Short post tonight. (Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha… I really intended it to be shorter…) Truthfully, I’ve been trying to get to bed all evening, but this has been on my heart to share.
Truthfully? It’s an amazing story to share.
Several months ago, I was asked to speak at the Rescue Mission. Cool, right? Of course! I love to speak. (Clearly!) I love to speak about Jesus. And what a privilege to bring a message of hope to those at the Mission.
It was way cool until last week when I went to start preparing.
I panicked. But I put it behind me.
I continued to put it behind me. I finally had a outline of what I wanted to talk about but last night, I whined to the hubs…. “It’s a GREAT message… but it’s just not Heather.”
“So make it, Heather,” he said.
Well, duh. But I just couldn’t seem to add what I needed to it.
Today, my plan was to spend every waking moment making this message mine… to make it, Heather… to feel CONFIDENT delivering it… because really? If I’m not confident in telling you about the greatest man to ever live, would YOU want to follow Him?
Exactly.
Satan had other plans and I was attacked..
all. day. long.
A project I was working on for someone else went awry….
I couldn’t find one of the W-2s to finish the taxes… (never mind that I waited until the last minute.. it was only supposed to take 30 minutes!)
I was late getting to the school to volunteer for the roller skating unit… (I help tie skates for the 3rd graders!)
…the day continued like this where my mind was taken away from this message and truly preparing myself for tonight.
About the time the tears came, mostly mad at myself for not being on top of things and feeling like I was letting everyone down, I get a great message from the hubs…
“I full well believe that satan doesn’t want you to deliver your message tonight. Which means there’s somebody there that needs to hear it. Praying for you. Old pointy ears can get bent. You’re gonna nail it. I have no doubt.”
I tried to sit down several times and study it, to go over it. But then ball practice got cancelled. So I had to contact all 10 families. Then I had to find another ride for Thing 4 to Girl Scouts instead of ball practice.
I read the message to those in the kitchen.
I hated it.
I wasn’t confident.
My older kids tried to tell me they didn’t want to come (in which I preached an entirely different sermon about how I am ALWAYS there supporting them, driving, waiting, paying, etc. and they could at least take 45 minutes of their busy lives to come and see their mother!)
Really, it was just the lies of satan. I knew it. So by the time I got in the car, I prayed the whole way there and told satan to suck it.
(For my new readers, I do have a “satan suck it” play list!)
By the time they finished with praise reports from the women at the mission, I was in tears. Seeing these women, who really were in the valleys that I was about to talk about how God moving… and then this one woman said, “When I came in here, I was in a bad mood. Someone handed me this Bible and I opened it and read this…. ” she started in Psalm 106, but the amazing part is she said that she had NEVER picked up a Bible before and that verse she opened to was exactly what she needed to hear.
I lost it. Fortunately, I had some time to regroup while the friends I brought from our old church sang a few songs and then I was up…
I think it was well received. I think they liked me. And like I knew they would, once I got going, the nerves were gone.
After I spoke the chaplain gave the invitation and as I looked out among the women, there one stood. And she came forward. And we prayed. Then there was another woman who came up to ask for prayer… she just felt like satan had a strong hold on her and I shared with her how it was okay to tell him to suck it.
She laughed. (Who doesn’t?)
And we prayed.
As I walked out of the mission, I started to sing, “This girl is on fire….” before I was stopped quickly in my tracks.
No. It wasn’t me. I’m just a vessel.
So I quickly changed the words to the song…
“My God is on Fire…”
Because only He could’ve orchestrated this.
Coincidentally, Thing 2 has been making up religious songs to top 40 songs all night now. Some are better than others. Regardless, I love that my job was to provide hope to those at the mission tonight…
…and as a result, we all were able to witness God at work, adding a slightly different atmosphere in the House of Chaos tonight.
Yes… My God is on Fire…. and I want to continue to fan the flames…
Until next time..

















