Giving the Gift of Christmas

We walk in a rocky world. Christmas though, gives us an excellent reason to discuss Christ and His love for us. This year I took a leap and decided to give a gift that would show the love of Christ to my workgroup.

This year I began following the Advent Conspiracy group. The idea behind this group is to buy less, give more. I think this is a fabulous idea. What better gift is there than the gift of salvation. They have a fabulous charity that you can give from. Living Water’s goal is to help Christmas change the world.

On their website you can donate a minimum of $5, and print out a gift card and greeting card to give the gift with. The best part of this is that the recipient can go and choose which project they would like their money to go to.

Here is a video from the Living Water ministry.

Christmas [is] changing the world from Living Water International on Vimeo.

I encourage you to support this cause and it’s a great gift to give!

While this might seem a little late for Christmas, now is a perfect time to look back and get some perspective on how your Christmas went this year. I think that the ideals of the Advent Conspiracy group are fantastic, but I also feel that the seeds for something like this should be sown at the beginning of the year, and followed throughout. Please see their promo video below and join me in making a difference this year.

I am blessed

I haven’t posted anything for a while. Sorry about that. Right now, I have about 5 posts started, but none finished. There are so many things I am learning and want to say, but I just can’t seem to conclude any of them yet.

What I can say. I am truly blessed. Many of our friends have mentioned that we have a good life. We have had our share of struggles. When we were first married D didn’t have a job, and I had a long commute by train everyday, then we spent a few years on separate shifts…But through it all, we truly do have a good life. With Christmas approaching, I wanted to let everyone in a little secret. It’s all in your perception.

If I am a good person, do I deserve a nice house, a nice car, evenings out to dinner, and a good paying job? NOPE!

What about the basics…do I deserve food on the table, clothing, and a job, any job. NOPE!

Here’s the kicker! As sinners we do not deserve any of the provisions that God has given us.  Yet He provides for us everyday! God loves us, and we know it!

It’s so easy to get trapped in the “fairness” of life.

My God is a great God. He has given me my job, my money, my house, my husband, my son, my dog, my car my my MY…But it is all HIS.

Lord, help me to remember that it is all yours, and I am but a steward. Help me to seek Your will in all matters and thank You for every provision you give.

Thank you always.

Who I am and who I will be?

I am critical, judgmental, and down right mean at times. I say things I wish I could take back, and some I don’t. I take things for granted. I lie no matter how hard I try, sometimes even to myself. I whine and complain and wonder at the fairness of it all. When I see the girl walking on the street in knee-high nylons and a short skirt, I think she is a freak or weird. I want to throw eggs at all the bad drivers around me. (Especially the ones that make a new lane in the break down lane.)

I have some redeeming qualities. I love my family and friends dearly. I would do almost anything for them. Starting in July I search and search for the perfect gift, the one they will truly want or need to receive. I look for ways to make a difference in the world, in other’s lives. Whenever I see people walking or waiting for a bus in the rain I want to stop and give them an umbrella. (I have actually bought some extras at the dollar store, someday they will actually make it into the car)

But, this is me. This is who I am!

I am unworthy. I am a sinner.

So what does this mean for my future. It means struggles, it means falling on my face only to be picked up by the God that loves me and forgives me. I have a God that knows me, knows my weaknesses and strengths, a God that sees me for who I truly am.

Does this mean that I am doomed?

No.

I have hope! God says that there will be no tears in heaven and there will be no death.

No tears and no death you say? No pain, no sickness? No mean comments and no lying? Well then where I am?

How can I still be me without the comments, without the eternal struggle. Will I still be me without all the ugly stuff?

This has puzzled me for years, and someday I will find out the answer. ..

More on the My Money Trap

So funny thing. The day that I decide that my money is not my money was the same day that my bank account hit it’s absolute lowest. Normally we are very careful and very good about “our” money. Ha ha.

We had been discussing two purchases we wanted to make. One we will need at some point, and one, that in the end was frivolous. So we decided to wait on both purchases.After all that though, we found out that we didn’t have the money to buy either.

I’m not exactly sure where God is taking this, I’ll keep you updated on how God is growing us in this area.

I have been thinking about what it means to use God’s money wisely. Where are the lines? When you think of how to unwisely use money, is it only greed and frivolousness that you think of?

I believe there is a point where you can give too much. I read God’s Smuggler a while back. Brother Andrew describes a time when he learned the lesson that God desires us to take joy in His provisions

• 1 Timothy 5:18 NIV

For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."

It is possible to develop as Brother Andrew says an “attitude of lack.”

Strangely enough, I believe you can have both frivolousness and an attitude of lack at the same time. Are there things that you won’t give over to God. What does this mean for you? Do you trust God will provide what you need, that you won’t need to scrimp? Or do you not trust that God has given you more than you need?

My husband and I have been praying about supporting another missionary. In this sense we feel that God has provided more than enough for us. But in other areas, things that we need, we have been waiting for the sale for so long, and have just lived with what doesn’t work. How can we find this balance and what does it all mean when it comes to having faith like a child.

It’s simple, it all comes down to trust. Do you really trust God with everything? Can you follow Him in the toughest of things know full well that He will provide for you?

Faith like a child

There always seem to be recurring themes in my life. Usually they come out of a song. For a while my theme was Hands and Feet by Audio Adrenaline then I moved to Legacy by Nichole Nordeman. Now I seem to be coming back to basics. I long to come with “faith like a child.” I long to have the faith in prayer that Moves Mountains!

A while ago I saw a documentary called Finger of God. In this, there was a missionary that would literally have small children (even ones who didn’t even know God yet) pray for healings. It was amazing to watch this. What is it about childlike faith that creates this. Are we too old or too smart to truly come to God like a child?

I’m not sure if I will ever get to the point of complete and total dependence, but I will sure try. I am going to start small (but important) and build up speed as I go along.

Step 1: The My Money Trap

 

Living in the northeast money really does have a hold on us. The pressure is amazing, and it’s easy to overlook it. You can struggle against it, but it really is a struggle. Money is everything, gives everything. Money can set your status, and take it away, money can even define your self esteem. Now, we all know this is wrong. But how do we let go of this hold deep in our hearts.

I am going to start by remembering that it is NOT my money, never was and never will be. God has given me this money to be a good steward of. God has given me the job that pays me His money. I have always known this, but do I really live it? No. Today I start living without My Money. Does this mean living in poverty? No. What about extravagance? No. It will be a balance.

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

This verse is used often, but there are many occasions in the bible where God tells us that he desires us to prosper.

How then, do we know how to be a proper steward of God’s money? It’s actually pretty simple, following through will be the hard part.

Jeremiah 10:21 NIV

The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the Lord; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV

pray continually

So, here I go, off to pray over purchases. When I buy jeans I will pray, or when I buy different groceries I will pray. I will no longer be the senseless consumer. Let’s see where it goes from here.

Praying for Lydia Button

For those of you praying along side me for Lydia. I have designed a button you can add to your page so that others can have the wonderful opportunity to intercede for this precious little girl.

Here is the html code to add this to your page.
<center><a href="http://www.lydiaeileen.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Praying for Lydia" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_nrN03C2ub3c/SvfH9qu-j7I/AAAAAAAAAaQ/zRAXlyVIff4/PrayingforLydia2%20%28181x220%29.png" /></a></center>

On My Own?

Ahh, my sweet little Gavin. Life has been so different with you around. We are truly blessed to have you in our lives. I feel as though I am being pulled and stretched to grow in ways I never knew. Notice the pulled part :)

Gavin’s birth was not at all what I had envisioned. Dan and I had spent some time planning a natural birth. My choice of pain management was hypnobirthing. I didn’t take the classes, but I was going to apply the relaxing techniques with lots of prayer and trust that God was with me, and designed it all.

Well, that’s not how it all happened. Two days after my due date I had an ultrasound to check on our little guy (I had been measuring small for a couple of weeks). My doctor, who is amazing by the way, was on vacation and came in from home to give me the ultrasound. Turns out my fluid was low. As they were concerned and it was a Friday…I was sent across the street to the hospital to be induced. Can you say totally irrationally unprepared for that. Induction was not part of my plan.

As I said, my doctor was on vacation so I had another doctor who I wasn’t familiar with. He was great though, and did check to see if I was maybe possibly starting labor on my own. Nope! So the Pitocin was started.

After 7 hours, 3 tries of pitocin, a cervical catheter, urinary catheter, epidural, several extremely frightening heart rate drops (that seemed to last for hours), nurses flipping me all around, oxygen masks, lots of tears and 1 cesarean…my little boy arrived safe and sound! The doctors never found any reason for all his trouble.

In the end, I was right about one thing. God was with me through it all. He gave my my wonderful husband, who watched the monitors like a hawk for each and every heartbeat drop and ran to get the nurses for us every time. He gave me the calm cool husband that I needed. While he was terrified on the inside, he kept it all together for me. He helped me to calm down during each episode, and helped to flip me all around when my legs no longer worked from the epidural. God brought me to a wonderful smaller hospital where the nurses and doctor were able to keep a close eye on me. There are so many reasons I could go on forever. But there is one particular moment where God stood out to me.

When it came time for the epidural, I was already closed to tears and frightened. I tried so hard to hold it together. Each time I was touched by the needle, my muscles spasmed. I couldn’t stop it. I was so frightened of the damage I could do by jumping, scared for my little boy, upset I couldn’t hold it all together…etc. All this together added up to a small bit of hysterical. In that moment I finally realized I couldn’t do it on my own. I cried out to God, knowing I was incapable of calming myself enough for this, let alone stay still. I had already proven that I couldn’t do it. When I let go of me, and realized my true need, and that I was incapable on my own.. I felt the peace! A peace and calm like I have never felt before! In that moment God was with me and I could feel it! I calmed, stayed still and was able to get the epidural in a matter of seconds!!

I will forever look back on this moment…The first moment I physically felt God!

Defying the Odds

So today is Lydia’s 2 month birthday. Although I have only met her for a few moments, she truly stole my heart. I can’t explain it but there is something so special and endearing about that little girl. God has so much in store for her. I can feel it deep in my bones, He’s not through with her yet.

I pray constantly for this little girl. Each day I pray for her healing, that she would astound the doctors. So far she has defied what the doctors have expected of her. This has been so encouraging. My main prayer has been that God would heal her cells, and encourage new growth for her. That she would continue her development.

I also pray for my friends and their marriage. I heard a statistic from an autistic support group. That 80% of marriages that have autistic parents end in divorce. My friends are amazing, and strong in their relationships with God. But each day I pray for more strength and encouragement for them. I pray for them individually and for their marriage.

God is a good God. I trust in his will. I trust that He has called me to pray for this family.

Thank you Lord for this call on my life. Help me to listen to you, hear the prayers you have for this family. Help me to intercede on their behalf.

Questions

So Lydia, the sweet little girl most of my prayers surround, has taken a toll for the worst. Her meds are as high as they can go, and was even considered for hospice.
Now, here's my question. At my last intercession, God led me to pray she was filled with oxygen. And on Sept 22 my friend Rachel (doing the School of Intercessory Prayer with YWAM) was also led to pray some things for her.
This was her email to me:
"Ok, God is so freaking cool. Read this message and then read the posting Jen wrote about the disease Lydia has.
So, I was interceding for Lydia and asking God how to pray to release his power into her body. I prayed everything I got. First, I prayed that her cells would come to life and do the job they were created for. I prayed that God would increase her lung capacity and open up air passages that had been restricted before. I asked that God's Spirit and healing power would go from her lungs to her kidneys, heart and brain. I commanded disease to leave her body and for the life of the Spirit to fill her.
Most of this I learned from class already but what I did not know was one single thing about Zellwegger's disease (or whatever it is). Notice the similarities on what God gave me to pray and what Jen says about it."

Normally, I would question my prayer for her...did I make that up? But Rachel also was led to pray a similar prayer, knowing nothing of Lydia or her disease...what does it all mean?
Why would God lead us to pray these things?
Where is it supposed to lead?
I don't have answers for these questions and many more...but I will contine to pray for her faithfully. I believe God has called me to intercede for her. To pray for her healing. Therefore, I will. That's it, no question. I am called, so I will. God will listen and answer my prayers!

I hold strong to God's promises... "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." - James 5:16

A GREAT prayer time

So it's been a while since my last post. So many things have changed. Lydia has been diagnosed, she has Zellweger's Syndrome. She has now been given only weeks to live. This does not deter my prayers though. For a little bit it was a huge hit for me, and I'm sure for her parents. As for praises though, she has finally been allowed to come home. If you would like more info about this situation, go to http://www.lydiaeileen.blogspot.com/

Tonight Dan and I decided to sit down and finally take some time to meet with God. This time to listen. We used the Principles to Apply for Effective Intercession that we learned back in our DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM (http://www.ywam.org/). We had intended to sit down and do this, but I also received some encouragement from my friend Rachel, who coincidentally, is doing the School of Intercessory Prayer with YWAM right now.

For those of you not familiar with these rules, they are a fantastic and biblically based way to prepare your hearts for meeting with God and listening to what He would like you to pray.

1. Praise the Lord for who He is and for the marvelous privilege that He has given us to take part in His ministry. (Heb. 7:24) Praise Him for the fact that through prayer and intercession He allows us to cooperate with Him in resolving the problems of this world and of man.

2. Make very sure you heart is clean before God, by having given the Holy Spirit time to convict, should there be an unconfessed sin. (Ps. 66:18) (See also, Ps. 139:23-24)

3. Acknowledge that you really can’t pray without the direction and energy of the Holy Spirit. (Ro. 8:26)

4. Deal aggressively with the enemy. Come against him in the all-powerful Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and with the “Sword of the Spirit”, the word of God. (James 4:7 & Eph. 6:17)

5. Die to your own imaginations, desires and burdens for what you feel you should pray. (Prov. 3:5-6, Prov. 28:26 & Isa. 55:8)

6. Praise Him now in faith for the remarkable prayer meeting that you’re going to have. He is a remarkable God and will do something consistent with His character. Ask God to speak to you by His Spirit and thank Him for doing so. (Eph. 5:18 & Heb.11:6)

7. Now wait in silent expectancy, listening for His direction. (Ps. 62:5, Micah 7:7 & Ps. 81:11-13)

8. In obedience express what God has brought to your mind. (John 10:27) Make sure you don’t move on to the next subject until you have given God time to discharge all He wants to say to you regarding this particular burden, especially when praying in a group. (Ps. 32:8)

9. Always have your bible with you should God want to give direction or confirming from it. (Ps. 119:105)

10. When God ceases to bring things to your mind to pray for, finish by praising and thanking Him for all that He’s done reminding yourself “For from Him and through Him are ALL things” and that means the Glory. (Ro. 11:36) Amen.

Dan and I wanted to listen to whatever God had in store for us, and not limit Him to the things we would like to hear about. We were hoping to hear if I should stay home with our new child, or go back to work, and also something for little Lydia.
Dan saw a spiritual battle with a christian flag, with a feeling to pray agains demons.  He also saw a castle with a christian flag and a feeling of victory. He also saw a castle gate. He asked God to reveal something to me, if this was what we were to pray about.
My quiet time with God was much more scattered. Initally I had the vision of a bridge, which I felt was linked to my staying home situation. I rationalized this that I should go back to work, and that would bridge the time until I could stay home. But I am still seeking more direction on this.
Next I was confessing my fears that I feel for our son, and not trusting that God is control of his life when my mind flashed over to praying that Lydia would be filled with oxygen.
Next my mind jumped through bunches of people, landing on our nephew Noah.
Lastly I asked God to give me a bible verse that related to what He wanted us to pray, and to also confirm these prayers with Dan.
God gave me Isaiah 26:2 which says "Open the gates That the righteous nation may enter The nation that keeps the faith"

The verse that God gave me definitely lines up with what Dan thought God wanted him to pray for. Lydia's prayer was very clear for me. We are seeking clarification on the prayer for the bridge and Noah.

This was a fantastic time of prayer for Dan and I. I am so glad we were able to make the time to sit down with God. We want to do this WAAAY more often and I will keep you updated as to the progress of these prayers, our prayer times, and our relationships with God.
Please feel free to head over to my friend's blog, she is an amazing prayer warrior http://www.justsarahdawn.blogspot.com/

One Giant Step at a Time

There was a point in my life, not so long ago that I had confidence in what God called me to do. I knew when it was God that was directing me. And slowly that has faded away. Not because God has faded, but I stopped listening and became complacent. I now see the tide turning. I can see where God has directed me clearly.
A few years ago God spoke to me and I listened. God woke me in the night to pray for someone, and if I didn't obey He would continue to wake me until I did. I saw the impact this had on those I was praying for. I long for those days again and I can see they are within reach.
I lay my fear of frivolous things down. I hear the call God has give me to intercede for Lydia. I will rally the troops to battle for her. I will stand against the efforts of Satan on her behalf. May my life be a blessing to her. May she grow to know God and make a difference for Him.
Already I can see the impact her short 13 days of life so far has made. Prayers for Lydia reach far beyond those of friends and family. I count it an honor to join the many praying on her behalf. May her life cause not just a ripple, but a wave of change.
I thank God that He has woken me for this, that I am stirred to a confidence and belief in His Almighty Power that I have not seen in so very long.
Praise be to God!!

The Journey of a Lifetime

The last few weeks I have been overwhelmed by the amount of need and sadness in this world. I have felt called to go back to basics. The basics of prayer. I believe I have a gift, the gift of belief that God can and will answer prayer. God is almighty, God can do anything, there are no limits. Many people in the area I live  indirectly believe that God will answer prayers. He will answer through things, and many people put the caveat of "If it's God's will" out of fear that He won't answer. But I know that God can answer these requests, in addition to working indirectly. Join me in this belief.
So many many people need prayers. This week I lay myself on the line for them. I will intercede where God calls me to. I have felt this growing call, but today my dear friend Sarah has spurred me take the jump again.
I am called to cry out for sweet Lydia. Let her be healed, let her life be a testimony to the glory of God.
Thank you to my friends for their support and encouraging me to draw ever closer to God Almighty.

Welcome to the future home of Dan and Amber Saffo's Blog. For now we are just updating our photo blog which can be found at http://saffo.eachday.com. Come enjoy the fun!