Well, I have been working on a post
but it seems to be sitting way to close
to that "holy place" within my walk...
maybe someday I will be able to share
but for now I wanted to share a sweet testimony.
This is precious because it shows so clearly
on how our Heavenly Father cares.
And that He will move heaven and Earth for His plans and purposes to unfold.
There is a slight disclaimer that comes with this testimony.
As with many areas in my life
(and I'm guessing many of your lives as well)
the real testimonies don't read so crisp and clean
when they are happening right before us.
Rather, with hindsight, later we are able to sift through
and present pretty, cleaned-up, testimonies worth publishing.
So the disclaimer is:
I am still watching this unfold before my eyes...
(bear with the scattered nature of the events!)
Thank you.
No, really. Thank you.
:o)
So this story actually begins with a sweet woman of God
who found a wonderful blog...
of a beautiful Christian mama who loves God's abandoned children.
And that sweet woman of God
shared the blog site with her friend
(another awesome young woman who has a heart for His children)
and that friend shared it with me.
So the stage is set, but several years will pass...
with me loving watching God move to bring children
who have been
written off...
discarded...
thrown away by society...
to a forever family of their very own!
And she has born witness time and time again
to the miracle-moving power that God can have in our lives
and in the lives of His children.
So as our story continues-
I fell in love with this precious family
who would do anything to follow God's call to help His precious ones...
even give up their secure position pastoring a church.
Wow!
During this time God had been preparing my family for ministry
to His precious children through the foster care system.
Broken, discarded, abused, brokenhearted.
Words that should NEVER be used when referring to children!
Our ministry here grew
and my dear bloggy friend's ministry grew
and she continued to minister and share all that God was doing
for His love of the orphan.
Then one day
resting in His presence
I got BOLD...
I asked God to begin to show me His heart for the orphan.
And guess what?
He answered!
He begun revealing and unfolding such a powerful love!
These thoughts overwhelm me at times....
164,000,000 orphans worldwide
15,000 children die every day due to starvation
If I let my spirit rest on these numbers
I become very overwhelmed
very fast.
I am one person.
We are one family.
We can only make a difference to a relatively low number of these children.
(and yes I know it really matters to them- not downplaying that at all)
But what MORE could I do????
My precious, precious Father began teaching me
how to speak for Him.
How to share His heart for these children
and to not worry about making others "feel bad".
Now, I am not saying that everyone can adopt or foster
but we can ALL do something.
SOMETHING!
Now during this time that God was showing me how to be more vocal
My pastor (love him!) preached one Sunday
and included a story (about discouragement) and referenced
being out at a pastoral conference in Phoenix
and the wisdom that had been shared there.
I sat in my seat thinking "I wonder if this is Linny's church?"
and then pastor mentioned the name of the church
and it was the same church!
Well, I was tickled and went home hoping to hop on the computer
to share this sweet story about how her pastor blessed my pastor, etc.
and I opened her blog and read her post.
My jaw nearly hit the floor.
At the same time my pastor was talking about her church,
her husband (not a pastor at this church)
was PREACHING from their pulpit to 15,000 members.
I just stared at the post.
I just knew in my spirit that this wasn't a coincidence.
God is about holy appointments.
And I just KNEW, ya know?
I didn't know what it meant, but I contacted Linny and shared the sweet
story and casually mentioned that I would love to have them come to our church.
She responded that they were planning a trip in the fall and that they would love to.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God would not let me forget those words.
I knew I had to try and bring this wonderful family to our pastor.
If God needs a voice, please let me be used!
So I swallowed my intimidation and fear
and tried to share this wonderful story in 3 minutes without rambling
(don't know if I actually accomplished it without rambling...)
But I just shared.
And asked him to pray about asking them to come.
That's it. I left it there.
I was able to tell him to go to the link of this mega-church
and watch one of his sermons!
(something only God could orchestrate)
This was no little thing that this amazing man of God
was asked to preach a Sunday service from an altar which is normally only the
senior pastors and the likes of Joyce Meyers...
Not one of their own 15 pastors on staff...
Dwight.
Faithful God.
Orchestrating a beautiful story!
So I left it with my senior pastor not knowing what would come of it.
Then my associate pastor (and my boss) asked me a few days later
if I knew any missionary who would be available for our Missions Banquet...
Oh boy! Did I!
So I unfolded the story again for him and left it there.
In another week, they came to me asking to reach out and make contact
to see if they would be available.
Now Linny had just posted the day before on how they were planning a missions trip
and that they were planning on leaving
THE DAY BEFORE the missions banquet.
Ugh!
But I still reached out
knowing I serve a faithful God
who was doing wonderful things behind the scenes.
Out on the other side of the county
3,000 miles away
this precious family had been praying for opportunities to open up
to go into churches!
The missions trip was having difficulties in the planning stages
and the details would not fall into place.
Dwight could come!
(and as soon as they began planning the details of the trip
fell into place for the following week!)
What a faithful God...
lining up all of His children
to be in the right place
at the right time.
Using His Holy Spirit
to orchestrate this beginning
of what prayerfully will grow
into more and more hearts opened for the orphan!
Yea God!
And yes, I am totally giddy for what is to come!
Stay tuned!
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