Touched By the Divine - Althea Bailey, Part IV

On Tuesday morning, she called her pastor friend to tell him what she had been experiencing.

"There's this fire inside of me...", she explained.

"There's a calling on your life, and God wants to use you", he told her.

When she got to church on Tuesday night, she discovered that there was more than one track for Bible College.  One was a new members track.  But there was also a ministerial track.  And even though she was brand new, she was drawn to the ministerial track. 

She asked someone next to her what the ministerial class was all about.  He said, "I think it's the one you take if there's a calling on your life".

Althea joined the class for the ministerial track.

Touched By the Divine - Althea Bailey, Part III

Althea contemplated everything that had been happening to her since November.

Though she hadn't made a commitment to God until December, He had already blessed her with a good job, stable finances, admission to graduate school, and a great relationship with her family. 

When she had been suffering from back pain and a broken heart simultaneously, He had provided instantaneous relief, as a supernatural answer to her prayers. 

When she was in need of comfort, after hearing about her parents pending divorce, He allowed the SUN to shine on her, through closed blinds, to assure her of His presence through her pain.

And when she doubted that He had really done that, He confirmed His signature, by leading her to a verse in the Bible that began with, "For God is a SUN and SHIELD..." (Psalm 84:11)

Touched By the Divine - Althea Bailey, Part II

December was a difficult month for Althea.  She had just ended the relationship with her boyfriend in November, and now she was dealing with her parents' pending divorce.  She had begun attending church, which was helping her to cope, but there were still days when the burden of her sadness took over. 

Christmas Eve was one of those days.

She kept thinking about how different Christmas dinner was going to be, now that her parents had decided to part ways.

Touched By the Divine - Althea Bailey, Part I

Every now and again, you are blessed to a meet a person whose fiery new-found faith reignites your own desire to walk closely with God.   For me, that person is Althea Bailey.

Althea is a delightful young woman with a vibrant personality that will warm your heart within the first few moments of speaking with her.  At only 30 years old, she's had a successful career as a neurosurgical nurse, and will begin studies in Nurse Anesthesia this coming August.

Around this time last year, Althea felt like she was on top of the world.  She had a great man in her life, her finances were in order, her plans to apply to graduate school were coming along, and all was well with her family and friends.  One-by-one,  the plans she had set were coming to fruition, and she felt that her life was complete.

That is, with the exception of one thing.  She didn't have a relationship with God.

Wisdom - Part II

In Wisdom - Part 1, I shared how reading one Bible chapter to quiet my mind led me to recognize the process necessary for gaining "supernatural-level" wisdom.   In today's post, I'll share how God responded when one ill-prepared young man humbly asked for wisdom, and why his experience should get us over-the-top excited!

As a brief review...

In 1 Kings chapter 2,  Solomon succeeded his father, David, as king of Israel. Though we don't know exactly how old he was when he assumed the throne, we believe that he was as young as 12, but no older than his late 20's.  In either case, he was very wet behind the ears, and not at all psychologically or intellectually prepared to run a kingdom. This concerned him greatly, and in a dream one night, he had a conversation with God...

Shawn McDonald: A Hippie Reborn

Shawn McDonald is one of my favorite inspirational artist.  I came across his music by accident, about 4 years ago, when looking for some new music to download on iTunes.  His music is driven by the acoustic guitar, and is very fresh and contemporary, with upbeat tunes, as well as meditative selections for those who want to enjoy a quiet moment in song.

Wisdom - Part 1

My mind is generally in at least 4 different places at any given moment.  So last week, in an attempt to quiet my noisy thoughts, I committed to reading at least one chapter per day of a Bible book until I was finished.  The book I chose was 1 Kings.

What a page turner!  I felt like I was watching a movie.

And even though I'm almost done with the first book of Kings, there is something about chapter 3 that keeps bringing me back to it.  I'm going to share it with you here.

Shipwrecked

Recently, I made the decision to make Bible reading a daily habit.  

Despite how involved I have been in church from time to time over the years, I never did quite make it an imperative to read my Bible everyday.  Some people would be ashamed to share information like that. But, not me.  You know why? Because, I think to myself...  "If I've come this far by faith, without having spent as much time in the Word as I should, then what heights can I look forward to in my faith and my future, now that I AM spending this much time in the Word?"  Now THAT'S something to shout about!

Let me share with you where this renewed commitment originated...

Personal Transformation - You're Human

When she awakens, she feels refreshed because she's had a good night sleep, and she's already set goals for the day ahead.

She's confident about her intentions and direction, because she communes with God before starting on her way.

Though she's in her 30's, she feels more vibrant than she did in her 20's, because she engages in at least 45 minutes of exercise, 4 days per week. Her health is optimal, because she eats lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, and enjoys water as her favorite beverage.

She has a sister, however, who lives close by, but struggles with attaining good habits.

When she awakens, she wonders why in the world she stayed up so late watching "Breakout Kings" the night before.

The Not-So-Sleepy Vineyard

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago while visiting my brother in California.  I live on the east coast, so to me EVERYTHING on the west coast is worth taking pictures of.  It's just so.... I don't know... different over there.  Within a 2-hour drive, I felt like I'd seen the northern Midwest, the southern east coast, the Caribbean, and Central America all wrapped up into one.  

What a diverse landscape!

Spring In Your Step

The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, 

and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.

Song of Solomon 2:12 NLT

Okay... maybe Solomon took it a little over the top with the whole turtledoves thing, but you get what he's saying.  Spring has sprung!

What a pleasure it was to drive by these blossoming beauties as I dropped my daughter off at school.