More Praises!!

The Lord really gave us some annointed worship last night. See, I'm a soprano on the worship team -- been "off duty" since October when I got re-injured and just started back up about 5 weeks ago -- but I don't normally have a very strong voice. Usually, I just blend with the other soprano(s). However, last night I was the main soprano (have been quite a lot lately). Worship leader is an Alto, can falsetto soprano, but not lots of volume. Last night, again, I asked for prayer for my sining voice -- we were so exhausted from working through D's storage all day right up till time for showers and church! God annointed! It was cool!!

God blessed so much yesterday, even while doing storage. I was thinking, "oh I don't want to type it all," but I need to praise the Lord for what He did, so here goes:

1. My kids were done with their schoolwork by 10:30 am!
2. D had kids she was supposed to babysit at 1:00. One has a broken leg, so we would not have been able to continue working on storage. Those kids cancelled, but another family called. The other family loves helping with cleaning, etc. The dad dropped them right at the storage units for us, and they were a super help!
3. Another friend "just happened to be down in town" and called and offered her help because she "figured we would be at storage." (Is that God or what?) She didn't do much but keep me company, but I certainly appreciated that (I'm not much use at storage cuz' of my leg) -- however, she brought her 16 year old daughter (one of my daughter's closest friends) who is a HUGE helper!
4. I was Actually Able to Help!! Both riding cart and electric wheel chair were in the van. They were unloaded to be able to load the van fully. My littlest one, who is also not much use at storage generally, and I went to a nearby restaurant and picked up food for our crew -- me driving the cart and her walking. I tried to go through drive-through, but they wouldn't let me (Ha! Ha!) But I hadn't brought my crutches!! They were very accomodating, though. They held the doors, etc. and even the patrons were very helpful. One fellow gave up his seat, so that I could gain access to the only easily-accessable plug in. The cook even gave us extra food because he messed up part of the order.
5. My eldest spied loose rubber on D's tire, thus preventing a probable very serious accident. This is actually two praises -- one that Dustie hadn't been in an accident already with the amount of driving she does, and two that she knew about it, so she didn't go up the River Road last night to church and probably end up in the River!!!
6. Because of all the help, the storage unit probably only has 2 loads left in it. She should be able to be out well-within the time-frame, thus saving her $85+ a month! (Prayer issue: Her house and van are full. She has to do some major sorting & tossing before we can get anything into either!)

Phew! I think that's it!! Sorry about all the "!!!" but it was that kind of day!!! :)

Blessings,
Sharron

Praise Report!!

I have a praise report! :)

Let's see, first I tithed and gave our missions offerings. Then I roughed out our budget, and I wrote an email to my prayer group about our need $$. Then, I called SSA and found out the REAL reason I was denied was because we make too much $$ (by -$400 a month) and I didn't work the right amount during the right timeframe.



While I was sitting there listening to her tell me the real reason, I doodled a picture. I figured it would be easier to attach than describe. See how the first one is all shakey & wobbly and even a bit broken? When I got off the phone, I saw that and decided to draw a more "victorious" picture. I drew the 2nd. If you can't make it out, the word the big, muscular cross is smashing is "bills" -- this time it's the bills that are shakey and wobbly and Smashed! ("Denise" is the lady from SSA, fyi.)

So, nothing had really been accomplished, except, I think, a change in my mindset because of the doodle!

I hopped (remember, I'm on crutches) out to the living room because I'd been called for lunch. I ate my food and the phone rang. It was the finance lady from the hospital. See, we'd qualified for a reduction in payments, but we still owed well over $1000++ from my ER visits before I got insurance in January and continuing co-insurances. We've been paying $128.96 each month. She called to let me know she'd caught some more of my bills coming through the system, and that I'd sure been in there a lot lately. While we were talking, I told her that Dan is having surgery next month, & I don't qualify for SSA because we made too much by -$400. I asked if we could combine the accounts. She started talking then stopped short. She kind of sucked in her breath and asked, "How many people are there in your family? And how much is your gross income?"

She then told me they'd had a revision of their income guidelines and that we now qualify for a FULL WRITE-OFF!!! She's sending me the paperwork, so we will no longer have that bill! We won't get anything back that I've already paid (pooh), but I don't have to pay it this month!!

Talk about immediate answer to prayer :) :) :)

And, Jess' first orthodontist appt went just fine. The bill is paid-in-full -- ended up saving 25%. We have about $150 left from the $$ Dad gave us. Dan has a broken tooth, and with our discount card, I'm hopeful that will cover fixing it.

We also spoke to B last night and can really tell God is moving on his family!! Now, his maternal grandmother has been "on board" with the plan to move him here since she learned of it. She's even willing to help him financially to do so. She's a lovely Christian lady and is excited about him having the opportunity to get a fresh start and a ministry. His mother, sister and father have been giving him grief, though.

Well, yesterday, he spoke with his mom again. Apparently, Grandma had given her a call and explained it all to her. Now, she's on board and gave B her blessing! Woo Hoo! His dad even backed off yesterday. He's still unhappy, but resigned to the fact it is going to happen.

Thank you, God!! Prayer changes things and people!!

Poor B had to work from 1am till nearly mid-night last night. He called me about 9:15 almost in full-meltdown. He was so exhausted and frustrated, but I prayed with him. He felt better immediately and was able to quickly finish his work and head home. However, he is fully ready for us to come get him "tomorrow!"

Also, there is the problem of $$ for gas for the trip to get him. My friends's wheelchair van is a large consumer, so it will cost about $150 for the gas. God has provided that as well. I expect them to go Friday afternoon and come back either Saturday or Sunday. Please keep praying, as she'll be taking my children to help B pack up his stuff and load it. The little ones will go to keep B company while he drives in his car. J will be the muscles to help my friend with the packing and keep her company on the ride home!

Thanks again for praying!!

Blessings,
Sharron

Update on B and hubby 4-24

Hi there,

I realized it has been several days since I've done an update on my friends's nephew, B. Remember, the essence of his disability is that he's extremely easily swayed by "whomever is in his face!"

Well, he told his dad that he's moving here to get a fresh start, and his dad started "playing the martyr" and got B very upset. He was telling him things like "oh if you leave, I'll just die" and blubbering and crying and getting his cronies to do the same. Then told him more lies about his aunts. Very manipulative :(

B was so upset when he called us last evening. But we reminded him WWJD -- I actually had him write it on his wrist so that he could look at it when he's being verbally accosted!! We prayed with him a couple of times, and had him work this thing through in his own mind with us just using guiding questions. We discussed what it would be like for him if he stays where he is vs. coming to live here. We pointed out that Jesus said that he will reward those who leave friends, home and family for his sake will be rewarded 10 fold. In reality, that is what he would be doing.

He was much more at peace when we finished talking and praying with him. We intend to go get him very soon, but I wanted to know what his feeling was. I asked him, "B, when would you like to leave there and come here?" I told him to answer as if this were a perfect world and there were no obligations, etc. I wanted to know his heart... He said, "Tomorrow!" Please continue to pray for him to be stong. It just breaks my heart that so many people who "love him" are just using him and manipulating him for their own ends...

Next topic:
I think I mentioned that hubby's hernia has popped through AGAIN! This will be the 3rd time this one has been repaired. He saw a surgeon yesterday and surgery is scheduled for May 11. Guess he's going to have to have a pretty large incision this time...

Also, my eldest goes for her first orthodontics appointment today. Praise God we have the $$ for it! Please pray for our finances, though, as we've used all the rest of our savings on my medical bills and related expenses. I haven't even started PT yet and that is going to be pretty expensive plus D's surgery. Our current expenses exceed our current income by around $1500 a month. Even if I "could" work, I've been forbidden by my doc and also was denied by social security. Trusting the Lord for an answer!

Blessings,
Sharron

Had an opportunity to speak with my friend's nephew...

I was able to speak with B a couple of times yesterday over the phone. The 2nd conversation we had quite a bit of time together (about an hour?) and I was able to share with him about the Armor of God (Eph. 6:9-18) and how important I've found it to be to actively put it on DAILY! We went through the scripture line by line and discussed it thoroughly, then we had a really good prayer time together. He shared with me that he'd been told by a pastor when he was in Bible College (I didn't know he'd been!) that he was called to Youth Ministry. Then he remarked that the calling was probably gone. Then I was able to share with him Romans 11:29. I like how the message puts it:

"God's gifts and God's call are under full warranty—never canceled, never rescinded."

He said, "but we can walk away from God and negate that call." I then asked him what would happen when we come back to God in light of that scripture. "The call would come back!"

I really feel like, if nothing else, B is going to be more detrermined to live his life for Jesus, not just for a paycheck. I did share with him about my father. He was called into ministry, but never fulfilled that calling. He was a nice guy, had friends and lived paycheck to paycheck his whole life. He didn't ever get serious about Jesus until 2 weeks before he passed on. I told B that I didn't want that for him, to which he agreed.

I, also, shared with him, just before we hung up, that whether or not we are serving Jesus, God is going to use us. At that point he got this "oh maybe I can get out of this!" attitude in his voice because he hadn't properly heard how I'd finished my sentence... I had said, "Yea, he can use you like he did Peter or like he did Judas!" When he caught what I said, he said, "Oh, I want to be used like Peter or John, not like Judas Iscariot!!" And we talked about it just a bit to make sure it went past his short term memory (his primary disability is short-term memory loss.)

Please keep praying. We are going to try to get him to come do a job search here -- I think my friend is going to talk to him about it today.

Blessings,
Sharron

Having a rough day -- forgot to put on my armor!!

This has been an extremely rough day! Woke up not feeling well, had a snack mid-morning and ended up with an allergic reaction to part of it = MIGRAINE!! Grumpy with the kids, lost a special jewelry-making job I was really excited about completing...

Then I realized -- I hadn't put on my Armor of God this morning! Du-uh!!!

I did that (twice!) and I feel a little better... still very, very beat up. Hoping a nap will help my head and that the person with the jewelry order will re-consider.

Father God, we are in need of a miracle!!

Blessings,
Sharron