I need your prayers

Hi,

I'm just home for a couple of minutes, but wanted to ask you to please pray for a full recovery for my husband, Gene. He had a stroke today, it was a big clot in his brain. They were able to remove it and smaller ones, but not sure what the outcome will be.

Thank you so much, Susan

What is the Lord's Plan for My Life?

This is something I have struggled with for a very long time. When I first became a Christian at the age of twenty, and for many years, I believed my purpose was to teach people things I learned from a Christian lady named Mary. (I wrote about her in my blog on July 8th, “One of my Lifetime Memorials”.) She had some beliefs that were not part of mainstream Christianity. As the years passed, and some of her prophesies did not happen. I began to question these beliefs, and eventually, wandered from my walk with the Lord.

After repenting and being forgiven by our Lord and Savior, I have worried that I walked away from His plan for my life. I have prayed about it for many years. I have read books on the subject. Yet, I didn’t experience any epiphanies.

Recently, when I talked to Sandy about her upcoming surgery and her walk with the Lord, she brought up the same topic. She has struggled over the years too, not really knowing her purpose for being here. In speaking with Sandy, it made me realize that I’m not alone. I want the Lord to one day say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

In 2001, while praying about this very subject, the Lord gave me a scripture. Psalm 45:1 “My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” I was so excited. I finally found my purpose! As a teacher my favorite thing was reading children’s books to my students. I loved watching their faces and reactions to the stories. I decided the Lord must want me to write children’s books. I tried many times, but there just wasn’t any real inspiration. I even thought that if the books glorified God in some way that was my purpose.

I have always had that scripture in my mind as a possible purpose for my life, but I quit trying to make it happen. The day I started this blog, (which you can read about by looking back at “I’m Here” in June). I didn’t think of that scripture. I have only recently realized that I’m fulfilling it!

I write this to encourage you. I’ve been so worried about my role in His Kingdom, and that I wasn’t doing enough. I realize now that I just need to keep my main role in His Kingdom, which is walking in obedience, and simply being a light to others. He will cause the rest to happen in His time!

Praise His Holy Name!

Susan

Please pray for Colby’s healing
Bonnie’s healing of her tumor
Miriam’s healing by a miracle or successful hip surgery on Aug. 14th
Sandy’s healing by a miracle or successful surgery
Nancy a job
Butch to hear from his daughter

Happiness

Good Day Everyone!

I prayed this morning as I went to get out my Bible and prayer journal, as I do each time I write. I asked the Lord to guide me as I write to Him and to you. I sat down near the computer, and checked my email. I noticed a subject headline from Oprah’s newsletter. It read, “What does it really take to be happy?” I didn’t read it. Actually, I thought I had unsubscribed from her newsletter some time ago. (I pray that in her spiritual journey, she will truly find Jesus Christ. I continue to pray for her.)

Then, I happened to turn to some of my notes from a sermon dated, November, 2008, it said, “Happiness depends largely on our circumstances, but joy is more of a quiet confidence in God and His promises. As you look at your own life, can you identify any sources of joy that have influenced you even when you weren’t happy?”

The answer I had written was, “Whenever I have prayed earnestly about something, and then found the answers in God’s Word and circumstances in my life.” Reflecting on that answer, I realize it was true then, and always has been true for me since becoming a child of God. I can’t think of a greater joy or thrill to know that God is speaking to me as an individual. Even though His words come from the Bible, written for all mankind, you know without a doubt the words that He led you to read at that moment are meant for you. So, often too, He uses outside sources to confirm it. A friend will say something, or you will read it somewhere else, the church sermon will bring it up, etc. However He chooses to communicate it, He causes His Spirit within you to recognize it is Him giving you the answer.

As I write to you the Lord is showing me that is the answer to Oprah’s question. True happiness is as our pastor stated, “...a quiet confidence in God and His promises.” When I experience the joy of His personal attention, it gives me confidence in God and His promises. It is proof to me. It gives me hope and contentment KNOWING that He is right there with me, giving me true happiness.

Does He always answer me immediately? No, but that is when I need to remember the times He has answered my prayers. (See my aforementioned keeping a list of answered prayers.) I may have to walk blindly for a while, trusting that He has a plan for my life.
He has a plan for yours too!

Think about this, if you knew the plan, you wouldn’t have to pray every day!

John 15: 10 & 11 (Jesus’ Words) “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, and that your JOY may be made FULL.” (My capitalization!)

He is in Control!

Susan

Please pray for: Colby's healing
Bonnie's healing of her tumor
Sandy's successful surgery (or I'm asking for a miraculous
healing if it is God's Will)
Miriam's upcoming surgery on her hip (Aug.14)
Nancy for a job
I think Joan was a typing error on my last
blog, but because the Lord doesn't make
mistakes, thank you for praying for her!

More from Sandy

My sincere thanks for the prayers and replies to my posts. It's at times like these that I realize how wonderful people can be. I have been so blessed by the people that the Lord has chosen to put in my life. He has worked through each person to send me His love and care.

I have to admit that mornings are not an easy thing for me. I begin by lying in bed allowing negative thoughts to encompass me. This morning I woke up thinking about my daughter's first colonoscopy on Tuesday (July 19). I have been praying unceasingly to God that neither my son or daughter will ever have polyps - that their colons will be healthy. The Lord has told me that he will keep them safe and I have to hang on to that thought. So many times my faith fails me and that's when I get into some serious trouble. 2 Tim. 1:7 - For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. When I allow the worry and anxiety to overtake me - I have given in to the adversary. I try to think of bible verses and God's love at times like this morning, but being so human there are moments when panic sets in and stays a while. I'm sure you have heard that you can measure your faith by the distance you are from God. This is such a true statement. God does not distance Himself from me, it is I who distance myself from Him and allow the "spirit of fear" to overwhelm me.

Here's just a brief update on the events going on in my life involving the surgery. Yesterday I had a very busy day, so I actually wore an "ostomy" bag filled with water to see how it would feel after the surgery. Great news - I didn't even notice it for most of the day and it didn't leak. Having my colon removed - I will have to have a "stoma" (the end of the small intestine brought out through a hole in my abdomen) - which will empty waste into the ostomy bag. If all goes well this will only be for three months and then I will go back in for surgery to attach the small intestine to a "j-pouch" which will store the waste and empty it out the normal way. Hope this doesn't gross anybody out - It did me at first, but it's going to be my reality so I have to face it and I am not ashamed of having to do this. This means life for me and in a way a rebirth. God led me to have the colonoscopy and He is giving me more time to be on this earth. I pray that He will use me to love and care for others. I go Monday afternoon to an "ostomy" meeting at Kaiser Hospital. I'm hoping that there will be some others like me there that will share their experiences. I'm also waiting for results from a blood test to see if I carry a certain cancer gene. God's whispering voice tells me the results will be good.

Just want to end this with Phillipians 4:6-8 Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Prayer requests: Please pray for -
Colby's staff infection and for the steroids to work so he doesn't have to have a bone marrow transplant
Bonnie's healing
Joan's healing
Nancy that she gets the AAA job
Miriam's healing for her hip

My Wilderness

First, I would like to say, “THANK YOU”, to Sandy for her willingness to open her heart up and bare her soul. I know we will all continue to be blessed by her blogs. It will be exciting to see how the Lord uses Sandy’s witness in the future! Please continue to lift her up to the Lord in your prayers. (Also, a huge "THANK YOU" to those who took the time to write on the blog. Your words have touched my heart.)

In my last blog, I shared with you the wonderful miracles of how our Lord led me to salvation. I think it is also important to tell you the sad fact that just as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, forgetting all of God’s incredible miracles, I did too.

During my many years of wandering misguidedly in life, I hurt many loved ones. I have since asked the Lord and my loved ones for forgiveness. I know the Lord has forgiven me, and amazingly, so have my family and friends.

Forgiveness does not mean there will not be consequences. Unfortunately, those don’t suddenly vanish upon forgiveness. The consequences of my sins and disobedience still pop up in my life. I am not bitter about this, I did it to myself. It is a constant reminder of my need to look to Him. At the same time, however, the Lord has shown me His great love and blessings in so many ways, especially with the love of those same family members and friends!

I know this for sure, Jesus said, “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s Hand.” (John 10:29) Yes, I wandered and sinned, but He delivered me out of my wilderness! I'm still not perfect by any means, but I know I'm right there in my Father's Hand!

Praising His Holy Name!

Susan

Prayer requests: Please continue to pray:
for Bonnie's healing!
for Jean's healing!
for Nancy that she gets the AAA job!
for Miriam's healing for Miriam's hip!

He is my lifeline

I will attempt to tell you about how I know that God is my lifeline. It began the day I wandered into a pet shop with my friend. The cutest little puppy was in a cage jumping up and down looking right at me with those adorable "puppy" eyes. Never would I have thought about going into a pet shop to buy a dog. After all, I already had two dogs, four cats, one chicken, one donkey, and two horses. However, I could not get the image of that little puppy out of my mind - I wanted him to go to a home where he would be loved and cared for. What better home for him than my home where I knew that I would love and care for him. I went home and told my husband maybe thinking he would agree to the purchase of this little guy. Well he loves animals too, so he insisted that I go the next day and bring him home - which is exactly what I did. Within two weeks of bringing that little guy home, he developed kennel cough which turned into pneumonia. One night I noticed that he was having problems breathing - so at midnight my husband and I took him to an emergency veterinarian. He recovered from the kennel cough and pneumonia just in time to break his "elbow" and he needed to have a pin to hold the bone together which required surgery. Being the stress case that I am and loving animals like I do, I developed shingles from the anxiety and worry I had for this adorable little Papillon puppy. He got better but I was a nervous wreck.

To make a long story short - the shingles brought me to the doctor - the nurse checking me out looked at my records and asked why I had not sent in a stool sample that Kaiser mails out to its patients if he/she has never had a colonoscopy. I told her I had thrown the kit away, so she sent me home with another one and I promised her I would send it back to the hospital. Two weeks later I got a call that the sample was positive which required a colonoscopy. I had no symptoms of any problem and I'm still very healthy to this day, but the colonoscopy revealed that my colon had hundreds of polyps - some large, some medium and some small - from the beginning to the end of it. I awoke after the colonoscopy to hear the doctor tell me I would need surgery. Later I was to find out that the surgery was to remove my entire colon.

I cannot begin to tell you about the fear that this news brought. I couldn't believe it! Had the doctor mistaken my colon for someone else's? Of course not - it was my colon and my colon is very diseased with polyps which are considered pre-cancer. I don't have cancer, but each and every polyp is a waiting time bomb.

This hit me hard and happened on May 11, 2010. Nothing has ever had a more devastating impact upon me than the thought of losing my colon and the impending surgery. I always thought the worst day of my life was the day my Mother died, but when I realized that a very important part of my body would be cut away, I was frightened beyond belief. I know that God can use our trials and turn them into blessings, but I'm still facing alot of unknowns as well as my very first surgery and I have days that are almost unbearable. Nevertheless, I have been blessed throughout this experience. Never have I been closer to the Lord than I have been the past few months. He is strong for me when I am oh so weak. He is the meaning of peace in the middle of this dark and threatening storm. He is teaching me all about trust, faith and strength through this experience. I am His and I am hanging onto the lifeline He has provided for me with all my heart and soul. His word has given me so much strength and shown me so much love. The Lord is my sheperd - I shall not want.

I want to say more, but another time.

He Is in control

Hi everyone - my name is Sandy and I have known Susan for what seems like most of my life. She has asked me to join her blog.

I'm not sure what I am doing, so this is first of all just a test.

I do want to say that God's strength is completed in my weakness. If I didn't know Him - I would have to be in a padded room just about now. However, that is not the case and He means more to me than anything on this earth. I am living a "life lesson" through the Lord at this time and despite how I sometimes feel, God continues to love and care for me.

I won't go into details right now, but I am facing "major" surgery. I have experienced despair, fear, anxiety, stress and intense worry over this surgery since May. BUT - the Lord has given me strength, hope, faith, trust and courage - sometimes in His word and sometimes through the wonderful people that I call friends and even strangers. This evening I went to my church's chapel with a dear friend and I was prayed for and anointed with oil. I cannot tell you the peace that this brought to me. God does love our prayers and He hears each and every one of them. I am so blessed to know Him. Although my faith is the size of a grain of mustard seed - it counts with our Lord.

I will share more about my story later.

The Passion Flower, continued from the last blog!

Van and I discussed our thoughts on what all this could mean. We both thought that it was Mary visiting him. Now, though, I realize it was the Holy Spirit. Soon after this event occurred, Van found another job. We never saw each other again.

That first day back to work, I was so excited about what had happened to Van. I could hardly wait to get home to tell someone about it! I called my mom to tell her. She thought it sounded pretty crazy. As I mentioned before, my parents were not Christians. I told her that Van had described it as a sweet smelling fragrance.

About two hours later, my mom called. She was so excited. She said that after we talked, she smelled a strong fragrance in the house! I have four younger siblings. They all smelled it too. Interestingly, the fragrance was the strongest in my sister, Shelly’s, bedroom near a picture of the Lord that I had given her. Also, it was very strong in the living room near some candles that I had given my mom. They were all very excited and astounded by the experience.

I hurried over to their house, hoping to smell the fragrance too. It was gone, by the time I got there. My dad came home. We told him everything. He was actually mad. He said it was all just craziness and our imaginations. Over the years someone would bring up the event, and if my dad was around, he would just laugh and ridicule us.

Eight years later, my dad came to visit me, which he did on a regular basis. (I was married and had two sweet little girls.) When he walked into my living room, there was something different about him. I can’t explain it to you, but I could feel it. The first thought and words that came out of my mouth were, “Did you accept the Lord?” He said, “Yes”!

My dad had just started going to church. He said he went into his garage, closed the garage door, knelt down, and asked the Lord into his heart. He then asked the Lord to give him a sign that He was real.

Are you ready? This has always been so unbelievable to me that God would do this! My dad said the garage filled up with this strong, beautiful fragrance! My dad could hardly believe it either! He said the only place he could smell it was in the garage. If he walked outside, it wasn’t there. And, my dad did not have any flowers growing. It made him a very strong believer!

I have never smelled the special fragrance. I wish I could! After Mary’s passing, through Van, when my faith was wavering, I believe the Lord confirmed to me that He truly exists! Just as He did for my dad!

He is in Control! Praise His Holy Name!

Susan

I think you will love these scriptures!

Ephesians 5: 1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children: (2) and walk in love, JUST AS CHRIST ALSO LOVED YOU, AND GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR US, AN OFFERING AND A SACRIFICE TO GOD AS A FRAGRANT AROMA.

2 Corinthians 2:14~17 (14) But thanks be to God, who alwasys leads us in His triumph in Christ, and MANIFESTS THROUGH US THE SWEET AROMA OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM IN EVERY PLACE. (15) FOR WE ARE A FRAGRANCE OF CHRIST TO GOD among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; (16) to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? (17) For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God (My capitalization!).

Prayer requests:

My dear friend Sandra has to have her colon removed. I’m asking first for a miracle of healing for her. If, though, God has another plan for Sandra, please pray for Him to be with her and the doctors, and please pray that the j-pouch is SUCCESSFUL!

Bonnie's MRI did not show much change on the tumor near her spine. Please pray for her as she waits on the Lord. Please continue to pray for her healing!

Please pray that BP will be successful in capping the oil gusher today.

If you would like to email me: ViollaSwamp@gmail.com

The Passion Flower

I don’t want to go overboard on sharing my memorials, because I doubt you care to hear them all! However, there is one event that keeps coming to me that I feel led to share, because it gives such hope, and for me, proof of eternal life. I know that is an amazing claim, but you be the judge!

I ended up moving into Mary’s house (continued from my last post). I wanted to learn all I could about the Lord, and the Bible. I lived with her for about 2 ½ years. One night, before I came home, the Lord took Mary to be with Him.

Of course, I was very shaken and upset. I couldn’t believe the Lord had taken her. I was so confused. All I could do was question, why? I called in to take the next day off from work. My boss was very kind. He told me to take as much time as I needed. The Lord comforted me during this time by leaving His handprint and His touch on many details that came up before Mary’s funeral.

Mary’s funeral was held three days after her passing. I went back to work the next day. When I arrived at work that day, a couple of the ladies said that I needed to talk to Van, because he had some kind of weird experience in my office. Now, I really didn’t know Van. We said hello when passing in the hall. Van was in his forties, and married, with a family. I was 22 years old.

(I worked as a secretary. It was 1970. Computers were huge. They needed their own room. The computer room had its own air conditioning, as the temperature had to be kept at a certain level. My office was an enclosed glass-walled small room in the corner of the big computer room. (It was a very lonely place to be all day!) The fact that the room had its own air conditioning is an important one as you read on.)


Right away, I went to Van’s office. (Van did not know anything about me or my life. All he knew was that I was absent from work because a friend had passed away.) When I saw him, he told me that he had gone into my office the prior day (the day of the funeral) to put my boss’ mail on my desk. After entering my office, he sat in my chair, and began to sift through the mail.

As he related his experience to me, he got tears in his eyes. I couldn’t imagine what was going on! He said while he was sitting at my desk, he felt like someone was standing behind him. The feeling was so strong, that he kept looking to see if anyone was there. Then, he said my small office suddenly filled with a very sweet fragrance. He said he got up and walked out into the main computer room, and out into the office hallway, but he couldn’t smell the fragrance in either place. Yet, when he walked back to my office it was very strong, and he still felt like someone was in the room with him.

He said he then went to all of the office ladies, and asked if they had been in my office at all. He thought that maybe their perfume or hairspray fragrance was still lingering. None of them had been in my office at all since I had been away. Then, he asked to get close to them to smell their hairspray and perfume! (No wonder they thought he was acting weird!) He could not identify the fragrance on any of them.

On my second day back to work, Van came into my office. He was very excited. He said that while he was sitting on his patio the prior evening, he had smelled the fragrance again. He said he walked over to a flowering plant that he had in a pot. The fragrance was coming from his passion flowers. After he left my office, I looked up the passion flower in the dictionary. I don't have that dictionary to give you the exact wording, and it wasn’t as in-depth as what I’m about to share with you, but I think you will find this pretty amazing. Neither of us had any prior knowledge of the flowers’ symbolism.

“The "Passion" in "passion flower" does not refer to sex and love, however, but to the passion of Jesus in Christian theology. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries adopted the unique physical structures of this plant, particularly the numbers of its various flower parts, as symbols of the last days of Jesus and especially his crucifixion:
• The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance.
• The tendrils represent the whips used in the flagellation of Christ.
• The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles (less St. Peter the denier and Judas Iscariot the betrayer).
• The flower's radial filaments, which can number more than a hundred and vary from flower to flower, represent the crown of thorns.
• The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or the Holy Grail
• The 3 stigmas represent the 3 nails and the 5 anthers below them the 5 wounds (four by the nails and one by the lance).
• The blue and white colors of many species' flowers represent Heaven and Purity.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_flower

I couldn’t believe my eyes! I read the definition to Van. He was amazed as well! I knew it was some kind of message from the Lord!

There is more to tell here! Story to be continued!

In His Name,

Susan (Email: ViollaSwamp@gmail.com)

Prayer Request: Please pray for a good friend of mine, Sandra. Pray that the Lord will heal her colon problems. Thank you!

I haven't heard back yet on Bonnie's MRI.

One of My Lifetime Memorials

While away, I had time to reflect on my own question of how to keep memories alive of the Lord’s miracles and touches that I have received. For many years, I have kept a prayer journal, but it would be hard to go back and read through all of those pages on a regular basis. This is probably a “no brainer” for everyone but me, but I thought of keeping a list! My friend, Laurie, just gave me a beautiful journal that she designed. I’m going to use it! (I put a link to her blog, where you can see her gorgeous creations.)

Thinking back to some of the milestones in my walk with the Lord, I realized that I needed to look back at the beginning of His miracles in my life. I thought I would share some with you.

To say the least, I did not grow up in a Christian home. I could write a book about my dysfunctional family, but I will leave that for a book! (Though, I’m not sure who would want to read it!) My mother did send me to a Christian summer school once, probably just to get me out of her hair. Sometimes a neighbor took me to Sunday school, but I never went consistently. However, from a very young age, I remember having an awareness of God. I prayed to Him for things like not getting a spanking, but I obviously didn’t know Him!

At the age of twenty, out of high school, taking some college courses, working at an ice cream parlor, and partying with my friends, we suddenly found ourselves talking about God. This was in 1968. (I mention this because I did not know it at the time, but there was a revival going on in our little town of Corona, California. Maybe I will write more about that later.)

We spent several nights over coffee discussing things we thought we knew about God. One evening a friend took us to a lady’s house. Mary read scriptures to us. She talked to us about the importance of asking for the forgiveness of our sins, and accepting the Lord into our lives. My interest was piqued, but I thought she was weird! All of my other friends were very excited as we talked about the visit later in the night.

A couple of days went by and one of my friends called. She said that she and a few others were going over to Mary’s to learn more about God, and they wanted me to come along. I had already made plans to go with another friend, who knew of a man that had a lot of young people studying with him. I told my friend I couldn’t go to Mary’s with them. I was really excited to to meet this guy that could not be as weird as Mary! (I later found out that man was a true Satan worshipper.)

As I drove to meet up with my friend so we could drive to the man’s house, something powerful came over me. I was shaking. I felt driven. Something was taking over my thoughts and my being. Suddenly, this compelling, forceful thought came over me. It was telling me that I must go to Mary’s house immediately. I ran up to my friend’s door, tried to explain, jumped back into my car and sped off to Mary’s.

I ran up to her door, rang the bell, she opened it, and there were my friends just kneeling on the floor. They were getting ready to accept the Lord into their lives! Yes, I did too! I knew without a doubt that He had led me there for that glorious moment in my life!

Praise His Holy Name!

Susan

I'll be gone!

I just wanted to let you know that I will be gone for a couple of days, so don't give up on me! I'm hoping one of you will want to write on the blog on days that I can't, or when you want to do so!

Just leave me a comment or send me an email! I'll set the blog up so you can access it!

I hope to have news by Friday on Bonnie's MRI and tumor. Please pray extra hard for her tomorrow!

May the Lord Bless and Keep you!

Susan

Yes, He Hears Us!

I'm so excited to share this! In my last blog, July 3rd, I talked briefly about when the Lord reveals something to me or answers a prayer, how quickly the memory of it fades.

Sitting in church yesterday, I couldn't believe it. Our pastor, Chris Brown, spoke about that very thing! He talked about the Israelites crossing the Jordan river, and how the Lord caused the river to stand in a "heap", allowing the Israelites to cross on dry ground. (Exodus 3)

Then, Chris pointed out what an unbelievable, unforgettable miracle this was. Yet, God, knew the memory of it would fade in the Israelites' minds. So, God commanded Joshua to build a memorial of stones so His miracle would be remembered "forever"!

As I listened to Chris teach, I couldn't help thinking that the Lord had him teach on this subject just for me! LOL I know I'm special to Him, but really now! What I did realize is that most of us must struggle with keeping the special miracles in our lives that we receive from God alive in our hearts and minds.

So, I think the message for me is to figure out a way to build a memorial each time. The question is how? Do you have a method that you use? I hope you will share your method or ideas!

Blessings!

Susan
p.s. If you ever want to email me for any reason, I have put up my email address. Sorry, I did not link it because of spammers. I would love to hear from you!

Please continue to pray for Bonnie's healing of her tumor!

Happy Fourth of July!

Thank God for this wonderful country! May He forgive our nation of its sins, and continue to shine upon us!

The Lord Sees Our Heart!

I LOVE that I had Miriam's story to tell you! I would be so happy to tell one of your stories of God's handiwork in your life! If you have something you would like to Priase our Lord for, please email me. I will put up a place on the blog for you to reach me. As I said before, I would like this to be our blog!

It would be very encouraging too, if you could leave a comment when you visit! Each day that I post, I pray for God to lead me in what to write. I'm hoping I'm tuned into Him! Your comments would give me an idea of what our needs are or praises we can share to uplift each other.

I haven't found a way to add a prayer list, but I thought that I could add prayer requests at the end of the blog. You can either email me or write your prayer request in the comments, and I will add it to the blog.

As you know, I have been sharing my personal struggles with walking in the Spirit. I know I often try to live life in my own power rather than God's power. There is a battle in my life every day. I can experience a huge insight from God, and then it fades, and I forget the excitement of the revelation. It is amazing how quickly it fades. I'm thankful that the Lord sees through to my heart, and that He resides there, even on days when it is foggy!

The Lord brought this scripture to my mind, Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living, and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, AND ABLE TO JUDGE THE THOUGHTS AND INTENTIONS OF THE HEART! (My explanation point!)

Praise be to Our Lord!

Susan

Please pray for Bonnie, that her tumor will be gone when she has an MRI July 6th!

God's Serendipity!

My sweet, dear friend, Miriam, had to have some extensive surgery about three weeks ago. We prayed her through with some wonderful assurances of God’s Hands upon her, even having the doctor decide that she didn’t need one major procedure!

Last week Miriam received a call that her surgeon had referred her for a consultation. No reason was given. At first, we thought maybe it was a mistake. As the doctor had told her everything was fine after her surgery.

A friend had brought over several movies for her recuperation. The night before her appointment Miriam and her daughter decided to watch “Serendipity” (remember this!).

This past Tuesday, Miriam went to her appointment. After talking to a few different medical staff persons, she eventually ended up waiting for a different doctor than her surgeon. While sitting in the waiting room Miriam told her husband to look around. All of the pamphlets in the room were about cancer. Miriam told her husband, “I think they are going to tell me I have cancer.”

An intern entered the room with a booklet in her hand, "Cancer of the Uterus." She told Miriam and her husband that all biopsies were benign, except for a small area in the uterus which showed cancer. Miriam said, "fine, cancer does not scare me, what do we do next". (She knows Who holds her in His Hands!) Also, while Miriam was in the waiting room, she discovered that the new doctor is a Canadian. Miriam and her husband are both Canadians. When the doctor arrived, this gave them an immediate connection!

The doctor told Miriam that they had a “serendipity” situation! (Immediately, Miriam recognized God’s nudge of assurance that He is was right there with her! He brought the movie she had watched the night before into her mind, and she realized how remarkable it was that God had caused the doctor to choose that word!)

The doctor explained that the pathology department had discovered cancer in her uterus. Are you ready? Here is the most exciting part! The Lord had already taken care of it! Prior to her surgery, Miriam had been given the choice to leave the uterus or have it removed. She felt a strong sense to choose removal!

Another amazing part is the cancer was so small that it would have gone undetected had she chosen to leave it in! The doctor gave her a 99% chance of it being gone! Had Miriam kept her uterus, eventually, she could have developed full blown cancer. The doctor said, this usually happens the other way around, surgery because cancer was found!

Isn’t this a wonderful story of hope, and how Our Lord has His Eye on us?! He cares about every detail of our lives!

Praise His Name!

Susan