God's Protection

I am praising God for the safety he has given many of my friends. Back "home" in North Carolina, they had a few tornadoes touch down in Kings Mountain, which is where the church I attend is located. They were having Vacation Bible School at the church, and God thankfully protected them. Torandoes touched down all around them, but none touched down by the church.

Unfortunately, one of the tornadoes touched down near the houses of several of the church members. There was just minor damage, such as windows being blown blown out and siding being blown offf. No one was home at the time in any of the houses, so thankfully no one was injured.

It is amazing to see how God protects those who trust in him.

Prayer Requests

Oh my! I have so many prayer requests to share. Several of them are prayer requests the friends have shared with me, and a couple of them are my own.

A friend from elementary school's dad had brain surgery yesterday. He had a brain tumor, and, although it was benign, it had to be removed immediately. He made it through the surgery fine, but please be in prayer for him as he recovers. His name is Mr. Loy (I don't know his first name).

A friend from college contacted me today. His mom, Margorie Engelheart, had a gallbladder attack yesterday and had to have her gallbladder removed in emergency surgery. His parents are missionaries in Africa, so please pray for her recovery.

My best friend from college, Laura, and I were talking yesterday, and she said that a man from her church is in need of a heart transplant. He's second on the list in the country, but the doctors aren't even sure he could make it through the surgery. I do not know his name, but please pray for him. He is saved, but Laura is very close to him, so it would be hard on her if he died.

Also, my great-grandma, Helen Jackson, is suffering from congestive heart failure. She has only been given a few months to live, and she is not saved. As I said in my blog post about her, I would desperately love to see her get saved before she dies. It would be so much easier on me if she died before I go back to college in the fall so I don't have to fly hoem for a funeral.

If you could pray for all of these things, I would greatly appreciate it!

My boys =)

I realized today as I was making lunch for the boys just how blessed I am to have this job and how much I enjoy it. I often forget what a great job I have and how much fun I have doing it because I'm too busy thinking about the few things i don't like about it.
I was standing at the kitchen counter today making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the boys and listening to Cole babble away about watches when it hit me. I realized that I would not trade this job for anything. Not only am I making good money, but I get to spend time with my two favorite boys in the whole world.
On top of that, I'm getting experience that I could not get anywhere else. When I was standing there making the sandwiches, I could see myself someday standing at my own kitchen counter, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for my own kids. Having babysat the boys from the time Chase was twelve weeks old, I've had a lot of experience with kids.
I realized today that although I may get tired of listening to Cole's "chitchat", as Chase calls it, or watching cartoons on tv when I'd rather be watching a movie, I wouldn't trade this job for the world!

Grandma Jackson

Last night I found out from my dad that my great-grandmother, his grandma, has congestive heart failure. In other words, her heart is not circulating the blood through her body properly because there's fluid building up around. The doctors have only given her a few months to live.
This news saddened me. I am pretty close to her, and I have never lost someone close to me before. She's been in poor health for awhile, and I knew it was only a matter of time before the knew came that she had either died or was dying, but that doesn't make it any easier. She's not saved, so that makes it even harder.
Although I am not looking forward to attending her funeral, I am hoping that she passes away before I go back to college this fall. I would rather not have to fly home from college to attend a funeral, especially not at the beginning of the semester.
Please pray that she will get saved. She is in the beginning stages of dementia, so I'm not sure she is able to understand the concept of salvation, but I know that God can work miracles. There would be nothing that i would like more than to see her accept Christ as her Savior before she dies.

Summer Update

Well, summer is now in full swing. I am enjoying being home, but I miss college!! More specifically, I miss all of my friends at college. I'm already counting down the days till I go back...only 73!!

I have not been able to find a second job this summer like I was hoping to. :( I had a couple of interviews, but no one wanted to hire someone who would only be home for the summer. I am so very thankful that I am babysitting Chase and Cole this summer, because this way I at least have one job. I am planning on making up some fliers to offer babysitting services for the evenings and weekend. Hopefully this will give me a little extra income this summer.

The Lord has really blessed. Between savings bonds, what I already have in my savings account, and babysitting the boys this summer, I will have enough money for almost all of next year. This is a huge relief to me because I do not have a job down at school for when I go back. :( I won't have a car, either, so I'm going to have to find a job on campus. Housekeeping usually needs people, and from what I've heard, you get plenty of hours, so I'm hoping to get on there. Mom and Dad have told me that if, when it comes time for finals, I don't have enough money to pay off my school bill, they will pay it off for me. I would really rather not have to ask them for money, but I'm thankful to know that the money is there if I need it.

It's hard to believe that I'll be graduating this next year. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was arriving on campus as a freshman, scared to death and not knowing what to expect. It doesn't seem real that I'll be a sophmore this year. Time sure has flown!

I am praying very hard that the Lord will supply enough money for all of next year and most of the next. I would really like to go back to Ambassador for a year after I graduate to take miscellanious classes that would help me in the ministry, or even as a wife and mother, if the Lord blesses me with a husband and children. At this time, it doesn't look like it will be possible for me to go back for a third year, but I know that I have a God that will supply all of my needs. I am trying very hard to trust in him for everything.

Other than babysiting, I really haven't been doing much this summer. I am teaching Mom's Sunday school class during summer break, so a lot of my spare time goes into preparing stuff for that. For the next four weeks I will be teaching on Esther, who is my favorite Bible character. I'm hoping to be able to convey how exciting the story is to my class. I started the series yesterday, and to my regret, only one out of the three students I had was excited about the story. The other two, who are both boys, said that they've heard the story before and that they don't want to hear it again. Please pray that I'll be able to get them excited about it. If you have any ideas, please, fel free to share them with me.

I'm hoping to start a memory program with them called Victory for Verses. It's a program where kids earn "dollars" for memorizing verses. There is also a list called the Memory Master list that has itmes such as the ten commandments, the days of creation, the plagues of Egypt, and other Biblical facts. These are worth more "dollars." At the end of the summer, the kids will be able ot redeem these "dollars" for prizes. I'm just waiting on my Pastor's approal before I start the program.

Well, that's pretty much everything that's going on in my life right now. Pretty boring, I know. lol :) I'll try to update again soon, but I['m not making any promises! :D

PawPaw

Today I will be going fishing with my Dad and PawPaw. However, Dad will be in a different boat. This will give me an oppurtunity that I've never had before: to be alone with PawPaw. I'm hoping to use this time alone with him to witness to him.

For as long as I can remember my family and I have been praying for Granny and PawPaw's salvation. Dad has witnessed to both of them several times, but until recently, their hearts were hardened towards the Gospel and they didn't want anything to do with it. However, a few months ago Dad had an opportunity to witness to them again, and they listened and actually seemed intersted.

It has long been a desire of my heart to see Granny and PawPaw accept Christ as their personal Saviour, however, I must admit I have been lax in witnessing to them. Although I've had opportunities to share the Gospel with Granny, I let those slip by. I regret that so much now. Being at Ambassador has really given me a burden for souls, especially for Granny and PawPaw. I would hate for them to die without getting saved. They mean so much to me taht I cannot just sit by and do nothing.

I know that there's no guarantee that I'll get an opportunity to witness to PawPaw today, and even if I do get an opportunity there's no guarantee that he will get saved, but I still have to try. I have been in in constanst, fervent prayer about this and the Lord ahs given me a peace about it that I cannot explain. I just somehow have a feeling that I will indeed be given a chance to witness to PawPaw.

Please pray with me that, first of all, I will get an opportunity to witness to him, and that he will listen when I do. Also pray for his salvation, as well as Granny's. Nothing would make me happier than to see them accept Christ as their personal Savior this summer. Please, please, please pray that the Lord will give me boldness as well as the right words to say so that I can clearly present the plan of salvation to PawPaw, and that he will listen to it and get saved.

“There is no other activity in life so important as that of prayer. Every other activity depends upon prayer for its best efficiency.” M.E. Andross

"Our only true power is the power of prayer. When we pray, God moves from heaven. When we pray, things happen that would not otherwise happen. By prayer all things are possible." Dr. Ray Pritchard

The Lord's Will

If it's the Lord's will, then how can it be so hard to accept? Why does it hurt so much? I've been asked that question by a couple of friends, and each time I didn't know how to respond, mainly because I had never had those feelings before. But now, I know exactly how they were feeling and how hard it was for them because I'm going through the exact same thing. It's not an easy thing to go through, by any means.

It's been almost two weeks now since I first asked those questions, and it hasn't gotten any easier. I still don't know the answer to those questions. I was so happy with the way things were going, so sure that it was the right thing, then, suddenly, I was confronted with the fact that it wasn't God's will. I couldn't believe it. Not God's will? I had been so sure it had to be God's will; after all, I was happy and content with the way things were going. I didn't understand how it could possibly be any thing other than God's will.

I was devastated. I cried. I cried a lot. However, that didn't help. The only thing crying did was remind me even more of the pain I was going through and of what I had lost. I couldn't figure it out. If it was God's will, then why did it hurt so bad? Why was my heart so heavy? Why did my heart heart feel like it had shattered into a thousand pieces?

The one thing that did help was turning to God for answers. I sought comfort from the one place i knew I could find it, God's Word. I opened my Bible first of all to my life verse, Isaiah 40:31. "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint." That verse brought me so much comfort, because i realized that if I looked to the Lord and trusted Him, then in due time, He would give me the strength to go on.

The next verse that I saw was right across the page. I had read it before, but never had it spoken to me like it did when my heart was so troubled. "Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

And so it continues, with the Lord leading me to verse after verse after verse. Every verse that I read was exactly what I needed at that time. Even verses that I had read before and had memorized as a little girl held new meaning for me.

Although that period of time was, and still is hard, it helps to know that I have a wonderful God right there with me. He will always be by my side. It reminds me of a well-known poem, Footprints in the Sand, by Mary Stevenson. The last few stanzas of the poem are: "'Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I'm aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don't understand why, when I need You most, You leave me.' He whispered, 'My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you.'"

That poem has never meant more to me than it has in these past couple of weeks, because I know that the Lord is carrying me through this trial. Even though I still don't understand why, or how it can hurt so much even thought it's His will, He knows. Although I still cry, and although it still hurts and it will hurt for awhile, I know that God is right beside me, ready to help me whenever I ask.