I felt the heat, the flames all around me. I opened my eyes only to find an army aiming for my destruction, letting me know that it was time to give up and throw in the towel. At that point, weariness struck me and I wished momentarily for a more "normal" life, wanting this battle to be over and done with. Knowing it would be dangerous to dwell on these thoughts and to sit under this cloud of discouragement, I went against all of my feelings and started to praise God. I sang to Him while in the shower. I thanked Him for all He's done for me while I dried my hair. And then knowing that I needed to take my eyes off of my own situation, I went to church for the women's worship night. It was there, standing with women of all ages, singing with them to our King, that suddenly I felt a release. The gray cloud had lifted, and rays of sun beat down upon me. God lifted me from the pit and over the next few days poured upon me gifts of encouragement, reminders that I was headed in the right direction. The first gift landed in my lap that night. I spoke with a woman from my church after the singing had ended. When she found out that I was soon to be headed out to West Virginia, she quickly placed her hand over her heart and told me how much West Virginia means to her. She has family out there and has been praying for that area, that God would bring His light to shine upon that state. She prayed for me with a voice full of enthusiasm, saying that if she wasn't already supporting three missionaries, she would jump aboard as a financial supporter. Such an amazing conversation God allowed me to have with that dear woman.
Then the next morning, I forced myself to get out of bed at the crack of dawn. Every Thursday I join with a group of people from my church to intercede on behalf of our church, community, state, nation......pretty much whatever God would lead us to pray for. Last Thursday happened to be what we like to call a check in day. Individuals from our group were invited to share their own personal needs and we prayed for one another. So once again, I found myself covered in prayer. We have a lady in our group that God often speaks to in pictures, and so she comes armed with a sketch pad and colored pencils. At the end of each prayer meeting she passes around the masterpiece God painted in her mind. Usually, I enjoy the picture and can sometimes see what God might be trying to speak through the picture. This particular day though, when I was handed the picture, it pierced my heart immediately! There in front of my very eyes was an illustration of West Virginia. There were the mountains, a vast amount of trees and a grist mill. As I've been pulling up pictures from the internet over the past months of West Virginia, there has been a particular grist mill that always seems to come up. I guess it's a tourist attraction. That image of the grist mill has in my mind been equated with West Virginia and now here was that grist mill, right before my eyes. I suddenly found myself crying, tears rushing down my face, I couldn't stop. Only God could know the very thing I needed that morning. Our prophetic artist didn't even know what a grist mill was, she just saw this cool building in her mind and drew it. She didn't even know that I am getting ready to go to West Virginia. It was all God and I thank Him a million times over for that little piece of encouragement.
Then my third gift arrived a couple days later. My friend e-mailed me, knowing that I've been a little stressed out, she wanted to bring me a gift of encouragement. She had placed four items for sale on e-bay. When she went back online to see if any of them had sold, she discovered that one of her items had been bought by a resident of Keyser, West Virginia, my next stop. She adamantly expressed that there was no way that was a coincidence. She reminded me that God is calling me to WV, He hasn't changed His mind!!
I am convinced that this path across my "Jordan," will be a patchwork of miracles. Please continue to stand with me in prayer and call out/praise God for the breakthrough that is coming!
I've begun the packing and I am collecting the stories. God and God alone will be glorified!
Then the next morning, I forced myself to get out of bed at the crack of dawn. Every Thursday I join with a group of people from my church to intercede on behalf of our church, community, state, nation......pretty much whatever God would lead us to pray for. Last Thursday happened to be what we like to call a check in day. Individuals from our group were invited to share their own personal needs and we prayed for one another. So once again, I found myself covered in prayer. We have a lady in our group that God often speaks to in pictures, and so she comes armed with a sketch pad and colored pencils. At the end of each prayer meeting she passes around the masterpiece God painted in her mind. Usually, I enjoy the picture and can sometimes see what God might be trying to speak through the picture. This particular day though, when I was handed the picture, it pierced my heart immediately! There in front of my very eyes was an illustration of West Virginia. There were the mountains, a vast amount of trees and a grist mill. As I've been pulling up pictures from the internet over the past months of West Virginia, there has been a particular grist mill that always seems to come up. I guess it's a tourist attraction. That image of the grist mill has in my mind been equated with West Virginia and now here was that grist mill, right before my eyes. I suddenly found myself crying, tears rushing down my face, I couldn't stop. Only God could know the very thing I needed that morning. Our prophetic artist didn't even know what a grist mill was, she just saw this cool building in her mind and drew it. She didn't even know that I am getting ready to go to West Virginia. It was all God and I thank Him a million times over for that little piece of encouragement.
Then my third gift arrived a couple days later. My friend e-mailed me, knowing that I've been a little stressed out, she wanted to bring me a gift of encouragement. She had placed four items for sale on e-bay. When she went back online to see if any of them had sold, she discovered that one of her items had been bought by a resident of Keyser, West Virginia, my next stop. She adamantly expressed that there was no way that was a coincidence. She reminded me that God is calling me to WV, He hasn't changed His mind!!
I am convinced that this path across my "Jordan," will be a patchwork of miracles. Please continue to stand with me in prayer and call out/praise God for the breakthrough that is coming!
I've begun the packing and I am collecting the stories. God and God alone will be glorified!
Hi Katie, I wanted to let you know that Colleen sent an email with the link for your blog. While reading your post, I got Holy Ghost goose bumps!!! I grew up in Fairmont, WV and lived there until 1995 when I moved to MN. I have been at Hosanna for 4 years and I used to come to the prayer group until we prayed my husband into a job as lead custodian - he has to be there by 7:00 a.m. each day to open the doors and I have a son who is total care so I am not able to leave him to come to the prayer force group any longer. I would love to know more about your kingdom assignment in WV and I will faithfully read your posts! Pam Hamilton
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