TRUST: "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord' and do not do what I say?" Luke 6:46

On Saturday nights, Lane likes to worship to the songs that the worship team will be leading on Sunday morning. This is always a special time to me, but we had an extra special night several weeks ago. Lane had gone through all of the songs, then he came over to where I was sitting and said he felt led to go downstairs and ask our neighbor if we could pray for her. (We didn't know their story, but our neighbor was a girl around my age who was using a walker to get around and living with her mom.) Now, it was after 10 PM and we had not ever met this neighbor and had only held brief "hi, it sure is hot today" kind of conversations with her mom in passing while she was outside smoking. Also, Lane gets up around 5:15-5:20 on Sunday mornings, so we try to go to bed early on Saturdays. I had a big struggle going in my mind against thoughts of can't this wait until tomorrow? I did mention the time and Lane said something like "I know but I really feel like God is saying now and if they don't answer the door, then we will try tomorrow". In my mind, I am thinking "God, is this crazy? are we going to wake them up? will they even answer the door? do they own a gun?"; but, being the supportive wife that I am (trying to be :)), I kept those thoughts to myself as we put on our shoes and walked out the door. As soon as we stepped outside, we heard talking and realized it was her sitting outside talking on the phone. They live directly under us, so we walked down the stairs and up to her and kind of awkwardly waited for her to tell the person on the other end of the phone to "hang on a minute". Lane introduced himself and me and explained that we believe in a God who heals and he felt led for us to come down and pray for her. She said that would be great and after telling her friend on the phone that she would call them back, she went inside to get her mom. We had a really amazing conversation with both of them. It turns out, the daughter had awakened one day with extreme pain in her hips to the point of not being able to walk. The doctor said both of her hips had deteriorated, requiring surgery. They didn't have answers as to why it happened. She had one surgery and was recovering from it at the time. (We later found out she was able to start using a cane instead of walker the day after we prayed!) The doctors are waiting on her other hip to get worse before doing the other surgery. We are praying that she won't have to have the other surgery--that God will work a miracle in her hip and in her life. In our conversation, THEY asked where we went to church! We didn't bring it up, although I think Lane and I both wanted to bring it up. Right now, the daughter can't sit for long in a pew, but hopefully she will be able to soon. After Lane prayed over her, they thanked us and said it meant a lot to them.

This was one of the most amazing things my husband and I have gotten to do--even better than biking down the mountains in CO! :) We went back upstairs and thanked God for His faithfulness and prayed again for our neighbors. I told Lane afterwards of my doubts and that I had even questioned why God didn't tell both of us instead of just Lane. I believe God was showing me that I have to trust my husband's leadership. I know Lane walks with God and if he feels like God is telling us to do something, it is just the same as God telling me directly.

Now, let me clarify the point of this story is not that we prayed for our neighbor. That's not it, at all!! The point is God led us to do something and we were both scared!! There were a lot of "what ifs" that, in hindsight, were no big deal. What if they had said no? We would have just gone back upstairs. What if we woke them up? We would have apologized. However, at the time these questions were real and Satan was using them to try to stop us from trusting God. Satan has been using the "...did God really say...?" (Gen 3:1) tactic since the beginning. He uses it to tempt us to do the things we shouldn't do and to make us question the things we should do. Lemme tell you, WE were so blessed that we didn't let Satan stop us. God was faithful! It built up our faith and gave us a little glimpse into His love and plan for our marriage. We are called to "love our neighbors" and that is not always going to be easy and oftentimes it might even be a little awkward, but God blesses obedience (Deut. 28:1) and He never leaves or forsakes us!!


"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'"
Hebrews 13:5-6

"I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread."
Psalm 37:25

Man does not live on bread alone...

Lane and I started a diet yesterday. Basically, it is a low/no carb diet. Lane and his doctor agreed that he should do the diet to kill off any candida that he might have in his body, which can cause fatigue and a variety of other problems. Candida = yeast. We all have candida in our intestines naturally. The problem is that antibiotics, birth control pills, sugar, etc. can cause it to get out of control and lead to health problems. Since candida feeds on sugars and refined foods, the purpose of the diet is to starve the candida of the foods it thrives on and to eat the foods that it doesn't like so that it is "killed off". I volunteered to do this diet with Lane both 1. to support him and 2. it's healthy for me.

All that being said, it is day two...I am hungry and really wanted to eat one of the donuts my coworker brought to work today. My head hurts (I think that may be a sinus thing though) and I feel exhausted. My understanding is that you can feel pretty lousy at the beginning of the diet as the candida makes you crave sugars/carbs. My amazing husband rarely eats a lot of sugar or refined carbs, so that isn't a problem. He normally has a tough time getting enough to eat though, so this is really difficult for him. Typically, we incorporate a lot of good grains and veggies like quinoa and sweet potatoes, which are filling, into our diet...those are all off limits for the first TWO WEEKS. I'm really looking forward to being able to add those things back!! We can eat pretty much any meat, most veggies, green apples, berries, grapefruit, avocados, and most nuts. This is forcing us to be creative and try new things! We bought turnip greens to cook. I've never been inclined to eat turnip greens due to their appearance, but here goes! We also bought a coconut. I'm kinda excited about opening it up. :)

So here's what I'm thinking...I don't know for sure that this diet works. I am not a doctor, but I read a lot about it and some doctors disagree with the whole thing. Either way, they still say the diet is healthy and has benefits. I'm hoping it helps my allergies, which is one of candida's alleged side effects. I'm really hoping and praying it helps my husband feel better. We will see in a couple weeks how it is going!!


The whole idea of the diet reminds me of the spiritual battle in our minds. If we feed our minds garbage and let Satan deceive us with his lies, it is just like proverbial candida that is draining our spiritual bodies. If we feast on God's word and his promises, it will kill Satan's lies and give life to our spiritual bodies.


"Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'." Matthew 4:4 (Jesus speaking to Satan when he was being tempted in the desert)


"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is right, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Phillipians 4:8

We are to think about things that are excellent or praiseworthy. We are to feed on the Word of God, hide it in our heart and use it--just as Jesus did in Matt 4--to kill Satan's lies when he comes against us. The Word of God is our sword--our only offensive weapon--as well as the bread of Life. The Word will sustain us, encourage us, and protect us.

How He Loves Us

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." Romans 12:3 (NIV)

When He noticed how the guests picked the places at the table, he told them this parable: "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.'...For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 14:7-11 (NIV)

God, others, me... "I'm third" I heard on the radio earlier today that a camp (Camp Kanakuk) teaches kids this phrase. Wow, if we could really live that out!!! I want to be a humble person. Yet, ironically, there are times when my insecurities influence my behavior and I try to act a certain way to hide my self-perceived flaws or I do not reach out to people because I fear their response. I end up putting my fears and feelings ahead of loving others the way I should...thereby bumping them to third place. Wait a minute, humble does not = insecure! I have been guilty of using the above passages to justify my insecurities (thinking that my feeling that I am not as good or as smart as others is a method of humbling myself) when that is not at all the purpose for which these scriptures are intended.

"For He chose us [ME!!] in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will" Ephesians 1:4-5 (NIV)

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

Now THAT is who I am in Christ!! The God of the universe takes pleasure in ME!...and YOU*!!! (*YOU=born again Christian. If you have not asked for and received God's forgiveness and invited Christ to be Lord of your life, these are the promises that you WILL receive by doing so)

Who you are in Christ:

You are FREE from condemnation. (Rom 8:1-2)
You are more than a conquerer in Christ. (Rom 8:37)
God has not given you a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. (2 Tim. 1:7)
You can approach God with freedom and confidence. (Eph 3:12)
You can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens you. (Phil. 4:13)
God is working all things together for your good. (Rom. 8:28)

Okay, now back to the "I'm third" idea...we can't live this out unless we know who we are in Christ. We need that assurance--our confidence/identity in Christ--in order to boldly love others like we should. Psychology says we can't love others if we don't love ourselves. I know myself better than anyone...the good, the bad, the ugly (selfish). If that (my flesh) is all there is to me, I'm not going to have a lot of love to give; BUT (praise God!) that's not all...God has placed the Holy Spirit inside of me...God's power, God's leading, God's grace, God's mercy, God's unconditional love...all that lives in me!! Hallelujah! Because He first loved me, I can love others. (1 Jn 4:19)

Holy Father, thank you for Your love and forgiveness. Help me remember who I am in You so that I can love those around me through You. I can't put others second, unless You are first. Help me to remember You have given me everything I need to live out your commands. (1 Pet 1:3-4) I want to develop the specific gifts and talents You have given me to serve others. Give me faith to trust Your plan and guard my heart from desires to serve my own will. Amen.