil 6:19 is. (we’ll get there again) God is teaching me,  Himself and through organized formal Bible study, through my pastor, through my experiences-depth of knowledge and depth of insight-just what is good and pure and blameless. Who I should listen to, who I should give to in their neediness, who I should mentor? Discerning comes from that heart that God has examined and hopefully in my case, cleaned up enough to discern correctly HIS desires, not mine, not even my good inclinations because God’s desires, inclinations are perfect.

I  must stop here. There is so much more I would share, I thought I would have time to talk about what the great and mighty God is doing just in every day life connections for me so that I can continue helping others, but not today. Sounds like a long post tomorrow, doesn’t it! Well read what you can. Come back when you can. Know that you are beloved of the Lord God.

Asthma Again! But He Answers So Many Prayers Today!

Guess what happens when you get just a little big for your pants? at least that’s what my Daddy used to say to me, when I was getting a little smart mouth on me. I went back and read what I wrote last night all of which I certainly meant. But I must have been getting a little too smart mouthed for the Lord, because at 3 am I woke up coughing and wheezing like never before. I don’t wheeze. Everybody knows that. But Today August the 7th, 2012 I wheezed for hours! We tried everything but when nothing worked, we just went to the ER.  I didn’t want to get so sick that I would have to stay again. I just wanted my meds and to go home. Of course I got the doc who doesn’t understand about cough variant asthma again. He was so happy I was wheezing-that he could understand and diagnose! So I got my meds (IV Solumedrol-miracle drug) and also a breathing treatment of their special stuff I don’t have at home and after they had stuck  me a half a dozen times we were able to leave!

I am absolutely dependent upon my God for my very breath and that very breath that allows me to talk and do my work. I acknowledge that in all my words and deeds. I can do nothing without Him, but what I can do WITH  Him is amazing and wonderful to me to be used as I am. Truly tonight I am doubly blessed by what my sharing of His  Word and His Ministry did for others, because they shared it back with me. How wonderful is that!!!

The first story is from one of my candidates, an attorney  who is a believer and because of our shared faith, it has been easy to become friends. When we were first talking about the particular position, she had already had a first interview and really liked the person, already liked everything she had read and heard about the firm; but she asked me-Cindy ..”How will I know that this is the right opportunity for me?”  I told that’s easy. You turn to Isaiah 30:21 and read where  it says that God will whisper in your ear the way in which you are to go. She liked that apparently, looked it up and claimed that promise for herself.  Today she reminded me and said...”Remember when you told me???” 

Yes, I remember. Turns out she’s had this horrendous case for 4 years. Everyone including the senior partners of her firm wanted her to settle -for a $1million-but something in her just said this isn’t right. So she prayed about it and the job possibility as well and then laid down to go to sleep.  Then clear as a bell, a voice said, Don’t settle, you’ll win the case. She said,“Cindy I knew that was God’s voice telling me what to do just like you and the scripture said He would. But if you hadn’t told me that I would have thought it was my imagination and I might have settled. In the meantime, because we are preparing for court, all of the right, needed pieces are dropping in from heaven and we are going to win our case.” Of course I am very happy that she is going to win that case, but I was happier and so blessed by the fact that she would take what the Lord had said through me and do it and of course the Lord  would act-He does not lie- but my thrill was that she brought it back to me to tell me. Oh that was incredible how blessed I felt!

The second story started a couple of weeks ago. I might have mentioned in a posting that I had met someone from London who had introduced me to an attorney in Washington, DC.  This young woman and I are going to be fast friends if we ever get the chance to have a full conversation. Our first one was 15 min-but we did get a lot crammed in there. For starters the most important thing-the way that I could help her right now.  You see, she lost her dad just about 5 weeks ago now. At 3 weeks she was just like I was when I lost my dad-a mess. Even thought you know absolutely where your father is and you wouldn’t want to make him come back for any reason, you still miss him so much. Here it is 3 years later and I still miss him the same. But at least I don’t hurt like I did when I was first grieving-I couldn’t really think straight even. I was such a mess that my dear BSF (Bible Study Fellowship)  friends said you have to go to GriefShare. What is GriefShare? I had never heard of it, but dutifully I went online and found a group that met at a place and time convenient for me and I went.  Of course I went to be comforted.  I needed comfort.  What I found was hurting people who in many instances had no hope at all.  I went to all the meetings and thought why don’t we (our church) have a GriefShare Ministry? I should learn not to think thoughts like that! Because of course I wound up as a GriefShare leader for 2 1/2 years until God took me away from it because of my immunity issue.

So back to my friend. We talked about her grief and she really was barely hanging on. Oh, how I understood!  So of course I told her about GriefShare and what it had meant to me. I asked her if she were near a computer and she was. I told her to type in GriefShare.org and then her zip code and it would bring up any and all meetings close to where she lived or worked depending on what she needed to be close to. She was so surprised to find a good many. I urged her to call and make arrangement to attend. check in.  And here is my blessing: I called her tonight just to check in with her,  had to leave a message, she called me back. She was at her first GriefShare meeting and was calling me back during their break! She sounded quite happy and said she’d call me tomorrow and then she thanked me again for telling her about GriefShare.

I would love to take credit for being so good at listening and anticipating needs, but I ‘m not. Any Good Thing In Me Is God and He is the one who knows all things, knows all needs. I was once again simply the conduit that He used to do His work.  I am so privileged to be that person.

I do thank each one of you who prays for me. I can’t begin to tell you what that means to me.  Your comments, encouragement, and examples sometimes have kept me going when I just wanted to stop for a while-when I just need a little break. I am going to ask you to pray for something specific for me and my sisters this time. Women of Faith has their annual conference in Orlando in October 12-13. My Orlando sister and I have always gone to the conferences for years! We love them. This year, we’ve invited our other sisters. The youngest one has a 3 yr old and a 2 yr old and of course that means leaving them with Dad.  On a Thurs and Fri night no less.For her to come she needs his cooperation and really his desire for her to come be with us. My Philly sister I am asking tomorrow. I ask that she would want to come to this conference and that it and we would be important to her to come as she is important to us to ask to come. I know my God is big enough to handle these requests, but there’s power in numbers and I happen to know I need the power for these requests to be answered positively.

So please all of you pray I believe it could be life changing for all of us. Thank you and I love you all with the love of the Lord God.

COMFORTED

What a hard week last week was! I thought I was going to close 2 deals on Tuesday-didn’t happen—good thing is, I haven’t lost the deals-just the closings are postponed. I even got new searches from one of the clients. And I got a brand new client who has really good needs.

So why am I so blah? I think I am worn out again…just trying to catch up and still take care of everyone. I am trying to take care of me too. Today, I went back to bed and slept 3 hours! I’ve had to keep my leg elevated because of swelling and some throbbing pain-which my doc and I do not understand—with the amount of Coumadin that I am taking, I couldn’t have another clot…I don’t know. I guess I am a little frustrated…and yet I do know absolutely positively that my Lord God is in charge, directing, moving people, changing hearts… that everything that comes to me has been filtered through His fingers! But I have to admit that between the leg and the re-emergence of the C Diff! yes after 3 bouts of antibiotics! I am worn out, worn down, and just want a break!  I shared very honestly with this friend and because she understands exactly how I feel-because she has been there with some of my own diseases. The Lord has healed her, but she remembers how it feels, and this time I am the receiver of comfort:

“My heart aches for you. Indeed, there are answers in the Bible. God tells Israel that He is our Healer, and David writes in Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.” God is in control, and your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Your body is not your own, it was bought with a price, the priceless blood of our own dear Jesus, the Messiah. May you rest in the arms of Jesus as He tends to His friend’s body, and may you bask in Him and His presence. I’m praying for you.

Andrew Murray wrote in “Divine Healing,” “He leads us to understand that if we yield our body unreservedly to the influence of the Holy Spirit, we shall experience His power in us, and He will heal us by bringing into our body the very life of Jesus. He leads us, in short, to say with full conviction, ‘The body is for the Lord.’”

May you reflect on the power of God at work in your spirit and in your body.”

Now do you see why I am so in love with my God and Savior? Even in my “down,”  He reaches out to me from my friends, family and then His Very Own Self.

A QUICK UPDATE

I saw my primary care doc and had my blood draw and she says, that to listen to my lungs you would never believe I had just had an embolism! My numbers are good. My energy is great. My voice is back and strong. And blessed relief! The Cough is gone for a while. 

I truly believe this was all about my getting away and quiet for God to teach me really important stuff-which I have already posted! …and His way to be able to call to others that wouldn’t answer any other way. He can always take the  worst that Satan throws at us and make it turn out wonderful and that is exactly what He did this time–really every time.  I have had the opportunity to share Jesus Christ with more people in more locations around the world now than ever because He is making the connections and putting us together and it all started with the silly clot! Truly it is hard not to get ‘over-excited‘.  That was the only negative about my doctor’s visit. My pulse was way too fast. Of course, it is always high, but when I get excited because of what God is doing-it just goes lickety-split. So more water, deeper breaths, more walking. .. a new more mobile phone for my office next week will help as well.

But the most important thing for me to say tonight is that today, I watched my God and Savior answer prayers-serious, serious prayers for two dear friends in totally different circumstances because we prayed and believed John 14:13-14, which is a promise from Jesus Himself-who does not lie. One Friend had apparently been praying awhile for a family situation. Today, there has been a reach out for help-for the first ever-when every offer had always been turned away.  Who else but God could do this? And my other friend has been involved in a divorce settlement case for 4 yrs! The husband who has been told over and over to produce documents and pay her expenses and yet in 4 yrs has done nothing with no consequences. TODAY God answered, and the man produces in  10 days without excuse or he goes to jail for 6 months. There will be no further continuance,  excuses, filings, delays.  10 days. and it will be over.

When I prayed with and for my friends I prayed the template that I shared with everyone a couple of years ago. First I worship my Lord God, then I praise Him. Then I remind Him of His Promise. And only at the end do I ask for the need to be taken care of. because the other stuff is really what’s important and He already knows the need. He wants me to go through the steps, to claim His power and victory which I did after I asked Him to be sure that His Angels barred the doors and the windows from the Evil one and his cronies, because up until today they have been running the show.  And starting today He was going to be.… and He did.

If  I could share the whole story, you all would just be amazed at what was and what now IS. Again I say! PRAISE THE LORD.

Very Short Post

Hi again…I’m posting on Cindy’s site to let you know her blood tests results were somewhat better today. She is hoping for even better results tomorrow.

Thank you all for your prayers and Thanks to God for this improvement…..Diane