MY CEILING

MY CEILING

  • Encouragement, Testimonies

MY CEILING

Someone recently asked me if I ever think my kids will surpass me in the things of the Spirit. I laughed and said, “They did that a long time ago – and I am okay with that!” You see, I am on a journey of UNlearning things, tearing down strongholds, and experiencing the Father where there is no earthly experience. My children have a very different story. While they surely know heartbreak and pain, they have always had a family, been in connection, been seen and heard, and have been introduced to the real living Jesus in a tangible way since they were very young. Their foundation is different. When they were little, I once watched my child have an angry outburst with their sibling, and I told them that they learned that from me. I modeled that for them, but I could not allow them to walk in the same footsteps. Anger was a stronghold for me as a reaction to staying safe in unhealthy environments, and God was dismantling it. But for them, they were CHOOSING it. There is a difference. You are not being a hypocrite for calling your child to a higher standard in an area you may struggle in. It is called tough love and breaking the cycle. If this is something you are aware of in your parenting, keep going low and keep cleaning up your mess, letting them know that your responses are not in alignment with the Father’s heart.

Obviously, the goal is for the parent to get free, but in the meantime, it is okay to call our children to a higher living and hold them accountable for right behaviors.

EYES BACK ON HIM

I witnessed a healing miracle. Maybe you need one too. A girl was plagued with a fever that would not let up. As I gathered the kids to pray, we all sensed her joy would return, and I heard that it was from being super sensitive to what was happening in the world. I called the dad to share, and he said he just heard the Lord say she was “sick to her stomach” (emotionally). They dealt with her anxiety and focused her eyes back on Jesus, not the storm, and within MINUTES her fever broke. The next day a friend mentioned that her back was still hurting from mowing the lawn. I got a picture in my mind that she was carrying emotional weight around, so I asked her to ask, “Jesus, am I carrying something that You want to carry for me?” and AS SHE PRAYED, the pain reduced.

When we are not processing our emotions fully for whatever reason, it can affect our physical body. Disease is a breakdown of our physical bodies, but long before there is a disease, there is a lack of EASE (harmony). God made our mind, body, and spirit to be in perfect harmony, working together. When parts of our body are out of alignment, it will affect other areas. We speak healing and freedom to your whole mind, body, and spirit.

What about you? Have you noticed an increase in physical symptoms, aches, and pains? Ask Jesus if you need to release some emotional trauma or stress that your body is holding onto.

OBEY

I seriously LOVE how God networks between people. He is a perfect economist and never does it just to bless one side. A neighbor had a very serious situation with her son that was made public. I felt it in my heart to reach out to her, even though we had never met, and let her know we were praying for her. She was deeply touched by my message. We became FB friends. She saw the girls doing a bake sale for school to raise money for missions and stopped by unannounced with a bunch of cupcakes. I was deeply touched by her random kindness. We chatted over meals, attended groups together, and she came to my parenting classes. She became my friend. One day, she called me out of the blue and said, “I didn’t want you to worry about dinner tonight, so I bought you Papa Murphy’s pizza for dinner.” I cried as I put dinner on the table. Sometimes it is nice to have someone SEE the load you carry and love you in such a tangible and practical way. The moral of the story is this – OBEY when God gives you a nudge to love someone. Oh, the plans He has for us.

BUT GOD…

I was in a really intense season – probably the most significant spiritual battle I have ever walked through. Sometimes you just get credit for staying in the game and not quitting. Yet here we are, sitting as a family, all on our laptops, writing out our testimonies to encourage others. I have tears in my eyes looking around the room at my kids typing away, eager to share their journey with others. The enemy may do his thing, but GOD is still on His throne, and as for this house, we serve the LORD!

DESENSITIZING

No man can do the things that terrorists do without intentional grooming. They are so DE-sensitized to the brutality that the real thing no longer upsets them. They have been exposed to such darkness, most likely from a very early age. It is awful what is happening in the world through them, but what is brewing so deep within me is that God is STILL bigger. He STILL sits on His throne and hasn’t budged. God is STILL the Alpha and Omega. The enemy knows that equipping children at a young age is the best weapon they have as they will grow up being mighty weapons of mass destruction. But do WE know that? Do we get how powerful it is when children are given spiritual tools at a young age? Do we really have more fear than faith? Do we not see the importance of raising up an army of children who know how to hear His voice and act accordingly? It is like the enemy says, “Boo!” and we all jump in fear. NO! We WILL do our part to teach, train, and equip our children to be the warriors in the world God has called them to be. It is our job. We are the generals in God’s army, and the family is our training ground. My intent is not to instill fear or partner with that ugly religious spirit but to share that something so deep and so wildly violent is bubbling within me. I want more! I want more families to be intentional about their children! I want YOU to embrace all that God has for you and your family. I burn for more. I yearn that we, the Bride, all of us, would know that there is NO weapon formed against us that shall prosper but that WE will march forth and walk in victory because God Himself is leading us. I want your connection with your children to remain intact so that they are spared from the countless years of agony we endured. I want for them to know how amazing and powerful they are because you speak it over them daily. I want them to know, like second nature, how to go to Papa God and discuss the burdens of their heart with Him directly. Ah, that the children would be trained and equipped by intentional parents who do not partner with feelings of inadequacy but know themselves who they are. Oh, I burn for this. Yes, the enemy is doing many un-fun things in our world right now but let them wait and see what this generation is about to do. They will rise up and flip atmospheres; they will say NO with ease to the false comforts of the world. They will hinder the pornography, alcohol, and drug markets simply because they have no need for it. They will walk in confidence and assurance. They will honor adults for the wisdom they possess and seek their counsel. They will discern the fear for what it is and laugh at it. They will grab hold of the hurts, lies, and offenses and apply the tools they have been taught to work through them, so they don’t become adult-sized woundedness. They will walk into the darkest of situations and turn on the LIGHT! They will praise where there is weeping, and they will heal where there is sickness. They will love where there is brokenness. They will hold their places, and all of heaven will back them up. Your labor in equipping your children is not unseen. Ask Jesus to show you what it means to Him! I believe in you and am so honored that we get to link arms one family at a time! 

SUPERNATURAL BECOMES NATURAL

I sat in a room with 80 young kids one night. Oh, my word, the world hasn’t yet seen what God can do with a group of children who are hungry for him. One girl said to her friends that her knee was hurting, and they immediately laid hands on her, and was healed. Her response? “Cool.” At first, I wasn’t sure how to process the flippant response, but I heard Holy Spirit say, “Because the supernatural is natural to her.” So powerful!

FINDING MY HUSBAND

We became a solo family two weeks before Christmas. I went to bed Christmas Eve but woke around 2am thirsty. I don’t need much sleep but getting out of bed for a glass of water was out of the question. The thirst persisted. I finally got up and stumbled to the kitchen, where my feet hit the standing water from the dishwasher that had leaked. I was so thankful to have found it then, as it would have ruined our hardwood flooring and seeped into the basement had it been left for Christmas morning. I cleaned it up in the dark, sat on the kitchen floor, and wept. There was no way I had an ounce of energy left in me to wash dishes three times a day for five people. I felt so alone and overwhelmed. I told God I wasn’t stupid but honestly didn’t know who to call to repair it. An electrician? A plumber? Another wave of tears came as I embraced my hopelessness. I wasn’t even sure I knew where to buy a new one. Home Depot? Did Sears carry them? My husband would have known with ease how to handle this situation, but he wasn’t there, and my cluelessness was reducing me to another wet pile of tears on the kitchen floor. I suddenly remembered the verse that talked about God being my Husband. I dried my tears and said, “Okay, YOU are now my Husband. We have a problem with our dishwasher. What are You going to do about it?” Three days later, I ran the dishwasher, and it never leaked again. A place in my heart was created that Christmas for God to become my Husband, my faithful, know-it-all, can-fix-it Husband. I no longer operated in spiritual singleness. FAITH is the wedding band that activates His power, peace, and solutions in my life.

BROWNIE RECIPE

 A father of some teenage children had the family rule that they could not attend PG-13 or R-rated movies. His three teens wanted to see a particular popular movie that was playing at local theaters. It was rated PG-13. The teens interviewed friends and even some members of their family’s church to find out what was offensive in the movie. The teens made a list of pros and cons about the movie to convince their dad that they should be allowed to see it. The cons were that it contained ONLY 3 swear words, the ONLY violence was a building exploding (and you see that on TV all the time, they said), and you actually did not ‘see’ the couple in the movie having sex – it was just implied sex, off camera. The pros were that it was a popular movie – a blockbuster. Everyone was seeing it. If the teens saw the movie, they would not feel left out when their friends discussed it. The movie contained a good story and plot. It had some great adventure and suspense in it. There were some fantastic special effects in this movie. The movie’s stars were some of the most talented actors in Hollywood. It probably would be nominated for several awards. Many of their Christian church members had even seen the movie and said it wasn’t ‘very bad.’ Therefore, since there were more pros than cons, the teens said they were asking their father to reconsider his position on just this ONE movie and let them have permission to go see it. The father looked at the list and thought for a few minutes. He said he could tell his children had spent some time and thought on this request. He asked if he could have a day to think about it before making his decision. The teens were thrilled, thinking, “Now we’ve got him! Our argument is too good! Dad can’t turn us down!” So, they happily agreed to let him have a day to think about their request. The next evening the father called in his three teenagers, who were smiling smugly, into the living room. There on the coffee table, he had a plate of brownies. The teens were puzzled. The father told his children he had thought about their request and decided that if they ate a brownie, he would let them go to the movie. But just like the movie, the brownies had pros and cons. The pros were that they were made with the finest chocolate and other good ingredients. They had the added special effect of yummy walnuts in them. The brownies were moist and fresh, with wonderful chocolate frosting on top. He had made these fantastic brownies using an award-winning recipe. And best of all, the brownies had been made lovingly by the hand of their own father. The brownies only had one con. The father had included a little bit of a special ingredient. The brownies also contained just a little bit of dog poop. But he had mixed the dough well – they probably would not even be able to taste the dog poop, and he had baked it at 350 degrees, so any bacteria or germs from the dog poop had probably been destroyed. Therefore, if any of his children could stand to eat the brownies, which included just a ‘little bit of crap,’ and not be affected by it. Of course, none of the teens would eat the brownies, and the smug smiles had left their faces. Only Dad was smiling smugly as they left the room. Now when his teenagers ask permission to do something he is opposed to, the father just asks, “Would you like me to whip up a batch of my special brownies?”

I WANT THAT

Do you ever hear of a great testimony and say, “I want that?” While the heart of sharing testimonies is the confidence God wants to do it again in your life, the focus has to be on HIM, not the fruit. We can’t just say, “I want that fruit”; it has to be, “I want HIM.” So, when you see God move mountains in someone’s life, let it encourage you that He is able, but ask Him for the keys in your own life and follow whatever He tells you in your situation.

NOT JUST ANOTHER CLASS

Don’t just take my word for it. Listen to what this parent had to say about our online Kingdom parenting class.

“I doubted if it would be worth the money to take another parenting class. This is NOT just another parenting class! If the class only had the first two days in it, it would be worth it already! Thank you for your life of walking close to Holy Spirit and for leading us on how to walk with Him. And THANK YOU, GOD, for walking with us in the process.” 

Allow me the opportunity to walk YOU through how to partner with your child’s Creator in your parenting.

Journey – ONLINE CLASS – Let the Children Fly

CAN’T SLEEP

I have been mentoring a young mom walking through drug addiction. Each time we meet, I can see this beautiful transformation happening in her physically. I told her she has this soft and joyful look about her. It was precious to see. As we talked, she mentioned that her therapist put her on antidepressants for depression. I cannot explain other than to say it was as foreign to me as if she had told me she had purple hair. Not only did she not appear depressed to me, but she was becoming more and more filled with JOY and peace. I asked why her therapist felt she was depressed, and she began to tell me how she has difficulty falling asleep each night, but once she is asleep, she never wants to get out of bed. She has struggled with that sleep pattern her whole life. I asked her if the medication had been helping her, and she said, “Not at all.” I knew instantly in my spirit; she was not depressed but a spiritual issue that needed to be resolved around her ability to sleep and rest well. I asked her what it was like as a little girl waking up each morning, and she began to weep. She said she hated waking up in the morning because she would have to leave her mama, and every time she left her, she did not know if it would be the last time she would see her. She wasn’t depressed! She had a spirit of trauma that had attached itself to her sleep and was robbing her of rest. We are mind, body, and spirit, and each part of us is affected by trauma. We cannot assume that everything that bears negative fruit is rooted in the body. Yes, depression is real when chemicals are off in the brain, and medication is required to help balance them. However, sometimes the issue lies in our mind (lies) and other times in the spiritual realm. The event can be long over, and we can even heal emotionally, but sometimes we have to be aware that things need to be resolved spiritually. In this case, a spirit had a legal right to harass her each night. The moment we used our authority, she could physically feel something shift. Sleep well, my friend, and know that you do not need to put up with that spirit harassing and stealing your sweet rest. 

**Disclaimer: I did not instruct her to go off her meds but to go back and discuss it with her therapist.