How Did She Know?

I have LOTS of stories to share about this JOURNEY that I'm on.  There are LOTS of people who are part of it.  This blog is one of those stories.  I don't know how many I'll get a chance to share or how many you'll want to read, but I hope whichever ones you read, they will touch your heart or make you laugh or make you cry (in a good way).  So here goes...this story has a couple of parts.

About four years ago, I decided to fast and pray about selling a store we owned.  I believe when we fast, whether it be denying yourself food or TV or Facebook or chocolate (oh my), we are telling God that we are putting Him first, and we want to hear from Him.  I believe we were made to hear from Him all the time, but our physical stuff gets in the way. 

So....I decided to fast from food this time.  It was a fast that was seven days long....first three days were fruit & veggies, second three days were just juice, and I would usually eat after church on Sunday just in case God wanted to say something to me at the service.  I wanted to hear everything He had to say.

I have a witness (Saige) to this story, by the way.  The first day of the fast, we were driving to school, and in the sky was a big cloud, but in the cloud was a darker cloud shaped like the letter "L".  The second day, I saw two "A"s in the sky.  The third day, Saige had a doctor's appointment, and the ceiling of the doctor's office had a sky painted on it.  Saige said, "Look, mom, there's an "S".  On the way home from the doctor's office, there was not a cloud in the sky EXCEPT a big, huge "W"  that looked like a big sugar cookie.  We were cracking up.  The next day, my friend, Loretta, (we pray and fast together) was on the phone with me, and this guy walked by her with a big "Y" on his shirt....CRAZY! 

As I was driving home from work, I was thinking about all the letters....L, A, A, S, W, Y...God had spelled ALWAYS in the sky!  I went home and looked up ALWAYS in the back of my bible and saw the scripture from Luke 18:1 - "Always pray and never give up."  That was crazy and amazing.  So that's what I was going to do about the store...always pray (that it would sell) and never give up. 

The store sold in a miraculous way.  As I was driving there one day, the guy that was buying it called me.  I said, "Oh, Ken, I was just praying for you."  He said, "You were?"  I  said "yes," and he said, "Well, you know the bible says to ALWAYS PRAY AND NEVER GIVE UP."  I said, "Yes, I know!" and told him the story I just told you.  God is so crazy amazing!

I have ALWAYS held on to that scripture!  I even got it tattooed on my arm a couple of weeks ago.  (the other arm is Saige's.  Her story is God gave her the word BELIEVE to believe she could be healed from nerve damage that was a result of her being paralyzed from the neck down when she was ten from a syndrome called Guillian-Barre syndrome.

 

I tell you that story because this past Valentine's Day, my friend, Catherine (hi) gave me a note.  She doesn't really know me, and she doesn't know the story I just told you, and I don't think she knew about my JOURNEY that I was going to go on, but she said God told her to write this note to me.  So even though my friend, Catherine, wrote it, I know it came from God.  She doesn't know everything about me, but God does!  Here's the note:

 

Dearest Lory,

I see you in a fearless faith.  You have walked with God for many years and though the JOURNEY has been hard at times, you DON'T GIVE UP because you know He would NEVER GIVE UP on you!  I watched Saige's video (see below) and her faith is growing because you have been her example.  You are God's chosen child who would jump off a cliff if He asked you to because you know He's waiting to catch you with open arms! Wherever you go, you find opportunities to share Christ in loving, tangible ways.  You are a perfect example of running with abandon and you delight God because of it!

 

Well, I just stood in my kitchen crying when I read that.  Catherine doesn't really know me, so How Did She Know?  God told her!  That's why when people say, "You're driving an RV across the country?" (like they think I'm crazy)  I say, YES because I know God will catch me with open arms, if I need Him to, and I want to share Christ in loving, tangible ways....whatever that looks like.

Welcome to my JOURNEY.  So glad you decided to come along!

 

The doctors said Saige would never run because of nerve damage in her feet. Through prayer and God's healing, this is Saige proving the doctors wrong.