"You don't know me but..."

The most precious phone call I've ever received came today. via a woman I've never met.


So I confess. I totally screen my calls. Once we got caller ID, I was hooked. "Oh...it's the person running for re-election calling to ask me for my vote? Hm. Sor-ry. Not home."

Or "Huh. It's my husband calling to apologize for that stupid thing he did this morning? Hm. Sor-ry. I want to ignore you for just a little while longer." Wha? Me?? do something like that? Nah. I'm farrrrrrr too mature. *ahem*

Yeah, I'm totally digging this new found Phone ESP.

So this morning when I saw a name come up on the caller ID that I didn't know, I hesitated. Do I really want to deal with yet another wrong number?

(Some phantom Rodriquez family gives out OUR number to THEIR creditors. Over the last 5 years, I'd guess we've had at least 200 calls from creditors across the nation. Oh, as well a *bonus* call from an impatient attorney. ALL looking for that elusive Rodriquez family. Sometimes, when they've REALLY exhausted their options in tracking down the R. Fam, they start to harass me: not believing me when I say I am not them, don't know them, and don't live with them. Grrr. But I digress...)

Despite my bad experiences with numbers I don't recognize, I answered the phone. I'm wild like that.

"Hello?" I answer in my firm voice, primed and ready to reprimand the poor, uninformed creditor on the other end of the line.

CALLER: "Is this Christin?"

Okay, so that doesn't sound like a wrong number. "Um, yes?"

CALLER: "Well, you don't know me, but..."

I spent the next ten minutes talking to an elderly woman who called me for no other reason than she saw my last name in the phone book. A last name that shares her heritage.

CALLER: "I really love learning about geneology. Can you tell me anything that you know about your last name? It's mine too."

Have you ever heard of anything so sweet? Can't you just see it? A sweet older lady thumbing through the phone directory on a Saturday morning...coming to my last name...timidly picking which one to call (they're aren't many in this area)...and then striking up a conversation with a total stranger just because she knows we have one thing in common.

Oh. my. word. I wanted to hug her.

I told her what I knew, laughed with her, and answered questions about myself. And out of the blue she then said, "I'd just love to meet you guys. I turn 80 soon, and there are a couple of other (my last name) in the area and I'd love to have you guys all come and help me celebrate."

Okay, so my heart melted on the spot. Does this woman not have family? Is she looking for people to help her celebrate the last years of her life? in the phonebook??!! Oh my goodness, I wanted to hug her. Have I mentioned that yet? because I really did. :)

I assured her that we'd be HONORED to help her celebrate. And man, you should have heard her. Her voice got all high as she laughed in delight. :)

And yes, she does have family, I asked. She told me more about herself, sounding completely giddy that the conversation was going so well. She repeatedly said that we'd definitely have to meet...especially being that I have five daughters.

Because really, what person over the age of 50 can resist a posse of little sisters? :)

I do believe I may have just been adopted by a grandmother type. And I couldn't be more thrilled.

Miraculous (though somewhat embarrassing) healing. With before and after pictures.

Some miracles display the awesome power of God. Like this story a YWAM friend sent me some years back where they prayed and someone was raised from the dead.

Some miracles display His intense desire to, first and foremost, woo your heart . Like this story where a friend was paralyzed for a year, people from her church faithfully prayed for her every week in her living room, and then one day...she took a step.

Some miracles happen right before your eyes as you step out in blind faith. Like the time the Lord literally told me to "blow on it"...and as I blew air on someone's badly infected boil, it disappeared right. before. my. eyes.

(I have no link to that story because I'm not even sure I've ever mentioned it. Crazily enough. :) Trust me, if I tried to document it all, I 'd be stuck to my computer day in and day out. His work in our home is that intense...and frequent. Love it.)

Every work of the Lord reveals yet another facet of his love for His Bride. It's just too deep to put to words, so he uses the framework of our lives as a display.

That said, not all miracles of the Lord are the same. One will reveal a specific expression of his heart, while another will unfold something entirely different. In the end, our stories combined reveal a God who's love is rather hard to resist.

So for me... The miracle that hit my life this past week reveals a side of Him that I think can sometimes get overlooked and underplayed in every day living: The tangible COMPASSION of God.

I mean, sure He has compassion on the blind guy. or the leper. or the guy who's been given 2 months to live because he has an incurable cancer. Those things are life impairing! But for Him to show compassion concerning something that is nothing outside of a bother, an embarrassment, and a frustration to me? *shrug*

Well, that defies reason.

The Story

In a nutshell, years ago my hormones levels went crazy, causing unwanted facial hair, especially along the jawline. I was *horrified*. I cannot stress that enough. But the clincher was when the OB said that once hair folicles are established, the hair remains. (even after hormone levels are stabilized.)

I think it'd be fairly accurate to say that with that statement my heart dropped.

Now I gotta say, this is embarrassing stuff for me just "put out there". Because honestly, I HATE that I've dealt with that. It's demoralizing as a woman. But bottom line, every one has something about themselves (physically) that they don't like. Right?

But it just becomes something that we learn to deal with, to hide. We learn to shadow it with makeup or mask it with clothes. We smile so as not to show our crooked teeth or position ourselves so that our "less than" feature is out of view.

Essentially, we become pros at concealing that which makes us feel less than. But I'm seeing that God wants to use those things to show himself More Than.

Over the years, I've casually asked Him to intervene....to, essentially do what doctors said wasn't possible: to cause the hair to just go away.


Yeah. I h.a.t.ed. that picture. Besides the fact that my face was still swollen from having a baby the day before, it was a total shot of the very thing I hate. That hair on my jawline.

You know, the hair that the OB said would never go away. Well, Mr. OB...I gotta say that the Lord IS the final say.


Last week, I noticed that it was alllll gone. Um, yeah. Just like that.



He's that concerned about the things that concern ME.


My heart is to never hide the works of God in my life. I've told Him that "I want to be transparent so that you can be seen through me." Even when that telling might cost me. Um yeah, that'a'be pride I'm talkin' 'bout!

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. Psalms 138.8

Wow. Take the truth in that scripture out for a spin! It's mind-boggling to think that He will PERFECT that which concerns ME. But this week, I'm come face to face with the truth of it.

But don't let it stop here. This is my story, but He has a story for you as well....

Kainos. Experience it for yourself.

There are few people in life that I can honestly say I respect without reservation, follow their lead without hesitation, and advertise to others, on MY word, that they are, through and through, The Real Deal.

There are few people who's relationship with the Lord truly inspires me, causes me to think from a whole new perspective, and encourages me that yes, God is still all about the miraculous...based on their personal experience of His tangible heaven-on-earth *kaboom* manifest power.

While some seem content to stay on the sidelines, safe in the shadow of someone else who's frontlining it in the heavenlies... I have a friend who thrives on being that Frontliner, boldly breaking apart traditional thinking. Not for the sake of just bucking "tradition" mind you!! but for the sake of breaking old mindsets that have slowly become like quicksand.

He's NOT about disrespecting tradition...just making sure it actually aligns with JESUS and bears fruit evident of His Power. Pharisees were all about "tradition", you know.

*cough cough* Graciously forgive his obvious need of Style Intervention. bwhahha

His heart and his passion for life (and Jesus) are contagious. He's the kind of person you want to be with, you want to be like, and you want to follow. NOT because he pretends to be perfect (I think he'd be the first to tell you that he's not), but because he's unwavering and sincere in his mad-pursuit of Jesus.




So why am I raving about this friend o' mine, you ask?

Because he leads a ministry that Jet and I would love to be a part of . You know, if we weren't already heading up our own discipleship training school for young girls (aged 5mo-7yrs). :)

AND I happen to believe that the quality and integrity of the leadership is KEY when choosing which ministries/training programs to align yourself with. So because I can wholehearted back this man, I present to you:

Kainos International Training Center

(Insert: if you google kainos, you'll get all kinds of ministries. Apparently the name is popular, being that it's Greek for "new creation" So use THIS LINK.)





Under his leadership (as well as a few others!) you WILL get to experience the Lord like never before. Unless, of course, you choose to just stand there, arms crossed, determined to prove me wrong. Even then you gotta acknowledge that God's done a lot with stone-faced, arms-crossed people over the years, so chances are you'd still come out changed. *wink*

His tweet on March 12 (they were in England)...

"Beyond great Friday night service at Betel. Saw 5-6 instantaneous physical healings. Plenty of changed lives too. Thanks for the prayers."

Yeah. Doesn't that just make you want to sign up? I LOVE when leadership naturally stirs up the supernatural!

(picture taken when he was serving on a missions trip in Africa...apart from Kainos)

Now, the only thing left to say is:
DO YOU


WANT TO BE


INVOLVED?



Email me at GvnJCmyALL (at) aol.com and I'll put you in connection with Jon.

Less Stuff. More Peace.

There's something about simplicity that appeals to me.

Simple meals. Laid back time with friends. Sitting on the porch hand-in-hand with my husband, talking as the sun goes down. Meeting someone for coffee (even though I don't drink the stuff) to share the ins and outs of our hearts.

I much prefer the slower things in life; the things that don't require batteries or remote controls or rented party halls.

Don't get me wrong, I love parties, and am actually energized by them. Yet...there's just something so completely "ahhh" about Simple, you know?


These days my love of All Things Simple is translating into our home and the amount of stuff that fills it. (This is where children everywhere run to hide their favorite toy in fear of it mysteriously exiting the house) <--- yeah, so not kidding. ;) The less stuff we have in our house, the more peace there is in our hearts. Or is it just me? We're yet to get our house on the market, held back by details that are fast coming together by my handy-dandy, brilliant husband. But the smaller details...the ones that require a high tolerance for the filthy attic...are ever being readied by yours truly. This is me curtsying, broom in hand.

• the organizing of the toys with a million pieces,
• the cleaning out of the closets and bookcases and storage bins,
• the purging of the unwanted and unneeded,
• and the packing of whatever remains...

Yup, that has been a major part of my day month. Uh-huh, I'm that hip. BUT (and this may only reveal more of my Dorkism) I'm getting some kind of giddy thinking about what "LESS STUFF" will actually mean!!!

Buy lots of land and live in a trailer, you say? Alright! WHERE do I sign up? Seriously, I'm totally game being that I'm so over having a large house filled to the brim with stuff. Stuff that requires me to revolve my life around taking care of it. Ew.

Right now the plan is to rent a honkin' storage unit once we our house on the market. We're doing this for a few reasons (since I know you're going to ask, Dad. haha):

• Some people aren't gifted with the ability to see past people's stuff and we, therefore, want to help them out by removing some of our "unnecessaries".
  
  
• Some little people..*ahem*... aren't capable of keeping our house free from clutter.
  
  
• Some people are better off when they know that all the packing won't have to be accomplished in one panicked swoop, while simultaneously trying to herd cats keep five children under control. Clearly, I'm referring to Jet here. *cough cough*
  

And I have to admit, I'm loving packing up and sending out. Bu-bye.

Over the last year, I've been working like a woman in need of psychological intervention on a mission to rid my house of excess. This is where I insert a BraveHeart Mel Gibson-esk cry of FREEDOM.

It's truly amazing how much stuff you can amass over a few years. But even more amazing is how much that stuff can weigh you down on every level. I'm telling you, Excessive Stuff = Bondage, people! Even if I can get something at a yardsale for $.25, I ask myself if its addition to our home with cost me (in sanity) more than the presumed bargain.

Anyhoo...that's where I am: very over living a life choked by stuff and on a mission to ready our house to sell by organizing every little bitty thing in my home. I hope to find my way out from under this pile soon. But I'm so excited as I know a life of pure SIMPLICITY is within my grasp. *bliss*

Dismembering and other such teachable moments.

Let's set the stage, shall we?

My three youngest are napping. My two oldest and I are snuggled up on the couch reading Proverbs in the Bible.

Now before you go and wax all crazy, thinking that I am the magnanimous mom of obviously superior, never disobedient children. a woman confidently standing at the helm of a 100% peaceful and sparkling house...

(Hark! Is that a halo I see emerging over my daughters' heads? Oh. Nope...it's just the sunlight hitting the flying dustballs in my pigpen living room )

... allow me to lay all my crap bare clarify.

We've not sat down to read the Bible like this for a while now. My days, of as recently, have consisted of conversations like this:

• "If your stuff is not put away in 5 minutes, I'm throwing. it. away. Period"
  
• "Stop putting your fingers in your sister's mouth!"
• "If you complain about doing school work on more time, so help me..."
• "Jet, you have to come home NOW because I'm borderline abusive." (spoken a little tongue-in-cheek. but yeah, only a little) *wry grin*
  

So yeah, don't bother crowning me Mother Superior with the faulty thinking that sometimes comes from reading other people's "perfect-home-moment-snippets"... as I'm most assured the tiara would self-destruct.

Anyhoo... there we were, reading the Proverbs when we came to the concept of wisdom. Trying to explain this deep concept to my girls, I used the example of Solomon...more specifically when he was dealing with the two woman who were fighting over the newborn baby. (1 Kings 3:16-27)

Now I half expected dramatic symphony music to crescendo as I got to the part about how Solomon declared, "Cut the baby in half!"

Totally prepped and ready to have the girls go all emotional with the injustice (and disgusting nature) of it, I was taken wayyyy off guard when my five year old looked up at me and calmly stated:
"I bet they'd both want the head."

Huh. didn't see that one coming. It's never quite like you plan, is it?

Cue curtains abruptly closing. Nix the dim stage mood-lighting. Show's over, people. Because *poof* emotional moment of spiritual teaching gone in an instance as I couldn't contain the laughter.

Where do they come up with this stuff? And should I be worried?