The Holy Spirit & Christina

About 3 weeks ago I was heading into the church sanctuary when I saw one of our members setting up a table. I saw the banner and knew it was for sponsoring children in other countries. I asked him for a brochure and continued into church. As I was reading the brochure I felt the Lord moving my heart to sponsor a child. The more I tried to fight the feeling the stronger it became. And out of nowhere I said to myself 'I have to do this'. This is so unlike me! I know it was the holy spirit guiding my heart to help a young child. So I got up and went back to the table. I was amazed at all the pictures of children that needed help. As I combed through the pictures I saw a little girl from Peru that just hit my heart. I knew she was the one I needed to help. I filled out the paperwork and went back into Church. As we were singing the fellowship songs at the beginning of the service I couldn't help but cry. I felt the holy spirit touch my heart telling me I did the right thing. When my husband came to sit next to me, he looked at the information and was proud of me for doing it! I did not expect that kind of reaction! But he said when he went to Peru many years ago he saw the conditions children were living in, and how poor parts of the country are.

So, for $1 a day we are sponsoring a 3 year old girl from Peru who lives with her mother and grandfather. With the money we send every month she will be able to go to Bible centered activities, learn about God, and hopefully in the years to come become a Christian. Something most children in her country don't have the opportunity to do.

Lesson Learned: Don't fight the holy spirit! Go with it, and learn from it!

Minister to others

Today I had the chance to minister to a woman who's husband just had heart surgery. She is one of my husbands clients. I do not know her well, but felt the need to help her. I have experienced my husband having 2 heart surgeries in the last 4 years and felt the need to share my knowledge with her.

It started yesterday when we went to the hospital to sit with her through the surgery. When we couldn't find her we asked a nurse if she had been there. The nurse said she was too nervous to wait through the 7 hour surgery. We called her at home, and basically invited ourselves to her house to help comfort her. After about an hour I offered to drive her to the hospital Thursday morning and stay with her as long as she needed me.

So this morning she called and said she definitely wanted me to go with her. I picked her up and told her it was completely normal to be nervous, and scared. I also tried to prepare her for how her husband might look right after surgery with all the tubes.

We got to the hospital and I could tell she was getting more nervous. I just kept telling her it was ok, and that he will be fine. I went over some post surgical info with her while the nurses were taking his breathing tube out, and tried to reassure her he will be ok. She went in to see him and spent about 45 minutes in his room. I got caught up on phone calls in the waiting area, and didn't even notice how much time had gone by.

After we left the hospital, she thanked me for going with her and for helping to prepare her to see her husband after surgery. It was such a good feeling and a huge relief knowing that I could share what I had gone through to help her.

I have often wondered why God had me endure 2 heart surgeries with my husband. It's an emotional roller coaster, and not something I want to do again. I have also wondered what I would do with the knowledge I had. Today I found out! And I am happy for it! I have been waiting for God to use me, and today he did! What a great feeling!!

Lesson learned: That God will use you in all areas of life. It doesn't have to be about quoting scripture, or bringing someone to know Jesus. It can just be about being there when someone needs you. God put me there today, and I thank him for it!

Giving Food To Those In Need

My sister in law gave me a book around Valentines Day called 'Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom'. I have chosen this as my March book. There are a lot of great ideas about how to use coupons to save the most money. But, there is also a chapter on giving food to the needy. The author shows ways to use coupons to purchase food for pennies or free to give to the needy.

Last August, when my husband had his 2nd heart surgery, money was very tight. We lived on what we had in our savings account and tried to live by the bare minimum. By November my husband was in the hospital again having a pacemaker implanted to keep his heart pumping, and we were broke. Thanks to our church, we had food for Thanksgiving and beyond.

I think it is important to help those in need. There are people that are hard working, but have something tragic happen that changes everything. There are single parents working to keep a roof over their children's heads, and there just isn't enough money for food at the end of the week. There are elderly people who just aren't getting enough social security to help pay all their bills.

So, I have chosen to place the items I purchase at ridiculously low prices or free in a box for the needy. There is a food mission about 10 minutes from my house that it will go to when I fill it with much needed items.

Our church helped us in our time of need, and now I can help someone in their time of need. It's a good feeling passing on the favor!

I encourage everyone who reads this to do the same!!

The Flu.....Sucks!

Sorry for the wording in the title, but that is how I feel!! I have the stomach flu and it has consumed the last 5 days of my life.

Saturday I took care of my son, and felt kind of achy. By Saturday night I had a 102.5 temperature. I felt like I was going to explode. Literally.

Sunday I woke up with a 101.5 temperature and felt like a mac truck hit me. I couldn't keep any solids down, and my throat was hurting something fierce. Then about 4pm my husband thought I had vomited way to much and had my father take me to the emergency room(since my son was still sick at home). The ER checked for strep( came back negative) and took lots of blood. They confirmed a virus and hooked me up to a huge fluid bag to replenish my fluids. They said the virus would pass in a few days and they gave me some nausea medication.

Monday I couldn't keep anything down. I even vomited the nausea medication. How bad is that! Anyway, It wasn't until Tuesday that I felt somewhat human. I still had the sore throat, and could finally keep solids down. This morning was better. My sore throat is on the way out and I am keeping food down. I am still a little tired, but much better than yesterday.

So, lesson learned........GET YOUR FLU SHOT EVERY YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!This is one of those times that it is OK to break the budget and spend the 10 minutes to save yourself 5 days of being miserable!