Linda's Journal - May 25, 2011

So, today’s update is; Beth calls me and says, do you want to hear about the June 11th wedding?  I said "sure!"  But then said "or do I?"  She said that the couple decided to run off to Jamaica to get married instead!  So the wedding that we were so concerned about isn't even going to happen!!  Isn't God amazing???

So, just to recap all of this, not only did Tom get to surprise his mom for her birthday, he gets to stay for an “extended” visit, and be able to go to the reunion, and then I get to go join him for the reunion…  AND Beth doesn't have to work the wedding by herself while we are gone...  Wow…  Only God can do things like that :)  Now, I can’t wait to see how he will work out the rest of the details!!

Linda's Journal - May 23, 2011

Tom's mom's birthday surprise went over GREAT!!  I was thinking about how I could be a part of the surprise so I thought of the idea to Skype her while she was at the family party and then call to Tom (as if he was here) to come up to talk with his mom... only to have him walk into the room where SHE is!  Not only did that work out perfectly but I got the "front row seat" to see her expression when he walked out in front of her!!  It was so awesome! It was such a great surprise for her and she was in shock and amazement the whole night.  They also gave her a wonderful blanket with all of her children’s family pictures on it with a saying something like “We all love you very much… wrap yourself in our love”.  That was another wonderful surprise for her.  I think she had a very memorable 80^th birthday!

So, on Saturday night I shared this story with Beth and she was surprised that Tom was already in CA.  She was thinking that he was going for the reunion so she asked when the reunion was and when I told her June 10th thru 12th she said, "Well, tell him to stay there through the reunion"!!  I told her that he probably wouldn't because he didn't want to stick me with all the work with the guests and the weddings we have coming up (June 4th and 11th).  She said, "We can cover it for him!!  Tell him to stay for the reunion!"  So, I called Tom that night and left him a message letting him know what she said.

So, the next morning Beth comes to the Inn and hands me two envelopes.  She said, this one is your pay for the event (which was double what I was expecting!), and this envelope is from Bud and I, and we want you to open it now.  So, I opened the card and it said “This card is good for one airfare to CA for the family reunion” for ME!!!  OH MY GOODNESS!  So, now I am trying to wrap my mind around me going to CA and Tom staying for almost a month...!!  It takes me a little while to mentally change directions like that…  I was also concerned for Beth because she really needed help with the June 11th wedding and I wasn’t sure if she would be able to get the help she needed.  But, she blew it off and said she would take care of it and REALLY wanted me to be with the family at the reunion.

So when Tom called that morning, he said that he got my message and was appreciative of Beth's encouragement to stay for the reunion but really did not feel right leaving me for so long with all the work.  So then I got to tell him that he HAD to stay because I was going too!  So I told him what Beth did that morning and that blew him away!  He is SO excited and in awe of our Lord.  Not only was Tom able to surprise his mom for her birthday but he gets to stay for an extended visit AND go to the reunion, which we had completely written off as a possibility!  God, you are absolutely amazing!

Now, the other aspect of this is, as much of a blessing as this is, this has brought to me some more “opportunities” to have my faith stretched!!  Bud and Beth’s gift was incredibly kind and generous but, the other aspect of us not being able to go was not only the expense of flying but, we also have the cost of the hotel room, the reunion food and T-shirts and NOW we have to come up with the money for Tom’s change ticket since he is returning on a different day!!  I was starting to go down the “anxiety” road about all that, but I have to believe that if God provided for us up to this point, then, He has ALREADY made provision for the rest!!  We may not see it now but God’s resources are unlimited and, He always pays for what He orders :)  Lord, help me keep my eyes on you and trust you with all my heart and know, without a doubt, that my daddy has it all covered.

And then, we get to the last aspect of all this.  Since Tom is not returning, I will be house/pet sitting AND managing a FULL house of guests for four days by myself… Lord, give me the strength to accomplish all this with grace and efficiency!

Linda's Journal - Monday, May 9, 2011

As usual, I have lots of updates.  Regarding God’s provision, He is truly amazing!! We got called to house/pet sit for Tina again last month, which we hadn't done in a LONG time!  God set that up to happen at the same time that Gerry went to Atlanta so that we had provision from a different source while she was gone.  I also house/pet sat for Marteen this last week too.  This has certainly helped with meeting our needs but we had an additional HUGE surprise last Wed night when one of the guys that goes to Tom’s men's Bible Study asked if we took donations for our ministry.  Tom told him that our ministry isn’t an “official” non profit but if God was directing him to give to us, then yes, we do accept those donations.  Then he gave Tom a check for $800.00!!!  Wow!!  When Tom showed it to me the next morning I said to him, “Do you see CALIFORNIA written in this check!!?”  He was at his computer and showed me that he had ALREADY been looking for flights to go to CA!!  So, praise God!!! Tom booked his flight to CA, leaving on the 19^th for his mom’s birthday, May 20^th.  We are so excited!  He is going to surprise her but has let the rest of the family know.  They are all as excited as we are to have him come to visit. 


Tom had gotten to the point where he was so frustrated and disappointed that God had not provided for "a" trip (any trip) to see his family, he just threw up his hands and said "FINE! I'm not going to pray about it anymore. I'm not going to wish for it, hope for it, or expect it any more..."And then God hands it to him from a source we would NEVER have been looking to for it.  Tom said that it wasn't until he let go that God handed it back to him!  That is SO true!  We need to let go of our hopes and dreams and embrace HIS hopes and dreams for us.  As Oswald always says, are we looking only for God’s blessings, or are we looking for God who has the blessings??  Are we satisfied with the “good” that the world is offering or will we trade that in for the “BEST” that God has for us?

Yesterday was Mothers Day and we got some more great news!! Elena is pregnant!!  We are so excited for her! I had a feeling she was going to get pregnant once they got the puppy :) Unfortunately, she is sicker than a dog right now with morning sickness as this is the hardest time for her pregnancies.  We are praying that this phase is short and mild.  The funny thing is that the due date is January 2^nd right along with Mako’s birthday on the 3rd and Wesson’s birthday on the 8^th.  They are thinking it will be a boy because of this but I will hang with Angel and hoping for another girl :)

This is the busy time for the Inn so I have been kept busy with guests and we have 3 weddings in a row in June…  Life will get even more interesting really soon.

Lord, I pray that you would give me the energy and the strength to keep up with YOUR plans for my life.  Help me Lord to set aside the things that are not of you and only do what You have for me.  Thank you Lord for taking care of Elena.  I pray that you would give her all that she needs to get through this difficult time in her pregnancy and please keep the baby safe at this early stage.  Lord, I praise you and give you all the glory and honor for taking such good care of us financially, physically and spiritually!  You continue to blow our minds with your generosity and faithfulness!  In Jesus name, amen.

PRESSING in...

Philippians 3:12-13 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Hosea 6:3 Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."

I have recently been reminded by the Lord of a women’s conference that I attended a few years ago. The speaker was excellent and as she spoke she used a phrase over and over again and I don’t think I would have paid much attention to it except that the Lord brought it to my attention when, just before we went to a break, she used it for the last time.  That phrase was “Press in to the Lord” or “Pressing in to the Lord”.  When we went to the break I remember just sitting there in my chair, jelled out, while the other women were getting up and milling around or talking, I was thinking about that phase “pressing in to the Lord”.

As I was meditating on it, the Lord showed me this vision.  I saw Jesus in my minds eye like he is depicted in the movies when He walked on earth, dressed in robes, and he was standing on a grassy hillside.  Then the vision filled up with people that stood between me and Jesus.  I could see him, but I couldn't get to him because of all the people that were between me and Him.  He wasn't very far from me, maybe about 150 yards or so. Then He said, “Press into me” and I started moving forward through the people towards Him.  It was actually much more difficult than I initially thought it would be!!  The people were really hard to get past and it seemed like the harder I tried the more they pushed back and prevented my progress.  Then the Lord started naming these people that had come between us… He named them “busyness”, “T.V.”, “jobs”, “money”, “children”, “spouse”, “sleeping in”, “hobbies”, “fear”, “anxiety”, “doubt”, “unbelief”, “disappointments”, “anger”, “excuses”… Wow.  I realized that what He was telling me was that I was allowing these things to come between us and that He wanted me to PRESS IN past these things so that I could get closer to Him!  

Reading Paul’s letter in Philippians, He mentions pressing on towards the goal, straining toward what is ahead, and in Hosea he says “let us press on to acknowledge Him”.  These are all “action” words and phrases, to exert effort and energy!  I just looked up the definition for “press” and this is what it says:

1. to act upon with steadily applied weight or force.

2.to move by weight or force in a certain direction or into a certain position: The crowd pressed him into a corner.

3.to compress or squeeze, as to alter in shape or size: He pressed the clay into a ball.

It is SO much easier to allow other things to distract and prevent me from spending time with the Lord.  I can come up with a bunch of excuses but the bottom line is, if my desire truly is to get closer to Christ, then I need to exert steady force and really press in past the excuses and strain toward Him every day!

“… As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."

Lord, I pray that you help me to lift the spiritual weights on a daily basis and strengthen me to be able to press in to you more and more every day!  Help me Lord to not allow other things to distract and prevent our time together but enable me to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles" to strain ahead and press into you, in Jesus name I pray, amen!

"From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it." (Matthew 11:12)