When Charli asked me to give my testimony for her “Charli-zine,” I pondered “which testimony?” I have so many. God has been so faithful and blessed me in so many ways, time and time again. Should I give the one where God healed me of cancer? The one where I stood waiting for 11 years on His word that He had given me for a promised restoration and reconciliation? It was finally time to share my testimony about my marriage.

My husband and I are ministering in our home once a month to couples and many others through our Home Fellowship. Our ministry, Fresh Fire Home Fellowship, was started over a year ago in our home in Tennessee. God is using us to minister to broken marriages, the lost, and hurting people. I have the most wonderful, loving, caring and sensitive husband in the world. The Lord has given my husband such wisdom and knowledge. He has blessed us in so many ways. I cannot thank God enough for what He has done in our lives. Together as a couple and with the help of God, we are impacting our family and friends lives. It hasn’t always been this way though.

I have been married to a man who had cheated on me for 9 years on and off. A man who is a Christian but a carnal one for many years and who has been mean, unfaithful, insensitive, uncaring, inconsiderate, etc throughout my marriage…that is until God got hold of him. In the past each time he cheated, he asked for my forgiveness and I forgave him but it got harder and harder and I kept trying to change his bad habits. I would pray, read the word and say I was turning him over to God but always tried to change him myself by pointing out to him everything he did wrong.

Well over a year ago I found out he was having an affair again. When confronting him with it this time, he didn’t deny it but said yes he was and even worse, told me that he was in love with her and wanted a divorce from me. Let me tell you I was crushed! My whole world seemed to come crashing down. I found out this affair had been going on for months. They did not live in the same state so they never had relations but he had fallen in love with her.

I did not know what to do. I called a good friend and mentor (Charli Pickett) who helped me turn to God. She gently and lovingly guided me to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and taught me how to walk in the spirit by putting my trust in God and not in my husband. She helped me to get my eyes off of the problem and turned them to Jesus, our deliverer. She taught me quickly what I needed to do and I listened to her Godly advice and applied every bit of it. What I am about to tell you how I overcame this trial is not to bring glory upon myself for what I did, but to give God all the glory for what He did through me.

I first started to pray for my husband like I never had before. I would wake at 3 am every morning, get out of bed, and go to the foot of the bed on my knees where my husband lie sleeping and lay hands on him and pray. I would go into his closet and kneel and pray. Every waking moment I would lift my husband up to the Lord. I asked the Lord not to hold this charge against my husband. I asked the Lord not to hold this charge against her. I told my husband that I loved him and was not going to leave him and that I was praying for him. I fasted for 4-5 days straight while praying for him. I sought out the scriptures to find every scripture I could about the situation. I wrote these scriptures down and prayed them every day.

I would sometimes pick up the phone and he would be talking to her. I did not confront him about this or bring anything up to my husband. He was not trying to hide it anymore. Was this easy?? No Way! Nancy could not do this on her own. I did not have the ability to love like this. I was able to love him in a way I never had before though. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit could I do this. I ignored when he said mean things to me. I ignored when he did mean things. I just showed him unconditional love. I told him often how much I loved him.

He was unable to give me any encouragement or sense of hope. HE wasn’t but GOD was. I left him alone by not bugging him or confronting him about anything. I just showed him love. I made love to him. I praised him and showered him with love. He started to notice a big change in me.

Now, I did not say I FELT like doing any of this. My flesh rebelled and did not want to do any of this. The enemy spoke in my ear daily telling me it was of no use and tried to discourage me. The enemy reminded me of all the times in the past where I had prayed and asked God to change my husband but did not see any lasting change. Each time I took my eyes off of God and put them on the problem or my husband, I would start to lose my peace of mind, the peace of God that passes all understanding.

I had to learn to bring every thought into captivity and focus on the things of God. I was in a spiritual battle and had to fight this in the spirit and not the flesh. Most of the time it was not easy to love him like this but God gave me the strength because I stayed in His presence nonstop. I was learning how Jesus loves us unconditionally. In spite of our sins and weaknesses, He still loves us.

I prayed the word over my husband and over my situation daily. I stayed in Psalms for weeks and months as the word ministered to my spirit.Ps 37:4-7 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. (my husband’s love..my marriage) 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; (this was hard to do for me as I did not have a lot of patience and wanted God to change him fast) do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Ps 34:15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; Ps 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

I would substitute my husbands or my name into the scriptures so it applied to me and my situation. I cried out to the Lord day and night and asked the Lord to be my help, my strong tower, and my deliverer. And, He was and still is!

I learned through that trial of my life how to truly trust in the Lord and not look to what was going on around me. I was learning how to truly walk in the spirit and not in the flesh. To not go by my feelings or emotions. I knew that no matter what happened between my husband and me, I was going to be ok, I had the peace, trust and security of the Lord knowing that my life was in the Lords hands. I learned not to fret or worry and to cast all my cares upon Him. As I learned to depend totally upon the Lord, God changed my situation and my husband. Little did I know that this battle I was going through of learning to totally trust God, was preparing me for an even bigger battle a few months down the road. One that my life depended upon.

I saw God start to change my husband. He eventually quit the affair, went for deliverance and got set free from this stronghold over his life and fell back in love with me. This did not happen overnight but over the next 6-8 months. He is now walking in the spirit and not fulfilling the desires of his flesh. God is faithful to complete the work that He started! My husband amazes me constantly. He does so many little things for me now that he never did before. He is more sensitive, caring, kind and loving. He is not perfect and still has his faults, like we all do, but God has truly changed him into a husband that I can now be proud of and admire.

I have the marriage now that I have always dreamed of having. One where my husband loves the Lord with all his heart, soul and mind, respects, admires and loves me unconditionally. Something I could not do for years by my preaching, scolding, nagging, teaching, etc, For 10 years I tried to change my husband and couldn’t and when I finally learned to totally trust God and put him in God’s hands, God changed not only him but more importantly ME.

Five months after all this I was diagnosed with Cancer. Since I was so built up spiritually and had so much of the word in me, I was able to stand and have faith for my healing and the Lord healed me. Praise God. To Him be all the Glory!! Again Charli Pickett was a vessel that the Lord used to impart a supernatural gift of faith into my life when she laid hands on me for my healing. I then found every scripture about healing, put it on index cards and posted them all over my house….bathroom mirrors, refrigerator, laundry room, bedroom, computer, everywhere so that the word was before me constantly.

This increased my faith and allowed me to keep my eyes off the problem and confess the word over my body. When the doctors went back in for surgery the 2nd time to get the remaining cancer tumor out of my body, they could not find any cancer. They could not explain it either. I COULD! God had healed me.

The enemy uses specific tools disguised, and often innocently packaged, to tear families apart. This is why the basis for marriage should be anchored in unconditional love. God is love and love never fails, because God never fails. Love is patient and kind. It is not irritable or prideful and does not insist on its own way. When love is not the foundation, the marriage will crumble. You have a responsibility to love your spouse unconditionally.

Consider each other’s concerns, and take them seriously. When husbands and wives fail to love, the marriage becomes vulnerable to satanic attack. We can easily drift away from God and our spouses when we lack balance and direction from God. Miscommunication is a tactic Satan uses. Many times we feel we have communicated effectively with our spouse, only to later find out that something we said was misconstrued. It is important that you communicate effectively with your spouse. Always consider your motives before expressing your feelings.

Also, when you are talking to your spouse, make sure they understand what you are saying. Be sure to give them your undivided attention when they are speaking to you. Love and understanding are keys to effective communication. Despite the enemy’s attacks, your marriage can remain strong. Let God’s Word be your foundation at all times. When you have a problem, search the Word for your answers. Remember, it is through skillful and godly wisdom a marriage is built.

I know our walk with the Lord is not an easy one and throughout our lives we will go through many trials and tribulations. My advice from someone who has done it the wrong way and failed and then learned the right way and succeeded is “The Word”. Plain and simple. Get in the word. Find scriptures that relate to your problem. Confess them daily. Get your eyes off of the problem and on Jesus…literally! Do not go by what you are seeing but on what the Word says .

The Lord has a work He wants to do in YOU! When you’re ready to acquire what God has for you, many times you won’t be able to just walk into it; sometimes we have to fight for it. Most people don’t know how hard we’ve had to fight to get where we are today.

There was a time I almost lost heart, there was a time I almost walked out, there was a time I almost gave up, but to God be the glory.2 Corinthians 4:17 (NKJV) “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal”.

I now understand that every affliction I went through was only for a moment even though at times it seem like it was lasting forever. I want to make a declaration and say keep fighting! Keep fighting for your marriage! Don’t you lose heart, and don’t you give up!

I pray the word will be a lamp unto your feet. That you will have a fresh revelation of the word and that you will be able to fight the good fight of faith. I know with these tools you will have Victory in every situation. God will see you Through! With man these things seem impossible but with God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.

May the Lord be your strong tower. May you have the peace of God fill your heart and spirit. May He give you the desires of your heart as He has mine. Eph 6:12-18 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Servant of the Most High God,

Nancy Connell                                                                            

mailto:freshfire4you@aol.com

http://sites.google.com/a/wildblue.net/fresh-fire-home-fellowship/

     The Word of God says in  
 
              Prov. 22:6
 ”Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
 
 
My name is Andrew McClung. I am 26 years old and have been privileged to grow up all my life in church and serving God.  It is a blessing for me to have a heritage of my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents as Ministers and Pastors.
 
At an early age I became interested and very involved in the audio/video department at our church. This sparked a lifelong interest for me to pursue working in this field.
 
Upon graduation from high school, I joined the United States Air Force. Ps. 37:23 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.” During my enlistment, I would see time and time again how the Divine Protection and Favor of God was on my life. Little did I know when I was assigned to a squadron in basic training that I was in what ended up being the honor squadron of that cycle.  
 
After basic training, I went to Air Force Tech School in Texas. The class of 10 guys that I was assigned to was the most unified and respected class. The Training Instructors that were usually very strict and crude requested being assigned to our class. God blessed me during that time and I graduated as #1 of that class.
 
My first duty station was Spangdahlem, AFB Germany.  I remained there for 2 wonderful years. God directed my path by allowing me to be under a great supervisor. This was a supervisor that most people did not want to be under.  While across the ocean, with limited contact to home and family, my supervisor took it upon himself to fill that void. Not only was he a great mentor and instructor to me on duty, he also included me in his family off duty.  
 
I had become friends with a guy in basic training, we were assigned Tech School together and we both ended up on the same base in Germany. We also rented apartments across the street from each other. God definitely directs our path and He places people in our lives with whom we build lifelong friendships.
 
When I found out I was on the list for deployment to Iraq, I called home and my family and friends immediately prayed God’s will and protection over my life.  Ps. 91:11 says…”For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”  Ps. 34:7…”The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.”
 
While prayer was going on back home, my supervisor went to the Senior Supervision and insisted that I be allowed to remain at our home base and continue my work on the F16’s I was assigned.  I had no knowledge of him doing this for me and this just proved how God’s hand of protection always covers us.  When I arrived at my duty station stateside I was again listed for deployment.  Due to scheduling issues I never had to leave. Once again, by God’s guidance and protection, He kept me at my base and safe.
 
After my discharge from the Air Force I returned home and completed my degree in Business and Commerce. Currently I am living my dream as a Freelance Web Designer.  God blessed me with the knowledge and skill for this field.  I started my company, AM Perspectives and I enjoy each new project. I also work with my family at Oasis Christian Center & Retreat in Franklin, KY. Here I get continue my passion from an early age by overseeing and operating all the audio/video systems.
 
Jer. 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I give all Glory and Honor to God for watching over my life, guiding and protecting my steps every day, and that I have His promise of a Blessed future.
 
Ps. 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”

Andy McClung
(615) 957-5959
www.amperspectives.com
 

A PERSONAL NOTE

OUR GOD IS SO FAITHFUL

He promises He will never leave us nor forsake us.  Hebrews 13:5

I grew up in an alcoholic, abusive home. At age 18 I married against my father’s wishes to a man who was abusive as well. I divorced him at age 22. I met my present husband and remarried. We were both searching for “that something” that was missing in our lives.

At this time in my life I was a very bitter and angry woman. I couldn’t understand why all these things had happened to me in my life. I couldn’t stand the person that I had become. I had so much anger inside me and I didn’t know how to deal with it. I was searching for something but I didn’t know what it was. In 1994 I received Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. Suddenly I found what I had been searching for my whole life.

As I grew in the Father He began to work on me by tearing down the walls that had me bound to things of the past. The most powerful thing we have as Christians is the power of choice. We are miserable people by choice. So I chose not to allow my past to dictate my future. God promises in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future”. We have to pursue God’s will by moving forward.

For over 13 years I tried to have a child. I went through several infertility treatments but none ever worked. So I began to ask why?  When we are in confusion about why certain things happen in our lives, that’s when I realized I just needed to search for Him.

For the next 11 years I served in our youth ministry at church and God has blessed me by allowing me to be a spiritual mom to several kids. I wanted to be a blessing to the kids but instead I was the one who was blessed! So I’m learning untried faith is unreliable faith.

I’m finding out that you are only in tune with God when you are in tune with His Word. I have to stay in His Word for the times I need to fall back on His promises. I’m learning that I have to spend time with Him in order to have a relationship. Prayer is a matter of the heart. It’s a matter of opening up my emptiness into His fullness. We serve a mighty God and is worthy of all of our praise! 

Because of Him,

Michelle Chapman

However I consider my life worth nothing to me, If only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given to me – The task of testifying to the gospel of Gods grace. Acts 20:24

I am so excited to offer those who visit my site the opportunity to read testimonies, teachings, or learn of amazing and inspiring experiences that God has done in the lives of other women of faith. 

Today Shelsea Holubec will share with us how God used a brush, paint, and a canvas to set her soul free! 

He will do the same for you, if you just ask Him to.

MY YOKE

I looked at this blank canvas not knowing what to do or where to begin.  Then I heard a small voice say, “Start with the Cross”.  I replied with an annoyed tone “Lord, everybody paints a cross”.  That is all I kept hearing, so that is where I began.  I do not know why I struggle with what the Lord tells me to do because it is ALWAYS for my best.  Sure enough, this was too!  So, I began with the cross.  Many times, I have to remind myself to go back to the cross.  

The cross was about 2’ long and about 18”wide when I heard that small voice again, “Is that how big you think I am?”  ”No,” I replied.  I then proceeded to enlarge it.  I was using browns, blacks, and grays and had the edges all squared, nice and neat. 

Feeling proud of the job I was doing, I then heard “Don’t square me off.  You cannot put me in a box.  Don’t you know that there are no limits to who I am or what I can do?”  “Okay, Okay.”  Now I am totally doing away with my perfectly straight edges and while I am painting an endless horizontal beam I hear, “Do you know that my arms stretch out wider than that-as far as the east is from the west?” 

At this moment, my heart is now in my throat and tears are starting to well up.  Part of me wants to run because I realize why He had me start with the cross.  TRUST.  Can I truly trust God?  I cannot trust anyone else.  Do I really believe that God is who His word says He is?  I surpass the desire to bolt and keep painting.  When I go to paint the endless vertical beam, He spoke another scripture to me. “Don’t you know I can do immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine?”  

Funny…God questioning me so intently, as it is usually me doing all the questioning.  I answered the Lord with crocodile tears and with a heart that yearns to love Him, “I know Lord and I believe you are working all this out for my good.  I trust you.”

That was only part one in my lesson plan for the day.  God then began to deal with my pain.  Real pain, you know the kind that you hide from everybody, even yourself.  I then painted a crown of thorns hanging from the cross… so much symbolism.  Recognizing what Jesus died for…sin…I wonder if it could also be called pain?  So many thoughts began racing in my mind and my heavy heart was pounding. I began to pray and to pray aloud.

There was no one there so I was safe to say what I needed to.  I began to pray in the Spirit.  Now the tears are so heavy I cannot even see the canvas but I do not stop.  I then began to splatter red paint as representation of the sprinkling of the blood that the High Priest would do at the altar of sacrifice; something I would not realize until after the painting session.  I was now painting under the influence! At that point all the emotions I had been carrying; hurt, anger, betrayal, etc…came pouring out and I wrote each feeling down under each arm of the cross.

For the first time I came face to face with myself, the real me, the one who is hurting and does not want to any more.  God showed Himself to me in a miraculous way that night, showing me how to forgive the one who hurt me so deeply and then how to forgive myself.  He already had forgiven me; I just needed to receive it.  

As the peace came, I covered each word with the blood of Christ.  Now as I look back at the painting a year later, I see so much torment in each brush stroke.  I see that I was carrying a heavy load that truly I was not able to carry.  The neat part is when all the words where covered up in red paint it created a big u shape under the cross.  Now I see a yoke.  The Lord traded me my yoke for His.  His is so much lighter!

BIO

Shelsea was born in a small town in the panhandle of Texas back in 1975. She owes her Spiritual heritage to her grandmother whom she calls Yamma. Yamma is the backbone of the family. She distinctly remembers the moment she met Jesus; she was at Yamma’s house at either the age of 5 or 6. She was raised in the Methodist Church and attended Sunday School and Youth functions growing up. 

It was not untill the age of 21 that Shelsea realized that there is a difference in knowing Jesus and having a walking and talking relationship with Jesus. She instinctively knew there was more, but had not gained the head knowledge. Since that time of revelation she has fallen in love with Him. Through the trials she has faced she now bases her faith, not on blind faith, but on a tangible faith. 

Shelsea has buried her first born, saw her next child through arethmeia, gave birth to her third child 7 weeks early due to pre-eclampsia that went into toxcemia, into HELLP. By God’s delieverance she is no longer in an abusive marriage and is now a single mom raising two beautiful children ages 6 and 4; clinging to the verse that God’s mercies are new every morning!

Shelsea has served the Lord in many capacities. She has taught two year olds in Sunday School, was the Clown for Kid’s Church, puppet leader, on the Women’s Ministry Team, in leadership postions with MOPS (mother’s of Preschoolers), taught at a Women’s Retreat, spoke at a Mini Ladies Conference, was Gala director for a Crisis Pregnancy Center, was the stage decorator for Tammy Trent, and she is also a certified Praise Move Instructor (the Christian Alternative to Yoga). 

Shelsea is a dancer at heart and loves to act. She has starred in the local theater and helped behind and in front of the camera for short films. Shelsea also has competed in the Mrs. Texas International Pageant 2007. Shelsea has an Associates of Applied Arts degree in Interior Design and now is a visual merchandiser for a local clothing and home décor boutique.

It was less than a week before I was to leave for the mission field – for what would turn out to be two years onboard a Mercy Ship off the coast of West Africa.

Though I knew this was what I was supposed to be doing, and though God had opened door after door to get me to this place, I was still having second thoughts. 9/11 had occurred only days earlier, and I was a single woman in my mid-twenties.

What could I possibly be thinking?! Was the world even a safe place to travel anymore? Was it wise to leave behind all I knew as safe and familiar, to head off into an as yet undefined adventure? It would be just me and God, facing the unknown…I knew no one else where I was going.

As these thoughts churned through my mind, my soul in a bit of turmoil, I began preparing a sticky but delicious recipe called “friendship bread” – a concoction of 14 ingredients. Never one to remember to check if I have all the ingredients on hand before proceeding with a recipe, I absent-mindedly poured and mixed, measured and spooned.

Inwardly, I was having a spirited conversation with God. “Haven’t I promised you that I would go before you, that I would protect you, that I would be a Father and a Husband to you?” I felt Him prompting me inside.

I acknowledged that this was exactly what He had been speaking to me about over the past week. When my head hit the pillow each night, His Spirit had been whispering very real reassurances to me, bringing to mind specific verses in the Bible that pledged how He would care for His children and look out for His loved ones.

“What is it exactly that a husband does for his wife? What does a father do for his child?” He prompted further. I supposed that both roles involved protection, provision, and unconditional love. “When have I ever failed you? What cause do you have to doubt My ability to come through for you in each and every situation – even if the answer is different than what you may have expected…or preferred?” He continued, gently but relentlessly.

The inner questioning went on. I felt myself at a loss to come up with answers. And still I felt an indescribable doubt wrapping its cold fingers around my soul. Into these strange musings broke the harsh reality that alas, I was clean out of the last ingredient on my list: butterscotch pudding mix. Now how on earth could I have done that? I ALWAYS had pudding mix on hand. 

I rummaged through the shelf again, then hastily glanced around at all the other shelves. Maybe I had misplaced it after the last shopping trip. Nothing.  In the spot where I normally kept pudding was only a vacant hole. Frustration was added to the list of negative emotions with which I was grappling. I didn’t have time to run to the store, and I couldn’t just throw out the mixture after using up 13 other ingredients.

What was I to do? Just at that precise moment, in an inaudible yet distinctly unmistakable way, I felt Him pointedly ask me, “Didn’t I tell you I will provide for you? How much do you trust  Me? Why don’t you ask Me?”

I knew with crystal-clear clarity in that moment that it is wonderful to talk about faith and trust, but that those big concepts are only truly defined in specific moments of need like the one I was facing. Gulping, I sheepishly admitted, “Father, I need butterscotch pudding mix. I’m all out.”

I don’t think even the widow of II Kings 4 could have felt as much amazement when she discovered the jars filled with oil, as I did moments later when I decided to look one more time on the shelf. I almost fell off the stool as I saw, not just any old pudding mix, but one package of the exact butterscotch mix that the recipe called for.

Tears streaming down my cheeks, I knew with absolute certainty that the very God who numbers the hairs on our head and sees the fallen sparrow, is alive and at work in EVERY DETAIL of our lives. Who says miracles don’t still happen today?!! This was only the first episode of many over the next two years, in which God provided for my every physical and spiritual need — often in uncanny, unpredictable ways.

If Moses had sat down before he headed into the desert with the Israelites, and calculated how in the world he would ever be able to find enough food, water, shelter, and firewood for the multitudes, he never would have left Egypt. But Moses didn’t let such details cloud his perspective. All he knew was that God had spoken, and that he (after his initial doubting stage) wanted to obey.

In the same way, I knew God was leading me to go to Africa. And so I stepped out into the unknown, trusting Him for the details.That’s not to say it was always easy…far from it. I was frequently homesick. It was a challenge living in close quarters with other missionaries from all over the world. It could be discouraging ministering to people who sometimes didn’t seem to show any long-term change. But God did miraculously provide.

 
On one occasion, my digital camera was stolen out of a ransacked suitcase in the Freeport, Sierra Leone airport. Within days, a couple from home wrote to say they had been wanting to help support me in a different way than just financially, and could they buy me a camera?

Another time, our ship’s engine broke down during a sail. The captain and mates said the situation looked pretty serious, from a technical standpoint. (After all, we were a 50-year-old boat.) Our vessel lay right in the path of a fierce storm. The crew gathered to pray for a miracle, asking that God would guide the hands of the mechanics laboring far below in the engine room. Within an hour, we heard the engines roar to life. Soon after we were on our way again, safely out of the path of the storm.

Whenever I wanted to go out into the African communities, I usually had to travel by taxi…quite a different experience than what we Americans know as a taxi ride, however. To make the best use of their space, and to earn the most money, African taxi drivers would often pile up to 20 bodies in their small minivans. If you were one of the first in (as I usually was), this meant having several sweaty, smelly bodies literally on top of you for the rest of your journey.

My fear was that I would contract one of the diseases that are so prevalent in that part of the world. AIDS in particular is a very real threat. Many of the people who were sitting in my lap, or who were pressed up against me, had open wounds, or coughed and wheezed in my face.

In those moments, I learned to pray Mark 16:17-18 – “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (And I usually added on at the end, “And they will sit with very sick people in African taxicabs, and shall not contract a disease.”) 

Do you know, the entire time I was in West  Africa, I never once came down with a local disease – not even malaria, which runs rampant? And this was in spite of the time I was invited back to a little hovel after Sunday School, in what must be one of the poorest spots in the world, and given a meal of fish and rice. The smiling housewife handed me the village’s prized possession: a metal fork. I think it may have been the only one they had, and they only brought it out on very special occasions.

The problem was, they had not washed it since the last time it had been used. I gulped and hid my dismay, smiling back as I reminded myself how important courtesy was in a missionary’s relations with the hosts. I began praying fervently, and discreetly bent down to rub the fork against my long skirt. I cleared my plate, later heading back to the ship to begin counting down the hours until I came down with some horrible disease. But…nothing happened. I stayed healthy. God was my protector.

I had intended to stay on the mission field longer than I actually did. For reasons unknown to me at the time, I knew clearly that it was time to head home after only two years. I felt badly, as it was in the middle of the school year and I taught in the ship’s school. How would they be able to replace me? The principal did his best to look around.

One day he came to me with a very interesting email from a woman who had written that she knew it was the middle of the school year and that it was unlikely there would be an opening, but that she was desperate to work for a few months in our school, in preparation for a long-term stint with an on-shore mission agency later that year. It was a perfect replacement situation for me.

I found out months down the road why God had brought me home early. My father, one of my closest friends and the picture of health at only 56, died suddenly of a heart attack while mowing his lawn. As difficult as it was to be at home and watch the suffering my family went through, I can’t imagine how I would have taken the news had I still been overseas.

In the dark and painful days that followed, He reminded me again and again of His promise to be my Father. “You were My child before I ever gave you an earthly father,” He would whisper to me as I lay crying in bed.  “Trust Me to meet your needs. Turn to me with your doubts, fears, hopes, and plans.”

He has never failed. He often surprises. He sometimes tests and forces me to grow. But He ALWAYS provides and loves. He wants to do the same for you.

Erin Doherty

“Erin Doherty makes her home in Forestdale, MA, close to the beaches of Cape Cod. She has been a reporter, teacher, missionary with Mercy Ships in West Africa, and office manager for a business firm. She currently works in marketing and consulting, and runs a small virtual assistance on the side called “Minding Your Own Business”. Erin leads worship at her local church, and loves a good adventure. To contact Erin, email her at EMDoherty@aol.com.”

Left to right- Megan Waites, Irene Sloggett, Deidre Wells, Amy Wells, Kate, Trisha Herd, Jenny Arthur, Gayle Coates & Kye. (Absent from picture but with them in the Spirit is Suzie Mowbray, Madi Elsegood and Adele Wall.)
 

My story is a story of how God’s unconditional love can heal all our wounds; no matter how deep they may be, or how long you may have carried them; and that all things are possible with God.
 
Now, don’t misunderstand me, I am not setting you up to tell you a heart-wrenching story. My testimony is a story of rejection; something we all deal with.
 
I was born on June 16, 1969 in Gosford, Australia into a non-Christian family. In our family love, affection and praise was something that was earned. I grew up a very shy, timid girl – critically lacking in confidence, self esteem and self worth– believing that I must work hard to be worthy of anybody’s love or respect. My parents undoubtedly loved me very much; however, their ‘tough love’ was something that hurt instead of healed.
 
Over the years I did all I could to be the best at everything, giving every effort I could in order to earn love and respect from those around me. Despite this, I firmly believed that I was not good enough, as I was never told how much I was loved or that anyone was proud of me. Upon leaving school, I went to Business College and that is when the wheels started to fall off the wagon.

I was so busy trying to be the best that I went overboard and ended up very ill with Anorexia Nervosa. I disliked myself so much because every time I analyzed life I saw rejection, which in my mind meant that I just wasn’t good enough.
 
One night in the silence of my room, while lying in bed I started to question my existence. I had somehow convinced myself that it must have something to do with God. I’d love to actually take credit for that intelligent summation, but God had planted a seed so strong and so large that it was pretty impossible to ignore!  It was then that I started taking myself to Church, searching desperately for answers.
 
You see, I desperately wanted to live without the bitter taste of rejection, because with the rejection came the lack of self worth. It’s human nature; whatever we focus on, we become. So going to Church challenged everything I knew about life and myself, as I understood it.
 
By 19, I married a Police Pilot with the Northern Territory Police Force. It didn’t take long to realize that I hadn’t escaped anything, I was in the same situation – different setting.  Here I was yet again desperately trying to earn love and respect. I was married for 11 years and from the outset, my husband had affairs and managed to have me believe that I was to blame. 

I set about trying my hardest to perfect myself and everything I did. Forbidden from going to Church I clung to what I knew from the Bible and the plans God had for my life while continuing to work myself into the ground, trying desperately to earn the love and respect of a man who I see now could never give that back to me. 
 
I ended up hanging my hopes and dreams upon I Peter 2:19 “God will bless you for this, if you endure the pain of undeserved suffering because you are conscious of His Will.” I lived in hope that God would reward me for the hardships I endured as long as I continued to live true to Him. During my 11 years of marriage, I gave birth to a son – Bodie and a daughter – Tomi. 

When Tomi was 6 months old, we moved to a small coastal town (Nelson Bay) where my husband was to commence work for Qantas on the International route. At this time his adultery and partying was out of control and I realized I couldn’t take any more. Even more than that, I didn’t want my children growing up in an environment where a husband treats his wife with such disrespect. I also craved the ability to worship God in freedom.   
 
In a situation, that I can only explain as a moment in time where I surrendered all and allowed God to do the rest, I “called it a day” on my marriage and began a new phase in my life raising my two small children. With the loss of my marriage, I also lost my own family. My mother and father were very upset and ceased contact with me. I pray each day that our relationship will be restored through God’s love.

It wasn’t easy, but I did what God laid on my heart to do, especially for the sake of Bodie and Tomi. If that meant I had to suffer by meeting all my husband’s new and different girlfriends, I did it.The sad thing is that during this process I forgot about me. I knew that God had gotten me through, but I had never allowed him to heal me. By that I mean, you can’t have a positive life with a negative mind. I was still wearing my low self worth and value proudly like a shiny medal.
 
God knows me. He is well aware of my weaknesses. So what does He do?  He calls me to His workout room where my ‘weights’ are actually ‘waits’. ”Here, lift these.” When you have completed this exercise, you will emerge a stronger woman.” So I began a journey on the ’strength train’ with the waits in my life.

As you may have imagined my journey of wait training started in the gym!  Exercise had become quite a stress relief for me, so it was there that my lessons began and I met a man. A relationship with this man developed, but developed in an incredibly unhealthy way, because I had attracted a similar sort of person to my ex-husband!

I learned the hard way that we can miss God by being in a hurry to get what we think we want or need. I learned the hard way that God’s timing was sooooooo not my timing, but only after many times of being dragged by my hair, picked up by the throat and being called every vulgar name you could think. I came to the point of exhaustion again and handed it to God, the bitter taste of rejection was engulfing me yet again. 
 
I realized there are good reasons why God doesn’t make our troubles just disappear and that we need to work through trials.  The hard reality hit me, that I had never given God an opportunity or chance to heal me, or restore me because I had never completely given him every part of me. 

After realizing that I couldn’t do it on my own or my way, I promised God from that day on I would give Him all of me, and that’s exactly what I have done. His presence began to flood the deep corners and crevices of my heart and mind, filling me with His unconditional love, grace and promise of complete restoration. He filled me with the hope of a future with all the desires of my heart.
 
God is turning my worthlessness into preciousness, my emptiness into fullness and my brokenness into a blessing that is beautiful. He opened my eyes and helped me to see that I had clung to the shadows of my past, allowing them to shape and define the person I was.
 
The wonderful thing about being on a journey and having God as the navigator is that when you listen to His directions it gives you endurance, and His endurance develops maturity of character. When you start to allow God to develop your character, it can’t help but produce joyful and confident hope in your future and eternal salvation.
 
Perhaps I’m just a slow learner but whatever the reason, I’ve discovered a way to walk in the confidence of my value and self worth in Christ, regardless of other people’s opinions or beliefs.  It’s taken me a long time to release my deeply embedded belief that I was worthless and of no value, that I was ugly and unwanted. To no longer have to live with that constant struggle, which not only damaged the image I had of myself, but also of what I perceived other people had of me, has bought a wonderful sense of peace I know can only be given by God.
 
Being secure in my Heavenly Father’s love for me and finding my self-worth and value affirmed in the pages of the Bible, opened doors and continues to open doors in my life I never dreamed possible.
 
I also love the fact that God never wastes a hurt. He brings restoration, and gives us opportunities to bless others. Through the trials and tribulations of life that we endure, He gives us understanding, which enables us to help others through their pain.
 
I have learned a very important lesson and that is that having such hope and faith in God never disappoints, deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts and when we place all our hope, trust and faith in Him, all things are possible!
 
There is one more chapter of my story I need to share with you. I want to tell you how I progressed in the “wait training”. God led me to Nelson Bay Baptist Church. In my wait training, He was not just moving and shaping me, He was moving, shaping and preparing me for my future husband, Todd. Todd is the Pastor of Nelson Bay Baptist Church, and aren’t the kids and I glad that God encouraged him to fish out of his own pond! 

Todd and I were married on September 27, 2003 and with that came the extended family I so desperately craved. I got a mum, dad and sister with all the love, acceptance, praise, comfort and sense of belonging I have so earnestly desired for such a long time. In addition, God continues to pour His blessings upon me. Todd and I added to our family. Bodie and Tomi have a brother named Kye who is 3 years old. 
 
I mentioned it before and I have to say it again, I just love the way God never wastes a hurt. Through my experience, God has given me an incredible passion for women, the troughs and peaks they work through in life to unleash the woman God calls them to be. My heart aches for the broken and wounded women. This drives me to see and seek unity in women, sisters in Christ, supporting, encouraging and sharpening one another.

God placed on my heart a vision that prompted me to form a group called “Soul Sisters.” We meet on a fortnightly basis on a Tuesday evening and our aim is to change the culture, attitude and way in which we love and support one another.  Our aim is to grow deep, real relationships that honor God, which we pray will ultimately have a domino effect throughout the Church and broader community.
 
My story and journey continues, and each day I wake with excitement, busting to know what God has in store for me today. 
 
HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!!

Kate Waldrop

Co-Pastor 

Nelson Bay Baptist Church

Australia ]]> http://www.charlipickett.com/2008/10/australias-soul-sisters/feed/ 0 http://www.charlipickett.com/2008/07/destiny-by-design/ http://www.charlipickett.com/2008/07/destiny-by-design/#comments Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:00:13 +0000 Charli http://www.charlipickett.com/?p=460 Signed, Sealed, & Delivered 

You’re a Package Deal Darlin’

Listen carefully & you’ll hear it. Written on whisperin’ wind. Sailin’ in on sea waves. Mingled in morning bird melodies. Hush, now. Catching this vibration is reserved for soul~stillness only. It’ll sparkle from nightsky starbeams, move through moonshadows, or dance for you in a child’s frisky fancies. However the magical mystery of your personal destiny reaches you, capture the cryptic design by seeking for it as for a  precious hidden pearl.
   
It’s not that our Heavenly Father hides our unique pathways from us, but, rather, for us. His sacred encryptions, each tenderly tailored, are encoded in our DNA. As deep calls unto deep, destiny’s discovery becomes life’s greatest quest; the fascinating find, God’s greatest gift to His beloved. In the mind of our Creator, conceptualized authentic identities are finalized, fixed, then framed in wombs of waiting mothers, & born for such a time as this. (Ref. Jer.33:3; Ps.119:73; Ps.42:7; Jer.1:5; Est.4:14)
  
Downloading God’s dream into full~tilt boogie, is accessed individually, from wells within your heart~drive. Get into slo~mo, then check the Maker’s Manual for Infinite Tech Support. The reveal? Proves you’re a Package Deal: Signed, Sealed, Delivered ‘n Ready to Rumble, Baby. In His benevolent genius, the Father has blueprinted & bundled your kit ‘n kaboodle capabilities for broad bandwidth, best~sellin’, big~box~office success. After all, He’s encapsulated apple seeds with spectrums of sweetness, rosy skin & fragrance, for fruition into luscious, nutritious treats, & core~nested the petite power packs. Would He do less for His Darlin’ Daughters, the “apples of His eye?”
   
We’re Hot Properties, Honeylambs. Hardwired for heavenly sonic resonance. He’s given us a blow~it or glow~it choice, & fiery frequencies for tuning into our harmonic symphonies; then listens up for His compositions. Music flows in no~net, free~fallin’ faith, tumblin’ into unfolding tapestries; unraveling purposes~by~design, prospering into Princesses of Royal Inheritance.
  
 If you’ve not happened upon the twin pearls of passion & destiny, venture a treasure hunt, with your Supreme Stylist as Tour guide. Taste of His intriguing Teaparty, exclusively yours. Recapture censored childlike enchantment. Come out ‘n play divine dress~up in your dazzling Designer Destiny & show the world a signed genuine original.~ Paula Pearcy  July 16, 2008
 
Paula lives in Olive Branch, MS. She is a featured monthly columnist for CLICK MAGAZINE, writes Contemporary Christian music, & freelances as a make-up artist on major motion pictures.

…But most of all she is my spiritual little sister and has been for many years. God providentially brought her into my life and until this day my life has never been the same. I praise God for the honor of knowing such a woman of God.  ~ Charli 

This is the chance you have always wanted, and I am so glad that I will be able to share what God is giving me with you. Each month we will be choosing an article, a devotion, special event, pictures, beauty tips, decorating ideas, recipes, etc., to be featured in our Ezine and on this website. We want to know what’s happening in your life and we want to share it with other women around the world.

We will pick one person’s article to be our “Featured Guest” article in our Ezine mail out each month, and one person to be our ”Featured Guest” on our website each month. It can be YOU!

So email your Charli-zine articles to me today! 

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Life is what you make it. So let’s make it FUN!