I’m Believing….

Today was a day of “I’m Believing…”  What it means is that it just seems to be the statement that Keith and I said all day today.  “Trust Me and try Me sayeth the Lord!”  Well today we did… but not really a planned test…. A lot of situations came up where we weren’t sure how it was going to happen… but in our hearts we were thinking.. “I’m Believing that…”.  

·         From the beginning I stood on… I’m believing that the meat that was donated this week will be enough to make the hamburger stroganoff that I am making…. (it was J)

·         The people lined up out to the side walk and my prayer was…”I am believing in Fish and Loaves…there will be enough!!” We had two large roasting pans full of stroganoff and my prayer was that everybody standing in line would get a plateful of hot food.  We always have late comers and we had a cooler of sandwiches made for them, but I really didn’t want tell anyone who had waited in line and who had made it on time that the food was gone… God is so amazing because even though Tracy and I dished up large portions in faith… God made the last scoop land on the plate of the last person in line… I darn near cried in thanks!

·         Keith made a cooler full of ham sandwiches for the people who show up late and sure enough… the whole cooler of sandwiches went… And after the cooler of ham sandwiches came the loaves of bread for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches….Thank you Lord that we were able to send each person away with enough food! We stood in the statement…”I am believing that we will have enough food for everyone even with generous portions!”

·         At the end of the day, a man handed me a pair of shoes that someone had left out by the sidewalk.  All of the people were gone and no one had claimed on so I stood holding them while talking to another gentleman.  Suddenly a guy came racing up on his bicycle.  He threw the bike down and held up his foot to show me the bottom of his shoe-  “You got any shoes?? Look at mine.”  His black tennis shoes had three holes in the sole with his foot pushing through to the ground.  Inside I was thinking, “I am believing that God will make these fit…”  He took one look at them and was as happy as can be.  He sat down right there and put them on.  Honestly, he was one of the dirtiest guys I have ever seen.  His face, hands, arms, every bit of skin that you could see was coated with thick black dirt.  His hair was matted and crazy at the same time.  Olivia was in the car because we were going to leave so she broke open the peanut butter and jelly and started making sandwiches.  Her actions showed that she stood on the fact that there would be enough bread left to make him a nice supply of sandwiches… I jumped in the back of the suburban and started digging through a box of odds and ends that my dad had given me from his bathroom cupboard.  We were able to find shampoo, soap, lotion, and a washcloth for him.  He was so happy. 

·         Our amazing God took the old left overs from my mom’s cupboard who had passed away 1 ½ years ago and blessed this man who desperately needed some food, shoes, and lots of bubbles J

·         Keith met a man today who lives by the river and is in desperate need for a job.  Keith spoke with incredible belief to this gentleman.  He spoke “hope” to this man, hope of job possibilities, hope of clothes that were just his size, and hope of a new day tomorrow as well as God’s amazing forgiveness and grace.  The man left with a bible that had a special note written just for him…Keith wrote, “ Isaiah 61:3…God gives us beauty for ashes, joy for sorrow, and praise for heaviness” in addition to the promise, “Today is a new day”.  The strong rugged man who withstands the cold of night as well as the fear of the darkness by the river broke down in tears and sobbed as Keith hugged him…. Thank you Keith for standing on God’s promises…. Those are moments that change eternity….

·         Another woman showed up with her 16 year old son.  Keith said, “No worries, we will have something that is his size.  I am believing that there is something here in this pile of clothes that will work for him.”  “Ya sure…” she replied skeptically.  Keith said that inside he was asking God to please please show that He was real to this lady.  He found boxers and shirts that worked and Keith said, “See, God knew what you needed and He met you here.”  The lady just looked at him and smiled… she knew…

·         Two of our people are believing that they have a chance for change… One woman is entering a 6 month rehab program-  she is 6 weeks pregnant and will go in for rehab on June 29^th.  Please pray for Charity and her unborn baby.   Zack told us that he is going to start a 2 year rehab program with the mission… These are huge steps for them.  Please remember them in your prayers.

·         I am praying and believing that we will have breakthrough for the women down there…. We had so many women the last couple weeks… new faces…. New very sad, broken faces… women with bruises, women with pimps, women with fear in their eyes, lifeless faces with dead expressions, women who are slaves to their addictions and slaves to their only means to make money.  The 85 pound anorexic, meth-addicted ladies break my heart- how are they going to make it?  I think that they are going to o.d. or have a massive heart attack because their bodies are so feeble and look like they are going to fall over.

·         I am praying and believing that the number of men with black eyes, bruised hands, and stitches decreases…and I am believing that Chris who has surgery tomorrow morning on his broken hand will continue to draw closer to the Lord.  Chris is an addict who has HIV.  He has been staying around longer and longer each week.  This week he asked for prayer for his surgery.  I am believing that Jesus has his place picked out in heaven and that Chris will come to know Jesus as his personal savior.

·         “Test Me and try Me sayeth the Lord”… I don’t ever want to purposely test God, but I am so thankful that God shows Himself so Amazingly as we step out in faith.  The Lord is growing my faith every week more and more.  Thank You Jesus for loving us so much and for taking care of so many needs that we don’t even know we need….. In Jesus Holy Name… Amen.