On Sunday at our Journey of Hope Cancer Support outreach in Iowa Methodist, a woman came up to me to ask if the kids knew the song "Away in a Manager". She asked, just as they started playing it.  She said it was her Mom's favorite Christmas song.  Her Mom was so sick she couldn't come out to hear the music and asked if they would come to the hall to play it so she could hear it.  So Kelly took all the kids to the hallway, but the family asked them to come into the room.

This was the same room I went to and the husband had told me all about his wife, that she was going to hospice tomorrow, and then just asked if I'd hug him and he cried in my arms.

Her daughter sat on her bed and held her mom. Her mom opened her eyes and smiled.  They played two carols.  Mike and I held their music books, and just wept.  It was such an amazing thing.

Such a blessing to watch how Jesus can use a fleece blanket to reach people who are suffering.  The Gospel was promoted.

Trust, Peace, & Tithing

Here is my background story. My coaching - Beachbody career has been slowly taking off. It is steady and increases but me being an impatient person I have always wanted it to grow faster. Anyway, after I read the book Mike gave me I made an effort to tithe more than I normally do. My checks are always inconsistent so I never know when the next big one will come. However, after giving God back what is his and paying from my good income - the first income I had something amazing happened. 

I was extremely anxious about giving more than $100 let alone the 10% from one check a few weeks ago. Anyway, the following week - last week - I hit my second biggest pay day within my Beachbody business EVER. It was amazing to see God saying you trust me, now I will trust you with a little more. This week has even been a bigger than normal week already and it hasn't ended yet. 

A new door has been opened to my spiritual journey through tithing. It's going to be fun to see what God does with the extra I am able to give. A year ago if you asked me to give anything I would have say you're crazy purely because I didn't think I could afford it. That shows my lack of trust in the Lord. I now have an amazing sense of peace. 

Nick J.

God's Protection!

Do you ever find yourself asleep spiritually and not paying attention to God’s provision for you?  God is continually looking out for us even when we don’t realize it.  Think about it with me for a minute… A car stays on the road unless the driver falls asleep and drives off the road.  Well I did just that!  What’s even scarier is that I was driving my work semi truck.  

I was working an overnight shift and due to lack of sleep the previous couple of days, I drifted off behind the wheel.   Not realizing it, I found myself in the gravel on the right shoulder of the road then whipped my truck back on the road still pretty much asleep. When I found myself on the left shoulder of the road, I whipped it back again and dumped my semi on its side with sparks flying everywhere. I was able to climb up out of the passenger side door, and arrived at the hospital with glass in my leg and scratches on my arm.

It took me falling asleep physically to realize that I was falling asleep spiritually and forgetting to thank God for all of the little ways He’s providing for me.  How many times do we stop to thank God for simply getting us to our destination safely? God opened my eyes Friday morning to see that He is always surrounding and protecting us.  What the devil tries to use to make us doubt ourselves, God is right there with a plan to wake us up and give Him the glory. 

I was almost certain that I was going to lose my job, but God has given me favor in the eyes of the company that I work for. I am so thankful to Him for His provision over my life.  I will certainly be thanking Him every time I get in and out of a vehicle from now on!!!

Matt With, August 2012

Ordinary Me in God's Hands

On Sunday a few of us went into the neighborhood to deliver bags of groceries from our Food Shelf. I have to admit, when starting this outreach a few months ago I was very nervous about knocking on doors and talking to people I didn't know. Each time it has gotten easier, and I'm even getting a little more comfortable engaging in conversation with people beyond small talk. As I listened to their stories, I began to see these people through Jesus' eyes and compassion began to move through my heart and prayers. I'm not quite sure what happens with these people once we leave and what their stories will be; but I do know it's been a transforming experience for ordinary me. - Becky, 7/3/12


"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him." Romans 12:1, The Message

God Story | Tamara

My time in Mexico City was better than I ever could have expected. I am still so blown away at the way God orchestrated everything! My original plan was to spend five months in Argentina and when that fell through, I decided to go to Mexico at the last minute. I can’t imagine having missed out on all that God did in my life, had I gone to Argentina. And it is clear to me now that He wanted me in Mexico City the whole time! The past eight months have shaped and changed my life forever.

When people ask me what God did in my life while in Mexico, I truly don’t even know where to start. So many stories and memories come to mind it’s ridiculous! So I’ll just share a few. 

The Lord worked immensely in my life while spending time with the girls at The Well (girls saved from the sex-trafficking industry). I remember being so frustrated and feeling so meaningless in the first few months. There would be times where I had planned a craft to do with the girls and ended up being the only one doing it. I would literally be sitting at a table by myself for an hour, doing a craft with myself. For whatever reason, be it my inability to speak sufficient spanish, their deep personal issues, or simply their lack of interest, they would take one look at me and walk on. But I stuck it out. I continued to go twice a week and eventually the girls started to join me. I knew they needed consistency in their lives. I knew they needed a friend. The Lord softened my heart to be understanding and compassionate, instead of being prideful and offended. And because I pushed through, I was able to build friendships with these girls and see them grow and heal in miraculous ways. 

God also really opened my eyes to His goodness. I witnessed it all around me, but I noticed it especially in my life. I mean, I raised $5,000 in less than three months (thanks to all of you!)! Just to start my trip out like that showed His goodness and faithfulness to me. But then on top of that, I was blown away by the opportunities I had and the community of people He led me to. I was able to help lead a congregation of over 300 people into the presence of the Holy Spirit every Sunday. I got to pray over people and see God totally change lives (cancer completely vanishing, a man’s job saved after he thought he would be laid off, etc.). I saw broken, lost, and fatherless girls come to know their Heavenly Father. I was blessed with a community of people that provided so much wisdom and guidance for me. I consider them family now! I made friends with both foreigners and locals that brought me so much joy. I built (and am still building) the ground work for an anti sex-trafficking capital campaign called Global Freedom Alliance by connecting with grassroots organizations all over the world! I learned Spanish! The list goes on and on. 

Jesus did so much in my life in Mexico! I have gained tons of life experience and have grown leaps and bounds in my relationship with God. The Lord taught me that when I fully trust in Him and obey, there’s nothing stopping Him from totally rocking my world! Before I went to Mexico, I didn’t know what I wanted to do in college or even with my life. But now I have a much clearer idea of the big picture and where I feel God leading me. I want to pursue a degree in Counseling. After working with the girls at The Well I feel called to making a bigger impact in their lives and in the lives of girls just like them. My heart breaks for what breaks God’s heart and I want to counsel them through their rehabilitation and see God heal them in ways only He can. I’m still unsure of the steps to get there, but I’m excited for my next chapter, however it looks. 

A Living Miracle

God Story | Food Shelf

Today was our second food outreach and we were able to give away 17 bags of groceries, which is an amazing amount! With the cold weather, it was a little more difficult to find people outside; but, people warmly accepted what we had to offer, both groceries and prayer. Praise God!

We also met an extraordinary, Sudanese man named David who has a severe fracture in his right leg. He showed us X-rays of his broken leg and graciously accepted prayer. We were able to pray that his leg would be healed and that he would not need surgery. How amazing is that?!

It is incredible to see the opportunities that arise when we give ourselves to Jesus, and when we let Him use us to minister to others and advance His kingdom. 

God Story | Jessica Mizell

I have been suffering with an auto immune disorder since 2010 in which I am extremely exhausted all the time and have painful and swollen joints and muscle cramps to the point where I can hardly get out of bed or walk at times. At the time, when I was living in Florida, the doctors could not figure out what was wrong with me. So, I sought advice from a trusted health professional friend. He recommended that I go back to the doctor because he thought I possibly had a type of rheumatoid arthritis. So I went back to the doctor but still they said nothing was wrong--it was just stress. 

I was so frustrated and decided not to go back to the doctor in Florida because I knew I would be moving to Iowa in less than two months. I just kept telling myself "I just have to get to Iowa." When I get there, everything will be okay. I'll have a new job with an awesome boss who respects me as a person and professionally; my Iowa Mama and Daddy will take care of me. The hardest part will be actually getting there.

I finally arrived in Iowa in March 2011 and everything was going well. I was so happy about my new job that I didn't realize I was still feeling poorly until I woke up one morning in June and physically could not get out of bed. After many months of tests and labs, the doctors found I was severely anemic and iron deficient and also suffering from an undiagnosed connective tissue disorder with positive results for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus but not enough for a definitive diagnosis. Finally, the doctors found an effective treatment that is working. Even though the treatment is working, sometimes this whole situation really stinks. During this past Lenten season with The Leap of Faith, I was asking God to heal me completely. 

Lent started off with a bang. 

On Ash Wednesday, I had the opportunity to share my story with our youth. There were things I felt led of the Holy Spirit to share that I had not shared with anyone except my immediate family. 

I was feeling pretty terrible that day and there was no doubt it was all because I was sharing that night. There were moments of such intense pain throughout the day I thought I might pass out. I thought about calling Joy and telling her I could not be there but deep down I knew that was not an option. So I went home on my lunch break and watched a sermon by Pastor Charlotte Gambill. I had watched this many times before but knew I needed to hear her story again. 

During the message, she shared her struggles with infertility and how she prayed for women to have a baby and they would become pregnant but she never did. Then one day right before church was to start, she went to the bathroom and found blood and knew the fertility treatment had failed. She went on to say she felt God say to her in that moment that she could cry about it but there were women waiting that needed to hear what she had to say. So she went out and preached and the next month became pregnant. 

Listening to Charlotte's story strengthened my own faith and reminded me this is not just about me but others who needed to hear my story. So I went to church and shared and it was awesome. 

Over the next few weeks, I was still fighting physically. So I decided to download some messages about healing. The first one I downloaded was by Pastor Stovall Weems entitled The Great Physician. I immediately thought Stovall was going to share about his surgery for an aortic aneurysm from a few years back and I'll receive some insight on believing God for healing. 

I was wrong. 

Stovall did share a little about the surgery but the focus of the message was on how we are spiritually sick and Jesus is our Great Physician. He spoke from Matthew 9 where Jesus was eating with the sinners and said that it is the sick who need a doctor not the healthy. He said sin makes us sick or diseased. We have all sinned and have a diseased part on the inside but Jesus just wants to make us whole. 

The first time I listened to the message I felt I was supposed to pray for one of my six and did not really feel the message was for me. But as I was listening to the message again one night last week while I was laying in bed and when Stovall said something about being broken on the inside something just clicked in my spirit. I realized I was not only physically sick but also spiritually sick. For so long I had been answering to the nickname of "Broke Down Palace." When I lived in Florida, some of my co-workers gave me that nickname and I answered to it all the time. No wonder I feel like a broken down palace all the time; that's what I have been claiming with my own mouth. I also felt like I was a failure because at times I couldn't clean my house or cook or take care of myself. This illness had taken its toll mentally and emotionally and I needed to be made whole. So I prayed and asked God to forgive me for not believing His words about me and also to heal me spiritually, physically, and emotionally-to make me whole. 

And He has!

It hit me this morning when I woke up at 5:58 am without my alarm, wide awake, fully rested, and pain free. I thought to myself I have not woken up on my own without an alarm in 2 years (before I became sick I always woke up without an alarm-no problem) not to mention being fully rested and pain free. As I sat in my bed this morning thanking God, I reflected on the last week or so of my life and realized that God truly has made me whole and healed me to the uttermost! 

So no more broke down palace for me; I have been made whole!

Jr. Kids share God's goodness