"...My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine..."

Today as I write this blog I truly cannot stop smiling! 

Throughout this entire process I have learned one massive lesson – I must stop trying to make this life my own; but rather fully rely, trust, and move forward in the plan He lies before me - trusting that He knows the desires of my heart and has built a plan in which those desires will be fulfilled during HIS time, His way…not my own.

Today, I cannot help but reflect upon two key verses:

Isaiah 55:8-9 – “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.  “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”

Psalm 37:4 – “Take delight in the L0rd, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

As I have stated before, I began my life career of teaching as something that I never questioned.  I knew from a young age that teaching was my life calling – it was without a doubt the career field that I was going to go into.  With that in mind, I can honestly say that although I felt like it was the path Father was calling me to go down, I never truly took time in prayer to sit and listen, seeking to make sure that this was in fact the plan that He had for my life (not just my own plan). 

As I began teaching, this dream career became very trying at times!  I practically let it consume my entire life – devoting little to no time in being in His word.  It was during this time, that I finally can say I turned to Dad – asking, praying, and listening with my whole heart for Him to show me what He wanted me to do….And to make a long story short, this is how I ended up where I am right now!  He showed me that my thoughts, and my plans for my life, were definitely not aligned with what He had planned.  He had a plan for my life that I never would have dared of doing a couple years ago – a plan in which I must pick up and leave everything and everyone I know behind…..A plan so far out of my comfort zone it is unbelievable.  But, it is a plan in which I am having to fully, 110%, rely on Him – which is what I should have been doing my entire life and was not. 

And, I can honestly tell you that although I am nervous, I have never been more excited and happier to take such a leap of faith! 

In this process, I went to the conference in October looking to work in Africa, in an orphanage……Much to my dismay, there were NO jobs to be found doing orphanage work AND I was not allowed to work in most parts of Africa due to medical restrictions.  Again, my selfish minded ways were definitely not what He had in mind for me!  I can honestly tell you that in this realization, I was a bit heart broken.  I just knew that I would always do work in Africa – and although one day He may send me there long term to do work – right now He has called me to Paris! 

The Father has called me to work in P, a place in which I never thought I would ever do this type of work in….But, at the same time, He has/does know every desire in my heart and He is continuously showing me that if I just follow His will for my life, not my own, He will make sure that His plan includes the desires that I have – these desires will just be fulfilled in His way, at His time, in the perfect moment. 

Yesterday, as Alli and I were heading to Elkin, I received an email that she read out loud to me.  It started out as, “I hate to be the bearer of bad news…”  As she read this I was eagerly anticipating what bad news was about to come.  As she continued to read, the email stated that I would have to be getting many shots while at training, because I would be traveling down to Africa for several meetings…. BAD NEWS?!  This was the BEST, bad news I had ever heard.  If only you could have seen my face!!  If you know me, you know I am a baby, and I despise getting shots…But, shots to go to Africa?!!  I’ll take them all!  I have never in my life been sooooo excited to get a zillion shots! 

All I could yesterday afternoon was smile and tell the good news to the people around me….But, I also couldn’t help but pr@ise Him!! 

He has truly flipped my life around this past year.  He is about to remove me from everything and everyone I know, yet I have never been more excited about it – because He continues to show me that His ways, His plan for my life is far better than anything I could imagine.  And, at the same time, He continues to show me that He knows every desire of my heart; if I am just willing to give full control over to Him, He will make sure that these desires are taken care of in His way, on His time. 

I have one week left at home before I head to training!  I will be at training for eight weeks!  I have never been away from my family for this long, so this will definitely be a big test.  I ask that you continue to pr@y for strength, wisdom, power, and knowledge as I head into this time.  This will be eight weeks filled of intense classes, the start of learning French, and many other things. 

BUT, I also ask that you continue to pr@y for my family here at home!  Dad knows the desires of my heart for my family; and, as a family, we pr@y to Dad, believing in the power of pr@yer and believing that He is the almighty physician. 

Yesterday, Ed finished up round two of chemo!  He did very well with round two, and it is obvious he receives special treatment around the office – they gave him red velvet cheesecake yesterday while he received treatment!! 

During this round, they upped his dosage from 80mg to 100mg – this is a good thing; in hoping that it will kill the cancer quicker!  In saying this, we expected maybe some sickness would occur; but so far, so good!  Eddie has done very well, and we could not be more thankful.

The third round will begin at the end of this month.  However, before the third round we will be going for retests – to see what progress has been made.  Although we know that chemo is the medicine used by man to kill this wicked disease; we also know that it is not the healer – He is!  We are fully reliant on the power of pr@yer and knowing that He hears our pr@yers and the desires of our hearts within each pr@yer. 

With that being said, we all have been reading the book “The Circle Maker.”  If you have never heard of this book or read this book before, I strongly suggest you get it!  Our pastor, Mitch Smith, gave Eddie this book; but, we have all been taking turns reading it. 

It has changed the way that we view pr@yer – and actually has changed the way that we pr@y to Him. 

In this time, we are circling Eddie in pr@yer with the ver$e Isaiah 41:10 – “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your G0d.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

We know that the Father has provided us the Book, filled with thousands of promises!  Thousands of promises are found within His Word – I can’t even wrap my head around this amount. 

This ver$e, 41:10, is just one of those promises.  So, as a family, we are circling Eddie in pr@yer; using this ver$e as our promise from Him.  This promise guides every pr@yer we pr@y for Eddie.  And, not only are we just pr@ying this verse, we are pr@ying with authority – going to the Father asking Him to perform a miracle, healing Eddie, like we KNOW He can do. 

With these checkup tests approaching us within the next couple of weeks, we are asking that you circle Eddie in pr@yer as well.  We ask that you join us, in standing firm, knowing that we serve a mighty $avior who hears our every pr@yer, holds every tear we cry, knows every single desire of our heart, and is most definitely a performer of miracles. 

Take this pr@yer, and pr@y with us daily.

We love and appreciate you all!