Stories of Transformation: Part 4

Anne is a woman who has gone through an amazing transformation. It comes out of living from a different place: faith instead of fear.

When I first met Anne, she was fearful. She was afraid of something happening to her health. She was fearful about her children. She was afraid to step forward and take risks.

She was prayed over at the Healing Prayer Training and her life began to change. She stepped out of fear and began to move in faith. However, her faith wasn't a small step at a time, it's like she became Jack in the Beanstock and could climb great heights.

She was tested.

First, she was told that she had cancer and had to have surgery to remove it. The day before the surgery, she had another biopsy to confirm it. The morning of her surgery, Anne was all hooked up to the IV's and ready for the surgery, but the dr. came in and told her that her biopsy was completing clear. So, the nurses unhooked Anne, and home she went!

Anne is giving God the glory for this healing....

Anne's healing opened the door to invite others to come to the Healing Prayer Training. Even though they all live almost two hours north of Seattle, 12 people from her church have committed to come and spend three weekends being trained. Already several of them have been healed of physical, emotional and spiritual challenges.

One family was struggling with fear again, this time because they have a child who was being tested for cancer. It came back positive. However, the transformation took place in that the Mother was able to release her fear back to God and begin to move in great faith. After she had made that transition, their daughter went through a surgery where the drs feel that they have gotten all of the cancer so there is no need for further treatment. God is getting the glory for the healing, both in the child and in the parents!

God had other plans to challenge and increase Anne's faith! He called her to hold a Children of the Nations Food Assembly in her church for the community. The Lord also gave her a goal of 100,000 meals right before Christmas!

That's a god-sized challenge and Anne wanted to keep quiet about the goal, but then her pastor mentioned it from the pulpit. The word was out! Just a few days before the food assembly, they had only half of the money that they needed.

But, God in his sense of humor, didn't stop at 100,000. On December 19th, the people of Mt. Vernon, WA donated and assembled 130,000 meals!

I asked Anne what she learned from the experience and it was a priceless lesson. She saw how God gave her a call and a goal. She had no earthly idea how that goal would be reached, but she was willing to be a fool for God and put it out there....

When God calls us, he will bring the provision. When we begin to walk in faith: being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see, then we get to see God do things bigger and better than we could ever imagine!

Celebrate Recovery Retreat

I want to celebrate the amazing ministry of our Celebrate Recovery Leaders. They serve selflessly week in and week out, never taking a break even for a holiday in case someone comes who is need of a loving touch and a caring person.

Saturday my ministry partner, Sharon and myself, led a leaders retreat to pour into them a portion of what they pour into others. Sharon and I are delighted to have a kingdom ministry of Celebrate Recovery shared by Missio Lux and its parent church, Pine Lake Covenant.

Our theme for the retreat was "The Heart of the Father." This has been a significant theme for me as my Heavenly Father meets me lately and shows me that his love for me goes far deeper than I have ever experientially realized.

He gives us a picture of that Father in the parable of the Compassionate Father. Wait, you don't know that parable~that's because it was severly misnamed by someone who needed to experience greater amounts of the Father's love. We know this because he named the story the Prodigal Son, focusing on the sons failure, rather than the compassion of his Father.

The Father didn't shame or condemn his son for his poor choices, but instead came out running at record speed, threw his arms around him, called for his coat, his ring and his shoes to be restored to him, and then threw a gigantic party for his son! What a welcome he received.

We also watched a clip from Blood Diamonds, a very moving segment of a Father who had been searching everywhere to find his son, only to find him as a brainwashed child soldier who was pointing a gun at his head. He didn't run in fear, but kept speaking to his son about his true identity and his love for him. Eventually the boy put down the gun and fell crying into his arms.

We listened to a song by Kim Walker called "Oh, How He Loves Me," where she sings that if grace were an ocean, we would all be sinking, and heaven reaches down and gives us a sloppy wet kiss. Her songs rings through my head these days as I experience deeper waves of my Father's love.

We reflected on where we weren't yet living life fully with our Father. Then we took the powerful and living Scriptures and confessed our lack and replaced it with the full generosity of the Father.

And, we committed to support and hold one another accountable to continue the journey of freedom to the Father's heart as we experience the abundant life Jesus purchased for us.

Even though Sharon and I were leading the retreat, it was a time of rest and peace for us as we experienced that deeper place with our Father and one another.