Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord

Several years ago, Kassi underwent eye surgery for the muscles in both of her eyes.  The day of the surgery, we were amazed at her temperament.  She was not scared at all for the surgery...in fact, we have a short video of her skipping down the hospital hallway to the room where it all would begin.  It took a load off of us because we were prepared to need to be a very strong encouragement to her should she be resistant to the process and procedure she needed to undergo...if you are a parent you know what I mean...some kids are not naturally brave and need tough love...and most of the time, that is Kassi :). After she woke up from the surgery, she started telling us some things she dreamed while she was asleep and the spiritual content and images were pretty amazing to us.  I know other people have had similar experiences...the most well-known experience being that of Colton Burpo, but it is awesome when people's recollection of dreams and visions match up.

After Kassi's surgery, she told us that Jesus came to visit her and that he brought Alex the cat to see her.  Alex was her Great-grandma's cat that had recently passed away and who Kassi missed dreadfully.  She also said Jesus gave her some lights and told her she did not have to be afraid of the dark.  And, she said Jesus had a horse that Kassi called Rainbow because it was all different colors.  Now, Kassi is a child with an amazing imagination and it is easy to wonder if her brain went to work while she slept, but she is super convinced of these things...and she still remembers her dream vividly.  Everything she said just filled me with joy because the vision was so perfect for what she needed for peace in that moment...Jesus let her see her favorite animal....He addressed her anxiety about not being able to open her eyes for a while during recovery by giving her the lights...and he showed her His brilliant horse.  It all spoke amazing things to her little heart.  Is it possible that her brain could have created that imagery to comfort her in those moments?....sure....it is possible....and easy to wonder about that....but, I choose to see with the eyes of my heart...and I believe it was a divine appointment for her.

We took the girls to see Heaven Is For Real today...and I was interested to hear what Kassi would say about it since she had the spiritual dream during her surgery.  During the movie Kassi had to use the restroom, so I took her out of the theater.  As we were walking to the bathroom, Kassi said, "I told you Jesus had a rainbow horse!"...that is pretty crazy....she was so excited...and that gives me goosebumps that they agreed upon that crazy horse :) because in the movie/book...Colton says the same thing about the horse.  I believe she really did have a vision while she was in surgery....and it has impacted her faith.  She is adamant that she saw Jesus, that there are animals in Heaven, that Jesus gave her some sort of lights and told her she would not have to be afraid of the dark, and that Jesus has a horse that is all different colors. I am thankful she was given that incredible experience and that she was able to share it with us.

Acts 2:17 states, "In the last days, God says, I will pour my Spirit on everyone.  Your sons and daughters will speak what God has revealed.  Your young men will see visions.  Your old men will dream dreams."  I think I mentioned in a different blog about how Brad and I chose names for our daughters...how we wanted them to be meaningful and that we pray they all grow up in the meaning and purpose of their names.  This was very special to me as we learned about Kassi's spiritual experience because Kassi's name means prophetess...it was weird (but, perfect)...that she would physically have an issue with her eyesight that needed correction, but during that time also be given a small glimpse of sight into the supernatural.  I felt as though God was confirming some amazing things to my heart through all of that....I sometimes think He shows me things about contrasts....how the earthly issues will pass away, but the Truth of Heaven will remain.

Merely a Man?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xafcGbXLwoM

Joy Comes in the Morning

I just found out something that has been a misconception for me for a long time.... kind-of like when I have been singing a song for years and then I see the lyrics and realize I have always been singing the wrong words...ha!  You know the birds that some people call Turtle Doves....they are also known as Mourning Doves....I always thought they were Morning Doves....but, the u in that word makes a huge difference.  I guess their cooing sounds like mourning, so that is how they got their name.

We have been having a difficult week emotionally as a man from our church passed away after a tough battle against cancer...he had been a part of our small group for a while and we had watched him go through his battle with faith and peace...and he was a brand new believer, so it was pretty incredible to see him acknowledge that God was with him through it all.... what a testimony!  ...and my grandma is not doing well....we are praying for her recovery, but we are also prepared for "the call" at this point and we are planning to try to be free for a trip to Illinois if she passes.  So, death has been on my mind...but, not in a morbid way....in a thankful way.  I am thankful that death is not the opposite of life...it is just a part of it. It never really gets easier to say "see you later"....but, we who believe have this promise.

This is the only way I know to hold on to real hope and joy.  Joy can come in the mourning as well as the morning....it is OK if you have had a misconception of those two words.  What if those singing birds think people are calling them Morning Doves too ? :)  I guess in Heaven they will be.

The Heavens Declare

God is perfection and there is purpose and meaning in everything He made.  His timing is also perfect. He commanded His people to observe certain feasts to remember that He brought them out of Egypt and to set "appointed" times to worship Him in very specific ways.  He showed them when these would happen based on the position of stars or the moon...and He told them, several times in scripture, to "keep these feasts throughout your generations, as a statute forever".  Jews celebrate the feasts as times to remember what God has done historically ...but, believers in Christ who understand the meanings of each feast also know that Jesus fulfilled the purposes of the feasts on their exact dates when he was bound, crucified, buried, and resurrected.

On Passover, Jesus was bound and crucified...typically Jews would bind and sacrifice a spotless lamb on this day...the blood of the lamb atoned for their sins so that they did not have to endure the judgement of God.  In the same way, Jesus' blood is the only thing that can cover us and atone for our sins.

On the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jesus was buried in the tomb...Jews use the feast days to remember when they had to leave Egypt in such a hurry they were not even able to bake bread with yeast...but, God related the yeast to sin and so, they use that time of the feast to purify their homes from the yeast (sin) in them.  This is significant to believers because Jesus was the only man without sin.  He was the "unleavened bread".

On the Feast of First Fruits, Jesus rose from the dead...Jews would give God the first fruits of their harvest as a faith offering trusting that God would bring them an even greater harvest.  It is so significant that Jesus arose on this feast day because He became the first fruit...the first born from the dead and His death and resurrection gives hope to each believer that the "harvest" will be much greater.

AMAZING, RIGHT?! To me, the meaning of all of these things is HUGE and God's timing is so precise to have all these events happen exactly on certain dates that He already set many many many years before Jesus was even born.  So, the feasts He set in motion serve a historical purpose for remembrance and worship, but were also prophetic to the exact dates and purposes.  There is so much more to this that God has planned out....the Heavens were created to give us signs and signals from God.

So, I won't get too "conspiracy theorist" on you, but I think there is a lot going on right now in the heavens and on the earth.  God is doing a whole lot of declaring on exact dates He has set.  You should study the 4 "Blood Moons"...you will see what I mean.  Pastor Mark Biltz has done research into these Heavenly events, when they occur and what is also happening in our world at those times and he compares what scripture says about the events with what patterns he has recognized.  It is pretty interesting.  He is quick to point out, however, that his ministry is "non-prophet" :)...he is not making predictions, only looking at what the scripture says, what is going on in the Heavens, and what is happening globally. I love prophecy...it is so mysterious and exciting...but sometimes it scares people.  I will never say I think certain things will happen at exact times, but I do think it is amazing that Christ's death, burial, and resurrection were perfectly in line with God's feast dates....so, if God is the same yesterday, today...and forever....maybe events surrounding Christ return will coincide with the other Feast dates?  It makes sense to me.  BUT, the important thing is to be ready...fear God, be busy with God's work...be loving people and showing them God's Salvation as you are living it out.  

God LOVES you and HE is PERFECT!  And PERFECT LOVE casts out fear!  If you are in Christ, then His blood has atoned for your sin....you do not have to fear for the future or judgement.  What Christ accomplished on the CROSS...the debt He paid for you...gives you complete freedom from the wages of your sin.  Use your freedom to declare His Glory.

A Man of Dairy

You know when it hasn't snowed yet in the fall, but there are flurries in the forecast and you are so excited to see snow for the first time....yes, I am like that...you think about the uniqueness of each individual snowflake...haha!  Well, I hope I am still like that next year, but this winter may have ruined that for me.  Anyway, I just realized there is something else that is like that for me...I scream, you scream, we all scream....YEP, the first Ice Cream Cone in the Spring :)

Isn't it funny when places put signs like this up for what they sell?....I always smile when I think about doing that at my job....there is no problem that a little data entry can't solve...whatever! :)

Hooray for Parma Ice Cream!  And wearing capris for the first time...I cannot believe the mosquitos were already out, though.  7 bites on my ankles...and I thought I could at least thank this winter for taking care of some of those bug issues....OH WELL. (BTW, we are not trying to reenact the "Last Supper" painting....that is funny to me now....you'll see why :)

So what's with the title, you ask?...well, it kind-of goes along with Ice Cream.  Brad had a rare opportunity to perform in a Last Supper portrayal on Sunday night and he did a fabulous job being "Doubting" Thomas.  It is so great to see him acting because I know how much he loves it and he is very good at it as well...but, he had a line that was something like..."Everyone always remembers me for my doubts, but no one remembers me as a man of daring."  Anyway, that is the gist....and the word daring was definitely in there because that was what Karly heard as dairy.  She just laughed so hard....I thought, "what is so funny to her...?  This is a very inappropriate time to be laughing so loudly."  But, then she looked at me and told me she thought daddy just said he was a man of dairy...then she kept calling him Dairy King....and in her 6 year old mind, that was hilarious....it was pretty funny to me too to see her cracking herself up over that :)  Do you ever wonder what your 6 year old self found hilarious?  I bet if you were able to watch old videos of yourself you would be quite amused.

I have never seen this done, but they set up like Da Vinci's Last Supper painting.  And then, they all had monologues that told about themselves...how they met Christ or were called to follow Him and some of the things they had been through with Him... along with who they believe He is and why.  Evidently, 

right before this moment was captured in paint....the disciples just learned someone at that table was going to betray Christ...so at the end of each monologue they are all questioning whether they could be the one who would betray Christ...."could it be I"?  It was very interesting and neat to hear from the disciple's perspectives about their relationship to Christ and the others in the group.  Hopefully, it will be something the guys can participate in again.  This year it was a collaboration of guys from about 4 or 5 churches and Brad and his friend Jeff just got asked to join in because they needed 2 more guys.  It was performed at the church building in Parma that has been gifted to our church, Village Hope.  We are still praying for a clear vision for this building and which ministries we will be able to offer to serve the community and reach the lost with the Good News :)

So Be It

Oswald Chambers wrote, "Never make the blunder of trying to forecast the way God is going to answer your prayer."

I think this is very difficult...at least for me.  When I go to God with very specific requests, my mind usually has a nice little answer scenario also sequenced out.  God just answered a big prayer request for me...but, not in the way I had thought He would or wished He would...so it was weird because I wanted to be thankful that my specific requests are being taken care of...but, I felt extremely distraught that it was not the way I wanted it to happen...has that ever happened to you?  I have been struggling with my attitude about it...and asking God to help me process it, put my personal feelings aside, and just be thankful that He has heard this prayer and is answering it.  I acknowledge that my own agenda can often interfere with my praise.  If I am not living in complete surrender to the Will of God, I struggle with trusting Him.

God loves answering our prayers.  He loves His children so much and HE IS GOOD!  Look at Isaiah  65:24...this has been comforting to me over the last couple days....and just made me smile to know how much God loves us....it says," I will answer them before they even call out to me.  While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers."  This is certainly evidence of a loving father!

These times for me remind me of a part I love in the Narnia books....the quote is "Aslan is a lion- The Lion, the great Lion."  "Oooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man.  Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver...."Who said anything about safe?" "Course he isn't safe.  But he's good.  He's the King, I tell you."

God's answers may not be safe....or free from pain...or always full of "warm fuzzies"....or in any way we had envisioned them....BUT, they are always GOOD and we have to learn to trust that to be true.

With All The Trimmings

Trim is on my mind....Brad and I have been painting it and Brad has been putting it up in the basement this week.  I had this idea (since we are kind-of trying for a vintage and sports combo theme) that we would paint the trim black and Brad would just roll it once and I would go over it once with a dry paint brush to give it almost like brushed scratch marks...I love it and it is so fast!  I know I am risking getting called "Faux-faux" again....that was my nickname for a while when I tried to do some creative painting on some pillars at our church to make them look marbled.  OH WELL...I guess that is a risk I am willing to take!  I love watching an area transform into something amazing...well, amazing to me because I get to choose just what it is like....I love decorating!  I think in a different post I mentioned how much I love the smell of Lowe's....it is now becoming the smell of creating something....the smell of a blank canvas...smells are powerful.  I think I heard one time that smell is the most powerful of the five senses...maybe that was just someone's opinion.  I haven't researched that statement for its validity. :)  I thought I would give you a few pictures to show you the basement transformation.

The t-shirt pics are up....YAY!...and table tennis (or ping-pong table...depending on how serious you are about your leisure sports :) has entered the building.

We still have to install a counter-top behind the couch and Brad is planning to build cabinets and shelves.

This is his face the night the TV arrived...I think he was floating a couple inches off the floor...haha!

I am kind-of hoping my mansion in Heaven is not all the way finished when I get there....not that I want to go right now (nor am I totally against that...all in God's time)....I would just like to add some creative touches to it...I wonder if we will be able to do that :)

What if that verse also said "no nose has smelled" ?....too funny...I should go to bed now...it's late and tomorrow that probably won't be as funny to me.