signing off for a bit...

I'll be out of the country for nearly a month and for the next week I'll be getting ready for that wonderful trip, so I'll be signing off for a bit.

Next week I leave for L.A. with 5 teenagers and a few moms. At first I was simply escorting them to California for a weekend training time and then seeing them off as they flew to South Africa on a mission's trip. Now I'll be joining them. My hubby made arrangements and is sending me and is staying behind with our 4 young children for the 3 weeks we'll be on the continent of Africa.

What we are looking to do there that's a little different than previous trips is intentionally visit HIV/AIDS effected people from every age group. This is really exciting as it should truly provide a whole perspective of what HIV/AIDS has done and is doing to Africa.

If your eyes and ears are open, you've heard a lot of talk recently about helping AIDS victims. From Bono (U2), Bill Hybles, Dave Matthews, GAP, Oprah, American Idol, etc... there is a lot of talk out there about this epidemic. How many of the people you know have an opportunity to go and physically make a difference? Not many, I'm guessing. This truly is a pivotal time in history for HIV/AIDS. Over the past couple of years enormous pressure has suddenly come from the pop-culture for governments to get involved and send aide to Africa. Also, the Church in North America seems to be finally waking up to the revelation that this is the "leprosy" of today and Jesus has called us to (Matthew 8:3, 10:8, Luke 17:12,etc...).

We'll be spending some of our time working HERE, at the Ithemba Lethu ("I have a destiny") Orphanage. It is run by one of the churches that we will be working out of while in Durban, this church is part of the same international apostolic/prophetic team that my church is a part of.

It will be an exciting time. Keep us in your prayers. A few days shy of 4 weeks is a long time to be away from home! I'll see you after July 22nd.

just the beginning

Well, the conference is officially over :-( but it is just the beginning!! :-)

Because we don't have an evening service at our church, on Sunday night we were able to join another church to hear one of the speakers again from the week. Francois Botes spoke and the title of his message was, "The Birth of Praise".

He used the story in Genesis 29:16-35 about Laban, Jacob, Leah & Rachel to describe a very real, very today message.

In a nutshell... Rachel represents the beautiful dream / destiny God has for us and Leah represents life & things in that life we don't ask for, never planned for & possibly don't even enjoy, the things in life that make us weary while we're on our journey. We are Jacob.

God gives us a picture and shows us the Rachel of our lives (the dream / destiny / calling He has for us) so we work towards her but along the way, as they say, "life happens"! Things in that life can make us weary i.e. your jobs, your family, your church, your day to day life... etc. come up and tire us out, Leah actually means "weary" or "weak".

The amazing thing about Leah... she bore children for Jacob immediately - Rachel did not until Jacob made peace with Leah, (many many years later and after Jacob had many children with Leah, her servant & with Rachel's servant).

The first 4 children born to Leah & Jacob represent many things that God wants to be birthed in our own lives and they can only come from the journey to Rachel - during the days of Leah.

*1st son was Reuben, which means "to see"
*2nd son was Simeon, which means "to hear"
*3rd son was Levi, which means "to be joined to/companion"
*4th son was Judah, which means "praise"

Sometimes in life we know our Rachel is there, we've been shown her, others have prophesied and confirmed that she is there and we want that now but we end up with a Leah, a life that is taking too long to get to Rachel - the prize. Some people give up on working/reaching for her because they hate Leah so much or they know they're talented and have an incredible calling on their life but aren't willing to build the character first i.e. they're too anointed to clean the toilets or teach Sunday school... (this applies to much more)

The speaker told us of his own experience, he knew he was a called Prophet of God - it had been confirmed many times but as soon as churches knew he was a musician... he was asked to play the piano. The thoughts came, "But don't you know what God's called me to be" over and over again. He left that church for another thinking they would recognize his Rachel but he was "demoted" to playing for the Children's church time. This is not what he thought he'd be doing, this was his Leah years... he needed to learn to love his Leah before God could release his Rachel.

We've all got a Leah (or two or three) in our lives...

What many don't realize is... Leah gave Jacob something that Rachel couldn't - right away. It's in the journey that we learn to see God and to see us doing what God's called us to do, to hear His voice and to be joined to the Lord and not just the dream/destiny and finally that we praise Him in the good, the bad and the ugly moments in our life and in our journey.

Until you make peace with Leah... Rachel will be barren.

It wasn't until Judah was born that Rachel envied Leah and wanted what she had. When we get to the stage where true praise is birthed in and out of our lives... others will have a godly envy and want what we have.

Learn to love your Leah! Be found faithful with her until your Rachel comes!

the past 5 days of power

I am trying to take today to soak in all that I heard, learned and was spoken over me over the past week at our Canadian Leadership Training Time (national church conference for the international group we relate to). It was a lot to take in. Right around Tuesday it felt like you feel after a week of such a spiritual blessing time together, it hit fast and deep. Not only was it incredibly fun - we do have fun together but it was necessary and good and what I needed and important and something I'll cherish and spring board off of.

On Wednesday night to start the evening off, they had a time for sharing testimonies - I shared what God did in the life of a baby born in our church last November that was 100% brain damaged (in their estimations) and was beginning to experience full organ failure and the doctors told the parents to pull the plug - we rallied the troops immediately and prayed and believed the report of the Lord. 7 weeks after she was born she came home, totally healthy and a normal little baby girl. I had the baby there with me to show off. Taste and see that the Lord is good. All near 400 people stood to their feet shouting in victory and praising God.

That was just one awesome moment!! :-) There are many. Many financial miracles took place, people set free from, pain, oppression and more many prayers were prayed for other healings to take place.

Many words of encouragement were spoken of us as a leadership couple and we spoke over many people. It was awesome to see God work with such a clarity and such a unity. We prayed over our country. Prophetically calling those things that aren't as though they are!! Faith for our nation. It will be a godly country. Indifference is gone. Luke-warm, fence sitters in our churches is done with - over. What you see about Canada in our political / national arena is because it is like that in the spiritual one first. I want a country that is on fire for God and for the supernatural things of God. I want to see radical change!

I prayed for a lady Thursday night through an interpretor, she's from Mexico. She had severe pain in her left shoulder, I think the interpretor said calcification had happened - needless to say, it's extremely painful and she can't raise her arm or rotate her shoulder. While I was praying for her I felt a warmth go through me into her shoulder. Yesterday morning she came to find me and (again through an interpretor) told me that last night for the first time in a year, she slept on her left side and she raised her arms for me with a big smile on her face. I love this God we serve!!! :-)

Thursday night My hubby and I (and all the other church leaders and elders) were praying for a bunch of people at the front. While we were praying for people, I always seemed to start off - getting a quick picture and praying, then he got a picture and finished the prayer. The last person came directly up to us and when we went to pray for him, I couldn't - it was quiet in my head and heart. I felt this calm swoosh over me and my knees actually buckled. My hubby started praying first - when he started praying God said to me for this man, "Be still and know that I am God" it went along with the picture my hubby had (he saw a wave crash the shore, turmoil etc but God wanted him to walk with him, know that He is with you) along those lines. What this man shared with us afterwards blew our minds!! He needed this word from God, badly... he was in such a tumultuous place in his life, full of chaos and constant interruptions, struggling for sane moments and he couldn't hear God anymore! I'm so happy to have been in a place willing to be used of God. :-) It's such a simple thing but oh so profound to him.

There's so much more I could share - 5 days full of God and His Glory!! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The testimonies are enough to renew your faith and build your hope - let alone the sermons!!!

I'll try to fill you in on Monday - Wednesday afternoon, there's a lot to mull over.

12 is a funny number

I just returned from spending 12 days in beautiful British Columbia with my side of the family and my daughter. We had a wonderful time! We flew out west for a family wedding, tacking on a week before and a couple days afterwards. I was able to see a whole bunch of family that I haven't seen since my Mom's mom passed away and we had a memorial service back in 2000, my daughter was only 6 months old at the time. She turned 8 on our trip.

The first Sunday there it was my wedding anniversary, our 12th anniversary. I was on the west coast with family and friends while he was back at home with our 3 boys. 12 years... it's hard to believe - it's actually flown by!

The day after my 12th anniversary, Monday May 12th, my parents took 2 of my sisters, myself and a combination of 6 of our kids and 1 great grandchild to North Vancouver, 12 of us in total for a walk down memory lane. You see... I was born in North Van and spent the first 12 years of my life there. Pretty freaky eh?!

The majority of my time out in BC was spent in the no-longer small town that my parents still live in. I spent 12 years of my life in that area. It was on the 12th day of my trip that I realized I spent 12 years on the North Shore, 12 years just north of the border and now 12 years in Ontario.

Does this mean I'm up for a major change in my life? What's the plan for the next 12 years? Everyone asked me what it means... I just replied... "that I'm 36 this year"...

commune

I think that word had been given a bad rap over the last few decades.

I keep mentioning to friends and family (within and outside of the church), that I'd love to live in a commune and some look at me like I placed the giant words, "CULT" above my eyebrows.

Almost a decade ago I saw a show on a group of families that lived in BC, in what they called a commune - it wasn't a religious group either! It intrigued me greatly. I loved the idea of not only the closeness but the help! The building happened to be a four-plex with a centre courtyard. The families didn't know each other when they moved in but they quickly became friends and eventually like family. They took turns preparing meals, looking after children, and even shared a couple cars. The centre courtyard became a community garden. They had little to no stress!

This is the idea of a commune that I like. A commune is simply a close-knit, intentional community where resources are shared. If you were green, you'd call this an eco-village and if I called it that... maybe people wouldn't look cross-eyed at me!

I currently share a house with my in-law's but we only share the cost of the mortgage payment and the utilities. If I have the chance again in the future... I'd build or buy something like that 4-plex that I saw with 3 or 4 other families and live "green".

Think of the money you'd save! Sharing food, babysitting, vehicles, etc!!!

just thinking...

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

~ Frank Outlaw

Everyone enjoys spring because all around us change is taking place. The Grey of winter gives way to new life. Is there some Grey in your life that you'd like to see changed? How is your destiny shaping up? Do you want to know how to change your life?

1. You need to find out what God's Word says: (By Your words I can see where I'm going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path, Ps 119:105 The Message)
   
• More important that merely thinking and spouting off positive thoughts... is knowing what God says in His Word. Get those thoughts into your mind & heart and using those words in your daily prayers and confessions. Look at the power His words have, just start in Genesis and see what "Let there be..." did!! His Words used through your lips will produce His will and purpose in your life and will catapult you into the light. Find out what His thoughts and plans are for your life! (Jer. 29:11)
  
2. Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
   
• Romans 12:2 says, "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." I love the way The Message puts this verse. It's so easy in today's society to simply slip into the world's way of doing things. The devil is a liar but he's not a fool, he's subtle. It only takes one distraction at a time to pull you away from where God wants you to be. Renewing your mind requires work, it's an action ~ no work... no change.
  
3. Take captive every thought!
   
• 1 Corinthians 10:4-5, "for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh (physical), but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. (In as much) We are destroying speculations and every proud and lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ," Take captive every loose thought, emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. If we want to succeed in this life and make the biggest impact on this world... we can't afford to let our minds simply wonder. This is another thing that requires work, it's an action ~ no work... no change.
4. What do you think on?
• Philippians 4:6-9 has got to be one of my favourite Scriptures off all times. It's one that I have printed around the house and read out loud very often, especially when I'm having troubles finding something positive to say and feel so negative. Print out verse 8 and make it your shopping list for daily thoughts and words.

Did you know that thoughts are seeds?

They are ~ they produce. Proverbs tells us, "as a man thinks in his heart so is he" and Jesus said, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". What we believe and how we live starts with what we think. Where is your mind today? What does your life look like today? If you don't like it --- change your thinking and it will begin to change your world.

So what's the next step in bringing a bit more spring into your life... watch your words... but more on that later! :-)

Before He Speaks

why didn't I think of this first... ;-)