One of God's Blessings in my Life

Over the summer, God introduced me to some incredible women who have truly enriched my life.  Today, I want to introduce one of them to you.

This is Melanie.  We served God together in Jamaica, along with 69 other people on our team.  Prior to our trip, we did not know each other.  And actually, it was Melanie's 2 teenage children who signed up to go on the trip - NOT Melanie.  But God had other plans!

When Melanie's teenagers began raising money to go to Jamaica, immediately God blessed them with more than they needed.  So Melanie called Stephanie, our faithful trip leader, and asked her what to do with the extra.  Stephanie wisely told her that God was providing an abundance so SHE could go to Jamaica too! 

Melanie had a ton of reasons why she could not go, and she wrestled with her decision until it was nearly time to board the plane.  Thankfully, Melanie chose to obey God.  She stepped waaaaaay out of her comfort zone and right into the center of God's will.

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:20-21

I had the privilege of leading a ladies' Bible study with her at the "Big Church" a.k.a. Mt. Nebo in Jamaica.  The more we shared our lives with the Jamaican ladies, the more we realized how much we had in common with each other.  Time after time, I was taken aback by the similarities and parallels of our lives. 

For example, we went to the same college only a year or so apart and both majored in Criminal Justice!!!  God used Jonah in the Bible to change the course of both of our lives!!!  She knew my husband, and her husband knew some of my family.  Just to name a few.  It was so wild!

Interestingly, we look a lot alike too!  Melanie's daughter Sara even thought I was her mom on several occasions. 

One day, Melanie was showing me pictures on her camera and when I saw one of them I thought to myself, "I don't remember wearing that shirt in Jamaica."  Well, I didn't remember because it wasn't me, it was Melanie!  I too got us confused!

The more time we spent together, the more we realized how much we had in common.  GOD IS SO GOOD!   

I am so very thankful for my new friend Melanie!  I am also grateful that we live in the same county and can continue to build our friendship!  What an AMAZING GOD we serve!

"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." Proverbs 27:17

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,
Nancy   

Guess where we went this past weekend...

No, it wasn't Africa.

But Faith Wrenn and I did go to Africa last night.

GHANA to be exact. 

We went to VBS at my mom's church, and their theme is missions.  It is based on 1 John 3:18 which says,

"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue
but with actions and in truth."

I tried not to get too emotional, especially when we were learning about the missionary David Livingstone who served in Africa.  The gentleman who was sharing the story ended by saying, "God may be calling some of you in this room to go be missionaries in Africa" and he looked right at me!

More confirmation! 

Okay, back to guessing where we spent our weekend.

I'll give you a hint.  It was somewhere in NC.

But it was not at the same place in NC where I took this tree picture today.

Nope.  This morning, I had a follow up appointment with my surgeon at the Cancer Center in Uptown Charlotte. This picture of RAINBOW colored TREES was in my examination room. It was just a routine appointment that turned into another divine appointment.

When I was checking out, the sweet lady helping me had a prayer calendar taped to her wall.  I asked her what was the prayer request for today.  She said, "COURAGE - Lord, may I always be strong and courageous in my character and my actions.  Deuteronomy 31:6."
("Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”   Deut. 31:6).

WOW!

Then, I looked up and saw a lady checking in.  She was wiping tears from her eyes, trying not to lose it completely.  The Holy Spirit prompted me to go to her once I was finished checking out.  

God didn't waste any time answering that prayer for COURAGE, did He??!!!  He granted me the opportunity to be courageous right away when He prompted me to approach a stranger in need.

Also, the sweet lady who was taking care of my paperwork gave me a copy of her prayer calendar!  This is another answered prayer because I'm going on a mission trip next week to Costa Rica, and I wanted to post a specific prayer request each day on this blog.  God made it easy for me!  He handed me a prayer calendar - a simple one with Scripture!

After I checked out, I went back into the waiting room and approached the crying lady.  I told her I didn't know what was happening in her life, but I felt like God wanted me to give her a hug.  She gladly accepted my offer.

We talked awhile and she shared her story with me.  She said she was ready to quit smoking today.  She had been smoking for about 30 years.  Four years ago, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and she had actually stopped smoking for 2 years.  She has been cancer free for a while but she started smoking again.  Her doctor is not happy and has been asking her at her checkups if she is ready to quit.  Every time she has told him no, she was not ready.  Then she failed to keep her last 2 appointments.

But, today was different.  She was ready to quit smoking and follow through with her doctor's appointment.  And it was time for her to have a CT scan to see if her lungs are still cancer free.  I'm sure this is what had her so emotional. Talk about being COURAGEOUS!

I was able to encourage her and then she allowed me to pray over her.  What a precious, tender time! God is so amazing! 

Okay, okay.  Back on track here. I'll give you one more hint. And this should give it away.

Yes, you guessed it....we went camping in NC with some friends. Every time we I go camping, it rains.  Even during a drought.  Guaranteed.

Here we are with our friends Lee & Angie and their children Daniel & Matthew and dog Rainey.  We have known them for over 15 years.  Angie was Tanner's 2 year old teacher at our church daycare back in Chapin.  We love them so much!  They are very dear to us.

The food was better than a 5 star restaurant....

Fresh garden veggies cooked to perfection and then...

made into a delicious breakfast casserole.  YUMMY!

Faith is eating tenderloin wrapped in bacon.  She couldn't get enough!

For dessert, we had homemade ice cream!

Here's Matthew, Tanner, Daniel & Faith enjoying their Oreo ice cream.

And check out the monster marshmellows!  They were a breakfast appetizer!

We don't eat this good at home!  Now, I'm afraid my family is going to start expecting this kind of food all the time.  Lee and Angie go all out. They spoil us!

Here is my knight in shining armor giving me a ride back from the pool.

Here is Daniel with his blinking Rudolph nose he found at Goodwill.  We did the "Goodwill tour" (went to a few of them) in search of great deals.  I found some "missionary clothes." And I met some ladies looking for missionary clothes too.  Another lady shared her desire to join her son and his wife on their next trip to Haiti or the Dominican Republic.  God had me encourage her to GO! Start making plans now!  Go home and tell your husband! Start taking the necessary steps to make it happen. 

At night, we sing. 

Here is Angie by the campfire with her song book

leading us in a time of praise and worship.

Here's Lee playing the songs on his guitar.

Once the singing was done, everyone went to bed - except me & Angie.  We had not seen each other since April 2010.  We had some catching up to do. 

And it took us until 5:15 AM to do it! 

We had such a good time with our dear friends.  We plan to do it again in October.  I've already put my raincoat in the camper :)

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,

Nancy

This picture just makes me smile

This was the leadership team for our church Women's Retreat last September.  God worked in us and through us (and sometimes we thought He might kill us!  LOL!  Not literally. Just our pride, our expectations, and our plans!) 

But the spiritual fruit produced from that retreat has been way beyond anything we could have ever imagined!  GOD IS SO AMAZING!

God said... 

⁸ “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways My ways,”
            declares the LORD.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are My ways higher than your ways
   and My thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
   come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
   without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
   so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
¹¹ so is My word that goes out from My mouth:
   It will not return to Me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
   and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
¹² You will go out in joy
   and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
   will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
   will clap their hands.
¹³ Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
   and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’s renown,
   for an everlasting sign,
   which will not be destroyed.”

Isaiah 55:8-13 

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,
Nancy

IN GOD SHE TRUSTS

Completely.

To Meet All Of Her Needs.

Unconditionally.

To Fight For Her.

Solely. 

To Give Her Strength.

Wholeheartedly.

To Fulfill All Of His Promises. 

"Trust in the LORD forever,
   for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal."

Isaiah 26:4

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,

Nancy

WALKING WITH GOD

even when she would rather be RUNNING with Him!  Knowing that His timing is perfect. Waiting.  Anticipating.  Growing.  Walking.  One step at a time.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet
   and a light for my path."  Psalm 119:105

"Wait for the LORD;  be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."  Psalm 27:14 

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,
Nancy

COURAGEOUS

A forgiven and redeemed child of God sharing her personal story out of love and obedience to her Heavenly Father.  For His Kingdom.  For the sake of another.  For His Glory.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”   Joshua 1:9

If you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then you too have a story to share.  Someone needs to hear it.  Be courageous enough to share it.

If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, give Him your heart today.  How?  Simply tell Him you are a sinner and you need Him.  He will forgive you.  He will restore you.  He will give you hope.  Then let me know & we can talk about how to grow in your relationship with Him.

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,

Nancy

Friends

When I think of being the hands and feet of Jesus, I think of my friends.  And going through breast cancer just confirmed it.  They took such good care of me and my family!

Here is my friend Sheri aka "Meals on Wheels"!  She brought us a delicious dinner last week and dashed out the door to deliver a few more to other people God had put on her heart.  She is also the one who felt led to have people bring us meals through the end of March while the effects of radiation lingered after my treatments were completed.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR OBEDIENCE SHERI!  THANK YOU FOR THE FABULOUS DINNER (my family & I gobbled it down in record time!)  THANK YOU FOR BEING MY FRIEND!

Oh yeah, on her dash out the door, Sheri scoped out the blank wall above my love seat. 

On Friday night she tells me she has a plan for my wall!!!  How exciting! I've been looking at that blank wall for a year and 9 months now - without a plan.  But, Sheri has a plan!!!  God did not put us here to do life alone!  We need each other.  In more ways than one!

Here is Marijo with her radiant smile.  She brought dinner on Tuesday - pizza that I had been craving.  THANK YOU MARIJO!!!  She and I met at the fall women's retreat our church had last September.  We are also in MOPS together, and God has given us some other opportunities to get to know each other better as well.  God is doing some big things in her life right now through some very difficult circumstances.  KEEP TRUSTING IN THE LORD MARIJO!  He WILL see you through.  He loves you more than you can imagine!

I have mentioned before that I wanted Scripture on my walls, and that my husband bought me a Cricut machine when it was 60% off for my birthday.  Well, I finally figured out how to use the thing!  I made all of the letters but knew I could not put them on the wall by myself.  So, God sent my friend Cindy over to help me!  She has a very keen eye for detail and spacing (she bakes & decorates cakes, cookies, cupcakes & other yummy desserts. Check out her blog here.)   And in no time, look at this.....

(The slant in this picture is due to the picture angle, not the position of the words!)

FABULOUS!!!  THANK YOU CINDY!!!  She made it look so easy too. 

Then, this past weekend a few of us were able to go to the Priscilla Shirer simulcast at my mom's church.  (FYI - Beth Moore's simulcast on Sept. 10 will also be held at the same church for FREE!!!  Click on WOW upcoming events to register on the church's website.)

God spoke loud and clear through Priscilla too.  There is one thing she said that keeps replaying over and over in my mind..... "God does not speak to be heard. He speaks to be obeyed!" 

Preach it, Sista!  That is what I'm talking about! 

God wants us to OBEY.  ACT.  DO SOMETHING. 

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do."   James 1:22-25

Did you see that??!!!  Obedience leads to blessing!

"Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."  James 2:15-17 

Enough said.

What are you waiting for? 

GO DO SOMETHING.

DO WHAT GOD HAS BEEN TELLING YOU TO DO! 

Stop wasting time.  Go.  Be obedient.

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,
Nancy

 

Starting to feel "normal" again

A tall tell sign that I'm getting back to "normal" is being wide awake and blogging at 1:12  2:52 a.m.!  Although my old sleep habits of not getting much sleep appear to be returning, my motivation is not.  I'm praying this is just part of the recovery process. 

I am trying to do some spring cleaning/finally putting pictures on the wall projects this weekend though.  Right now, I just have a mess!  But maybe once these projects are done, my motivation will be jump started.

I am still blown away by your generousity and continuous outreach to me and my family.  I want to share some of the blessings we received this week.

"Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God."  Philippians 1:3 (NLT)

On Monday, Lisa & her beautiful smile brought over dinner.  YUMMY!  THANK YOU LISA!!!

 *A picture of progress for a recovering perfectionist.....

Prior to Lisa coming over, I was tired and did not have the energy to clean.  So, I gave myself permission to leave the dirty dishes in the sink!  FREEDOM! 

On Tuesday, Cara from MOPS/church and her children graciously brought us a DELICIOUS dinner.  THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!

On Thursday, Angela S. delivered a SCRUMPTIOUS baked ziti that was so good.  THANK YOU ANGELA!!! 

Then at MOPS on Friday, Angela P. brought this WONDERFUL meal!  THANK YOU ANGELA!!!  The schools were selling doughnuts Friday morning in the carpool line to raise money for middle school sports.  Faith Wrenn begged me for a box, but I did not buy one.  She was sooo excited to come home and find a box from her buddy Mrs. Angela! 

I have some exciting news to share next week! GOD NEWS!  He is so amazing!  So stay tuned...

"Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done."  1 Chronicles 16:8

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,
Nancy

Weekly Blessings

"...once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act."
~ Proverbs 24:12

************************************

The blessings just keep coming.....

Last Friday, my dear friend Stephanie and her beautiful daughter brought us a delicious feast for dinner!  THANK YOU SO MUCH STEPHANIE!!!

Also on Friday, I got a call from Laura K., one of the moms at my MOPS table.  She wanted to bring us a meal too.  So on Saturday, she stopped by and brought us a pasta dish and all the ingredients to crockpot another meal!  WOW!  We will be having the crockpot dish tonight!  THANK YOU SO MUCH LAURA!!!

On Sunday, my husband came out of Sunday School with a plate of yummy muffins from Robin W.!  I've been eating them for breakfast all week.  I just ate the last one this morning.  THANK YOU SO MUCH ROBIN!!!

Also on Sunday, my friend Mendy gave me a special picture from her very special daughter.  THANK YOU MENDY!!!

On Tuesday, Angela P. brought us Chinese food & some delicious cupcakes she baked.  She made sure to get us lots of food so we could have leftovers.  Her plan worked too.  THANK YOU SO MUCH ANGELA!!!

On Thursday, Connie from Sunday School brought us a huge salad & fabulous spaghetti.  THANK YOU SO MUCH CONNIE!!!

Also this week, I received a special gift from my friend Julie in Georgia. THANK YOU JULIE!!!

And I got to have some "PJs and coffee" time with my friends Laura P. and Nancy B. 

God used my cancer and Laura's cancer to introduce us and make us all friends!  ONLY GOD!!!  HE IS AMAZING!!! 

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways My ways,”
            declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are My ways higher than your ways
   and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9

Then Stephanie treated me and my husband to the play "Smoke on the Mountain" at the community theather.  Her daughter Kailee along with 2 other people from our church starred in it.  It was really good and very funny.  THANK YOU STEPHANIE!!!

Please know that my family and I are SO GRATEFUL for each and every one of you.  Your acts of kindness and your prayers are PRICELESS!  We Love You!

We also celebrated my daughter's birthday all week!  Faith turned the BIG 1-0!  Once you hit double digits, there is no turning back!

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,
Nancy