I will strengthen you and help you.

I have become very fond of the "peanut butter" lady.  From that very first day we brought her peanut butter and then onto underwear, she has become very special to me.  Let me update you on her status since the storm.  She still has no power and her house is still damaged.  Three months later her life is still in rubble.  Her sweet husband of many many years fell after the storm.  He passed away a few weeks ago and now she is widowed.  Her life still in rubble.  God is using her to teach me so many things.  I often wonder how many blessings we lose, because we do not open our eyes and help those in need.  I have been blessed far beyond by helping, than she probably has by our service to her.  One Friday her grass was so high and God placed it on my heart to get a team together to cut it.  Me, my dad and my step mom decided one Friday we would go cut it.  I underestimated how much there was to cut, and to add to it my weed eater was broken.  God is so often in the little things, and He continues to teach me to trust in Him.  Five minutes later a sweet friend from church pulled up with her weed eater and a willing spirit to help.  God provided even in the little things that day!  One other situation that came up that day was the pile of trash she had accumulated due to the freezer going out because of no power.  It stunk.  We made one call to one of our teenagers at 9 am, which is way earlier than He was wanting to get up, but he was there in 15 min loading the trash in his truck and hauling it off.  God is so good to us!  Fast forward a few weeks, and the grass is knee high and needing attention again.  My sweet friend is now staying next door and there is now two yards to cut.  I mentioned to a very close friend that her grass was getting out of control, and we really needed to get over there and do something about her yards again.  She agreed to meet me last Saturday, with her family to tackle the "yards".  Once again I underestimated how much yard work really needed to be done, but God already knew.  We had one more friend show up with tools and a willing spirit and my husband was there to help out too.  But here is the amazing part...My friend and her family that showed up to help, lost their son to a tragic accident a little over six months ago.  The very next day, Sunday would have been his seventeenth birthday.  My friend, his mother, gets out of her car with a basket of goodies for our little old sweet friend that lost her husband. She also brought her dinner for that evening.  A greiving mother meeting anothers needs...that is all Jesus. My friends husband got on his massive lawn mower that he brought and started cutting her grass, and their youngest son grabbed a push mower and went to work on the front yards.  Here is a family that has been rocked to the core, but is still putting God first and ministering to others in need.  I was allowed to see the face of God in their eyes that day.  As I looked out across those massive yards and saw a family of three, that just six months ago was a family of four, serving our God in the midst of tragedy I couldn't help but tear up, not because of sadness, but because I saw how great our God is.  He upholds and strengthens.  He used a family mourning to help another one of His children in need and that was mourning.  That is real power, that is real strength.  I can't help but to praise a God like that.  I can't help but to fall in love all over again with a God like that.  How awesome that we serve a God that meets ALL our needs no matter how big, or small.  We serve a God that uses the broken to help heal others that are broken as well.  I remember asking my friend that day, how are you even standing up today, much less helping someone else out with this being your sons birthday, and her response was, "It's Jesus, I don't know what else to do but serve."  What an example set before us.  It's Jesus.

  So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Isaiah 41:10
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Life Exposed

One Saturday we took a team in to help clean up.  There was 8 or so of us, and on the way I just prayed that God would direct us where we needed to go.  As we parked at a sister church and walked in, we spotted a woman carrying debris to the road.  I asked her if she needed help, and she said with a relieved smile, "yes". It was only her and her husband that was left to clean up their property that held two houses and a garage and all three structures had been leveled.  Once again, everything needed to be brought to the road.  We walked on in and started dragging stuff to the road.  I noticed real quick we were right where the Lord wanted us to be.  Let me give you a little bit of back ground on what I observed about the family we were helping.  The couple was in their 50's, and we would go on to learn that they had children and grandchildren.  All were with them in their storm shelter when the storm came and all had survived, just not their homes or belongings.  The woman was very sweet and soft spoken, and her husband seemed to be very closed off, and wasn't quite sure what to think about us.  Just reading into the situation I could understand his uncomfortableness with us at first.  He was wearing a "Looking through my Beer Goggles" t-shirt, and scattered amongst all their belongings were all the things that Southern Baptist are against!  And here was a good ole group of Southern Baptist stepping over what was left of his life and probably judging him for what in his life was now exposed.  I praise God for the group that we had that day, because he quickly realized there was no judgement, only God's love that day.  I started thinking what in my life was displeasing to God, and if given the opportunity to be exposed needed to be cleaned up.  As I looked at this mans belongings, I had nothing but love and compassion, because I too had things that needed to be cleaned up.  Leave it to God to teach me a life lesson, when I thought the lesson might be for someone else that day.  How powerful is our God, that He loves us so much to give us situations like that!  By the end of the day everything that needed to be moved to the road was.  All the mess was cleaned up.  I would like to think that new life was started that day.  With that man and with me!  We prayed with the family before we left, and I can remember asking what specifically they needed prayer for.   The woman said she needed patience to deal with the fate she was given, and she pointed to her husband and said he needs prayer for "a lot of things"...I told her we could definitely pray for "lots of things".  I think we all need lots of things.  And by the end of that prayer I saw tears fall from the mans eyes, and relief in hers.  It was a good day for all of us!  Thanks and all the Glory to God!

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you-who are you to judge your neighbor?  James 4:12

Let us lead by example and Love...not judgement.

Let it Rain!

I believe it was the Tuesday after the storm the Rain fell!  We had been delivering meals twice a day to Concord, and we were somewhere around day 4 of relief work, I think.  At this point days were running together.  I knew it was going to rain, but I wasn't quite sure what the forecast held for us that day.  The Lord did.  As we got to the church around 7 am we started preparing the dinner for the evening and then moved on to bagging up the lunches.  Around 10:30 or so we pulled out with around 300 lunches to hand out.  I had packed ponchos, but didn't take time to look at the temperature, as it was 95 degrees the day before, so off I went in my wind shorts and sleeveless tshirt.  I should have looked, it was cold and wet!  We packed our buggies and wagons with the food and off we went.  Everyone we handed meals to that day thought we were nuts out in the rain, but they accepted everything with a smile.  It rained, and we were soaked!  But I looked at it like this ...that day the rain separated the boys from the men, as the saying goes.  We were walking in the rain for Jesus that day.  The power guys and construction workers were working for us in the rain.  The policemen, firefighters and our military men were standing in the rain for us that day.  We were the ones that went the extra mile to show people Jesus that day.  We wanted to show that we loved Jesus enough to love on the people that needed it most when times got rough...not when the sun was shining and it was easy.  We wanted to love on them when it was wet and cold.  I think we got that point across that day, and I hope and pray one person saw a difference in us that day, and I pray God puts someone in their path to explain to them what the difference about us was!  We ended up handing out over 700 meals that day soaking wet!  God wasn't finished teaching me lessons that day because as I look back he gave me a very special friend that day.  I saw the heart of Jesus pushing a wagon right next to me that day.  I had the pleasure of serving with a fellow believer and forming a life long friendship that day.  We had the joy of the Lord that day, and He gave us His strength to get through it.  I can honestly say I had more fun that Tuesday in the rain being wet and cold, than I have had on most beaches sitting with my feet in the sand.  All because we positioned ourselves to be used by God.  I think God let it rain that day for me!  So I could truly experience Joy like no other in Him alone.  He taught me so much that day, and I will treasure it for a lifetime, and I hope I can say forever...Let is Rain!

For the Joy of the Lord is your strength.  Nehemiah 8:10

Two are Better than One!

Another cleanup day I found myself questioning what God could do with five people.  You would think I learned my lesson from the previous week.  One week had passed since we had worked with 5 different people the week before, and God revealed himself in a powerful way.  Here I was wondering what we were going to do with five people, again.  That stubborn nature is hard to break.  Funny how God works out all the details, all you have to do is have faith and trust.  When we pulled up to a sister church we had been working with, one of the sweet ladies from their church told us of a post she had read on a local tornado facebook page that was asking for help.  The entire house had to be bulldozed and everything except the foundation needed to be brought to the road. We got the address and was on our way.  As we pulled up I saw one sweet lady with the cutest smile already pulling debris to the road.  I thought she might have lived there, but evidently she saw the same post we did and she drove in by herself and just started doing what needed to be done.  She lives 45 minutes from our city, yet she saw a need and she just did what needed to be done.  As we walked up she said, "Two are better than one!"  How awesome was it that our preacher had just preached a sermon the day before, on how two people are more effective for the Kingdom than one.  Two can accomplish more than one, and think of the snowball affect if you keep adding folks in!  Well guess what happened next.  Honda pulled up with their volunteers again, and shortly there was about 60 people working on one house that needed help.  In a little under two hours everything that was not attached to the foundation was sitting next to the road!  Imagine what could be done if we just work together and let God work out the details!

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work.  Ecclesiastes 4:9

You are My Strong Tower.

One particular day we had changed from taking meals to cleaning up debris.  The plan was to park, walk in, and see where we were needed.  There was only a few of us that day to help, maybe five of us or so and there was so much to be done.  After everything I had seen God do in the past few weeks, I am ashamed to admit that I doubted what God could use us for that day.  I was so disheartened because there was only five of us that showed up to help, and I questioned God wondering what five people were going to be able to accomplish that day.  I should know better than that by now, but by nature I am stubborn.  Leave it to God to show up and show out!  As we walked up the hill, we picked a house to start working at.  In the meantime two large buses had pulled up and unloaded about 400 volunteers from the Honda plant.  As the five of us were working on the house, dragging debris to the road, some of the Honda volunteers found their way over. They helped us clear off the hill on the home where we were working.  God provided the workers that were needed that day. I was embarrassed that I even questioned what were five people going to do.  God already knew that we needed five people that day because He already had 400 more on the way to meet us there!  But that wasn't even the most moving part of the day.  Before we left the home where we were working we decided to have prayer for the family that lived on that property.  We had no idea who the family was, or even what there situation was, but we were connected to them and wanted to lift them up to our Father.  One of my very dear friends was with me that day helping, and she was the one that offered up prayer.  We gathered the 20 or so Honda workers that had gathered with us at that moment and we lifted the family up to God.  Let me tell you about my friend that prayed...she had just lost her 16 year old son a little over three months ago in a tragic accident.  She had faced the worst tragedy any mother could face.  She had gone through what every mother prays against, and here was my strong friend calling out to God one of the most precious prayers for a family she didn't even know.  She was praying for their loss, in the midst of still grieving her own.  Her strength was evident that day, and it was the strength of God.  There were also countless Honda workers who heard that prayer that day, and I can't help but to think an impression was left on their life as well. As I stood on that hillside listening to the heavens opening up as she prayed, I felt the presence of God so strong, and I had to repent for even questioning how could God use only five people.  He did, and He really only needed one person that day.  My friend, who has endured more pain and sorrow than anyone should have to, allowed herself to be used by God that day.  She positioned herself to let others see Him through her, and she allowed me to see how strong God really is and that His plan is always perfect and He is in control.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.  Proverbs 18:10

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From Peanut Butter to Underwear

Somewhere around day 2 or 3 of delivering meals and supplies we ran across a sweet little lady.  It was as if I was meeting myself in about 30 years.  She lives with her husband and her brother was a frequent visitor.  One of our sweet guys that went out with us ran across her first.  They fed them meals and ask if they could bring any supplies to her.  Her only request was Peanut Butter.  The next day we went back out armed with meals, supplies and of course Peanut Butter.  As we got to her house that sweet smile greeted us as we delivered her Peanut Butter.  You would have thought we handed her a million dollars over just a jar of Peanut Butter.  Over the next few days we would bring her ice, trash bags, paper towels, batteries, flashlights fruit, Tylenol and just about anything she asked for.  We had obviously built a trust relationship with this sweet lady because one afternoon we visited we asked if we could get her anything else...well guess what she needed next...panties.  And her husband needed underwear.   The room that held their most important clothing had a tree sitting on top of it.  Well, that was something we didn't have in the cart.  My very smart friend that was with us even went further and asked if she needed cotton or nylon.  Who would have thought to ask that?  God did, through my friend He met this sweet lady's needs...He knew she needed cotton panties and He gave my friend the insight to ask that important question.  All I knew was that she needed "old lady panties".  Who knew old ladies were so picky with what kind!  Here is the cool part...we didn't have any at the church, and another friend, who had no idea of the request, had called within a few minutes and said she was at Walmart and was their anything else we need for supplies. Well, yes there was.  Cotton Old Lady Panties size 7.  They were delivered that afternoon, and our Sweet Little Lady had new clean panties on the very next day.   I often found myself worrying about them after we left for the evening or over the weekend.  I didn't realize how strong of a relationship we were building with people that we didn't even know.  That is what I later realized was the power of God.  That is the cool part about allowing God to use you to Love people you don't even know. These peoples needs were being met by God even in the smallest of circumstances.  Miracles are happening everyday...we just have to realize to look for them even in the smallest ways.  God organized everything to fall in place and all His people were at the right place at the right time and two old people have new underwear on because of it!

Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and got to visit you?"  The King will reply, "I tell you the truth whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me"  Matthew 25:37-40 

I have everything I need right here

Let me bring you up to speed...April 27th our town was affected by the massive force of the tornadoes that swept across Alabama...fast forward...our town has been affected by the massive force of God's grace and goodness up to this point.  I want to document our steps after the storms of God's grace and power and just what can happen if you position yourself to be used by God.

April 29th...2 days after the storms.  We went to one of the check points to see if our church could be of any help.  We wanted to see what we could do and how to even begin the process.  Goods were already being taken in, but that wasn't enough for us.  Our people were hurting, and we wanted to know what to do.  We wanted to know how to fix this.  One guy we encountered described perfectly what we were called to do.  Let me tell you about him and his story...He has salt and peppered hair, he wore thick glasses and there was a grin plastered on his face that could only lead me to the conclusion that he was there to help as well.  Although he wasn't, he would later go on to tell us that he endured the storm in the most scariest circumstances.  He was sitting next to a policeman who looked like he was fresh out of high school, and he was giving him a hard time about "being in charge."  You see the people gathered at where we happened to be, were waiting to get back into their town to see what was left from there lives.  At this point no one was allowed in due to search and rescue still taking place.  This salt and pepper haired man was doing the same as everyone else...waiting to see what all he had lost.  He had such a smile on his face and a wonderful spirit surrounding him that there was no way he was waiting to realize what he already knew, that much of his life as he knew it was gone.  You see he told us of his time with the storm.  He told us about how he covered his child, who was covering his grandchild and how he had prayed that if God had to take any of them would He just take him.  As the storm swirled around them and finished its fury, they realized it was over.  They climbed out of what was now boards walked out.  Once we realized this man was a victim and not there to help as we had first perceived, we asked how we could minister to him.  What did he need us to do?  In one statement we had our work set before us by a survivor of God's grace.  As he answered our question his smile got bigger and his eyes got brighter.  He said, "I have everything I need right here" as he pointed to his heart.  He went on to tell us, "I know the Truth."  He said, "All that in there, pointing to the rubble, is just stuff, none of that matters.  What matters is in here, pointing back to his heart."  He went on to tell us that he didn't need a thing.  The people that were walking around in utter devastation because they don't have hope and faith and the Truth were the ones that we needed to minister to, not him.  This was someone who had lost everything, but realized in a second he still had everything of value that really mattered, and in that moment he was rich and blessed.  I can't tell you how big the tears were or the chills that ran over my body in the 95 degree heat, but it was the sweetest moment that made me realize how precious my Jesus really was.  And so our work was set before us by a sweet man with a friendly grin who had escaped the storm with his most prized possessions...his faith and his family!

"I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him."  John 14:6-7