I Surrender All.

God is good, and unlike our weather here in the Pacific Northwest, He is unchanging. He lives in us and loves through us when we allow him full access to our lives. This is what surrender looks like. Allowing our Father God to prompt us through the Holy Spirit to do or say things that may not fit our own agendas. It may come with a very high price tag. It may cost your physical being, financial assets, mental faculties, or even your precious family. Are you truly willing to carry this cross? Am I willing to shoulder this burden of surrender? Can I even handle it? No! On my own, the plain and simple truth is no. But as I fall to my knees under the weight of my cross, it is here in this place I will meet my sweet savior as he waits patiently to hoist this burden off my back and onto his own, if I will but surrender my will to his. On my knees in the muck, bloody and bruised, face and hands raised high, I cry out and begin to experience true freedom.

Amazing praise report from the precious woman with the neck cancer. Not only is she on the mend, she is healing unexpectedly fast. She is able to put a scarf around her neck and venture out of her home. Praise you father God! Continue to work healing in her entire body ensuring this cancer will be gone for good. We give you all glory!

We have a working oven. And let me tell you it has been working. We all love to cook around here and this is the best time of year to be baking and so we are. Thank you God for the provision of an oven.

A friend who had a difficult time getting pregnant and has lost many babies, has given birth to a healthy baby boy. Both mom and son are doing great. Thank you God for blessing this family with new life.

Requests:

My friends oldest son was hit by a car while on his motor cycle. He was airlifted to Harbor view where he has had several surgeries to repair legs, knees, ankles, internal injuries, and to rule out other internal injuries. Praise God he was recently taken off the ventilator and can speak to his family. He has a long road of recovery ahead. He will be in the hospital for a few more weeks, and then in a full time nurse care facility for a few months during rehab. How difficult to see your child have to go through this. Pray for calm in the midst of the storm. Pray that God's presence would be felt in very tangible ways for them. We ask Lord that you would be in each detail of each day including placing just the right staff of care givers in place. Thank you for protecting his life. Now Lord stand guard over it for your glory in this young man's future.

A friend's sister just had some tests done that have lead them to believe that her baby will possibly be born with Down Syndrome. God this baby is fearfully and wonderfully made of this we are confident. Give mom a solid confidence in you to walk this road with grace knowing that this child was created exactly to your specifications for a kingdom purpose.

Stephanie - Praise and requests - She is feeling very week. She missed out on going to the fair with her family and this hurt her heart not being able to see a lot of firsts for her guys. God knows this and he knows it hurts. Fortunately, Stephanie knows this and believes it, but that doesn't always make it easier. Let's pray God would give her strength for each new day and allow her to be joyfully expectant of what he wants to show her through this journey.

Nick - Our nephew is back home now, but the memory of the visit won't fade so quickly. This is a young man with a very dark and conflicted heart. The enemy is waging full scale war for this little 12 year old life and sadly he is winning. Join with me in fighting for my family. Let's pray back what belongs to our King.

Me - I am having a difficult time recovering from our nephews visit, physically. It was a very stressful and challenging time. My tension level has been high, my muscles are in knots, and my face and arm are tingling. I felt some very real spiritual attack the last half of the visit and have had a hard time regaining my ground. I feel like my sword is just swinging from one side to the other and back, violently. I know my enemy would love to see me fall but greater is He who is in me, than he that is in the world. I will fight, with my armor in place, and with my prayer warriors at my sides.

Mark and I - He is still looking for work. He has had an offer but it wasn't enough to even be what unemployment would be. We are just beginning to consider other options like me being more employed now and him focusing on the homeschooling. I am looking into some writing possibilities, (feel free to follow my blog as this could prove helpful to me in this regard), praying about catering options, and just trying to wait on the Lord and see how these would fit in with my job I already have and love. And then again this may not be what God has for us at all. We would just really like to be in his will regarding our employment and education of our kids.