Isaiah 55:12 "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." (NIV)

There is a large creek right near my office building and when the weather is nice, I love walking along the trail and admiring nature. Trees have always amazed me and today I looked up and saw the scene below and felt compelled to share it:

How, then could anyone possibly doubt the existence of God? These beautiful trees were not some accident of science or evolution, they were created by the hand of God. I’m so excited that soon I’ll be able to share these things with my son on a nice sunny day. I won’t be stuck in a cold office wishing my kids could take a nice walk by a creek, I will be taking them for walks by creeks! I give all honor and glory to God for making this dream become a reality. (There are some other thoughts that I wanted to share, but I can't think of them right now so I'll have to share when they come back to me.)

Malachi 3:10 - Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!

As I was driving home yesterday evening, I looked up and thought it might rain later because the sky was slightly gloomy.  Then, I looked the other way and noticed a bright spot.  As I was staring at the colors, it occurred to me that the bright spot was almost like an opening in the clouds.  I turned to my husband and said, “Look at how beautiful that is.  It’s like God is opening the window to Heaven!”  We were driving at the time so I didn’t think I would be able to get a good picture with my phone, but I decided to try it anyway.  When I finally got ready to take the picture, I realized that the vapor trails of two airplanes had actually formed a cross right in the middle of the window!  Amazing!  Now I’m sharing it with you so you may be blessed.



God showing me a window to Heaven



How did I get where I am today?

I grew up in an A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) church where my grandfather was the pastor. I remember the services being very reserved and quiet. There were no fast, clapping songs and the rare "Amen" during a sermon. In 1989 we got a new, younger pastor and things gradually started changing. Now, almost 20 years later, people sometimes even shout during the sermons! LOL The choir almost always sings a fast song or two. I'm not saying it was bad the other way. I LOVED my grandfather's sermons and the atmosphere was pretty relaxing. However, change is inevitable and not always a bad thing.
During my teenage years, my mom went through stages of telling me I could decide if I wanted to go to church to her forcing me to go whenever she was going. When I got to college, things completely changed. I met a girl who had grown up in a Pentecostal church. They were so strict that she had never worn pants in public! At her urging, I eventually went to a campus bible study and became hooked. I loved all the new things I was learning and even decided to get baptized. That's when things started changing.
We were taught about being baptized and receiving the Holy Ghost as referenced in the book of Acts (1:5, 2:4). I understood all of that. I had been "sprinkle" baptized as a child, but never submerged. I decided it was time for me to get the full baptism and I expected to receive the Holy Ghost afterward and start speaking in tongues. Unfortunately, this didn't happen. The people from bible study and the church prayed with me and I kept trying, but I was unable to speak in tongues after a couple of hours. I decided it would come later and left it at that. Unfortunately, it seemed like no one else did. The next thing I knew, I would go somewhere on campus and people I didn't even recognize would come up to me and ask, "Did you get the Holy Ghost yet?" At first it was just a little weird, but then it just started getting ridiculous. It was happening everyday! One guy even looked up my phone number in the campus directory and started calling me about it on a regular basis! I felt harrassed. It got to the point where I finally decided to just stop going to bible study and stay away from the people who were associated with the group. I completely backslid. I didn't want to go near a church for awhile, or hear any type of Christian talk. I did read my Bible occasionally, but I didn't practice much of what was in it. I was completely turned off from religion, but I never stopped believing in God and Jesus.
Fast forward a couple of years later. At this point, I was a single mother. I did want my child being raised in the church so either I or my mother would take him to her church most Sundays. My best friend told me about a revival at a large church in our city. I was at a point where I was unsatisfied with the way I was living my life. I realized I needed to drastically improve my relationship with God so the timing was perfect. I went to the revival that summer night (I believe it was either a Wednesday or a Friday) and forever changed my life. At that point, I decided I was going to start making positive changes and be a Christian.
This did not mean I was going to be a "saint" overnight. I still had many issues, but I decided that I was going to continue on the path from then on.

To be continued...