Belly Laugh

 
You know the kind I'm talking about....when a kid just laughs from deep down and it just seems to come up from their belly!  It's one of the most beautiful sounds ever!

Well I was at the Doctor's office the other day, and this Adorable little girl came into the waiting room.  She was literally all over the place, full of energy and volume. :)  She had this beautiful infectious laugh though that kept her from being bothersome, although she was so high energy.  As I listened to her, I had the thought...Wow, I wonder when we lose the ability to just laugh like that...at anything and everything.  I smile and chuckle occasionally but it takes a lot, more than it should, to really make me laugh (God's working on that with me)  To hear this little girl's laughter was so lovely.  It just made me smile. I imagined asking this question to many people, about when we lose the ability to just laugh at the simple, and simply find such joy in the little things of life...and I could hear many say, "Just wait until she experiences life...it won't take long, life is tough, and a few rough things and she won't be quite so quick to laugh and have so much joy.  Right now all is right in her world, and it's the laughter of innocence.  Life has a way of taking that away from you...."  I might have been inclined to believe this theory....might have.

The little girl found a little white feather that had come out of one of the pillows on the couch in the waiting room.  She was touching the face of the lady she was with, repeatedly.  Each time the little girl touched the woman's face, the woman would draw back quickly in an over exaggerated sort of way, and the little girl would belly laugh, like it was the first time every time.  I could not help but comment aloud, "Isn't that one of the most beautiful sounds in the world?!"  The woman smiled, I believe happy to know that the little girl wasn't causing aggravation or irritation.  

After a few minutes, the woman said to the little girl, "You better go ahead and eat your bagel."  At this the little girl just kept flitting about and said, "I'm saving it for Grandma."  She kept on playing, and the lady said, "No, it's o.k., you go ahead and eat it."  This made the little girl stop and look at the lady and say, "No.  Grandma was up all night long and the she said she thought she was gonna die she was so hungry, cause the doctors wouldn't let her eat.  Cause of the blood work you know.  She's hungry, so I'm saving it for her."  Well she could see that clearly the lady and I were impressed with her knowledge, and she just looked at us, and shrugged her shoulders and said matter-of-factly, "I'm smart."  At which I had to chuckle and say, "You sure are smart!"

I told the lady, "I think it's so sweet that she wants to save that for her Grandmother."  Then the little girl said, "There's one for Grandma and Grandpa."  So I replied, "You must really love your Grandma and Grandpa", and she said, "I do!  and I never want to leave!"  I wasn't quite sure how to respond, so I simply said, "Well good!  I think that's nice!"

At this point the lady was trying to mouth something to me that I couldn't understand...and then turned to the little girl, and said, "Why don't you tell her why you are living with your Grandma and Grandpa."  The little girl covered her face at this point and said, "No.  It will make Grandma cry."  The lady said, "It's o.k.  She's in the back, she won't hear you."  At this the little girl said, "Oh yes she will hear me and she will cry."  She said this like even if her Grandmother were on the other side of the world, and she spoke, that her Grandmother would still hear and cry.

At this point I thought I now understood what the lady had tried to mouth to me, so I spoke to the little girl and I said, "You know what?....My husband is in heaven."   Her head jerked up in surprise, and she so quickly responded in such a surprised tone, "That's where my mommy is!"   I said, "Really!?  Well maybe your mommy and my husband know each other.  What was your mommy's name?"  and she said, "Joe-Lynn."  I said, "Well my husband's name was John."  At this point the lady told me that the little girl's grandfather's name was John.  I looked at the little girl and I said, "Isn't that neat!  I bet they do know each other.  I bet Jesus said, Joe-Lynn, this is John.  John, I would like you to meet Joe-Lynn."  The little girl was just looking at me with such big eyes, so I said, "All I know is heaven is very beautiful and is a wonderful place."  and then.....the nurse called my name to come back.

Will this little girl ever know how much her laughter touched me?  Was her Grandma pleased to see the bagel?  I may never know.

As I was leaving the Dr's office, the last one to leave the place by the way, I told part of this story to the ladies in the office, and they too had been touched by this little girl.  They filled in a little more of her story.  They shared with me that this little girl had watched her mommy die.  Evidently her mother had also given her one last gift.  All I can imagine is this mother knew she was dying, possibly from cancer or some other issue.

So this little girl, just 5 years old, had already experienced this in her young life, and yet...still had her laughter and her joy!  What an example.  I pray that somehow a little part of her healed even more to imagine Jesus introducing her mom to people, and to just be able to share that her mom was in heaven, and to just say her mom's name again...Joe-Lynn.  She may never know how she blessed me.  I continue to be amazed at the beautiful divine appointments that God sets for us to see such beautiful examples of things he wants to teach us and blessings He wants us to offer others.  I'm so thankful to God for his tender care of this little girl, and the blessing of her beautiful laughter.  God is so good, and I am so thankful that he let me meet, Joe-Lynn's daughter!

Hey, Isn't this the wrong way?!

Have you ever been trying to get somewhere and you are not sure exactly how to get there, so you are going on the word of someone who said, "Oh yeah, go down 3 streets, take a right and then a left and you'll see it no problem". Only when he said go down 3 streets, he forgot to tell you that is was about 5 miles between each
street...and you start thinking, man this doesn't seem right, I thought it would be...... yeah. So many of us have been in this place.

Well for me, there are so many times that I'm trying to figure out where I'm going...in life. Sometimes, and I've said it many times, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to be when I grow up. Other times, I have some vague idea of direction but nothing super clear. Anyone else ever felt like this? Listen I'm not going to lie, I am

still struggling with clear direction on several things in my life. This, however, is what I am learning, and it became so real to me today.

Today, I needed to go somewhere that was north of here. Northwest a little, but basically north. Well, for whatever reason, I became very aware of the "direction" light on my dash that, of

course, changes whenever you go around a curve or bend in the road. Well, most of the time I was heading north, just like I thought I should be, but then something happened. The road had a slight bend in it and I was suddenly going NW...no problem really, but then there was another

slight curve, and suddenly I am heading West. No North anywhere in the picture...just West. I travel this road all the time, so I did know where I was going, but I started thinking...how many times do we have part of the information...maybe just that our destination is north. So if we ever deviate from going North, we feel we are somehow off track. What I'm finding is that sometimes even though it may feel and look like we are going in the wrong direction, it is exactly the road we need to be taking and the road that really does ultimately lead to our destination.

Let's put it this way....if I had only headed north...I would have ended up hitting trees, driving through fences, fields, probably into ponds, wrecking my car and never actually ending up at my destination. It took heading West for awhile to actually end up where I needed to in North.

Then another example came to mind....the one way streets in Old Towne. If I am headed south on one street and am asking for directions to a certain place, and someone

says, well actually it's just one street over and back just a little ways heading north. Sounds pretty close, but because of the one way street...I still have to continue south until I find a street going the right way, that will allow me to cut over to the north bound street and start heading north.

If I insisted on going North immediately, I would head straight into oncoming traffic. Not only would I cause complete havoc and confusion for others, I could possibly harm myself and others by doing this. Does heading in the wrong direction (south) seem like it is what will ultimately get me to my shop on north street? Heck no! But if I trust the road signs, and realize that sometimes what doesn't look like it makes any sense, is actually the safest most intelligent way to get where I need to go.

So tonight, I ask you this...Have you felt like some things happening in your life are the opposite of what you have been promised? Seems like they are going the wrong way? Maybe like me, you have been saying...Hey! This doesn't look right?! Well sometimes that's true...sometimes it's time for you to see if you've been going the wrong way and make some changes.

Sometimes it's time for you to stop allowing certain things to happen in your life. Speak God's word and change those things, and put a stop to some things.....and then other times...when you've done all you know to do, and all you can say is, God, I'm trusting you....then do exactly that...Trust Him...it may seem a round about way to get to where you are going, but I'm learning, that it's exactly the way that gets you there safely, and who knows who you'll meet along the way that you can offer direction to.

Destination North? Don't get discouraged when it seems you are heading West....

sometimes, it's just part of the journey...and really what we learn on the journey sometimes, is what actually prepares us for the destination! Hold on. If He said we'll get to our destination, then by God we will!

Buy The Shoes!!

Ok...those of you who have a problem and are addicted to shoe shopping...this is NOT for you! :)

I just have to share this story...especially for those of you, who like

me, are holding on to the promise of God as Provider of all that we need.

Let me start off by saying, I live and breathe by the concept of sowing and reaping. I believe that if what you have in your hand is not enough to meet your need, then what you have in your hand is probably your seed.

So I follow the principles in God's word for tithing and sowing and I do expect and believe that God will provide all of my needs.

Well one morning I was reading this devotional about a widow (so yes of course this peeked my interest) who became so convinced of the scripture that said that God would be the leader of the home and provider for the widow, that she began to talk with Him just as if He were her husband. She said, "God you know the plumbing around here needs a lot of work. Can you please take care of that for me?" She never had any more trouble with her plumbing from that moment on....why? She had meditated on God's word until it was just more than words on a page, it was truth that she knew as hers. She had a true revelation of His promises.

So here's where my personal story comes in....I needed a pair of shoes. Not wanted, needed. Really. I did not have extra money for shoes. I started thinking, you know if we needed

groceries, I'd go spend the money to get what we needed and would just know it would work out. So I made the decision...I said "Hey God. I need a pair of shoes and I know you are going to provide what I need to get a pair. Thanks!". Grace said, "Mom I need a pair too." I said "Grace, today is about meeting needs not wants. Is this a need or a want." and she said "Mom, a need. I

have no shoes that I can wear with a dress or dress pants." I said then let's go! God said he would provide all of our needs, so we are going to get shoes. This was going to need to be a pretty good miracle because I wear a 10 or so and she wears an 11 and I can't tell you how difficult those sizes are to find period, let alone reasonably priced.

We went into a store that I never think to go into because a friend has just reminded me of it recently. Long story short....Grace and I both found a pair of shoes, it was buy one get one half off...so two pair of shoes for $50. That was the first blessing! Here's the part of the story I really like....

The girl who had helped us, and was checking us out, had a partial tatoo showing and I noticed it had the word "fear". So I asked her what the tat was. She showed me, and it said

"Fear ends where Faith begins" It was almost like she was trying to apologize for it not making sense. She said, "I know most people don't understand", and I said, "Oh no, I understand perfectly!" And explained to her what it meant to me...especially me having fought fear and understanding, that faith and belief and the Word are powerful in fighting fear! You must Trust God more than you fear anything.

She then just began to keep talking and say, I need this every night, and I place my hand over

my heart and I keep repeating it, and it helps. I just need it. So I was able to share with her the TRUST acronym.... To Rest Unconcerned with Storms or Trials. TRUST God like never before and you will be able to sleep, to rest like never before, because truly when we allow our faith in His promises to end, that is where fear begins. When you step into faith on a thing, that where fear ends.

I wrote the acronym down for her and she was so thankful. I left with two nice pair of shoes, one for me, one for Grace, and who knows how much God will work in this other young ladies life. She just kept thanking us as we left, and then she said, "You have a blessed day!" and I smiled and said, "You too." All of this happened because God promised to provide everything I need, and I dared to believe Him.

If I had chosen to walk in fear, fear of not having enough for the electric, or insurance, or whatever, by taking out the money to pay for the shoes, Grace and I would have both missed

out on shoes that were nice and actually fit us, and we would have missed out on the blessing of the young lady at the shoe store, and she would have missed out on being

encouraged in her fight.

Fear tries to rob us of so much.....but God....He's the wonderful provider of all we need.

I've got so far to go in trusting Him more and waiting for that provision sometimes, but I must tell you, I know that I know that I know...that my God shall supply all of my needs according to His riches in glory...and that He will do the same for you!

Buy the shoes! He'll provide, and believe me, the shoes

will only be a small part of the blessing!

"If you need something from God, determine right now that you’re going to do what that widow did. Determine that you’re going to meditate the Word until you get a revelation like that. Keep that Word before you until you receive a revelation of Jesus as your healer or your deliverer or your financier – whatever you need Him to be.- Copeland, Faith to Faith"

USA = God's Country!

On 9/11/11 I decided to share with you a little devotional I recently read called God's Country. It's taken from a little book I love called "Faith to Faith" by the Copelands.

I really love this viewpoint and I hope on this day, you will like this as well.

"Right now you and I are standing face-to-face with situations in our nation that need to be changed. Some of those situations look totally impossible. But they're not. Because this country belongs to God.

He's the One Who brought the United States of America into existence. He had a special purpose for it. He needed a country where the gospel could be preached freely and not suppressed.

It was God Himself Who stirred the heart and mind of Christopher Columbus and planted within him the dream of charting a new course to the West. Columbus said so in his own journals.

He wrote: "It was the Lord Who put into my mind--I could feel His hand upon me--the fact that I could sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me. There's no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit because He comforted me with rays of marvelous inspiration from the Holy Scriptures."

Who brought Christopher Columbus to America? God brought him. This is God's nation. He raised it up, and it's not going to be taken away from Him.

The next time you're tempted to look at situations in this country as impossible, remember Who it belongs to. Then you can discover America just like Christopher Columbus did--by faith. "

Enough said....I'm so thankful to be in God's Country! Thankful for the freedoms that we have here, and I will not take them for granted!

Tail lights in the Storm

So, I was headed home from

work a couple weeks ago...right after the earthquake, right before the Hurricane...and came into one of THE worst storms I have ever been in. EVER.

Rain was literally coming sideways, the wind

was so strong, I had to grip the steering wheel with both hands...tightly. It was so bad, that I literally could not see anything...I could not even see to try and pull off the road.

I seriously thought I was in the middle of a tornado.

I could see only one thing...the tail lights in front of me. How in the world they were able to see how to continue, I still have no idea. I was praying hard, leaning up almost on the steering wheel trying to see....the car in front of me stopped fairly abruptly, so of course so did I.

I thought ok, well at least we'll wait this thing out

together, only that wind was so strong and the trees near us were looking like a serious problem...that's when I was able to see why they stopped. There

WAS a tree in the road in front of us. I think they too, must have discerned that this was not the place to stop, so they went around, and I wasn't about to lose the

only thing I could see, so of course I followed those tail lights. I just can't tell you how thankful I was for that person in front of me.

They may not have noticed that I am following them, but they are quite seriously leading me through this storm. God caused a wonderful song to come on for me at just the right time, and one of the lines said I will not fear the storm...and I said "Thank you God, I know you will bring me through this."...more trees down, stop lights out, and water that moved my car on the road, but I made it home safely....tense but safe.

I have no idea who the person was in front of me,

nor will they ever know how much they helped me through the storm.

It was this experience that helped me realize...how many times are we making our way through a storm in life...maybe we feel like we are making little or very slow progress, yet we've dodged

a few trees, we've stayed on the road, and we made it through the storm. What we may not know is how many others we actually helped lead through the storm. Our job is to just keep going and do our best...no matter how slow our progress, we just may have someone else behind us

that couldn't make it through if it were not for our tail lights.

Sometimes it could just be

our kids, seeing how we go through things, and sometimes, people are watching that you may never know.

So for those of you who are seeming to be in an unending storm, and you feel like you are making little or slow progress...keep your tail lights shining. Someone behind you is counting on you to help them through. You'll get through, and so will others, because you never gave up!