Whatever the future holds, whether is is neatly packed and tied with a bow, or messy and the roads are long and hard, whatever you have for me Lord, I am all in., because you first loved me, and that is enough!
Category Archives: England
God is Cool!
God is cool!
He is a lot more than that, but He is also cool!!!
He always, always, always gives me what I need to keep going.
When God called me to England, I immediately began telling everyone because I am a follower of Jesus Christ and as John 10:27 says
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
I knew, that I knew, that I knew that the Holy Spirit had called me.
Immediately I felt a deep longing for a place that I had never been.
I felt compelled to leave everything behind and go, for no other reason than because I knew God told me to, and that was enough.
At the time…for a while….as long as I stayed focused on God and not on the world.
But then life happened…pressures mounted.
Oh I can take the fact that 9 out of 10 people think I am crazy, I could take the fact that I had to leave a home I love and sell everything in it to go to a place I have never been (Actually I love adventure so that worked) in a short amount of time (August 1st…that’s really close) but what I have the hardest time with is my Kids.
What is the hardest thing is my four kids (all grown, but the one who will come with me). I have some awesome kids, and as most mothers I would lay down my life for any of them in a heartbeat. But God is not asking me to lay down my life for them, but for Him.
Because I am his child, He understands my heart. He understands my getting sidetracked with sadness of leaving them and worries about how it will all work out, and He knows that I need encouragement to stay on track.
One of the ways that He is encouraged me is to guide me to Francis Chan, not in person but on video. I was encouraged as Francis spoke of what God was doing in his life, as he shared about living courageously with and for God.
It was exactly what I needed at the time to keep going.
That is why I think God is cool!
Just when I think I am the only one…when I think I am not strong enough for the load that I think I have to carry, God reminds me that I am not alone, and I am strong enough, stronger than I thing, because He is with me and is my strength.
So if you are feeling discouraged, or not up to the task that God has laid before you,
Lean into God.
Trust the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you into all that God has for you, and remember you are stronger than you realize because you have a very cool God who cares enough about you to give you what you need to keep going strong.
Photo © jesadaphorn – Fotolia.com
Why a tidy package is usually not what Christians get handed
I love when God moves in my life, when He wants to give me that hope for a better future.
I have to admit though, that while I love the thought of change, the messiness of it can freak me out.
I want God to hand me my future in a nice tidy package with a big bow …but that is not usually how it works.
Gods leading is more a matter of his putting something on my heart, and as I step out he confirms what he wills for me, with signs.
So ever since God first called me to England I have been getting signs from him to remind me that it is indeed His leading me, and that I am not loosing my mind.
A lot of the signs are simple and yet are clearly from God as there could not be that many “coincidences.”
Although I live just outside of Seattle, Wa…quite a distance from England… I have run across more things from England in the last few months than in my entire life.
I will not surely remember them all but will list a few here…
A customer thought he was paying with a penny…it was a pence. He had no idea where it came from, and I now own it.
English book, flags, plates, spoons, jigsaw puzzels, ets…have been everywhere I looked.
I run into someone from England about every 5th day.
I dream about England (I have been for a year before I knew was going). I also have dreams about England in which parts have come true in Real life.
Whenever I question God’s plan for me to move to England something “English Related happens”
The two last “Coincidences” were to do with Manchester (the city I am going to)
- I was at work and my friend/boss was talking with me about England and she came across a luggage tag (the paper kind the airport gives out) and it was stamped (Manchester) on it.
And
- Yesterday I was thinking (even though I knew) “Am I really going to Manchester?” as I stood behind a counter at work. I turned my head just then and noticed that a boy of around 12 had stopped directly in front of me, his back facing me, and his crisp white shirt with read lettering answered my question.
It had bright red letters and on the top half said Manchester.
When I turned my head in disbelief at the timing, and look in the opposite direction he walked again in my view and again turned his back to me….
So although I want everything tidy and in a nice package with a bright red bow, so that I don’t “have to” worry, the fact is…I not only don’t have to worry….I am not supposed to!!!
And if you are a Christian, neither are you… you are NOT flying blind!!!
God tells us through His word that…
“The LORD will continually lead you; he will feed you even in parched regions. He will give you renewed strength, and you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring that continually produces water.” (Isaiah 58:11, NET)
When God is leading you and you are finding it hard to believe…Ask Him for a sign. He has promised that as He leads you H e will revive you when weak.
So while you may not always get the tidy package from Him that you want…you can be sure that you will get the bow, because while God plans for our live are rarely, if ever, tidy…the signs are often as noticeable as a brightly colored bow.
Photo © Zarya Maxim – Fotolia.com
I woke up to this…
So I wake up with this song playing in my head, which in itself is not unusual as God often wakes me up with a song, and each time He does it means something.
The song is by Jason Gray, titled, “With every act of love” and has the lyrics (which are the ones I heard).
God put a million,
million doors in the world
For His love to walk through
One of those doors is you
Immediately I thought about England. How He has yet to open the door.
Then I thought of how we used to be a host family for Japanese students.
I always thought it was wonderful how we would meet people though the program that we would never have met otherwise. It was a wonderful experience, both for my family and for the student as well (as I gathered from their goodbye letters).
I know that God has called me to England for the same reason.
There are people I need to meet, and who need to meet me, so that I can be Gods hands and feet.
If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God.If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.- 1 Peter 4:11
The “open door” for England has not opened, and yet I know that God will open it soon, as He did not lead me all this way for nothing.
Please join me in praying for me to receive an open door to England, and for the “ministry” that He has called me to will begin to take shape before me.
Please pray also the God will give me the courage and strength to walk through the door, once opened.
I covet all your prayers and will pray for you as well.
Send prayer requests here abbasyaldah@outlook.com or comment below.
So I had this dream….And this crazy and miraculous thing happened the next day
So I had this crazy dream the other night. Wait, actually I had a dream that wasn’t that crazy but what happened the next day was.
So here I am, trying to be a good Christian and follow God’s leading on my life. As many know He has called me to England and has asked me to trust him and follow his lead.
So I did just that. As a result I have tried to get a job in ministry that would support me and my son. There are several problems with that however.
1. Although I have a Bachelors in Theology, I have no experience.
2. I don’t yet have all of the money I will need.
3. England is a hard nut to crack as far as immigration in concerned.
4. I have been told by more than one person there that it is not Gods will for me.
5. Although God told me to go into “ministry” He never told me what kind.
This last point has caused me much frustration as I have looked for a job in England and nothing seems to click. I have been frustrated only because more than anything because I just want to do His will.
Well before going to sleep I prayed about the situation and I had this dream where I was searching for something and ended up in a youth room at church and there were rows of desks with the same sharp tool on top of each one.
I remember saying in the dream “These don’t belong here, and started picking them up.”
When I woke up God spoke to my spirit saying “just like in the dream you are searching in the wrong place. You don’t belong in that ministry.”
By itself that would have been a good enough dream, but later when I went to work I was instructed that I was to clean out some rounder’s full of tools. Because the containers were stacked on each other, I couldn’t see what tool I was grabbing as reached in.
I was shocked to see that it was none other than the very tool that was in my dream.
I later asked a customer what kind of tool it was and he said that he thought it was a blade that joind other blades to cute down wide areas.
Immediatly John 4:37 – 38 came to mind. In it Jesus says
“For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
This gives me hope that the ministry that God has for me in England calls for me to join with others to reach a people who are ready.
So although I am sometimes weary, and the road is long I will keep looking to God to pave the way because He will.
When it comes to England, I am not dreaming.
God is faithful.
Ps. Yes that is a pic of the actual tool.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 4:37–38.
I Am Trusting God 