Each day has a richness if its own and God gives us each day. This is the day that the Lord has made . I will rejoice and be glad in it. In the early morning light , as you sit out on the deck you hear the sounds of the morning and even the man made ones seem sweet to my ears. I can here the roosters crowing on the next property and the hens cackling away. I can hear the sweet sounds of the birds singing their praises to their creator and I feel in awe. All in all though it seemed like an ordinary day. After breakfast we did a devotion or reading from Luke 17:11-19. Sandie takes a lead on this and she asks us to listen with our eyes closed and she reads us the story asking us to listen to a word or phrase that stands out or speaks to us. We repeat the exercise after each member of the team shares their phrase and it surprising how the phrases or word that God is speaking into us are different. Each time Sandie reads us the story we go deeper into the story and we are asked to share what is it that scriptures are saying to us and fresh insights it is giving to us. I find it so beautiful how God's word is so alive and speaks to us and as people share I gain new insights myself that I have never thought about. For me the word that spoke to me was Mercy. I am not even sure at that point I really understood what Mercy means but by the end of the day I do. Don's bible says pity but somehow that word speaks differently to me. I ask myself , " Am I merciful to others? How does God's mercy show through me? " Mercy is different than Grace. Mercy is not getting what you know or think you deserve was one definition suggest. Another definition was when compassion and empathy compel you to act. I like that definition and in the story of the 10 lepers , only one went back to Jesus and gave him the glory and praise for the healing.
This morning we are to visit a young woman named Grace who was in a car accident and has been in a wheelchair for around 2 years. She has two children, a little boy 3 and the baby 3 months of age. She is from a community Estelli and her husband has left her. Marta ,a social worker , gave Annette a letter written by Marta's church who are looking for help as they have been supporting her. Initially I thought that we would pack up some clothing and supplies and bless her and see what she needed and how we might help. Before we left I talked with two of my team and they planted in me the thought that we could pray over her and with her and stand on God's promises and ask for healing. We are a healing team but quite frankly I am new to this idea and I had a vision of her being in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Not so with my team. The seed of healing and walking were planted in me and off we go. We picked up the social worker and we go into the neighbourhood and pull up and knock on the door and wait for someone to answer. The door opens and we meet Grace and her two little boys and the woman who looks after her with help from her son in law, Michael. Really they are both faceless to me at this point but they are acting as the hands and feet of Jesus and they care for her even though she is of no relation to them. They are not faceless to Jesus. We begin by hearing her story and there is a sadness about her that penetrates the depths of my soul . She just lost her grandmother a week ago and she tells us about losing her parents. She is a bright girl and is a civil engineer and she has lost the ability to provide for herself and her family but when we ask her what she would like to do , she outlines three options how she might provide for herself. She is seeing beyond her circumstances. She says she has never lost her faith. We asked her what her heart's desire were and told her that God wants to give the desires of her heart. Her hearts desire would be to have a computer and be able to work as a civil engineer again, the second is to work as a receptionist and the third is to buy a hotdog cart or sell perfumes and female products to her neighbours. I hear no self pity yet she has been though so much. We tell her that we have come to visit and see her needs and that we would like to pray with her and over her for healing. She has a top on but a towel over her legs as she has had damage to her bladder and has a bag. As her little boy is in the back room and she is distracted as we start to sing and pray, we begin to sing Praise God from whom all blessings flow and she reappears with pants on covering her legs. The team gently comes around her and take positions and some of us lay hands on her, some of us hold our hands up to our Father and we begin to pray life into her limbs, her back, her hands, her body and some of us read scripture and some of us plead the blood of Jesus over her. There is much love in the room and the Holy Spirit is present. There is an ebb and a flow that I really can not describe only to tell you that we were in tune to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Some take more of a lead, some are at her feet, some fetch her a pail when she feels sick but in all of it we are acting as a Body of Christ stepping out in our faith and expecting healing to occur. We have taken turns to look after the little three month old baby and while I am in the bedroom separated by a curtain I know something is happening and I look out to see Grace standing and taking steps. Five I am told. The number does not matter . My team saw her back straighten first and as they helped her up on her initiative she walked. Words cannot describe how we felt in our hearts as we were a part of this miracle. After I got the baby diapered I came out and she looked up at me , one on one, and it felt like it was Jesus himself looking at me and it felt like I had connected with her soul. What a privilege and honour to serve our Father and all the glory and praises are his. We were and are his vessels. I am not sure I can ever really tell you all that happened. We are all processing it together. I can tell you one thing, What started out as an ordinary day became an extraordinary for me, my team and for Grace. After we went and picked up some supplies for her and a laptop computer we came back to deliver them. We gave her a scripture of God's promise to have as her own from Matthew 21:21-22. We kissed her good bye for now and she went to the door , back in her wheel chair for now, and I know it is a day she will never forget and I know God is with her and is doing great things in her for His Kingdom. An ordinary day with an Extraordinary God.
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