I am with you, I am with you, I am with you...

"Will you call me when you have a minute? I have something I need to talk with you about. God has put you on my heart so strongly lately. Can we make a phone date tomorrow night at 8pm?"

There's a girl. With a baby.
They need a home.
She's a good girl. Wants to finish school, go to college, provide for her child.
I mentor her.
God put you on my heart.

There is no room at the inn right now.
I want to help. It must not be me. We will pray.

"Lord, find a home. A godly woman, to love on this woman-child
and her baby.."

"Do you live in Holland? I used to date a woman that lives in Holland. She used to be a golf pro, now she has started a ministry."

Lord, You are here. We were talking about trick or treaters? This supplier, who stops in randomly to check inventory. On his way out, just making conversation.... 

"She isn't home very often. She is considering a room mate for the basement of her home. We're not dating any longer. She travels a lot."

Lord, You are here. I can think only of her. I have no idea why he is telling me all of this because he doesn't know our prayer, this woman-child's need for a home. My heart is pounding. There are God moments and there is God Present. You are here, in this moment. 

"I have a friend. She mentors a young girl with a baby. They need a home. They need a home in Holland. They need a godly woman to love on them. It's not me. We've been praying, and now, on your way out the door, leaving your work day, you tell me about a woman you stopped dating a couple weeks ago in the middle of a conversation about trick or treaters last night." God is here. "I am with you..."

"Can I call her? What is her name?"

"I will call her. You pray."

Yes, we will pray. "Have a good weekend. Let me know if we can contact her."
"I will. You pray."

Lord Jesus, You are with me. In this moment. This is not head knowledge. My heart is aching. Ready to burst wide open. Lord, hear our prayer. Provide. Love. And a home, for a young girl chasing after You.  

Psalm 37:3-5 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

Kiss the Rain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so6ExplQlaY

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the gift of beautiful music. This must be just a glimpse of
what we will hear when we see you face to face.

Vintage Lace

 

I absolutely love vintage white lace...The fresh,clean, white cotton, and lacey patterns draw me to it everytime.  As, I was ironing this beautiful oval tablecloth, preparing it to sell at Cozy Cottage Blessings, I would notice every once a while, a tiny stain where someone had accidentally dropped something .

 

Oh well, I thought, I love it anyway.

I overlooked it, of course, because compared to the graceful, elegant fabric, the stains were practically invisible, especially if you chose not to see them. It caused me to think about how Jesus sees me because of the Cross.  Sparkling clean and white, free of stains and wrinkles. Beautiful. 

 

It took a long time, a lot of hard work and patience to iron out all of those wrinkles, especially in the lace, and, no matter how many times I went over it, as I moved it along on the ironing board to the next section, the wrinkles would very subtly show themselves, and the tiny stains had not come clean either.

 

God has been working on me a long time. And sometimes the iron has been so hot...but, He just keeps gently pressing and looking the other way. He's like that, you know. It doesn't matter the size of my stains or the depth of my wrinkles, He just sees me as He sees His Son, through the eyes of grace.

 

Beautiful.

 

 

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 2Cor. 4:8-11 

"I think I'll take this painting class!"

Just a word of advice, (even though it turned out to be one of the most memorable times ever!) you may want to investigate a little before registering and paying for something, for example,like where, exactly, the place is located? When it says "North Michigan", that doesn't necessarily mean Traverse City, somewhere south of the bridge... it might actually mean, "almost to Copper Harbor"!

You see on the left of the "finger" shaped part, where it says, McLain State Park. Now, look in the middle of the "finger", that's Lake Linden. McLain is the park where I camped, and the painting class was in the town of Lake Linden, just a few hours from home! lol

So, if you're wondering what sort of painting class could possibly be worth taking a vacation for, check out Heather Anderson's blog, www.postroadvintage.com  and you will get a glimpse of just how worth it it was to go a few miles out of the way! Below are a few pics of the painting class at Heather's last Saturday! I had an amazing time with her and her family and friends! Hoping to make it again next summer!

     The shelf and coat rack was a project we all made and learned the different techniques and types of paint for repurposing small projects and/or furniture. There was also a pile of scrap barn wood for everyone to get creative with, and we were encouraged to bring our own pieces as well. Which, of course, I have a few of!

             

The window is one of the pieces that I brought along. It is the protype of a new ministry I am starting in hopes of raising the funds needed for a child to have a second chance, and to have her life restored, at Abba's House www.abbashousetc.com.

Abba’s House is a center of mercy and refuge, a safe place for young adults and families to be healed and restored.

My trip to Ghana a few years ago, opened my eyes to the reality of child sex traffiking under the guise of a religious curse. But, here in the United States, and even right here in West Michigan, it is not about a cultural religious belief, it's about horrific abuse and broken families.  After learning about Abba's House, and the impact the Lord is having in the lives of these traumaticly troubled young girls and boys, God put on my heart the idea of  "Windows of Hope". (more to come in my next blog)

There may have been a few garage sales along the way!!

Manistique Lighthouse

 

If you are receiving this in your email and you want to see the pics on the blog, you can go to www.everywhereGrace263.blogspot.com

Thanks for following!

  





http://youtu.be/jesMvq6TPbg

Thank you, Jesus.

By your wounds we are healed.

Mighty is the Power of the Cross.

We love You.

Breaking Free...A Story of Hope and His Unfailing Love

"God's Guest List" is a previous blog that I wrote about 8 weeks ago that talks about how He put on my heart to invite women into my home for a Bible study/support group. It goes on to talk about how He brought these precious women, strangers to each other, and to me, at the time.

After eight weeks of study, fellowship, life-sharing, mess-exposing, unconditional love between strangers, now sisters in Christ for life, lives are being changed. Broken hearts are being healed and faith is growing.

God is literally breaking the rock-like hardness covering our hearts and growing us, like a beautiful garden.

Breaking free...like the impossible growth of a seedling through concrete.

Here is one story, one miracle, that came to me in a phone call not an hour ago. I want to share it with you so that God may receive ALL the Glory, and all who read this will catch a glimpse of His amazing Grace, how He turns ashes to beauty, when we open our hearts to receive Him, and are obedient to his call.

Her name is Mary. We did not know her. She knew only one of us. Mary suffers from a chronic disease that would not enable her to attend our Bible studies due to the long distance drive. We decided we would figure out a way to Skype her in. Her Kindle couldn't handle it.

 Her son changed her internet service so she would have a stronger feed on her computer. Still nothing. One night, she was able to hear us, but not see us.

We kept her up to date by hand delivering the videos we were watching, and she diligently did her studies and followed along with our email threads to one another during the weeks in between.

Unknown to us, as Mary shared with me tonight, she had been talking about our study with two of her other friends. Telling them about how the Lord was really working in her heart, softening her with His gentle Spirit, and lifting her up through this study and spending time in His Word. She was craving it, and praying to Him, and talking out loud to Him in her garden. A place she had not been in very long time, and never like this she told me! And she realized that the flowers in her beautiful garden were not the only things growing.

Mary's faith is growing! Praise God! She is being healed. Healed deeply, by the Holy Spirit! Her faith is alive! She is noticing people at the Farmer's Market where she sells her flowers and wants to share with them what God is doing in her life, instead of just exchanging money for flowers she giving Hope!

And one day, she explained to me, when she was in her garden with one of the friends she had been talking to about the change in her heart, Mary told me, "we were talking and I was telling her how Jesus was changing me and what a miracle it was that He brought this Breaking Free study into my life by someone I didn't even know, and Laurie, we knelt down, right there in those beautiful flowers and praised God in prayer."


I thank You, Jesus. Thank You for your goodness to us. I thank you for Mary and for your unfailing love and unbelievable grace you've shown her. Thank You, for reaching out to us when we can barely look up to see You reaching down. For grabbing hold of us and never letting go. You are our Great Redeemer, and forever we praise Your Holy Name. Amen 

MercyMe - The Hurt & The Healer with Lyrics