No More 'Net

(Take note of all 4 paws here. Cracks me up.)

Everything's ready. I spent 3 hours scrubbing the new place last night while David brought over items we don't want in the truck.

Tomorrow, we'll take over the critters. I got Beau into his little travel cage today and scrubbed the ginormous one. And scrubbed little bird poos off the window sill, etc.

(It's just occuring to me that my life must sound like, "And then I cleaned and then I cooked and then I folded laundry..." And I guess it often does! Sure can fill the day though. And I really really like my "job description.")
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We're actually waiting for the previous tenant at the new place to have his/her internet turned off before we can get it in our name. Within a few days, it's going to be turned off anyway because the bills haven't been paid. Better for us than trying to track down said tenant. Point is, from this weekend until who-knows-when, we don't have the net. I'm thinking a week, not over 2. I may get bored and I do have a cell. Hint hint. Wink wink.
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I'm signed up to help with the 3-5 year olds at church in August. I did the last 2 Sundays, just to try it out. Loved it! I've worked a lot with 3-5 year olds before. I think it'd been about 2 years though.

The first of those 2 Sundays, referring to the good Samaritan's donkey, the other woman with me said that she might use her car instead. One of the boys said, "I have a car!" And a girl piped up, "I have a fish!"

The following week, the same girl saw that I'd made a table-length "snake" with playdough. She froze, her eyes opened wide, and she very urgently said, "Can I have it?" And before I finished the "s" on "sure," her hands were thrust forward, fingers spread wide. She was in awe.

Too much fun for my own good I tell ya!
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This past week, I wrote the story of what I've experienced spiritually over the last couple years. I was emailing totally different versions to a couple of my closest friends. (Hi, y'all!) It was very refreshing to go back over it all. Taking the journey from not being sure prophecy was real, to having plenty experience with it and things like gold sparkles - that's just crazy! I never would've guessed back then that I even could have come this far. Wouldn't have known it was "there" to come to!

Just had to mention it because thinking it through this week was so encouraging. Where in the world will I be in 2 more years? What will I know about God that I don't know now?
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Ok, this is the last blog post 'till we get the net again.
Hugs to all!
Holly

New Address

Quick update.

I just sent out a mass email with our new address in it. If it didn't come to you somehow, email me and I'll give it to you. Wouldn't want to put it on the oh-so-findable blog.

During the time of the move, we won't have the internet. We don't *think* it'll be long. Just need to get the net here shut off and the net there turned on. Hopefully less than a week. If you need us, our cell numbers are the same.

Everything is packed that we won't actually use between now and then. Today I'll just do some dusting and sweeping and chilling.

Sorry not to be more entertaining. Moving is kinda all-consuming.

Tweetie

Went to the Lyme doc this Wednesday. Got the Lyme blood test again but don't have results yet. However, based on the MSA (a test), I was able to get off FIVE of my supplements. We're down to just 22 now, and many of them I take smaller doses of. That helps. I am certainly feeling better. While I still have daily symptoms, the pain is nearly gone.

The Christmas tree has finally come down. Been up since 2006 - our first ever tree. 14 days left to pack.
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We had a fiasco with a baby bird this week. (aka Tweetie) Something happened to the mama turtle dove (from our bedroom window.) The single baby was still naked with closed eyes - not more than 2 inches long. So it was 24 hours of feeding him mushed cat food and him sleeping on the heating pad with a little thermometer. I made phone call after phone all that time, struggling to find ANYONE who would take him. Finding absolutely no one, and having to leave for MI, I put him back in the nest on the windowsill and prayed for a new mama for him - of any bird species.
(We would've taken him on the trip but that he'd have been in the hot car all day. He would've had no better chance of surviving.)

Putting him back was the best shot I could give him. However, this decision left me balling my eyes out. Duh. And sure enough, he was dead when we got home - about 30 hours after putting him back in the nest.

Why it is that God didn't bring him a new mama bird when I asked him to is a whole other topic.

I have adamantly decided one thing though. That common idea that it's "nature's way" or "these things happen to animals" is foolish. "These things happen" to humans too. But it's a rare person that would be so low as to say it. I don't believe animals are equal to humans. And especially having experienced malnutrition, I will continue to eat meat. But I've got limits with the flippancy. They're worth something too.

Packing

In less Spirit-filled news... :)

Many of you have never met my critters. This is Beau.

I've taped up Box #11 now. The fish are all in their traveling containers. Cleaning and snack stuff is ready to take to the new apartment once it's ready for us. We've got 2 weekends left pre-move.

And we'll have a couch when we move! Our friends are buying a new one, so we'll have the old one.

On a different note, my Lyme symptoms are down to quivering muscles. I'm calling it gone.

FYI

Quick note for those wondering what I've been smoking...

The gold has shown up now twice at home, in one of our small groups, and at church. Rather, God showed up - or made himself visible - or...

Ya know, I don't know how to say that gold is manifesting all over the place! Who would?!

Do you believe it?

I realize I didn't post last week. The following will help explain why. I wrote the following on Monday, May 26, regarding the previous weekend. (I'm tossing in a few explanations here and there.)

Setting the Stage

My journal entry from late 2006: “I don't know what, but big things are happening. Things are changing in me... I felt a great power or force rising in me and didn't know what it was.”

(Ivan and his wife are well-known for being prophetic.)
May 2007 (with Ivan): “God's gonna really be rising up gifts and anointings over you [two]...I also see a real gift of signs and wonders...Anointing is gonna go beyond what you've known.”

There is MUCH more. These are bare-bones basics so you can more easily see GOD ALMIGHTY in what you're about to read. I want you, whoever you may be, to see the Astounding One who is my God.

Familiarity

It all started Friday night. David and I went to hear Kim Clement – not even knowing if this was gonna be a music thing or a teaching or what. And then before even seeing him, I hear he's a Prophet – like with a capital “P.” I didn't know there was such a thing and I instantly went into “oh, crud” mode. “God, either he's a prophet or he's a false prophet and I gotta know which. I know I've prophesied before. If he's for real, let me recognize it.”

Eventually, Kim's there and about the second time he spoke from God, I recognized it. This way that I've never heard anyone besides myself speak, he was doing! My spirit just came alive! The familiarity was wonderful – besides getting to hear what was said.

Some of the things he prophesied that night were things that had been prophesied over me just in the last week! In the car on the way home at 1 AM, David and I knew we'd have to come back Saturday.

(This was the Saturday I posted that we'd found an apartment. Busy day.)

Gold Sparkles

Saturday afternoon we went to hear the intercession team, Billie and Al Deck. As Billie spoke, sparkles showed up on David's palms and fingers. Then, (after a minute of pouting and getting right with God about it...), they showed up on mine! Gold dust! And beige oil.

Eventually, I had to wash it off. But twice later in the day, as I was telling women I'd just met about it, it'd come back! I was told to give away what I got, so I kept rubbing it off on the hands of unsuspecting people. It came back again that night when we were listening to Kim again.

There was gold, silver, blue, and red. And I saw clearly that a blue one was in the shape of a diamond. So cool!

Through a lot of the weekend, and even now as I type, God can be felt. Like the air is thick and warm with a presence. You gotta get some of this, people!

Sunday morning, we were there to hear Billie speak again. Front and center. Six feet away at the most.

Billie started out with a few sparkles (gold flecks) on her, but had a decent coating by the end. And as if that's not cool enough, it was clear that she spoke from God. I don't know how to describe it. The Word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword, and that's the kind of speaking we heard. (Interactive is a good word - like what's spoken is in response to the thoughts you're currently having.)

Visions

I've had numerous visions (I think that's what it's called) throughout the weekend. I've had them before, but they've been thick these last few days. There's been a lot of, “You saw that too?!”

Much of it, I don't want to share yet. But here's one: Sunday morning, I saw myself standing alone on open land, facing the East as the sun came up. I reached out with my right hand, as if to grab it, and swung my arm up and over to the West, ripping the light across the sky as I did. It lit up the earth. Then I immediately spread both arms and bent far forward. The light suddenly came forth from the earth itself, turning the planet into an orb of white light.

Just after this, someone stood up to tell the room of a vision he'd just had about us being a bright light that would shine over Chicago, even from the top of Sears Tower. Cool!

Re-cap

Recognizing prophecy because I've had it in myself so much. Having visions. Physically feeling God's presence in the air. Gold dust and oil manifesting on my hands and my husband's hands. Someone who doesn't know me prophesying the same things that others have been prophesying over me for months. (I'm leaving out the story behind that last sentence for now.) Seeing God borrow the mouths of humans to speak directly to his people.

MY eyes have seen! MY ears have heard! MY mouth declares the GLORY of the LIVING and ACTIVE GOD!

You gotta get you some o' this!!!

Revival Link

Here's something easier to look at regarding Florida (2 posts ago).

I have a decent idea of who my readers are and know that many of you would be very skeptical of this. But let me reassure you, these things are happening in our faces too. This isn't just Florida! Enjoy.

http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/29/1075189.aspx

Getting the credit check for an apartment 3 blocks from David's office. Saw the place this morning. Woohoo!

Florida Healing Revival

Just letting everyone in on the fun:
There's a big fat revival going on in Florida led by Todd Bentley. People are getting out of wheelchairs and blind eyes can see. Stop laughing, I'm serious.

I can't find a good way to link you to video. The best way to watch is on GodTV - if you happen to have that channel. Otherwise, go to GodTV on the internet. You can stream it from there. Or try Ustream or YouTube (though you'll just get brief clips on YouTube).

At the bottom of the following link, there's a list of "Messages." Those are the testimonies from individual meetings. The way they're written takes some getting used to. Someone was typing as fast as he could during the meeting - reporting what was happening. It'd help to know "Bam" is what Todd says when he puts his hand on someone's head. (Boys like sound effects I figure.)

http://www.injesus.com/index.php?module=group&task=details&GroupID=CT01ZQZ1

Todd Bentley's ministry is called Fresh Fire. This is a link to their homepage.

http://freshfire.ca/?Id=1000

Those of you that don't normally read my blog, look at the post 2 down, "Prove me wrong, Lord!"

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was intense. I'd been very worried that it would come and go and I wouldn't get cards. But 3 people sent me one, besides the 2 David got me - one from him, and one from our babies. The card from Eden and Judah made me cry, but that's all the crying I did all day. It was a very heavy day. David went out of his way to honor me though. He got me a corsage (pict.s on Flickr) and took me to the conservatory.

Speaking of corsages, I saw a single other woman all day wearing one. Seemed odd to me. And here's a funny: A woman at the conservatory saw it and stopped to congratulate me. She then pointed at David questioningly, and when I nodded, she congratulated him too. It was so sweet of her! There's great value in getting a "congratulations" from a woman 3 times my age. I surely like them from us spring chickens too, but she made me feel special. Many extra thanks to the anonymous stranger.

There are pictures from the conservatory on Flickr. Wouldn't you know it, but my batteries died while we were there. The conservatory turned out to be the perfect place to celebrate Mother's Day. This is a place where all life is unique and valuable. There was so much beauty there.

I find myself, just since Mother's Day, feeling very different. There's been a great but quiet shift in my personality. I found myself all that day wanting to say words like "lovely" and "precious." I didn't, because I'm very not used to such words - I'd feel like a dork! But my demeanor seems to have shifted toward such words, if that makes sense.

I do love what being a mother has done to who I am. I will always see room for improvement, but I'm nicer now. Gosh, I hope it shows. I'm afraid it may just be in my heart and not yet spilling over where others can benefit from it. Maybe it's a gradual thing. I hope it keeps swelling up though.
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By the way, something has gone wrong with the guppies. Something that looks like fungus is growing in the aquarium. Whether it's related or not, I don't know, but many of the guppies have died. The father and the entire first set of babies is gone now. Anti-Yoda had another set of 7 and they're down to 3. The remaining 4 fish are in individual jars and getting daily 50% water changes. I'm taking the aquarium completely apart and disinfecting it. Groan. (And theoretically, I should be packing boxes.)

Prove me wrong, Lord!

This is the post where I thank God for proving me wrong!

I grew up being told that the Holy Spirit kind of exists. When we were baptized with water, He would park inside us and idle. Supposedly, he was doing something in there, but He seemed a dull fellow.

I was 12ish when I started questioning this. Eagerly desiring the greater spiritual gifts was not happening in the theology I was taught, but it was clearly happening in the Bible I was reading.

Seven years of questioning later, I finally determined to leave the religion I was raised in. I was ditching religion to have relationship, but what in the world that was going to look like, I had no clue!

Seven years after that, and I found myself being healed from some physical insanity as a result of prayer. Several times, I would feel pain leave me while people prayed. It's been enlightening.

Now, in the last week, I'm watching God do some pretty bizarre stuff. Looks like my healing has just been the beginning.

Ever watch on TV as some pastor would pray for someone, putting his hand on their forehead, and they'd go down like they passed out? I always thought that was stupid. I couldn't figure out how, but I knew they were faking and trying to make money. I mean, isn't it obvious to everyone?

But now David and I have both caught someone as they went down. I had to sit because I was starting to go down myself. And someone that David had his hand on while he was praying for him says David's hand was on fire (a common feeling when God's moving we hear).

Furthermore, the woman that I caught found me 2 days later to tell me she's pain free now (which is what we were praying for - it'd been over 5 years for her).

Lemme tell ya, religion sucks. Relationship though is really fun.

Pict.s

20 new pictures on Flickr. Y'all go attack.

(If I've ever met ya face to face, just ask for an invite.)

Flame-Throwers and Baby Fish

Most interesting news of the week:
Monday night, David's whole office had a party. I think 11 people total. We went to a cooking school nearby and got to cook about 6 different dishes.
Highlight of the evening: being the first volunteer to jump up and use the flame-thrower! (We made creme brulee.)
David's boss had us all choose an item from the school's store to take home. I've got a bodacious apron now! It's black with big white flowers. I'm planning to use cross-stitching thread to add color to the flowers.

This week's been interesting.

• Sunday, I got to be one of many who told the whole church what God has done for me lately - the major pain relief I've gotten more than anything. How awesome to be able to publicly give glory to God!
  
• I've spent several days re-doing my daily routines and what I write on the calendar. They follow Flylady's uh... flight path now. They're also much more condensed and easy to follow.
• Our first box (for the move) is packed.
• I consented to play a game with David both Sunday and yesterday and enjoyed them. Two in one week is a record! We've discovered that if we figure out how I can "play house" as I play the game, I'm far more likely to enjoy it. With Puzzle Pirates, I'm trying to earn money to buy a sink for our shack. With Settlers, I'm pretending I'm homesteading.
  
• The guppy had 7+ babies yesterday. Two parents, 4 adolescents, and 7+ babies, for a total of 13+ guppies!
• Oh, and as of this week, I'm cooking again. We're doing a decent job of pulling out of "Holly's Sick Mode." The house is back in order sans budget and a thorough sweeping. The later of which I do not plan to do.
  
• Speaking of cooking, I melted a pound of chocolate and stirred in some left-over nuts. And then I licked the spoon. And the pot. And the measuring cup. And the parchment paper. And the tupperware. And my hands. And the stove... What? :P
  

Lyme Update

We drove to MI yesterday (to the Lyme doc). We left here at 4:50 AM to get there for my first appt, which was at 9:30 - 8:30 our time. Groan. However...

The day went well. We were able to find out I have another of the tick-borne diseases; ehrlichiosis - both types. Obviously, this won't make my symptoms worse than they've been since I contracted it. It just means we can treat it better. That's why I consider this good.

We also were able to refine what supplements I need to be taking a bit, and get me started on homeopathic drop-thingies. I'll be starting those today, but am a smidge apprehensive. You're supposed to drop them under your tongue, and the solution is 25% alcohol. Ew.

Also, I got started on an IV yesterday. We'll do it everytime we go - though I'll be able to do even more starting next time. Yesterday, what I did was something for de-toxing. From now on, I'll do that plus a ton of Vitamin C. We're debating how to do the IVs more often - find someone here or even learn to do them at home. We'll see. (We're also trying to figure out how to do infrared saunas here.)

Next appt is June 11.

(I AM feeling tremendously better. I've even had 8-hour time-spans of NO symptoms lately. Remember how I was feeling in February? This is amazing! Thank you, Abba!)
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The Spicy Cheese Soup last week seemed to go over well, except that it was really spicy. So what if they WERE serranos? I fried them before I put them in! *evil giggle*

We still have 4 baby fish and the turtledoves. However, 2 sparrows have taken up residence on the other side of the air conditioner now - essentially, 2 bird nests in our bedroom.

Turtledoves are decidedly more pleasant roommates than sparrows. The first time one of the sparrows saw me, she puffed up her feathers and jumped up and down snarling and shrieking (I swear). They've gotten no more amiable since.

Weekly Update

• The turtledoves laid atleast 1 egg (that's what we can see) nearly a week ago.
• We're down to 4 baby fish now, and I took the Mom out and put her in a pitcher of water so she won't eat them. (Not that I know what actually happened to Fish 5 and Fish 6.)
• We've got about 8 weeks to find a place to move to and pack up. All that's basically my job.
• I'm still hunting for an adoption agency - or possibly 2 - 1 to do the homestudy and 1 to do the placing.
• I'm making Spicy Cheese Soup for Group tonight.
• I did feel the earthquake a few days ago, but David didn't.
• David is doing well - far busier than what can be pleasant though. Tired.
• I'm doing...complicated...more good than bad. Far healthier and happier than February. Praise God!