Replacement of the Door

After we had a leak in the ceiling at the office of On Wings the landlord had come to check out the damage.  We had just replaced the tiles in the ceiling and now they were lying on the floor and several others were stained and water had run down onto our TV.  I said, "Lord, what is the purpose of all this?"  As our landlord was leaving I asked about the possibility of using the room which is connected to our office and he told us we were welcome to use the room at no extra charge. WOW! 

The room was filled with trash and materials left by a former tenant.  It didn't take me but one day to get the cart and get the room cleared out for use! The trouble was that in order to use the room we needed the door to be replaced  because it been busted after an attempt by a burglar before we even opened our office.
Afterseveral attempts to get someone to come down to On Wings office to take care of the problem I decided to make one last ditch effort last week.  I called my Dad and said, "Is there any chance I could get you to come down and see what materials we need to be able to lock the door?"  He came down later that day and we went to the third floor to get a door that the landlord told us we could use.

There was a young man working alone there and we introduced ourselves and told him our plan.  He came down and assisted us with picking out the door that was hinged in the same way the door we were replacing was.  He walked off and I thought we were on our own until all of a sudden he reappeared with tools to help.  Then he helped to carry the door downstairs for us (I did not know just how heavy the door was; my Dad and I could not have managed it on our own).  Think God knew that?

Then the young man, Maurice, began to survey the door frame which was also busted and set about repairing it from materials upstairs.  The more I watched him work, the more I was amazed at God's provision for us that day.  If I hadn't seen Maurice later in the week I might have thought he was an angel sent by God to get a lock on that door.  We thought he was an angel anyway.

You see God had opened the room for us to use just in time to collect the shoe-boxes we needed to store and work on for the children for Christmas.  It was an awesome reminder of God's faithfulness to get the work accomplished.  He is always right on time.  Sometimes He just has to demonstrate in a way that you know could have ONLY been Him.  We all rejoiced that day together (with Maurice) that God had him in place for such a time as that.  I just love it, don't you?

Worthy Vessels

We took our families from On Wings on retreat in September and our topic was the Potter and the Clay.  The first night Patti Sheets came to teach us by taking a piece of clay and molding it into whatever shape we chose.  It was a great way to begin our weekend together.  She will fire our vessels and get them back as a reminder to us of how the Potter forms us into His useable vessel.  Thank goodness the eye of the potter sees beyond the shapeless lump of clay to the finished product.  Never having made any pottery it was unclear to each of us just how our vessel would shape up.  Some had to reinforce their piece where it was weak.  Some were given the choice to completely start over.  Some added adornment and sayings on theirs to make it their own creation.

I thought of how Elohim takes us in our unformed state and molds us and makes us just like He desires.  We are all unique, with our own flare of color and design.  I hope He has as much fun creating us as we had that night gathered around the kitchen table, oblivious to the outside world.

One of my favorite parts of the book, Worthy Vessels by Nell Kennedy, is the story about the beginning of the process of firing.  Ladies of olden days would make their baskets from the reeds in the field and then go out to pick berries.  The trouble came when they would lose the berries through the holes in the basket. So one day they decided that they would line the basket with the clay of the ground and let it dry.  This provided a container that had no holes in it.

One day the women were in the fields collecting the berries when a fierce fire started in the field.  The ladies gathered their babies and ran, leaving the baskets there.  Upon return they discovered that the basket had been burned away and had left a beautiful vessel that was now able to contain liquids.  The berries inside the basket had left a beautiful color as it was fired that day.  Thus became the beginning of the kiln in which the vessel is placed for firing today.  The Potter knew just how much fire each individual pot could stand.  He would place the pot in just the right place, sometimes even within a vessel that was more sturdy and could with stand the fire.  He was always there watching the temperature so that the pot could be of use when it came out.

That my friend is what He does with us.  We may have to walk through the fire but He is right there with us each step of the process.  He knows just what me need.  Why then do we hesitate to trust Him when He promises to never leave us nor forsake us.  Thank Him for the fires.  It is through them that He transforms us from weak, changeable people into strong, useful vessels.

What a Happy Day as Brett was baptized!

What a glorious day it was as our family gathered to witness the baptism of our grandson, Brett.  What made it even more special was the fact that his great grandaddy was able to perform it.  What a great feeling of satisfaction it is to know all in the family have the Lord Jesus Christ reigning in their hearts.  Now we await little Kane's decision to follow Christ.....but he is only four and also safe for now.
God has been so faithful to our family and I just wanted to stand up and shout it from the rooftops.  We are certainly praising the Father this day.  Afterwards we had a celebration around the table with fellowship and thanksgiving.  We've come a long way, baby!!!!!
I pray Brett will always honor God with his life.  Thankfully his parents have lived an example before him and been faithful to have him in church so he could hear the word. 

A New Song by Anita Ford

A New Song

I can sing a new song
With words that bless and praise
Your Majesty, Your Holiness
The glory of Your ways

I can sing a new song
Created from Your love
That lifts my soul to Holy heights
Upon the wings of doves

Let it be a melody
Proclaiming all You've done
Blessed Holy Trinity
Father, Spirit, Son

I can sing a new song
Each morning when I rise
And I will do Lord until
I meet you in the skies

Lord hear me as I sing to You
Your ears to me attend
Jesus and O Holy Spirit
Embrace the song I send


Anita Ford. 2012

Singing a New Song of Praise

I must share with you briefly what has occurred since you folks have prayed so long for our son, Rob.  Last week he called to say that he wanted to know the bible better but he had a hard time retaining it so would I send him a verse everyday.  So of course I was thrilled to do so.  He had recently given up something and made a vow to God which of course Mom had prayed for for quite some time.  He said he was ready for God to show him his purpose in life.  WOW!!
He tried to get me at 12:30 am this morning but got his Dad.  He said he wouldn't wake you up Mom and I was mad.....but he sees God's purpose in that this morning.  He had to go to God.  The devil was raging in him with anger and self condemnation but out in the night air he prostrated himself on the hood of his car and saw the Psalm 23 he has on the windshield of the car and he raised up and put both hands up in the air and totally surrendered to God.  Asking for forgiveness and cleansing and for God to show him his purpose.
He went back in the house and asked his wife, Tina, did I say wife..........do you know how wonderful that sounds to me....to read Psalm 23 over him.  She did....over and over and he said with each time he felt release and peace come over him.  I have known my son almost 35 years....next week.... and I believe God supernaturally delivered him last night.  We have conversed this morning off and on and I see a changed heart and spirit.  He says,  "Mom, I am thirsty and i don't mean for a drink of water".  I said I know what you mean son and how happy you have made me this morning.  We are headed for a different journey my friends and I so excited to walk it.  The walk of healing and restoration has started already but it seems more powerful this morning to me. 
Next time you see Rob I believe you will meet the new man that is within him.  He acknowledges the answer to all your prayers.  so when you meet remind him that you have and rejoice with us.  I am surprised you have not heard me shouting praises to my Father.  the One Who does what He says He will do.  He promised me so many years ago and I have lived to see it begin.  If I loved Him before I do love Him more today.  He has set my son free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I thank you with all my heart for every petition you have raised on our behalf.  Don't stop because Rob recognizes that the enemy will attack so he needs your prayers.  Oh would I love to go back and add a chapter to my book........with encouragement to others to hold fast to God's promises....As my son said this morning,,,,,,,God does not lie Mom. 
Thank you for the prayers for the Retreat.  It was awesome.  God did a mighty work in hearts and is teaching them that they can sing a new song in their pain. Deliverance's took place and new insight was gained.  The place was awesome.  I am so happy to be serving my Lord in this capacity.  Some of you provided for those to go who could not afford it and i know God will bless you tremendously.  He is soooooooooo  up to something huge and it is my privilege to be a small part of it.
My heart is definitely singing a NEWSONG today.   

Sing a New Song; His Banner over you is LOVE.

Our Summer Retreat at Apple Hill was truly amazing.  God had prepared for us to meet for months at this very special place.  He wanted us to come and worship Him.  Our theme was Sing a New Song for His banner over you is LOVE.  He certainly showed His love for us as Randy and Merry sang, accompanied by Merry's husband.  It was a beautiful time as we listened to them share their hearts in worship and joined in with them at times.
What a glorious place filled with God's presence all over the property.  Little Ms Cathy is about the only one who saw the sun rise but she loved it and told us all about it.  We saw the deer and the horses and of course plenty of doves!!!!  We even made our way up to the prayer mountain the first morning before the heat got so bad.  Everyone was a trooper as we kept saying to ourselves, "get back up and take the next step, take the next step". We might have gotten there huffing and puffing but we made it.

Poem by Rose Marie Bigbie

Help Me To Relinquish

Father, help me to relinquish all the things I dearly hold 

All the ways I try to cling to, in my persistent self-control

Give me rest from every burden I so needless carry ‘round

All the anxious moments in me that deny any peace be found

Let me finally see the end of all that I defend

Let me lay them at Your feet for your able hands to mend

I’m too weary to continue to find ways to circumvent

Any consequence of sin I tried never to prevent

Now I give You every care, every anxious moment spent

 That I  was never meant to carry, I now confess and do repent.

Let me live a life surrendered to your loving rod and staff

Let my faith and trust grow stronger in the face of wheat AND chaff

Now I lay down at Your feet all the things that keep me from

Singing praises to your Name, and crying,  “Not MY will be done “ !

Take away all understanding that is not  on You I lean

As I give You full permission to direct YOUR  paths,  Supreme !

Amen

 Ro Bigbie

A Trip to NYC with our grandaughters!

I was thrilled to be able to take our granddaughters and their friend Madison, who is the granddaughter of my friend Cindy to NYC recently.  They had wanted to go for a very long time so we decided this was the year.  They were 10 and 12 years of age so just perfect to be enthralled by the flight and the sights in NYC.
We visited the Toys R Us store and rode on the big Ferris Wheel in the store.
We went to see a Broadway play, Mary Poppins.  I enjoyed it as much as they did.  We had perfect seats on the front row in the balcony.  Mary flew right up to where we were.
We went on the cruise boat and saw the Statute up close and personal.  We went to ground zero and the memorial.  We went shopping.....of course.  We went to the Tony Awards and stood outside as the stars came and went.  We went up to the Empire State Building at night and saw the expanse of the city in lights.  I prayed for the people as I circled the building.
We ate cheesecake to our hearts content and went to Carmines for dinner one night where they served family style.......Shrimp Scampi, Caesar Salad and Italian bread.  Awesome.
Best of all we sang and talked and made lots of wonderful memories together.  They had a blast and Nana and I did to.  Thank you Lord for the experience and opportunity to go.

An interesting God Encounter yesterday

I had to work yesterday and of all things be at work at 5:45 am.  Now for a retired woman that is way too early, but the good thing is I got off at 2:15.  It was raining and as I pulled out of our driveway I was thinking...I should have gotten my chap stick out of the trunk before pulling out of the garage.  So....I decided I would stop under the shelter of BP to get it out.  I was all set to turn in, cause they don't open that early, when I spied a sheriff's car there.
I decided to nix that idea and pull into Kangaroo which had several people there with all the lights shining brightly. I got out, got my chap stick and got back in the car.  As I shifted into drive I noticed a man at my window.  He needed money for gas to get home.  Now mind you I have often been approached in that manner but this time was different.  I had a peace and decided to get out, go to my trunk where my purse was and was about to reach for a 5 dollar bill when I was immediately impressed to give him a 20 dollar bill.  Now that was a God thing because I have never done that before. 
I had just spoken to someone the day before about being instantly obedient to God.  Was this a test for me?  I am not sure, but I am glad I was obedient to the Father.  Made my day a lot better.  I will never know the whole story of that young man but I am grateful I was prepared to give as God directed me to.  Thinking about it later it seemed surreal.  He could have gotten into my car and driven off when I got out, or grabbed my purse....a lot of things could have happened.  I explained to him how I had only stopped to get my chap stick, and apparently God had orchestrated the whole situation. I can't explain what peace I had through the whole scenario but I pray to the Father that I passed the test.

Headed to NYC

Every-time my friends and I went on a trip to NYC our granddaughter's always wanted to go.  So the time has come....we are flying out this Saturday morning.  We are going with my friend Cindy and her granddaughter Madison.  It has been fun chatting about what we are going to do and where we are going to go.
We plan to take them to see Mary Poppins, climb to the top of the Empire State building, go to see the Statue of Liberty, the Central Park Zoo, and lots of other things.  We look forward to the encounter's God has for us along the way, cause we always have them.
Please be praying for us as we travel.  I am looking forward to making lots of memories as we spend time together.  Maybe I will have the privilege of taking the grandson's in a few years.  I will look forward to sharing our adventure with you when we return.  I will eat plenty of Cheesecake for you all.

The Lord Almighty is with us!

Last Friday I was at work when I received a call from Jimmy that my Dad had had a heart attack. He has not had any heart problems before so it was quite a shock to us all. My Dad has always been a model to all who know him, but no more so than to his daughter. I began immediately to cry out to the Lord for His protection. I walked to the nurses office and told the team leader that I had to leave.
I walked as fast as I could to the ED department all the way to the other end of Forsyth Medical Center.  I walked up to the desk, got my little sticker and walked into the ED to see my Dad laying on a stretcher in the hallway watching me walk towards him. He said the Dr. said he had had a mild heart attack and his enzymes were out of whack. They planned to keep him over the weekend and do a heart cath on Monday.
We stayed there all evening with him. The next morning God took me to Psalm 64. In that passage the thing that stood out to me was The Lord is with us!  That was written twice in that passage and I decided to repeat that over and over throughout our time at the hospital.
My Dad witnessed to everyone who entered the doors.  God was certainly glorified.  On Monday they did a heart cath and found one main artery 95% blocked and put a stent in place. What a blessing it was as we watched God working. I am not ready to let my Dad go...although I know he is ready to go.....but I am wise enough to pray God's will not my own. I am just grateful that I have him a little longer. I would miss seeing those emails and having him answer the phone in that reassuring voice. Thank you for your prayers on his behalf. He is an awesome man of God and apparently he has work left to do on this earth. Praise God is is back home and doing well.  I love him so! It was a great family bonding time as we had time to laugh, cry and share. It was a special time.

On Wings Spring Retreat: 2012

Three Ladies who are full of the Holy Spirit!

We had a great time of fun and fellowship this past weekend as we studied the difference between the spirit, soul and body.  We learned how to live in the spirit connected to the Holy Spirit instead of our souls (flesh).  We are often more interested in our outer man, the body than we are our spirit.  We often feed our flesh instead of our spirit.  God wants us to live out of our spirit.  It takes lots of work to do that but we must remain intentional on a moment by moment basis in our efforts.  Then we learned that there has to be a breaking in order for us to be poured out for His glory.  These ladies have endured the breaking and want to be used for His purposes.
 On Saturday morning as I was awakening I heard the dreaded raindrops outside.  Not what I wanted to hear because of our outside plans but I didn't have any control.  It was a major storm and believe me God was speaking loudly through the thunder, lightening and heavy downpour.  I couldn't sleep so I go up and began to prepare for the day.  I had chosen a passage to read that morning as a blessing on these ladies as follows:
 "Spirit, receive rivers of love, washing you with waves of liquid love, covenant mercy, compassion, comfort, and faithfulness.  Jesus, who walked on the waters, walks on your storm say "Peace, be still."  Dial down and know that he is God.  Receive him quieting the harassment of your spirit, soul, and body with his presence and healing Word.  spirit, rest in the love and mercy of your Father-God, knowing he pities his children.  He has compassion on you.  He is your consolation and comfort.
Receive river of the grace of God.  He is Ancient of Days.  He is the covenant-keeping God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He made a covenant of grace with you.  You have been wounded by covenant-breakers, but God cannot break his covenant.  Be blessed with an infusion of the faithfulness of the heart of covenant-keeping God.
Be blessed to receive rivers of his peace flowing in and washing away all the striving, the lack, the holes, the dryness with a fresh clear stream of pure restoration and reconciliation of you to yourself and to God.  No more anguished cry of "God, where are you?"  Be blessed with reconciliation of your spirit with your soul, with your body, and with others." Taken from You Are Blessed by Sylvia Gunter.
He couldn't have given us any better word than He demonstrated to us with that storm that awoke us on Saturday morning.  There is a brook on the property that runs the length of it.  You could hear the roar of the water as it rushed down through there just like it said it was a demonstration of his river of love and compassion that rolled over us that whole weekend.  These ladies have experienced lots of pain and hardship over the years and God said,  Let me pour my love over you this weekend.....and so He did!