While we were at the retreat(see previous post) we went to Sunday morning service.  My 22mo. old goes to no one he does not know.  If a stranger even looks at him he’ll pitch a fit.  He’s very attached to us and his some of his aunts and both sides of grandparents. 

Well my 22mo old was sitting in my sil’s lap at service(right in front of me) and he started kicking and cutting up just to get out of her lap and we were perplexed as to why…he stretches his arms out to the man sitting next to my sil for this TOTAL STRANGER to pick him up.  This man was in our ‘group’ and he had been playing with the baby.  We were all floored…I don’t know what the minister was saying at this point.

The baby lays on this man’s chest and was rubbing the man’s chest with his one hand.  The baby’s other hand he held onto my sil’s finger.

He layed on this man’s chest and rubbed this man’s shirt for a few minutes and then he starts to play with the man.  

We figure there was ’spiritual connection’ (shoulder shrug goes here)

Then the baby holds his arms out for me to take him.(note: upon getting my baby back my baby had cigarette smoke smell all over his little hands and shirt. He had grabbe the man’s head and was playing with him like he does with my dh also)..service let out and we went back to the lodge to eat lunch and pack and leave.  On my way to the car this man hugs me tight and says ‘I want to thank you’…long story short…he had been in and out of jail and had substance abuse issues and tobacco-related issues.  He said that he had struggled with God’s love and forgiveness.  When my baby went to him and laid on his chest God confirmed to him that He loved Him and forgave him…thru my baby loving on him…He loved him just as he was..filled with cigarette smoke and God knows whatever else..that God loved him.

I don’t know how to convey the look that was on this man’s face…the look of joy and love and appreciation of what God did for him thru my son.  He had fallen in love with my baby(he kept telling him he loved him-my baby-while he was in my arms mind you)..and even though he kept trying to kiss my baby this man KNEW God was speaking to him thru this little one.

That was such a precious moment for me and dh as we stood in awe at how God used our baby.  Mind you the baby would not go to this man after we left church.  I still stand in awe at the manifestation of the power of God I witnessed with my own eyes.  I know my child and I know he does not go to strangers..but he did for a moment in time…for the moment that God had need of my little baby…to create a moment in the life of someone who needs to know the love of God…to give them a moment in His arms…to give them a moment in His presence…to give someone a Holy moment thru one of my dc is just so awesome to me.  I don’t even really know what to say about it…maybe I should stop here and stop trying to explain it….just let it be what it is…A HOLY MOMENT.

This past weekend my dh and I and children went to a gospel music ‘retreat’ that my sil treated us to.  I don’t know what I expected…I guess I thought we were just going on a vacation. 

Well, we went 1 hr. into the mountains of NY to a Presbyterian Camp.  It had rustic lodging but we stayed in a lodge that had private bathrooms just like a hotel room.  There was a double bed and a single bed and the staff had rolled an extra cot into our room (nice size room) and we had brought the portable crib for the baby.  So each child had their own ‘bed’ and my and dh had the double bed…

This place gave us dinner on Friday eve, 3 meals on Sat. and 2 meals on Sunday…I was in heaven with that…it’s been so long since I have not had to cook regularly.  A portion of this camp had been rented out by some friends of my sil so it was about a crowd of 30-35 people that did everything together. They had activities planned for us and late night and early morning we had singing/devotion service…just singing to the Lord in song and sharing what was on our hearts with one another.

On Sat. morning we made homemade bread.  I made 2 batches b/c after I made one I realized what an ‘educational’ experience that would be for my dd6 so I helped her make one also(and that was logged as school that day).

After we made the bread and let it rise we went to a puppet show.  How wonderful that was for the children.  There were only 4 children out of the whole lot of us and mine were the oldest.  The puppet show was put on my the puppet ministry of a church.  The puppets ministered about salvation and how all have sinned and how Jesus came to save us.  Then after the show my children were so intrigued they went behind the little ’stage’ they had set up and these nice people let my children play with the puppets for as long as they wanted(I had to tell them it was time to go after about 30min).  They showed my dc how to work the puppets and how to do the ‘voice’ and move the mouth at the same time..how to move the hands with the rods that were attached to them.(educational?  I think so)  The puppet staff then shared about how some of the puppets are handmade and then some they bought on ebay. 

But what blessed me was the rain.  Yes it rained the ENTIRE weekend and it was cold(to me), kind of miserable.  We went to a gospel concert at the affiliate church on Sat. night and the presence of the Lord came down in that place like a heavy rain.  I felt like I had gone thru a carwash when I got home b/c my spirit was so refreshed and clean and clear and had been ’soaked’ and saturated with the presence of Almighty God. 

Like I said before I don’t know what I expected but I did not expect that(don’t ask me why)  I think b/c I had gotten so caught up in the busyness of house, teaching children, dh, etc. that I just did not think it would be a time of refreshing for me.

In Sunday morning service the Lord spoke to my heart concerning the physical rain that I had grumbled about earlier that morning.  He told me that the natural rain was a prophetic symbol of what He was doing while we spent that time with Him at the camp.  So for me not be dismayed at the ‘inconvenience’ of the wet cold natural rain….it was needful.  The grass and trees, the earth need the water from the rain…just as our spirits need the rain of the Holy Spirit to pour (not just shower) but to fall heavy(like it was doing outside) on our spirits to wash away the discouragement and the debris left from everyday life.  To give us a new fresh, new, clean start; To cleanse and heal battle scars;  To invigorate and nourish our spirits with the life-giving moisture that we can only find in God.

Oh how my heart received that word…how my heart received the fresh living water from LIFE Himself…and just like u begin to see the leaves bud a little more, they begin to open up and the flowers after the rain lift their head to the sky from where the rain came from and open up to it so my heart just opened up to God.  All I could do was just worship Him after that and let the water flow from my eyes as I realized the Providence, the goodness, the mercy and lovingkindness of God in moving on my sil to pay for our whole family to go and experience this precious, holy time with the lover of my soul….in appointing us THIS time with Him.  He knew I need to be revived and refreshed.

I will never look a rain the same again.  I appreciate the natural rain and the needs it provides and I so appreciate the spiritual rain that washes over my dry places and give them life…

…from now on I say ”let it Rain let it Rain!!!” 

Praise You Lord Jesus!  I give You Glory and Honor and Praise for all that You are and for all that You do. I worship You with everything within me.  I am Yours.  I belong to You.  I serve You and will forever love You!!

love,

deidra