Homework Assignment: Buy Family Force 5's new CD!!!

Ok, here's your assignment...find your nearest music store and buy Family Force 5's new CD called Dance or Die. I'm serious...buy it now! Listen to every song and dance your heart out...I'll wait...

Ok, now don't you feel better? Good; so do I!

I confess that I have been in a severe state of depression since a certain day last week. I have been extremely troubled and terrified for our nation, and for our kids. I won't get into all that now, as I have another blog for that (just click on my computer profile to find it), but I have been struggling with how to move on in the midst of my sadness and fear.

Well, last night, I turned on my IPOD and listened to Family Force 5 for literally hours. For those of you who are not familiar with this band, they are a Christian rock/funk band (their music is actually hard to describe because it covers so many different genres) and they are the most fun band I've ever heard or seen. I saw them in concert recently and their energy blew me away! As I was listening to their music, I could not help but dance, and dance hard! I'm talking head-banging, throwing-bones-out-of-joint hard. I also cleaned half the house at the same time. They reminded me that life is good and God is awesome. And besides enjoying the respite from the darkness I was in, as I was dancing and worshipping God, a fight began to rise up within me. As Family Force 5 says (or shouts!) in their song "Radiator", "We are the chosen nation!!", and who am I to cower in fear? We are more than conquerers and the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church! Things are going to get very rough in this country over the next few years, but we must pray and take authority over the power of the enemy. Jesus said we are the salt of the earth...we are the preservative, or more precisely, the Holy Spirit in us, and we have the ability to hold back many of the plans set against our nation. So, let's join in prayer, worship our God, and see this country whole, restored, and blessed.

So, don't forget today to stir up the gifts that are in you, worship God from your heart, and trust Him to protect His Church during this time of upheavel.

AND don't forget to buy Family Force 5...especially if you are still young at heart. If not, your kids will love it!!

God is Faithful!

Over the last few years, I have had many dreams that have spoke to my heart and I feel were given to me by God. I would like to post one here just to demonstrate how very real and faithful our God is.

In the early fall of 2007, I had a short dream where I was standing outside a convenience store. There was a man dressed from head to toe in all black (a robber) and he looked at me and shot an arrow right at my ear. As I braced for the impact, I realized when the arrow hit, that it didn't hurt at all and actually made my ear to hear better.

At the time of this dream, I had no idea the significance of it. I tried to determine it's meaning, but really couldn't, although I was certain it was from God. Most of my dreams just fade away without me really giving them much thought, but this one really stuck with me and I knew I was supposed to pay attention to it. I always kept it at the back of my mind after that, waiting for the interpretation to be revealed.

A couple of months later, I had a phone call late in the night. It was someone who asked for me and asked if I was still involved in education. I lied and told him I didn't know what he was talking about and hung up. The reason I said that was because 4 years earlier, I had received a very bad, sexually harrassing phone call from a former student of mine and I was concerned that maybe this was the same person. The next morning after this phone call where he asked me if I was in education, I found out that it was merely a telemarketer, but I believe that this phone call was meant as a warning to me, just as the dream above was.

I say this because 6 days after that weird late night call, the sexually harrassing former student of mine called back again. This was 4 years after his first call. But, since I had just had this other call that had worried me, I almost expected it and was prepared for this one and I knew just how to handle it when it came. I immediately began preaching at him, that he needed Jesus and he needed to find a church and he needed to leave me alone!

Well, needless to say, for the next week, I was a basketcase for a while...living in fear and letting the devil win. Then, the Lord reminded me of that dream with the robber and the arrow. He told me that he had given me that dream to prepare me for what was to come. The man dressed in all black was a robber (the devil, who is a "theif") and the arrow shot at my ear represented an attack that was going to come to my ear (through the telephone), but that if I would allow it to, this attack would not hurt me, but would actually help me to hear better! So, this comforted me greatly and I began to study the scriptures and grow in my prayer life, asking for protection and safety, and spiritual growth, and ears to hear His voice with greater clarity. If this attack in my ear had to come, then I wanted to learn from it.

However, I still had some fear as the days went on and I still found myself looking over my shoulder everywhere I went. One night, as I laid in bed, dealing with my fear, I cried out, "God, I cannot handle this fear any longer. Can you somehow, in some way, sometime soon, show me that You aren't going to let this man ever hurt me or my family or even come near me or contact me again?" I needed the reassurance of my Father that everything would be alright. A few minutes later, I rolled over and began praying about another unrelated issue, and after a few minutes, I realized that I was singing a song in my head. There was no reason why this song would have popped into my head and I had not heard it in years. Here were the lyrics that I heard:

From the song, "I'll Be There" by the Jackson 5

I'll be there to comfort you,
Build my world of dreams around you,
I'm so glad that I found you
I'll be there with a love that's strong
I'll be your strength,
I'll keep holding on
Let me fill your heart with joy and laughter
Togetherness, well that's all I'm after
Whenever you need me,
I'll be there
I'll be there to protect you,
with an unselfish love that respects you
Just call my name and I'll be there

And you know what? After that, I never worried about it again. I changed my phone number and still pray about the situation from time to time, but never with any fear in my heart. I know my Father is protecting me with his angels and with His Holy Spirit. God is faithful and I am in good hands!

I'm Back After a Long Hiatus!

Wow! Has it been a long time since I have written here! Forgive me!

I have progressed much, spiritually, over the last couple of months. During this past election cycle, I have never prayed, fasted, interceded, or cried out to God so much in my life. My relationship with my Father has deepened tremendously and I learned how to incorporate a vibrant prayer life and worship time into my daily routine. I also learned how to stand in faith for something I could not see. Even though I did not get the results I was hoping for, I believe that the process itself of praying and believing and not giving up when faced with a mountain, provided me a valuable opportunity to exercise my faith muscle. In the past, whenever I stood in faith for a prayer request, I would usually give up when it seemed hopeless. I did not do that this time, and for that, I am thankful. If nothing else, I believe my faithful prayers pleased God and earned me some rewards in heaven.

Now, have I "arrived"? Absolutely not. What I, more often than not, found myself doing was neglecting my family or duties at home far too much in order to lock myself in my prayer closet and seek God's face. While my intentions were good, I should have been able to find a way to have a strong relationship with God and still fulfill my obligations at home. I am still struggling with this. I am often on one end of the spectrum or the other: either I am so heavenly-minded that I am no earthly good, or I am so earthly-minded that I am no heavenly good. So, I am going to have to find a way to balance my spiritual life and my home life. I would love to find a way to incorporate the two, but, unfortunately, my husband and I have not yet grown comfortable in praying or worshipping together. It seems that we would rather be more private when it comes to these things, which is a shame, really. In time, I hope that will change.

I'd love to hear any ideas on how to live a more balanced spiritual life. Tell me how you do it. Enlighten me!