I have a confession. Sometimes, I have doubted the whole God thing. You know...a virgin..a birth in a manger...one man died to forever save us from our sins. It is such a simple concept that it can be hard to believe. Do I believe because it was how I was raised or do I believe because I believe? Well, let me tell you about 2016. There were some rough patches, but my goodness, there were some miracles, too!!
In June, I was rocking my grandson; a rare occasion since he is seven. He wanted me to tell him a bedtime story. I remembered the stories I had told my children when they were little. I told him a tale of Cody Cowboy, a little boy who lives on a ranch and has a pony named Baloney. He loved it. He said, “You should write a book, Mimi.” So I did. (Faith of a child)
It’s sold over 600 copies and there are 4 more to come in the series. God used me to help little children want to read. Through those books, a whole new door has opened, allowing me to speak to children and encourage them to follow their dreams. That’s all God right there.
In August, my sister’s husband felt bad on vacation. They came home and he went to the doctor. He was diagnosed with leukemia on August 26th and given maybe 10 days to live. We began to pray for him. If ever I needed to believe in God, it was then. Toby’s journey has been nothing short of a series of miracles. More than once, he has been “critical”. I would reach out to my network of praying friends, and we would pray for Toby. His fever would rage and storm. As soon as we began to lift him up, God would calm the storms. Through this journey, I thought that God was doing a great work in Toby, building his testimony. Ha…..God was working on me...my heart...my faith. He was also working on one of those friends, who had pretty much stopped trying to pray. Not only did God move Toby’s mountain, He moved a mountain for my friend’s husband.
He is there. HE is real.
A few weeks ago, a young mother of two small children was “actively dying” from a rare form of kidney cancer. Our community cried out to God and pleaded for a miracle for her. Last week, she and her husband enjoyed a beach retreat AND got news that her kidneys were functioning again. James 5:15 (prayers prayed in faith)
I spent a season asking God to fill my heart up with Him. Yesterday, I had a conversation with my best friend. She said, “Well, for your heart to be full of Him, you have to empty your heart of YOU.” Goodness. Wow. (I love my friends). Maybe I have been in my way the whole time.
God, thank You for restoring so much faith in my heart in 2016. Thank You for putting so many Godly women in my path who have shown me such strong and unwavering faith! Thank You for teaching me to “cry out to You” in both praise and in time of need. Thank YOU for moving this earthly me out of the way so a heavenly YOU could move in.
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