Believing Changes Everything

My life changed after my vision of Jesus and the pit of fire (See: The Divine Embrace). From that moment I saw God in every circumstance, in every sorrow. 

I asked to be His witness and my life fell apart. Family crisis, deaths, financial disasters, and health issues hit one after another.

   

I remembered His words from my vision. I would walk through an inferno as a natural part of my life, I would endure great sorrow, but if I held onto Him, my faith, the flames would never burn me.

While I struggled to hold on to my faith, He sent rainbows in many forms prior to miraculous healings. He sent lilies reminding me not to be anxious about clothing, feeding, or sheltering my family and myself. Only days after their appearance, a miracle saved me from financial disaster. Scriptural promises appeared when I needed encouragement, consolation and promises of better tomorrows.

He brought me through all of it and I am stronger, more trusting, and I hope more compassionate toward others.

He granted me miracles because I believed.

Thank you, Lord, for all of your bountiful gifts, for walking with me in the flames, and most of all for your mercy and compassion for all of my mistakes and misjudgments. Amen. 

My Hour Had Not Yet Come, Continued

God had other tests of faith in store for us on this fateful trip.

We stopped for the night at Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border. In the morning, as we were removing the chucks from the trailer wheels, my husband noticed one of the tires was wearing on the inside rim. Warning bells and red flags blazed. A blow out on a trailer is not pretty, especially one on a rig as big and heavy as ours.

We managed to pull into a tire shop in Kingman, Arizona without a blowout. An inspection revealed either the tire was at fault, or the trailer axles needed alignment. We bought a new tire and headed straight to the suggested RV repair a few miles down the road. Of course, they were too busy to look into the issue until the morning. We spent the night in an RV park close by, wringing our hands wondering how much of our vacation budget this would eat, along with the expenditure we already incurred with the new tire.

 The next morning, their mechanic deduced the axles were good, but not our tire pressure. We were running on sixty pounds psi when the tires should be at eighty. My thought, “Why didn’t the tire people notice that?”

With the tire pressure now at the correct level and feeling confident we had the issue resolved, we continued across Arizona and into New Mexico. We arrived at Pancho Villa State Park without further incident.

This park is the site of the famous raid by the Mexican rebel on US soil. We happened to arrive on the 100^th anniversary of the raid and of course looked forward to participating in many of the activities. However, our bad luck had not ended yet.

Has It Been A Wonderful Life?

The classic movie has been a tradition at Christmas for as long as I can remember, and for just as long as I can remember its premise has haunted me for days afterward. If I had not been born, would anyone's life be affected? I agree with Clarence, very few can truthfully answer that question beyond immediate friends and family. Even then, would their lives be affected that much?

I haven't found the cure to any disease or instigated the end to any injustices. I haven't written a book worthy of the Pulitzer or done any deed that warranted the Nobel for Peace. In fact, those closest to me would say the opposite is more likely. St. Paul had it right. Why do I do the evil which I wish not and not do the good that I wish?

And yet, if God will bless someone like me with His miracles, love and compassion, then everyone in the whole world has an equal chance. 

I've seen rainbows and lilies appear when I needed their messages of hope. I've had visions, premonitions, and divine encounters in which God has told me how much He loves me. I've been loved and cared for. I have loved and cared for others. I have been blessed with talents I've been allowed to share with others. I've laughed and cried, rejoiced and sorrowed. I've been ill and been healed. I've been devastated financially and been delivered.

Thus, even if I haven't managed to right wrongs, win a Pulitzer or save the world, it has been a wonderful life - and it isn't over yet.

In fact, through scriptures and visions, God has revealed the last half of my life will be better than the first. Exactly how this will be manifested, I haven't a clue, but judging from what's happened already, it will be something grand.

Can you say it's been a wonderful life?