Past Weekend Blessings

I want to take a few minutes to recap some of last week’s blessings that were poured out on my wife and I in Missouri.  God’s hand was mighty on both of us and we’ve come back refreshed and praising Him.

I have a couple of friends that live in Springfield, Missouri.  I met them about 15 years ago on AOL.  We met when they lived in Kansas City.  It has been twelve years since I’ve seen them and my wife had never met them.  But as I told her, “I introduced you to my eye doctor and you get along fine, I’ll introduce Mark and Claire to you and it’ll be good, too.”  She was nervous and I did the best I could to mitigate those fears.

The reality was I mentioned to them what I felt God was doing and their immediate response was for us to come up there so they could pray for us.  We scheduled a long weekend and headed up there on a Friday after Dorothy’s doctor appointment.

I have been feeling like I’m in this season of intense grace for several months.  My heart breaks easy and often.  I find myself overwhelmed with love for the Lord in worship and often with a heavy presence of the Holy Spirit.  I’m thankful for it.  I hope this season lasts forever and I never see a dry spell again.  And maybe that’s part of why it seems so awesome … because I had been in such a dry place for something like 20 years.

At the doctor’s appointment Dorothy went in to give blood and have her thyroid levels checked.  They’ve been off for months and she’s been on medicine to try to find a balance.  In the process, her thyroid had continued to get worse and worse.  The doctor had told her that if they couldn’t get it under control, they would have to give her radiation to kill her thyroid and then she’d be on medication the rest of her life.  But I’ve been praying.

She comes out and calmly says, “they said all my levels are normal.”  I went into as much of a praise dance as I could in the car.  Thank you, Jesus!

I can tell this blog may be lengthy, so go get cup of coffee and get right back.  Seriously, I’ll wait.

We make it safely to Springfield and Mark and Claire are so precious to let us stay with them.  Mark has to work the next day, but we spend much of the evening catching up and letting them get to know Dorothy (and vice versa) until we’re all exhausted.

The next day I awake early and go out to their sunroom.  Claire is already up.  We start sharing about what the Lord has been doing in their lives over the twelve years and I start opening up a bit more about the vision the Lord has given me.  I share the dreams that I’ve had.  I also share Dorothy’s hesitations and reasoning.  But I also confirm to her that I’m not concerned about Dorothy’s reaction because God is working in her mightily.  And He is, too!

Dorothy wakes up and comes out.  She and Claire spend some time together before we all head out to take the grand tour of Springfield and grab some lunch.  The day is a real treat as the weather is perfect and we walk through their rejuvenated downtown area.

Mark finally gets home after a very full day and we go out to eat.  Mark is more open to me than any of the other times I had visited them.  Very fatherly.  God knew what I needed and had changed Mark over the years … or maybe me.  Either way, I was in a place where he could speak into me and I had a heart that could hear and receive.  One of the visions the Lord had given me, He had given Mark.  Mark opened up first about it and then I was nearly bouncing as I was seeing this laundry list being checked off in my heart as he went on.  Each step of the vision Mark had matched mine.  It was awesome.

Sunday morning arrives and we head off to church.  Sunday school, what a concept.  The only people we know and that know us are Mark and Claire.  The only thing anyone else knows is that we’re waiting on God and we’re open to anything the Lord may have for us.  We go through praise and worship which is fantastic.  The Lord really presses His Spirit on me and I’m broken.  After praise and worship ends, however, is when a lot of the ministry began.

They call us down to the front because there are several that have words from the Lord for us.  I’ll try to list them below in order:

• A woman comes to me and says, “The foundation is sure.  It’s perfect.  No flaws.  It’s not for the foundation that there is a crack in the corner of the room.  The Lord has put it there.  Take a closer look and you’ll see bees flying in and out.  Pay no attention to the bees.  Look closer behind the wall and you’ll see the largest honeycomb and the pure honey is dripping from it.  Place your mouth under it and catch all of the drippings.  You have heard from the Lord.  The word He’s given you is sure.  But this is a time of refreshing.  This is a season where He is pouring His word into you.”
• One of the elders comes to me and says, “God gave you a word and you wondered if it will come to pass.  It will.  It is my word to you.  My calling over you to go and do this thing.  And I saw Jonathan and David hiding behind a large rock.  Peering over they see the enemy.  Realizing it’s just the two of them, in the natural they are greatly outnumbered.  But with the Lord they realize they can defeat this enemy.  They dip their swords in honey before they burst onto the scene and the Lord helps them win the battle.
• An elderly woman comes to Dorothy, “The Lord says you’re grieving the loss of your son, but he’s standing next to Jesus right now.  He’s healthy, healed, whole.  Grieving is for a season, but rest in the knowledge that your son is with Jesus.”  (Dorothy was amazed because no one knew us.  She knew it had to be God!)
• The Lord gave me a word over Dorothy. “You were amazed at the strength of your son’s faith in his brokenness.  But you’ve struggled with your faith because of his brokenness.  Reach out, for I am right here.  I want you to be healed and whole.”

There were several others that just felt compelled to come and hug, cry, pray.  We left there astounded by the grace, mercy, favor, and faithfulness of our Lord over us.  He’s so incredibly good.  So incredibly tender.

The call is real.  The call is sure.  He’s doing a deep work in both of us and we’re saying, “yes, and amen!”

— Pastor Rick