We pray for blessings, we pray for peace.
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep.
We pray for healing, prosperity.
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering.

All the while, You hear each spoken need. 
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things.


Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?


We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear.
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near.
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love.
As if every promise from Your word is not enough.

All the while You hear each desperate plea.
And long that we’d have faith to believe.


Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life, are Your mercies in disguise?


When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win;
We know that pain reminds this heart, that this is not, this is not our home.
It’s not our home.


Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if my greatest disappointments, or the aching of this life;
Is a revealing of greater thirst that this world can’t satisfy?

And what if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights;
Are Your mercies in disguise?

It has been quite a busy year!! Over the next few weeks I plan to share about it with you in more detail, so come back soon and check it out if you think you can handle the excitement!

The first thing I want to tell you is that I just got a new computer. The main reason I haven’t been here in so long is that I was having serious problems with my old PC. But now I have a new Mac and I am back in business!! That’s right–I am now a Mac user!! It’s taken a little getting used to, but I really love it! Hurray for technology!

So, how have you been doing lately? I hope things are going well with you. Take care, and we’ll talk again soon.

All right, so let’s change the subject before I start preaching a sermon and getting too deep on you. First I want to tell you that I think there is a mosquito in here with me. I really do try to love all of God’s creatures, but those little blood thirsty critters fall under the “difficult to love” category for me. So, if you suddenly start seeing a bunch of random letters in here, just know that it’s probably me trying to administer a little tough love. (Whack, whack!)

Have you ever been traveling somewhere and your trip didn’t go exactly as planned? Yeah, me too. In fact, my dear Mom and I had one of those days last week. The two of us decided to go to Missouri to visit our friends during Spring Break. Now, these are not your average, run-of-the-mill, every day kinds of friends. These precious people have been our closest allies since I was about 3 years old. They are listed under the heading of “Friends that are more like family.” I always marvel at Abba’s amazing plan. As I think about how He so skillfully and lovingly puzzled us together, my heart just bounces with joy. The cool thing is that my mom’s best friend Jan, and my best friend Tiffany, are also mother and daughter. And Tiffany’s daughter, Alyssa, is like a neice to me. So, we’re all connected in a deep, amazing friendship, and when we are together, we just turn into one big, giggly, incredible family. We try to visit AT LEAST once a year, and possibly more than that if it’s at all feasible.

Okay, so we have driven to Missouri in the past, but this time we decided to fly because we didn’t have as much time to travel. We figured that a half a day trip in the sky would be easier than a twelve hour trip on the highway. We figured wrong. It ended up taking us 16 hours to get from Houston to Missouri. Nope, not kidding. But, don’t worry. My darling Mom and I are almost always ready for an adventure. Now, I do confess that on days like this, there are moments when our sweet, smiling faces don’t look so sweet and smiley. We have our weak moments too, so don’t entertain any goofy ideas that Mom and I are perfect little angels. We are regular earthlings just like you. But, I will say that for the most part, both of us have been blessed with that annoying tendency to look on the bright side as we hold on to our glasses that are half full of sunshine.

As we sat on our first flight of the day that would take us to Denver, we had our seat belts securely fastened low and tight across our laps, and our seat backs and tray tables were in their full upright and locked positions. Our part of the bargain was complete, so we were waiting for Mr. Pilot Man to start up the plane and get our show on the road. As we sat parked at the gate, we heard a lovely beeping sound that made me think someone had forgotten to take the alarm tag thingy off their new shirt before walking out of the store. I hoped that it was a “normal airplane sound”, but my hopes were dashed as the flight attendant made the announcement that every traveler fears.

“There’s a problem with the plane. The left falangy isn’t working.” (If you’re a fan of the show Friends, you might recognize that reference.)

“We won’t know anything for at least an hour.”

At that moment, we knew we were going to have an interesting day. We had less than an hour layover in Denver, which meant we would most definitely miss our connecting flight. So, we had a lovely chat with a man named Rafael who told us that the next flight out of Denver wouldn’t be until 8:30 P.M. Now, I forgot to mention that this all took place at 7:30 A.M. So, anyhoo, to make a very long story short, we decided to take a 2 o’clock flight out of Houston so we would have less time to wait around in Denver.

Are you wondering if I have a point to this fascinating anecdote? I do, I promise. I’m getting there now.

So, as Mom and I started to realize that our day had just gotten very complicated, we were a teensy bit discouraged. But here’s the cool part. All of a sudden, I heard a little whisper in my spirit. It just felt like a little nudge. It said, “Your steps are ordered, Julie. Your steps are ordered.” My heart jumped as I considered what this meant. My Abba Father was gently reminding me that He always knows exactly where I am, and He is the amazing conductor of this orchestra that I am a part of. He is an expert at coordinating things, and He knows how to fit the pieces together just right. There may be some reason that things don’t go the way we plan, and sometimes there is a beautiful Divine appointment that He is organizing behind the scenes. Now, as I thought of this, I had no idea that my darling Mom was having a similar message whispered to her. She leaned down and told me, “God just said that I need to stop worrying about my agenda for the day, and start thinking about His.” Wow, yall, that blew me away.

So, as Mom and I made our way through the day, we became more aware of the people we were meeting, and the things we were doing. Even though we were a little frustrated at the fact that we would be arriving in Missouri at 10 P.M. rather than 1 P.M, I actually started to get a little excited as I wondered what my Papa God was up to. Out of no where, I just started thinking about all the good things that were happening on that day. First of all, we were not flying on an airplane that was broken. Or should I say, we were not crashing on an airplane that was broken. I don’t know about you, but “airplane crash” is not what I want written on my tomb stone. So I started saying thank you prayers for the wonderful mechanics who had discovered the problem before we left the gate, rather than leaving it as a surprise for us to discover at 37,000 feet above civilization. It’s my hope that I will never have to try out one of those fancy oxygen masks.

The next thing I thought of was, “Wow, look at all these people in the airport. Each of them has a story, and Papa loves each of them the same way He loves me. Maybe He and I can love on them together today. Maybe there is someone who needs a special hug from Papa.” Every person we encountered throughout the day made me wonder, “Is this the person?” So I started smiling at everyone, and hoping that somehow I could help make somebody’s day a little sweeter. We met so many friendly and precious people that we wouldn’t have met if our day had gone as planned.

We finally flew from Houston to Denver, and during our 3 hour layover, we treated ourselves to pizza and some TCBY. That almost made up for the crazy day we’d had! Yum! So, as we sat near the gate and waited for our flight to Missouri, I was still thinking about God’s message to us that morning. The day was coming to a close, and nothing too exciting had happened. Now, I do know that sometimes God does big things without us even knowing what He’s done. We won’t know the whole story until that day in Heaven when we will finally see all the little pieces that He’s been sewing together throughout these many years. Perhaps one small moment in time, one smile at a stranger, one kind gesture has the power to impact someone for eternity. Who knows? So I was completely at peace knowing that God was still on His throne, paintbrush in hand, putting little splashes of paint here and there to create His grand masterpiece. And all of a sudden…

THERE SHE WAS!

I knew it was her the minute she came around the corner. I just had this feeling that she was our Divine Appointment. I wasn’t the only one who noticed her, either. It was almost impossible to ignore this poor young woman with the three screaming children as she made her way through the airport carrying three gigantic pieces of luggage, baby gear, etc. She had a 3 year old, a 2 year old and a 6 month old, and it was very apparent that they were at the end of their rapidly fraying rope. The frazzled mother and her trio of yelling youngsters came to sit near us in the airport terminal, and we overheard her talking on her cell phone, telling the person on the other end what a terrible day it had been. My heart ached for her, and I knew Papa’s heart must have been aching too.

Mom and I boarded the plane, and a few minutes later, the mother and her 3 tiny girls came and sat in the row of seats directly in front of us. Seriously, yall! What are the odds? Now, the interesting thing for me was that I know God has been slowly changing me on the inside, because I did not have one negative thought in my head about this family! The old Julie would have thought, “Aw man! Why do we have to sit behind these screeching babies? Where is the father anyway? Can’t she do something to make them settle down?” But the only thoughts I had were thoughts of compassion and love for these girls. “What can we do to help? Is there anything in my purse that might help entertain them?”

Mom offered to hold the 6 month old while they all got situated, and the mother was very grateful. We tried our best to help them throughout the flight, and that included my dear Mom holding the tiny baby for the majority of the time. The two bigger girls took turns screaming, crying, unbuckling themselves, and standing up in their seats. It was total insanity, let me tell you. Part of the problem was that since it was a small plane, one of the girls had to sit across the aisle from her mother which made it much more difficult on them. The 2 year old was the crankiest, and her screams were probably heard by everyone on the ground as we flew overhead. Oddly enough, that little girl’s name was Serenity. No, I’m not joking. Her big sister’s name is Faith, and her baby sister’s name is Charity.

In the rare moments when she wasn’t telling her girls to sit down and buckle up, we talked to this poor mother and heard a little about their day. This young woman had never been on an airplane before in her life, and my guess is that after this trip, she will not voluntarily fly on another one! A member of her family had talked her into taking this trip to surprise her grandmother for her 80th birthday. For some odd reason, she had flown from Portland to Phoenix, to Denver to Missouri. That sounds like a rough trip for an average person, not to mention a first time flyer with three chickadees in toe! She was so overwhelmed and exhausted, and by the time we landed, she was in tears. We did what we could to encourage her, and as we said goodbye, she kept repeating, “God bless you!”

What strikes me most about this story is how much our Heavenly Papa really loves us. He knew how totally overwhelmed this woman was going to be by the end of her day, and perhaps she had been praying for some help. So, He rearranged a few little details of our travel plans so that Mom and I could be there for her, because her life is important to Him. Think about how differently things might have gone if Mom and I were not the ones sitting behind that little family. It could have been two grumpy old geezers sitting in those seats, and they might have said something nasty and made things worse. I’m so glad we paid attention to the gentle nudges and were not too busy thinking about our own troubles to look around and notice other people. I’m so honored and grateful that God invited us to work alongside Him on that day. It feels so incredible to take part in what He’s doing. Maybe, just maybe, He will invite us to do it again sometime.

Julie here. How are things going for you today? I hope everything is groovy. Wow, that’s a word I don’t use too often. Groovy? Where did that come from?

So, I’ve decided that since it’s been so long since I’ve actually written anything interesting, I owe you a serious update on what’s been going on in my neck of the woods. Now the question is: where do I start? Ummm… Let me think.

Okay, here I go. Life has been good lately. Mom and I have been able to speak to some church women’s groups in the last couple of weeks. It’s been an incredible experience! Mom and I have both heard Father asking us to share our stories with women, and we both feel so humbled that He actually wants to use us to touch their hearts. We do tag-team speaking, and we also use music to try and bring our message to life. I love hearing Mom share her story with these precious ladies, because she is so willing to be totally transparent. She just lays it all out there, never holding anything back. That’s something I think is seriously lacking in our churches today. We need to learn how to be real people again. Can you imagine how much our relationships with each other could improve if we would all just take off our masks? It’s so neat to see the women respond to Mom’s open, honest heart. We recently spoke at a church where they allowed us to use a small quiet room to talk with the women individually after we finished our presentation. They were also going to eat a pot luck dinner at the same time, so we honestly didn’t expect many ladies to come to the room where we were waiting. (The food smelled pretty delicious, so we assumed that taste buds and growling tummies would trump their desire to talk to us!) We went to our little room, and we were shocked at the number of women who came to visit. One by one they filed in, bringing with them their heavy hearts and unique struggles. It was so incredible to talk with them one on one, to give them encouragement, and to pray with them. We met single mothers, women who had experienced terrible tragedies, mothers who have children with special needs, and women with all kinds of other battles to fight. For an hour and a half, we talked, hugged and cried with them. When we left that night, Mom and I both agreed that this is the reason we do what we do.
“You know,” Mom said, “My life doesn’t seem all that special to me. I get up every morning and just live one moment at a time. It’s nothing that unique. It’s so humbling that God can take my life experiences and use them to reach out to other women and encourage them.”
In other related news, Mom has begun taking a course on becoming a Christian counselor. It’s something she has always been interested in. We’re hoping the education will help her as she meets more women in need of love and support.

Well, my dear friend, I have tons of other writing topics bouncing around in my head. But, I’m going to save them for future posts. Right now my lovely Mother is finishing her dinner preparations. Her fabulous sweet potato fries are calling my name! I promise to be back soon with more updates. Have a spectacular day!

The men on our TV screen were tough, hardened criminals that had been convicted of a variety of unthinkable crimes. Murder. Armed robbery. Assault. These men are the reasons we lock our doors at night. When we see their faces on TV, we shake our heads and say, “Who would do something like that? That man is pure evil. He doesn’t have a conscience.”

We tend to think of these men as beyond hope. Just keep them locked up for as long as possible.

But, wait a minute.

Is that man crying? Yes, he is bawling like a baby. He can hardly speak through his tears.

I thought he was a hardened criminal. But, it seems that inside the calloused criminal is a lost little boy. A little boy who is crying out to be loved.

He is crying as he talks about his relationship with a puppy. Yep, I’m serious. A little four legged fur ball has reduced this big tough man to a puddle. There is a program called Puppies Behind Bars that pairs up each inmate with a dog that he is responsible to train. The helpless puppy is entrusted to the inmate who takes care of the dog’s every need. They spend 24 hours a day together, and that includes sleeping side by side in the prisoner’s cell. And the best part is, when the inmate is finished training the puppy, the dog is sent to live with a wounded soldier that is returning home from war.

I was amazed at the impact these dogs had on the inmates who were being interviewed. These men that society has given up on and condemned were so grateful to be given a second chance. These hopeless, hardened convicts were allowing their hearts to be opened and touched. They were suddenly so broken and vulnerable, and were willing to be honest about their lives.

So, what was it about the puppies that the prisoners responded to most? What did the dogs give them that made such a big difference? The answer is so simple, but sadly it’s something these men have never had before.

Unconditional love. Pure, honest, no-strings-attached, tail wagging, face licking love.

Wow. Imagine what would happen if these men caught a glimpse of the love our Papa has for them. Deep, true, life changing, redeeming love. There is no man so lost that the grace of our Father can’t reach down and touch him. Jesus loves to take His glorious light into the darkest of places. And when He does, nothing ever stays the same.