Author: Wendy

Use Me

Posted on by Wendy
Try asking God to, "use me," when you pray and see what happens. Expect to be surprised.
Try asking God to, “use me,” when you pray and see what happens. Expect to be surprised!

I recently received a text from a friend of mine that read, “Hi, wanted to tell you something. I was looking for an old e-mail, but instead I landed on one that explained Daniel 8, the angel. You are being used. Have a good day.” Of course I couldn’t resist. My reply was, “By whom?” Her answer was, “God.”

I smiled as I read it. We had been talking about angels in the Bible the day before and the Book of Daniel, and she had been given some answers she was seeking.

The phrase, “being used,” has a negative connotation for most of us. We don’t like to be used. People can use us for our money or our status or our connections. We can’t even buy used cars anymore. They are pre-owned.

But, our relationship with God should be different. We are supposed to want Him to use us in whatever way He deems appropriate. That can be an uncomfortable concept because we don’t like to give up control, (or the control we believe we have over our lives.)

I found myself pondering the concept over the past week and I decided to try it out in prayer. I have been asking God to “use me.” I have had no idea what that may look like until yesterday.

My family has been visiting a small church. On our first visit, a woman approached me and told me she could tell I was a singer. I laughed and told her I used to sing in church all of the time while I was growing up. It’s been over twenty years since I sang up in front of a church. I have been busy serving other places and no one ever asked. She told me I should think about singing with the choir.

Yesterday after church, a different lady approached me and asked me if I would like to sing in their Christmas Cantata. I told her I might, and she told me when practice was.

At this point, I’ll have to admit I was kind of stunned. I began my faith walk singing in church. I have since been involved in teaching Sunday school and working on Christmas plays and helping to coordinate Vacation Bible School. I have been an organizer and a planner. I prayed for a week for God to use me and to guide me where He wanted me. I have now been asked to sing twice.

It certainly was not what I expected. It’s so very different from what I have been doing, but you never know what you are going to get, when you intentionally decide to listen and obey the will of God. So, I’ll sing in the Christmas Cantata and I’m sure I will be incredibly blessed, the way I always am when I practice obedience. The journey is never dull.

And today, I have a challenge for you. Try the “use me,” prayer over the next few weeks. You may be surprised at where God leads you. I would love to hear about it.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

That’s Who We Are

Posted on by Wendy
Loving others make Christians different. That's just who we are.
Loving others make Christians different. That’s just who we are.

We recently had a new family move in down the street from us. They moved here to Georgia, from New York. I made a plate of brownies and gathered the family to go pay them a, “welcome to the neighborhood visit.” When the husband opened the door and I told him why we were there, he looked at me like I had two heads and called his wife. They kind of nervously shook our hands and chatted for a very short time. We said, goodbye and headed home.

My daughter inquired why we always bake something when people move in. We are baking for perfect strangers. I told her, “We make it our business to welcome new people to our neighborhood. That’s just who we are.”

I shared my story with another new neighbor. They moved here from Charleston, but were originally from Connecticut. She laughed hysterically. “They don’t do that up North.” I found myself saying again, that welcoming new people with baked goods is something we do, whether the new neighbors are from up North or the other side of the world.  “That’s just who we are.”

When we were going though a period of time where my teens were really complaining about going to church on Sundays, I made it very clear to them under no uncertain terms, that we go to worship service on Sundays. That’s just who we are. They also pointed out to my hubby and me that we are the only family that they know who eat dinner together at the table every night. You know my response at this point.

All of these conversations have been swirling in my head about how we define ourselves. What in our lives matter the most to us? What are the behaviors and traditions that we simply will not budge on?

What about our faith walk? If we know who we are in Christ, who does the world see in us? Do people suspect that we are a Christian when they cross paths with us? Do they know it instantly or do they have no idea who we belong to? The Bible tells us that we are supposed to become more Christ like on our journey. Does our growth match the time that we have been believers?

Jesus told his followers that the most important commandment was to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these.” Mark 12:29-30. Those are red letter words, so they are really important. In Luke, he goes onto explain who your neighbor is by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Jews did not like the Samaritans. Jesus knew that, yet he told the story anyway.

Love is what sets Christianity apart from the rest, our love for our God and our love for others. It’s not about hate or force or fear. Those are the opposites of Christianity and the opposites of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Those things come from another source entirely.

We are supposed to render aid whenever we can. We are supposed to feed the hungry and nurse the sick and befriend the friendless and try to help the helpless, whether or not they are Christian, because in doing so, we are showing the lost, the face of Christ. In doing so, we become more Christ like. In doing so, we may be the pivotal force in helping those who don’t know Jesus become those who seek Jesus. In doing so, we are loving our God and our neighbor and that’s just who we are.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Feeding Yourself First

Posted on by Wendy
Keeping your emotional gas tank filled is a necesity if you want to be a good servant.
Keeping your emotional and spiritual gas tank filled is a necessity if you want to be a good servant.

If you have ever traveled on an airplane before, you have had to sit through the safety video. Just for the record, I always pay attention to those, not because I’m a nerd who always follows the rules, (which I kind of am), but because I was sitting next to an air traffic controller one night on a really turbulent flight (so turbulent that one of the flight attendants got sick), and he told me that most airplane crashes are survivable, but you have to know what to do and most people ignore the video. Point taken, I always pay attention to the boring, but short, video.

The video says that if there is a situation where cabin pressure gets lost, that oxygen masks will drop down from the ceiling. It then goes onto say, that if you are traveling with a small child, you are to put on your own mask first and then the child’s. Those instructions have always bothered me. They probably trouble most parents. We always put our children first. If somebody goes without oxygen, it’s going to be me, not my child.

But, the reason for those instructions is that there will likely be panic and maybe turbulence. If you quickly get yourself situated, and you can if you were watching the video, because you listened to the instructions, then you can easily help your child or anyone else nearby.

Many of  us often frown on the idea of ever putting ourselves before our family or others. Putting yourself last makes you a good Christian, right? It’s an age-old myth that is very easy to buy into and get twisted up in.

Yes, we are supposed to give our time and resources in service to others. Yes, we are supposed to feed others when we can. But, if we never feed ourselves, won’t we eventually starve and have much less, if anything to give? This is called burnout and this is what many of the givers and servers often find themselves experiencing. We can get so burned out, that we just walk away from all of our acts of service. Who wins then?

The Bible tells us that Jesus himself, sometimes needed a break. “But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.” Luke 5:16

Jesus is the picture of the ultimate servant. He could heal people. He could cast out demons. He could resurrect people from the dead. He did so regularly with an open heart and I truly believe, just because he could and he hated to see all of the human suffering. The crowds hounded him. There were always more sick people, more questions and more need.

He often, took quiet time to pray. I think that Jesus is a good model for us in that, we need to give ourselves some space to breathe. We have to take time to take care of ourselves and our own hearts before we can help others. We need to intentionally take some quiet time for ourselves in prayer. We also may need to sleep late for a day or find time to take a walk or read a book.

We need to keep a close watch on the needle of our emotional and spiritual gas tank. When it gets low, we need to take note and fill it up in whatever way allows us to get out there and happily serve again. Sometimes that means feeding ourselves first, but if that’s what it takes so that we can help feed the multitudes, don’t you think that it’s worth it?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

What is Your Ministry?

Posted on by Wendy
We all have a ministry. What's yours?
We all have a ministry. What’s yours?

A friend of mine and I were sitting in the car rider line yesterday hashing out faith questions and religion. She is fairly new to the faith and she has lots of questions and a few complaints. For example, she asked me today how long she would be considered new? That’s a good question, one I never really thought about, but then again, she always gives me lots of food for thought. She went on to ask if there was some type of boot camp or something. I chuckled at that, I told her, not one that I know of.

She dove in head first at her new church and not only attends worship service and Sunday school, but a women’s study too. She says that the life timers treat her differently, but she feels like she has had deeper experiences than many of them.

She raises an interesting point. Those who have spent their lifetimes engaged in church can sometimes lose sight of the life changing, breathtaking beauty of grace. People who have lived much of their lives separated from God feel like grace is as precious and essential as oxygen. It’s brand new to them. It’s a lifeline.

The life timers, as she calls them, know this too, but we can lose sight of, “How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.” New believers are often desperate for knowledge and understanding and those of us who have believed for as long as we can remember, really need to remind ourselves how very important each sheep that has been found, is to God. Maybe we should all do a little better at welcoming them and make a better effort at answering their questions, remembering we were all lost at one time.

They may have questions that we need to be asking ourselves. Her second question for me today and the one that really stuck with me, was what does it mean when people talk about their ministry? I told her that just meant how you share God with the world around you. She wanted to know why they just don’t say that. Maybe we all have a little Pharisee in us with the overuse of religious terminology.

Whatever you call it, all Christians have a ministry. It doesn’t have to mean that you stand in a pulpit and preach every Sunday. You may teach Sunday school or you may keep the church nursery. Your ministry may just be to the little ones you are raising at the moment or it may be being the face of Jesus in your work place. It may be welcoming new believers to the faith and taking them out for coffee. But here’s the deal, if you belong to Jesus, you have a ministry.

Sometimes it’s a good idea to stop and ask yourself what it is. Does it need some definition? Has it grown stagnant? Maybe it’s time to start something new. If you don’t know, pray about it. It’s all about the journey. Jesus is ready when you are.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Can You Feel God?

Posted on by Wendy
Seek and you will find.
Seek and you will find.

My family visited a church last Sunday. It was small. I know small isn’t cool these days. The mega-church is where it’s at. But, my hubby and I are traditionalists. We like small. We realized long ago that we kind of swim upstream where society is concerned. We also decided that we are okay with it. I spoke with the pastor at length, before we visited. After that sweet man, gave me over an hour of his time, he simply said to me, “Come and visit. Either you will feel God here or you won’t.”

Wow, such simple words, yet so profound. There are a hundred different ways to worship. Some people like a rocking service with a complete band. Others prefer kneeling and tradition and quiet. Some feel it’s very important to take communion every Sunday. Some have to have a cup of coffee in their hand while others would never allow food or drink in their sanctuary.

The Bible doesn’t give many specific instructions on the right way to worship. The point is we are there to worship God, our Creator, the Creator of the universe. Personally, I don’t believe that the specifics matter that much. But, that pastor’s words stuck in my head for two weeks before we visited. “When we attend worship, can we feel God?”

In the end, that seems to me to be the only question that matters. As Christians, we don’t worship a far away, absentee landlord, God. We worship a living, breathing God who is very involved in our lives. We worship a God who sent His son to die for us. We worship a God who sent the Holy Spirit to inspire men to write a guidebook called the Bible to instruct us and tell us how to live and grow in spiritual maturity, a book that keeps us safe.

Our God doesn’t strike us down for making mistakes. Our God doesn’t instruct other Christians to strike us down for making mistakes either. Although, there are religions out there who do. Our God is a God of love. The word love appears in the Bible 551 times in the NIV.

So, the question, “Can you feel God?” is a huge question. Feeling God where we worship is of utmost importance, but as I thought about it, I wondered about feeling God in other areas of our lives. Do we feel God when we pray, or in our relationships? What about when we are making decisions? Can we feel God at the family dinner table?

I have found myself pondering this question for a couple of weeks. I think it may be one that we should all ponder. The Bible tells us, “Keep on asking and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

I take this to mean if we seek God, then we will find Him. Can we feel God in our lives? If the answer is, “no,” then maybe it’s time to do some seeking. Can we feel God where we worship? That may be a hard question, but one that needs to be asked. If the answer is “no,” then we maybe need to ask why and do some soul searching.

As for us, in the little church we visited, the answer is a resounding “yes!” and it was awesome!

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

To All of the Prayer Warriors

Posted on by Wendy
Prayer works. Let's keep praying.
Prayer works. Let’s keep praying.

Last Tuesday, I wrote a post about prayer warriors and who qualifies as one, and the importance of them. I then asked my readers to please pray for a woman named Carolyn who had been called to go to Sierra Leone to help with education in the Ebola outbreak. You can read that post here, if you missed it. http://gracefulgaines.com/2014/10/14/calling-all-prayer-warriors/

I got such a huge response from that post and many shares on Facebook. Ya’ll are awesome!  She was scheduled to leave at the end of October. I have been praying for her safety and God’s protection over her family and her mission and I suspect you have too.

Today, I received an e-mail from her sister-in-law. Last week, a nurse who didn’t know she was infected with Ebola, flew from Dallas to Ohio to visit her mother and fiance.Can you guess where Carolyn and her hubby live?  If you guessed Ohio, you are correct. The government group that Carolyn works for, has decided due to her extensive training, that she needs to remain in Ohio and help educate the people there. They have postponed the trip to Africa.

Is the hair standing up on the back of your neck yet? This young woman was called to Sierra Leone to assist in the worst Ebola outbreak ever. She willingly agreed to go. She has received training and immunizations to prepare her for this trip that would take her to the other side of the world. She is a very strong Christian who has a heart for God and for service.

Many of us were in prayer for her. Then out of the blue, there is an Ebola scare in Ohio, right where she lives. She has the ability, training and willingness to offer assistance and just happens to live in Ohio.  There are fifty states here in the homeland. What are the chances? God is always at work. He has His hands in this situation. There are no coincidences where He is concerned.

The Bible tells us in Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Do you see how that fits here? Truth can be amazing.

Another Bible passage that came across my desk this week was from Psalms and too good not to share. “If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone….The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.” Psalm 91:9-14

People will say the Bible is irrelevant.  I say that Ebola is definitely a plague.

Prayer works. Please keep praying for Carolyn and her safety. Pray that God will keep her under His protection. Pray that God will protect those exposed to this plague as well as all of the health care workers not only in this country, but all over the world as well, who are working to stop it. God is in control. Let’s all try to remember that as we put on our Armor of God and pray.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Stand Firm and Don’t Panic

Posted on by Wendy
The Lord is my light and my salvation, so why should I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation, so why should I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

As I was taking a walk this morning, I encountered deer at several points along my way. Deer are always interesting to watch. Often as I walk by, they will stop eating and watch me until I have safely passed by and then they go right back to eating. They all stand firm together. But, today as I encountered a group of about six, at first they froze, then as I got closer, one of them panicked and ran. That’s all it took; just the one. The other five followed suit and they all tore off into the woods.

That really got me to thinking about all of the Ebola scare stories going around. Facebook has a ton of them. There was even one yesterday claiming that a family of five somewhere in small town Texas had all come down with it and the entire town had been quarantined. The United States government had initiated martial law. If it were true, it would be terribly troubling. The thing is, it’s not. There’s not a shred of truth to the story.

Ebola is a scary disease. However, it’s not new. It was first discovered in the early 1970’s. So far, only one person in the United States has died from it and the 48 people who were exposed to that man, have not had any symptoms of developing the disease and are set to be released from quarantine this weekend.

We tend to think that whatever threat we are facing, is the worst threat ever to mankind. Every generation thinks that. The times we are living in are quite dark, but I can’t find any place in the Bible where it says we should panic. We are never instructed to live in fear and cower behind locked doors. We are to stand fast and keep our eyes on God, remembering that ultimately, He is in control.

Psalm 27:1 says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation- so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?” Those are wise words from King David.

One of the missionaries who contracted Ebola said, ” I thought whether I live or die, it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay.” (Nancy Writebol) Those are words of faith we should all strive for. When our hearts belong to Jesus, we aren’t afraid of death. We don’t have to be afraid of anything.

Interestingly, all of those missionaries who got sick, plan on returning to Africa. They have been called. They are honoring the God who called them. They have chosen not to live in fear.

The sad truth is there are over 4,000 people who have died in Africa, due mainly to lack of medical facilities and poverty. There have been only eight cases here so far. Three have completely recovered. Two are expected to recover. Two have just been diagnosed, but are in isolation and stable. Only one man has died. While his death is tragic, I don’t think it warrants the panic that is being pushed by the media.

Quite frankly, I know of one entity who thrives on chaos, deception and fear. I’ll bet you do too. Let’s not give into him. Please join me in focusing on God during this crises. Please join me in praying for the safety and recovery of all people in contact with this virus. Please join me in a special prayer for those people in West Africa. If we think we are frightened here with the best medical care in the world at our disposal, think about how terrified they must be.

God created all people. Jesus loves all people. Let’s pray that all people will be saved from this virus soon. And let’s all try to remember where panic and chaos comes from.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Stepping Out in Faith

Posted on by Wendy
As long as we are following God, it doesn't matter where we are going, we just need to step out in faith and go.
As long as we are following God, it doesn’t matter where we are going, we just need to step out in faith and go.

 

Have you ever found yourself praying for direction in some aspect of your life? It could be a job, a relationship, financial issues, health issues or anything in between. Have you ever found yourself at a crossroads and are really unsure of whether to stay or go? I think we probably have all found ourselves in that place at one time or another. We pray and pray for a megaphone moment, preferably with a GPS or at the very least a paper map.

Sometimes we just get a word or two like not now or go. Now, I don’t know about you, but not now; stay put; is an easier command for me than go. Staying put allows me to stay right where I am. It might not be the best place to be, but it’s familiar. Go, is a little trickier. I’m a planner. I really like to take a map with me that shows me all of the little towns and landmarks I will pass by on the journey. I mean, what if I get lost?

And even after I have found myself praying for a very long time about something, when the answer is go, I find myself questioning whether or not God really meant it, even when the answer has been made very clear for me. Sometimes, when the answer is go, He doesn’t give me any more directions than that. I find myself worrying about where I should go and exactly how do I get there?

Here’s where faith and obedience come in. When you draw close to God and pray earnestly and honestly for answers, you will eventually get them. Sometimes it seems to take a long time, but when you get them, you know. Obedience means following God’s directions. Sometimes they may be, “Go to Ninevah.” as in Jonah’s case. But, sometimes they are much vaguer, like with Abram. “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” Genesis 12:1

Could God have been any less specific? But, Abram went and God took him on a grand adventure and made an entire nation out of him. He trusted and obeyed. He made mistakes along the way, but he obeyed the call to go. The Bible is full of these people. Moses was minding his business tending sheep when God called him to lead the people out of Egypt. Mary was minding her own business when Gabriel told her she would be the mother of the Son of God.

Each of these people had to step out in faith. They had to step out into the unknown with only their faith in God to guide their steps. But, oh the steps they took and the lives that they changed through their obedience. Were they frightened? Probably. Were they happy about the call to go? Maybe, maybe not, but they obeyed God and left the familiar and went into the great unknown with God as their guide.

Stepping out in faith can be scary, but if we want to grow closer to God, we have to be willing to obey, no matter how big or small the step may be. The fabulous thing is we only have to take the first step and then He will show us the next. If God is telling you to stay put, then by all means, stay right where you are. But, if He is telling you to go, reach out for His hand. A grand adventure is likely ahead of you even if you have no idea what it is. Thankfully, you don’t have to know, He knows, and that’s enough.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

It’s All About Focus

Posted on by Wendy
My son spent Saturday morning making a plastic bag dispenser instead of packing.
My son spent Saturday morning making a plastic bag dispenser instead of packing.

I was running around last Saturday trying frantically to get packed and get ready to haul eight teenagers in two cars first to my parents’ house, and then to a concert. My son, one of the teens, wasn’t attending the concert. He was going fishing with his Granddaddy. But, he still had to get his things packed and loaded into the car. He wasn’t the least bit interested in the task I had given him.

I went into my laundry room and he had every plastic grocery bag I had, pulled out onto the floor and was folding them. I took a deep breath and asked him what he was doing. He told me he needed an empty Clorox Wipes canister. He wouldn’t tell me why. When I asked him if he had his things packed, he told me that it wouldn’t take long to finish what he was working on.

Now, knowing my son like I do, I could have argued with him and ordered him to go and pack. However, he’s a very creative, task oriented sort, and I knew we would all be happier if I just let him finish. I found a canister that was close enough to empty. He then wanted to know if he could use my laptop because he needed to print something. I relented and went upstairs to finish my own packing and getting ready to go.

Twenty minutes or so later, he proudly produced his contraption. He had placed all of the bags neatly in it, eliminating all of the chaos in the laundry room. He had a label on it and even a name to contact when they ran out. (his of course) It even had a handle so that it would hang from the cabinet door. He tried to explain to me how to refill it, but then he told me I could just let him know when I needed a refill.

I smiled at him. It really was a cool little gizmo. I thanked him and asked him to please go and pack his things. He happily complied. On his way out the door, I told him that although his invention was great, it could have waited until he got packed. It didn’t have to be done right this minute. He simply replied, “But, then that would have been all I could think about. I needed to get it done, so I could do something else.”

Ahhh, words of wisdom from a thirteen-year-old. More and more studies have shown that the human brain is terrible at multitasking. When we do more than one thing at once, nothing gets done well. I suspect this goes for our spiritual lives too. we can’t read the Bible and listen to music. We can’t really, intentionally pray while checking Facebook or e-mail or listening to anything. We can’t really worship while playing on our phones.

To do anything well, we have to focus on that one thing. We don’t like to focus on one thing. It makes us feel less productive. The many distractions we put into our lives, think: social media and cell phones have caused us to be a society with collective ADD. The Bible tells us to, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

Be still. When was the last time you were really still? Can you remember? I get it. It’s very difficult to be still. There’s just so much to do. I find myself reading the Bible while I’m eating lunch or praying while I’m driving. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with doing that; it’s just that if I want to get the best connection possible with God, (and I do), I need to focus only on reading the Bible at the moment or sit still some place quiet and pray. I think it’s about focus, God focus.

As usual, my son taught me something when I was least expecting it, but I’m used to God using my kids to communicate with me, when I have the sense to watch for it. I’m really going to try to stop multitasking so much and be still more.

What do you think?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Calling All Prayer Warriors

Posted on by Wendy
The world needs more prayer warriors. Are you willing to be one?
The world needs more prayer warriors. Are you willing to be one?

I received a call last night from a friend I hadn’t spoken to in a while. Interestingly enough, I was in the process of writing a post about the importance of making time to stay connected with special people in your life. I am always amazed at God’s timing and how He works in my life. She was filled with worry and anxiety concerning her sister-in-law. She told me she needed a prayer warrior and thought of me.

This is like the third time in the past week or so that someone has referred to me as a prayer warrior. To be honest, I have really never considered myself a warrior of any kind. I’m more of a lover than a fighter and I try to avoid conflict if possible. But, I do believe in the power of prayer with every fiber of my being. I have read about it in the Bible and I have seen it work in my life and in the lives of others way too many times to count.

I looked up the term warrior in a dictionary. The definition is: a person who fights in battles and is known for having courage and skill or one who is engaged aggressively or energetically in an activity, cause or conflict. I do have courage when it comes to prayer. It comes from being redeemed by Jesus. I do pray throughout the day everyday about just about everything from world conflict to our leaders to other people who are sick or lost and then for my own needs. I usually take the top down approach. I am passionate about prayer and energetic. Perhaps I am a prayer warrior. Perhaps you are too.

Maybe it’s important that we realize and accept that we are in daily spiritual warfare whether we like it or not. We can participate through Bible reading, worship and prayer. When we read the Bible, the Holy Spirit can help guide us in prayer. I like the idea of being a prayer warrior. I like the idea of participating with other Christians in fighting evil. I love the idea of being on a winning team. Make no mistake, God will win in the end.

There will be push back from Satan. But, we can put on the Armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-18 and be protected by the Trinity.

I told my friend I would be happy to pray for her sister-in-law and I’m going to ask my readers and fellow prayer warriors, to do the same. This young woman has accepted a request to go to Sierra Leone, a country in Africa, with a team, to help educate them about preventing the spread of the Ebola virus. She is a strong Christian and feels in her heart that she has been called to help and called to go. She believes that fear and panic can have deadly consequences and that education is super important to stopping the spread of this deadly disease.

She is a newly-wed. Her sweet hubby supports her decision. Her new family supports her decision. The world really needs people who are willing to offer hands-on help. But, they are afraid for her safety and they have asked for prayers. Her name is Carolyn. She leaves next Wednesday, October 22nd to train in Atlanta and then leaves for Sierra Leone on October 28th. She plans to return on Thanksgiving.

Please join me in prayer for this brave young woman. Pray for her safety. Pray for her peace. Pray for Divine guidance while she is there trying to serve others who are desperately in need. Pray for her family here in the U.S. Pray for their peace. Pray that God will put His hand on all of them in this journey and pray that she returns safely on Thanksgiving Day, having made a difference in thousands of people’s lives.

Let’s put on our Armor of God and get started. The world needs us. Will you join me?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂