What's Happening Now!

Hey folks!

For the next 5 weeks new blog postings from me will be kinda scarce. I am taking a summer course that crams a whole semester's worth of work into 5 weeks!! So please be patient with me, and I promise I'll try to stick a new post or two up here and there. Until then, I'll post some of my favorite blogs from the archives.

Blessings ! \0/

PS. Feel free to comment on any of them, ok? I thoroughly enjoy reading your observations, insights and correlations.

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The Story of This Little Piggy

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4

This past Easter was a very special one year anniversary for me. One that I will never forget, and will continue to share with others all of my life. I will 'wee, wee, wee, wee wee', all the way home! (I will squeal about it until I get to Heaven!)

All my life I had been plagued with ingrown toenails. It was something that I just became used to throughout my life. My mom says that even as an infant I had this problem. As an adult, I’d just get out my cuticle nippers and go dig in there to pry out the little piece of nail that was piercing my flesh! I usually would get it out and have total relief in about 2 - 4 days depending on just how difficult it was to remove.

Last year at the very beginning of my spring vacation from work, when I woke up on April 3rd I experienced that familiar pain in my right big toe. I figured I could take care of it, and poof! It would be gone! I was not going to let this thing spoil my vacation. After all, I had places to go and people to see! A little nip and tuck and a prayer, I’ll be fine! (So I thought!)

Well this one was a stubborn one…more so than I had ever had before in my life! I could not seem to recover this teeny piece of nail that had evidently embedded itself deep down into my flesh. Day in and day out…the pain would not go away…it only got worse.

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness..." 2 Corinthians 12:8, 9

A whole week and a day had passed by and the next thing I knew it was Easter Sunday- April 11th. I woke up and boy, was my toe UGLY! It was black and purple and oozing puss and throbbing painfully. Ebonically speaking, I was literally “‘toe up’ from the flo’ up!” I guess a person with common sense would have carried themselves to the doctor by now! As I said, I was so used to taking care of this myself that going to the doctor never even occurred to me...not even when I saw how it looked on Easter morning.

So now, the plot thickens: It is Sunday morning, Easter morning no less, and I am wondering what shoes am I going to wear? It was cold and rainy outside, but I had to settle for a matronly low heeled, pair with the toes out just so I could manage to squeeze my feet inside the shoe, but have my toes out, so I would be able to walk- and keep the shoes on! I am glad I still had those shoes (from when I broke my little toe), because otherwise I may have been barefoot save for some house slippers or something! But I was torn…I really needed to stay home to work on this toe, because I had to be able to go to work on Tuesday. But then I really wanted to go to church too- after all, it was only the biggest celebration in Christianity --Resurrection Sunday! And I wanted to be there! What should I do?

I got dressed, gathered up my family, and hobbled off to church! The service was wonderful. What I received spiritually through the music ministries, the drama/dance team and through the Word, I was sure had I made the right decision to attend church that day. But oh! There was one more thing!

Near the end of the service, Pastor Doolin asked the people in the audience to stand up if they needed healing for their bodies. This is where it got quite interesting to me, listening to the loud raucous of a debate going on inside of my own head as if I were a passive onlooker:

• Oo, oh! I can get healed of this painful toenail!


• Shut up and stay in your seat. Don’t be so dumb!


• But God is concerned about my life....


• There are people here with issues much more serious than a stupid ingrown toenail!


• But God loves me and He said He is concerned about the most minute details of my life.


• You’ll look like a butthead if you stand up now. The people who were going to stand have already stood up.


• But I have to get healed by God. I have tried everything I know humanly to do.


• Suppose the Pastor comes around and asks you what you need healing for? You know the microphone is on! You’ll look like an idiot! People will laugh and think you are stupid when they hear what you want healing for!


• If he actually asked what I need healing for, I think he would turn the microphone off. If not, then I’ll just have to look like an idiot! I need healing and I believe in God’s powers to heal me.

"...the devil...for there is no truth in him...for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44

And with that, I stood up. At that point, Pastor Doolin was instructing the members still seated to reach out and touch in agreement and in faith, the people who were standing for healing. I felt two warm hands on me.

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in their midst." Matthew 18:20 (KJ)

My boys later told me, that as the Pastor prayed, he went around to the people closest to the front of the auditorium, and laid hands on them. I was one of them. I remember feeling my hand being touched, and a slight warming sensation travel up my arm and down my back at that time.

Later on that afternoon, when I got home, I noticed that my toe felt better! Wow! Anything short of that throbbing pain that morning was a miracle! Well, I believed in my healing, and I just could not wait to see how God was going to do this work!

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

The very next morning, when I woke up, the very first thing I noticed was the absence of pain! What? Could it be? Already? I squeezed it, jumped up and down on it, and walked on it, and then I ran as fast as I could, to tell my family the good report! My husband was still at work, so my kids became the targets of my joy! I’m hollering and screaming excitedly through the house, “Guess what? I’m healed, I’m healed! I’m healed! Halleluyah! I’m healed! God healed me! Halleluyah!

"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you..."Mark 10:52

I was so happy that this little piggy was healed! Wee, wee, wee, wee, wee, all the way home! My boys heard the commotion and came running to meet me at the bottom of the stairs. After they understood what happened, they smiled, patted my arm and shoulders, and went on back to their breakfast. Kids! If I had said I was buying a puppy, they’d be excited, then! ;-)

Looking back, I can clearly see that the enemy was trying his best to rob me of God’s blessing of healing for me. He threw up all kinds of reasons for me to stay in my seat; all of them appealing to my ego not wanting to appear stupid. If I had given in to that who knows how this would have turned out? My toe was severely infected....

"The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly." John 10:10

I still have questions about this incident to ask God when I see Him. Why didn’t He answer my prayers, when I prayed for myself? Why did this have to drag out so long, essentially ruining my whole vacation? Was it to keep me from being active on the road going places, thereby preventing me from being in harm’s way somehow? Was it to show the power of His healing? If I can believe Him for small stuff like this, and see His power in action, then surely I can have faith to believe Him for bigger stuff later on, right? (That's another testimony!) Was it to show me to never to listen to enemy, because he is a liar? Was it to give me another testimony that may one day encourage someone else? Was it a demonstration of His healing power for someone else who does not believe that He still heals today? Man! I have a running list of questions in my head to ask Him. I hope He does not mind! ;-)

Another facet to this praise report: In the whole year since then, I have not had one ingrown toe nail! Isn’t God wonderful?! Halleluyah!

Anyone want to share a praise report of their own healing? We'd love to read it, and praise God along with you!

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