What an amazing year 2015 has been! Every day just reveals more about how sovereign and merciful our God is. How much He loves and cares for every detail in our life. Less of me and more of Him!
For the past week we've been awaiting the news to see if Cecily will be accepted into the Neeley School of Business for Entrepreneurship. Yes, I know, Baylor is ranked #3 but TCU is close behind at #6. With Cecily in their ranks, I see a healthy competition in the near future. Let's just face the fact, Jesus has Texas Christian University's back and pours favor on the faithful!
This had me thinking and praying and asking God in prayer for His blessing over Cecily's future. As I prayed and prayed I realized my prayers were for the big picture. I prayed over the school, over their student body: upcoming, current and alum. I prayed for their teaching and biblical principals that may be lacking in their teaching. I prayed that God pursue the hearts of the professors and leadership and bring them to their knees. MORE JESUS!!
On Sunday during Worship Night at PAINT church, I asked God to have His way in Cecily's life. "She's Yours, King Jesus. Father, pull her hearts strings and have her hunger for You. Lord, may she know You and seek You in everything she does." As I went deeper in prayer I spoke a prayer that could only have been lead by the Holy Spirit. "Father of Heaven and Earth, if Cecily wants this for herself and not to honor You and give You glory, take away this opportunity! Remove it and restore what Your plan is for her." My heart stopped but I knew those words meant truth. Why would I want my daughter to be blessed with something if she desired it more than she desired Jesus?
The next day my stomach was in knots. How do I tell my daughter this? What did I get myself into? I reminded myself to trust in God's plan. Cecily had called me and told me that they had a guest speaker at Gateway Church on Sunday. She said the message was about Jesus, the humble servant. There is nothing more that I want but to align myself to my children and their biblical teaching. I want to have a deeper conversation about the message she received. I want to compare her notes with my notes and share with her what Holy Spirit has put in my heart.
What a message! Dr. Spurling spoke about a time in his life when he finished up his PhD. He said he got his diploma and shared it with his father and his father looked at it and gave it back to him. He so wanted a "good job, son" speech but his dad instead spoke truth into his son. He said, "Son, fold up that diploma, put it in your back pocket and let no one know you have it. If you need a piece of paper to validate who you are then you're not worth much. If you want someone to be impressed with your credentials, then you have some other issues. If you want someone to look at you and admire you because of something extra...if its not the quality of your character that attracts them, then you're not much of a man and I don't want a son who acts that way." WOW!! I needed to hear this. This was confirmation of what Holy Spirit spoke to my heart on Sunday. How cool is our Father? He gave this message to my daughter, His daughter on the same day!! What am I worried about? God has this covered! MORE JESUS!!
Today we received the wonderful news that she has been accepted!! Yes I'm happy and proud of her but she is more than the school she attends and the degree she's aiming for. Ultimately, I want Jesus to qualify her with the gifts and talents He has blessed her with. I want her to pursue what God places in her heart that will honor Him all the days of her life. Even though she was born to teenage parents, she was made for more! More of His love for the poor and orphans! More of His mercy and grace! More of His compassion for the weak and weary! More of His vision! More time on her knees! More Holy Spirit! More surrendering to His Lordship! MORE JESUS!!
Showing posts with label Cecily. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cecily. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Cecily is finally home!
After 24 LONG hours, Cecily has finally arrived to Panama! To express the amount of stress we endured yesterday can't be fully written. Cecily waited patiently on stand-by for a flight to end up being denied a seat five times. All the tears I cried at work (it was embarrassing) to Al being on the phone with United to try to do something was all out of faith. What parent just sits there and does nothing?
A day later with better perspective, I have to thank God for His love and protection for my daughter - His daughter. In situations like yesterday I had no choice, in all my weakness, but to pray and trust God had a plan. My prayer was simple and I extended this request to all my sisters. These ladies are prayer warriors so I knew Cecily was covered and God could hear the shouts of these bold, courageous women. We were circling this prayer with unwavering faith. After the 3rd flight, I was begging God for ONE SEAT to Houston. Yes, one seat to Houston but I failed to specify on a plane. We'll get to that point eventually.
Meanwhile, God had a different plan that had nothing to do with a plane, but a seat, on a car, to Houston. Our God has a sense of humor! What are the odds of Cecily meeting another TCU student, also flying to Panama for a special NGO event? I know, right! She also missed her flight and was on stand-by for the last five flights. Let's face it, the odds were against them since 6 am when they were told that all flights were fully booked and stand-by was their only option getting to Houston.
God is sovereign! Allegra, the TCU student (a complete stranger) offers Cecily a ride to Houston. Again, I had to trust God in this situation. I immediately felt peace and knew God was in control. It turns out she also offered her a place to stay for the night. Her aunt (another complete stranger), graciously opened her home for a good night's rest. If you were to ask me three plus years ago , I would've flipped out! There is NO WAY my daughter is staying in a stranger's home. In this season of trusting God, I knew this again was a test to my faith.
While they're driving, I ask Al to call United to get her flight details and confirmation sent to us via email. She was scheduled to leave at 9:00 am to Colorado and arrive in Panama at 8:00 pm. He spoke to the representative and realized that the rep that Al spoke to earlier never followed through on her re-booking. My heart stops once again as my husband pleads with the rep to double and triple check. She then says that instead she can offer us a DIRECT FLIGHT leaving Houston a 9:00 am and arriving at 2:20 pm! I praised Jesus for His favor. My Spirit told me since I trusted Him and prayed through this, this was His gift - His great reward for obedience! We looked online before and during this call and this mysterious flight never came available. We were confused in some sense but realized in the supernatural, it's sometimes unseen and we just had to trust this.
The email confirmation came through and her flight was booked as stated via our telephone conversation. She even got a window seat for good measure! Only God could be this gracious for a fully booked flight on a Saturday, during Spring Break. A reminder that nothing is too grand for Him. His ways aren't our ways for a reason.
Cecily landed safely with a big smile on her face. You could imagine my mama heart was melted to touch her, see her face, and tell her how much we loved her. What an honor it is to witness God's love firsthand for our family! To see what He does here on earth for His children. I realized today while praying that my obedience of releasing her to Christ her junior year of high school was all worth it. There is no doubt He has her in the palm of His hand and working out every detail for her perfect story by the perfect author!
Side note: As most of you know, Cecily is super responsible but not perfect. She forgot her passport at her dorm which lead to her missing her first flight. Lesson learned!
A day later with better perspective, I have to thank God for His love and protection for my daughter - His daughter. In situations like yesterday I had no choice, in all my weakness, but to pray and trust God had a plan. My prayer was simple and I extended this request to all my sisters. These ladies are prayer warriors so I knew Cecily was covered and God could hear the shouts of these bold, courageous women. We were circling this prayer with unwavering faith. After the 3rd flight, I was begging God for ONE SEAT to Houston. Yes, one seat to Houston but I failed to specify on a plane. We'll get to that point eventually.
Meanwhile, God had a different plan that had nothing to do with a plane, but a seat, on a car, to Houston. Our God has a sense of humor! What are the odds of Cecily meeting another TCU student, also flying to Panama for a special NGO event? I know, right! She also missed her flight and was on stand-by for the last five flights. Let's face it, the odds were against them since 6 am when they were told that all flights were fully booked and stand-by was their only option getting to Houston.
God is sovereign! Allegra, the TCU student (a complete stranger) offers Cecily a ride to Houston. Again, I had to trust God in this situation. I immediately felt peace and knew God was in control. It turns out she also offered her a place to stay for the night. Her aunt (another complete stranger), graciously opened her home for a good night's rest. If you were to ask me three plus years ago , I would've flipped out! There is NO WAY my daughter is staying in a stranger's home. In this season of trusting God, I knew this again was a test to my faith.
While they're driving, I ask Al to call United to get her flight details and confirmation sent to us via email. She was scheduled to leave at 9:00 am to Colorado and arrive in Panama at 8:00 pm. He spoke to the representative and realized that the rep that Al spoke to earlier never followed through on her re-booking. My heart stops once again as my husband pleads with the rep to double and triple check. She then says that instead she can offer us a DIRECT FLIGHT leaving Houston a 9:00 am and arriving at 2:20 pm! I praised Jesus for His favor. My Spirit told me since I trusted Him and prayed through this, this was His gift - His great reward for obedience! We looked online before and during this call and this mysterious flight never came available. We were confused in some sense but realized in the supernatural, it's sometimes unseen and we just had to trust this.
The email confirmation came through and her flight was booked as stated via our telephone conversation. She even got a window seat for good measure! Only God could be this gracious for a fully booked flight on a Saturday, during Spring Break. A reminder that nothing is too grand for Him. His ways aren't our ways for a reason.
Cecily landed safely with a big smile on her face. You could imagine my mama heart was melted to touch her, see her face, and tell her how much we loved her. What an honor it is to witness God's love firsthand for our family! To see what He does here on earth for His children. I realized today while praying that my obedience of releasing her to Christ her junior year of high school was all worth it. There is no doubt He has her in the palm of His hand and working out every detail for her perfect story by the perfect author!
Side note: As most of you know, Cecily is super responsible but not perfect. She forgot her passport at her dorm which lead to her missing her first flight. Lesson learned!
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