Category: Praise (Page 1 of 2)

God’s presence during a fall off Pyramid Peak

June 7, 2017 / Guest Author

My nephew Ryan is an experienced climber. At the age of 23 he had climbed nearly every high mountain in California, traversed mountains in Nepal, and moved to Colorado to go to college in Boulder, where a range of 14’ers were at his doorstep. 14’ers are mountains that are over 14,000 feet tall. One of these is named Pyramid Peak. Pyramid Peak is a part of “the deadly Maroon Bells” a set of mountains that have claimed many lives because of their unbelievably deceptive, loose and unstable rock. The snowfields are treacherous, poorly consolidated, and the gullies are death traps. Expert climbers who did not know the proper routes died on these peaks.

But Ryan was up for the challenge. He saw the climb as an opportunity to grow, test out his winter skills, and perhaps a chance to see the White Elks. On Saturday March 4^th, he made the long drive to Aspen….solo. He had asked friends to go with him, but none were too excited about the cold, wind, and altitude they would have to endure. He felt the usual fear that always accompanies a climb like this…but felt his plan of reaching the summit and returning before the weather changed was doable.

The first night went fine, as Ryan dug himself a snow cave and slept for the night after a long day of hiking and climbing. His alarm woke him up at 3:00am Sunday morning and he figured he could make it to the summit before noon and head back down before the late afternoon storm that was predicted to come in. However, when he was just about 40 feet from the summit, he stepped on what must have been an ice cap formed by the wind or on loose rock that collapsed under him, and he fell over 2000 feet straight down off the summit ridge on the east side of the mountain.

Meanwhile, back at home in Paradise, California, my sister LaShawn and brother-in-law Dave were waiting for Ryan’s phone call to let them know he made it down the mountain safely. They had an ongoing plan whenever Ryan did solo climbs, that if they didn’t hear from him by 7:00pm PST, to call the Search and Rescue team. It was around that time when they started to get concerned. He hadn’t called them yet and this was highly unusual for him. They called his roommates and they too were concerned. Their next call was to Aspen’s Search and Rescue.

It was almost dark in Colorado when Search and Rescue received the call, so they wouldn’t be able to search for him until Monday morning. LaShawn and Dave decided to fly out to Aspen that next morning to be there whether they found Ryan dead or alive. My Mom and I stayed home with my younger nephew Logan and took care of things while they were away. We stayed in regular contact through a group family text, where Dave could give us updates as they gained information. When the Search and Rescue team told us they found Ryan’s car at the base of the mountain, and then his abandoned snow cave with his belongings left there, we really started to prepare our hearts for the worst. Meanwhile, we had relatives, everyone on Facebook, friends of friends, and our church family praying mightily for Ryan’s survival. With the -4 degree weather and 100 mph winds on Pyramid Peak, we grew less and less hopeful that Ryan could survive another night on that mountain even if he was still alive.

Part of me couldn’t believe this was happening. The previous month, on Super Bowl Sunday (February 5^th) I had fallen down a steep ravine in Paradise while hiking with my sister after church. I fell about 60 feet, hitting several trees on my way down. I was headed straight for the river below and could hear my sister’s screams above as she watched me tumble down faster and faster. I finally landed in a clearing and had to climb my way back up, very badly bruised and face bashed in with a deep cut above my lip. Long story short, I was hauled off to the ER and got 8 stitches to sew together the skin above my lip. I was very sore and traumatized, but amazingly no broken bones or head trauma other than a mild concussion. Everyone said how lucky I was. Luck may have had something to do with it, but I think God had a much bigger plan and purpose for this accident. Because I could barely move, I needed to stay at my mom’s house so she could help me with things. She was already being a nurse to my poor father who was dying of a very rare form of cancer. Two days later, just before midnight, my father passed away to be with the Lord. God knew the timing of my father’s death and didn’t want Mom to be alone that night. I was there with her because of my accident.

So during the month of February after planning and preparing for Dad’s memorial service and adjusting to such a great loss of my dear dad, we all were still in the height of grief and couldn’t imagine losing another one of our family members just a few weeks later.

That’s what kept me going to be honest. Surely God wouldn’t take Ryan from us so soon after losing Dad. I couldn’t let my mind drift to the thought of Ryan being found dead, or not being found at all, which was exactly what happened with the previous climber who died on Pyramid Peak. My sister on the other hand, was laid up in a hotel room reading the Psalms and preparing her heart for the worst. We all knew and believed in the power of prayer from God’s miraculous healing of my sister’s brain tumor back in 2004. The peace that comes from knowing that so many believers all over the world are earnestly praying for the same thing brings comfort and a peace that God’s will, will surely be done. Nevertheless, thoughts of Job in the Bible came to mind often, and there is a real surrendering of our own will that has to take place. God giveth and God taketh away. And I will yet praise the name of the Lord! Certain hymns and praise songs would come to mind and provide comfort. God’s presence was real and tangible even during our darkest hours.

The search for Ryan continued with the Search and Rescue team having not found him yet after day 3. I was still holding on to hope, but my more “prepare yourself for the worst” older sister LaShawn was resolved in her heart that Ryan was most certainly lost forever. I couldn’t imagine what life would be like for her if Ryan didn’t return alive. It would kill her, and I couldn’t bear to see that. It was about 5:00pm on Tuesday evening that I got a phone call from my brother-in-law while I was driving in my car back over to my sister’s house where we were all camping out. I answered my cell phone and Dave said “THEY FOUND HIM!! HE’S ALIVE!!” I could not believe it! I cried for joy and proceeded to thank the Lord Jesus for his AMAZING mercy.

He shouldn’t have survived. According to the doctors and nurses in the hospital there in Aspen, no one had ever survived a fall off Pyramid Peak, not to mention the more steep and treacherous east side of the mountain. It was truly a miracle and all our friends and family rejoiced with us and gave glory to God for this amazing gift and second chance for Ryan. Ryan had good survival skills, no doubt, but the fact that he came out of that fall with only some frostbite and an injured elbow and pelvis, was quite amazing.

God’s presence during these dark days was felt in many ways…. through the love and support of our church family who brought us delicious meals every day while LaShawn and Dave were in Colorado with Ryan… about two weeks total; by the constant prayers and petitions that were posted on Facebook and the phone calls from friends and family that confirmed we were not alone in this… we had a mighty team of prayer warriors pleading for Ryan’s safe rescue; by the comforting visions and dreams of Ryan being found alive shared with us by certain folks; by the gentle reminders of Bible verses and of praise songs that helped us to surrender and put our trust in the only true God; and by the huge financial support from donors to help pay for Ryan’s hospital bills and for LaShawn and Dave’s travel expenses so they could stay in Colorado to be there with Ryan. God’s provisions were exceedingly more than we could have ever imagined. He loves us… no doubt.

Trinity

Trinity Bockus is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a private practice in Chico, California.

RTS note: To hear how Ryan Montoya survived the ordeal, you can find his story on the internet (a simple Google search will deliver multiple links to articles and news reports) and on the CBS daytime television show, “The Doctors” which aired on May 25^th.

100th POST GIVEAWAY!!!

March 29, 2017 / Alyssa Gluck

TODAY is a day of CELEBRATION for us at Revealing the Story!

We’ve reached 100 posts – stories of God being revealed in the real and ordinary days of our lives.

A big shout-out to all of our guest authors who have courageously shared their stories. We have all been blessed.

And to celebrate 100 posts, we are doing a GIVEAWAY!

We’re giving away a fantastic best-selling new book, by one of our GUEST AUTHORS, “Choosing Real: An Invitation to Celebrate when Life doesn’t go as planned” by Bekah Jane Pogue. We promise, you’ll LOVE this book. (to get a taste- check out Bekah’s post http://www.revealingthestory.com/failure-i-applaud-you/)

To be entered:

Add a comment to this post
Subscribe to the blog (if you already have- let us know)

One entry for each of these! Drawing will be in one week 4/5.

The Road to Forgiveness

March 15, 2017 / Kallie McKean

Forgiveness.

Oh that word. A word of such weight.

It is a heavy word, one that is so completely life-giving and yet at times has felt like it’s going to bury me.

From a close friendship that turned very painful, to hurts purposely inflicted from a co-worker, I am no stranger to relationship pain and the process of forgiving. When I say forgiving, I mean the release of bitterness, the surrender to God to do what He wills, and the moving on of our hearts. I’m talking about healing. I am not talking about sweeping things under the rug. Or allowing those individuals to continue to hurt you. Forgiveness has everything to do with the condition of our hearts and is not about our offenders accepting that offered forgiveness. I have spent years learning to walk in forgiveness, offering it over and over again as my heart wrestled with the tendency to pick the hurts back up. We often treat forgiveness as a one-time act, which is partially accurate. As followers of Christ we do have to make the decision to forgive even when we don’t feel forgiveness towards those that have hurt us. But I have found we sometimes don’t talk about the process; the road of forgiveness. A road that, depending on the depth of the hurt inflicted, can be littered with potholes and reminders of pain.

I’ve also walked the road of forgiving someone that didn’t apologize. Someone who claimed no responsibility for the scars that they had intentionally given my soul. Someone who abused me. Have you been there? When no apology comes, the road to forgiving can feel impossible. That road seems to lead into a stormy ocean of pain with no way across. It was there standing at the edge of those dark waters that I found I needed a God who parts seas.

My Beloved stood with me in front of those waves. He spoke tenderly, telling me about the healing waiting for me on the opposite shore.

He taught me that in order to truly forgive I had to give up my right, to be right.

I wrestled with that one. I would internally argue that I was right, that justice was not prevailing in this situation. “Father, do you see what they have done? ”

But I ask you to lay that right down and follow me, He whispered.

Lay down your understanding.

Lay down your defense.

Follow me. My example. And watch Me provide the forgiveness you need.

The key to supernatural forgiveness is that I cannot offer it in my own power. I do not possess it. I could not cross the violent waves in front of me by swimming. And let me tell you, I tried. I’ve tried to manufacture forgiveness. To pray that God would give me the strength to swim across the ocean. It didn’t work. Not really. Deep in the crevices of my heart, the crude of unforgiveness was impossible to remove. And the waves of my pain and hurts continued to crash over me. Drowning me. Defeated, I would crawl back to the edge and sit there drenched in my broken mess.

But God had this forgiveness. He had a way through the waves of pain. He gives it to us freely so we can then give it to others.

I watched in awe as He, in His power, parted the violent waves, the dark waters of all my pain and led me through. As I left my right to be right on that beach, I was able to walk through my ocean of hurt on dry land. He never fails to overwhelm me with His provision. He always provides for me. For you, too, friend.

What He taught me is that I have to recognize that I may not have done the things that my abuser did…but I’m just as guilty of other offenses. That’s a tough one. It never feels like that could be true. But that’s because I have such a skewed vision of truth sometimes. I forget that my pride is just as nasty to God. My thoughts are just as unruly, unrepentant, and hurtful. I am guilty. My sin, in whatever form, required Jesus to die for me. I need forgiveness and I need it bad. God’s sweet forgiveness of my brokenness is what allows me to walk on dry ground to forgiving others.

When I allow God’s forgiveness to pour into my dry heart, when it saturates every crack and crevice, the unforgiveness that was stuck in there becomes dislodged and dissolves. I hold His hand as we walk forward free and unencumbered, overflowing with forgiveness.

-Kallie

No and Yes

January 24, 2017 / Guest Author

Yesterday God said no to me.

It was something I really wanted. Something I thought He wanted for me. Something that would be so good for me. So good for my family.

But God said no.

So today, I am pouting. Like my eight year old when I tell her no, she can’t have another snack 5 minutes before dinner. I am pouting. Bummed out. Pity-party city. I am sad.

And my sadness takes me back to another time when God said no. For several years the answer was no. That’s a long time for an American! Our culture doesn’t like to wait for anything. Patience is not our virtue.

I really wanted a baby ‒another baby to make Sela a big sister. I was sure it was what was best for her. I couldn’t understand why God didn’t agree. But month after month, I got the same answer.

No.

It made my heart heavy, and I struggled not to question God’s character. I wasn’t so sure how much God loved me. Every month I would hear his exponentially-bigger voice bellow down to me:

No.

Nope.

Ummmm no.

With each passing month, His voice in my head became harsher. More calloused and unkind. God’s voice in my head was cruel.

What does God’s voice in your head sound like? Is it mean? Punishing? Indifferent to your pain? If it is, then that is not God’s voice.

Listen closer.

For the Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love… (Psalm 103:8)

During those dark days of infertility, I learned to listen more intently to the heart of God, as it is revealed in His Word. I reflected back on what I already knew of His character and the many ways I had already seen Him work in lives around me. When God says no to His kids, He is not harsh, cruel or indifferent. Just the opposite: God’s no is kind. It is grace-filled and rich in love. Friends, listen for that sweet voice!

If you’re a mom, you know how this works. You’ve likely had one of those heart-wrenching moments when you have to deprive your child of something he really wants. Reeeaaalllly wants. Because you are bigger and wiser, you can see that this something is not what is best for your little one. But oh how your baby wants that something! In their limited understanding, this something would make life so much better. And they waaaaant it. And now you are an ogre. And you never loved them. You are officially the meanest mom. Ever.

Yes, sometimes love says no.

Sometimes Love says no to His kids, too.

So back to my present pouting. I am trying to find a better word for my crappy attitude. Whiney. Grumpy. In a funk…

Downcast. That’s what the Bible calls it.

Downcast: “low in spirit : dejected” (according to MerriamWebster). Low in spirit ‒that sounds much nicer than grumpy. I can own that. Sometimes the circumstances of life bring us low in spirit. God’s Word is actually full of examples of people who were downcast.

From Psalm 42

My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.

Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

And this brings me to the yes. (remember the title?)

See, if I can take my focus off of the no, then just maybe I can lift my head and remember how many times the Lord has said yes to me. And I can allow this to restore my hope and refresh my praise.

When I was lost in my sin, desperate and without hope, God said yes. He lifted me from the pit, and set me on a rock. When we were vulnerable and alone, like sheep without a shepherd ‒like people without an identity‒ God said yes. He said yes to the shame, the rejection. He said yes to the cross, the grave. I asked Him to take my brokenness and give me wholeness, and He said yes. I needed a savior, a protector and a friend, and He said yes.

I asked Him to love me all my days and never let me go, and He said yes.

Sometimes, God says no.

But, when we needed it most, He said yes.

God said yes.

-Janel

Janel Thomas is a dear friend to those that know her. She is a wife and a mom to three girls – ages 8, 10 and 14. She attended Westmont College where she received her degree in sociology and worked for 8 years in full-time ministry. At present, in between school drop-offs and pick-ups, she works as a church communications coordinator, leads a school care ministry, and is a full-time encourager to all those around her.

Greener Grass

June 1, 2016 / Kallie McKean

Last Sunday I was sitting out on my patio watching my kids run through the sprinkler to cool off. Where I live it is already heating up into summertime temperatures! I sat and listened to their shrieks of delight. It was a beautiful picture of childhood. And that’s when this pesky though crept into my mind; you really need a pool to be truly happy. This sprinkler is lame. Lots of people have pools. Look at what God has given you, your ‘blessings’…they are not very good.

Nice huh?

And then my little thought tirade continued, now moving from what the enemy whispered to my own thoughts. “Look at this yard. It’s SO small. I hate how tiny it is. I want, no…I need property. I’d be happy and content if we lived out in the country. My kids could run and play uninhibited. But we can’t afford to buy property…ugh.”

So now I’m sitting on my patio blind to the amazing that is in front of me. Blind, and now my heart is “chained up” in discontentment. 5 minutes ago I was free and just like that I forgot that I have the authority in Christ to walk in freedom. And I let the enemy tie me up.

Friends, we are in the middle of a war, and your heart is the prize. We have an enemy and he uses discontentment as a weapon to capture our hearts. And you know what, it’s very effective.

Discontentment as a weapon

With a few whispered lies and thoughts, my wandering heart forgets the joy before me. I just plain old forget how amazing he has been to me. How far he has brought me. How richly he has blessed me. How green the grass that I have really is! As I sat there last Sunday He so gently reminded me. I love that about him. No condemnation for my wandering, forgetful heart…just grace to remember.

5 years ago we moved here to this house. Before that, I spent 4 years living on the side of a mountain where it snowed 8 months of the year, had temperatures in the negatives regularly, and was 2 hours from the nearest Target! We were way out, living on a camp in Colorado’s backcountry. Our home had no yard and no grassy area for my little ones to run and play, and I prayed countless prayers begging God to allow me to move. As beautiful as it was there, all I wanted was to live where it was warm again, in a neighborhood, with grass in my backyard for my kids to play on! When we moved here, I remember dropping to my knees{on this beautiful green grass} in tears over his goodness. All my wants had been given to me by him. My heart was overwhelmed by how he had blessed me. The picture I was looking at last Sunday, as I enjoyed our beautiful shaded patio, with my kids healthy and happily running through a sprinkler {in May while my Colorado friends were getting another snow storm!!}… that picture is nothing short of exactly what I had hoped and prayed for! And yet, how easily I think it’s not good enough. How quickly I fall into the trap of thinking I need more to be content…

We need to remember how far our God has brought us. We need to recount His goodness. And fight against discontent. Friends, we’ve got to fight hard! I have found a simple way to fight back against those sneaky thoughts that the enemy whispers. I have a verse, a snippet of God’s word that I say back at those thoughts. “He has loved me with an everlasting love.”{Jeremiah 31:3} I even like to say it out loud. I know, it seems a tiny bit crazy…but for me, speaking God’s truth out loud strengthens me and sends the enemy fleeing. And something simple{yet powerful} helps too. He’s blessed me immeasurably in a lot of areas, but nothing compares to the way He loves me. I find that the chains of discontentment dissolve when I think about His everlasting love.

Will you fight with me? Will you walk in freedom with me? Let’s find freedom for our families because we choose to be content with what we have. Let’s find freedom for our marriages, because we celebrate the spouse we have. And freedom for our hearts as we remember all He has done for us!

-Kallie

Total Loss?

February 17, 2016 / Guest Author

Today we welcome our friend Jackie Adams to the blog as a guest author. She is a life coach who is passionate about encouraging transformative change through her ministry with women and her work with non-profits. Using the skill of coaching, she is helping others discover for themselves the next steps for transformative growth.

My car was rendered a total loss from an accident a few weeks ago where a distracted driver traveling at a high rate of speed hit my car and then went air born landing on the car in front of us.

By God’s grace and protection EVERYONE including the driver walked away from the accident. Thankfully the injuries to our bodies were minimal.

The anxiety from the accident would require me to step up to the mental gymnastics mat with the goal of sticking the landing in getting behind the wheel to drive again. Several first attempts weren’t worthy of a score, but by the end of the week they weren’t a total loss either.

Total Loss of a Missed Opportunity

What was a total loss for me was the missed opportunity to go to Mt. Hermon (I’d never been!) and to share with the women at the Church of the Foothills Women’s retreat on Peace (John 14:27). Their theme passage in the gospel of John is where Jesus is telling His disciples that he was leaving; and that He was giving them His peace.

He went on to distinguish that the peace He would leave them was not worldly peace, and to instruct them to not let their hearts be troubled.

I had spent many hours pouring over this passage and others to help the women understand the purpose for knowing this peace, helping them see the picture of what this peace is and what it isn’t, pointing them to Jesus’ plan for His perfect peace through His forgiveness, and then finally showing the part that we play in living out this peace.

But because of the accident, this was a total loss for me. All the time and preparation, the visual aids, the props were now a total loss. Some of them shattered in the accident.

Our Unstoppable God in the midst of Loss

As the brevity of the accident and the total loss of not going to the retreat settled on my heart, I had peace and my heart was not troubled. The prayers on our (my friend and passenger Gretchen’s) behalf were definitely felt and so appreciated and brought us His comfort. It is and was indescribable surpassing our understanding (Phil. 4:7, ESV).

Gretchen and I experienced the kindness of two women on their way to the retreat (Kristi and Michelle who had just driven by the accident) who would not be deterred from helping us. They were on a mission to get us to the retreat safely! But their presence was much more than that as we described to them at the time they were like “Jesus with skin on for us”.

As much as we (both Gretchen and I) thought we were able, as the time marched on, we began to see how difficult it would have been for us to keep going on to the retreat. Getting checked out by a doctor on the advice of the CHP and the tow truck driver for potential internal injuries had to be our priority. As we hugged and said goodbye to Kristi and Michelle, them going on to the retreat and Gretchen and I going to the Emergency Room, we had peace about not being at the retreat.

The women’s ministry team, already on site at the retreat began praying for us a soon as they heard of the accident. Their prayers for us were felt and again brought us peace that they would with God’s help find a solution to the problem of what to do now that they had no speaker.

Our decision to get checked out at the ER instead of going on to the retreat left the team totally dependent on God. Their faithfulness to prayer and obedience in the face of a total loss of a speaker became a beautiful picture of dependence on God.

In the midst of loss, our unstoppable God’s plan moved forward. The women’s ministry team, the Mount Hermon staff and the women attending the retreat went into prayer action asking God to reveal His plan.

Faithful and true to who He is – the Lord provided and several women shared their God stories and their certainty in the peace of Jesus through their total losses. They shared five things God had shown them through His Word on peace. They shared the Gospel, they offered communion and they shared with each other how they had seen the women’s ministry team go to prayer, rely on the Lord and how they saw them lead it out!

After the retreat ended I had a chance to meet with Sandy the retreat coordinator. The excitement and light of Jesus was so evident in her remembrance of what our unstoppable God had just accomplished at the retreat in the midst of total loss. “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37, ESV).

Hearing how relationships were strengthened, new relationships formed, and their experience of genuine unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:4, ESV) was such an encouragement to me.

Good News of Great Joy

But the good news came as she shared that nine women made decisions to either rededicate their lives to Jesus or give their life to Jesus for the first time! Praise the Lord!

Even in my missed opportunity to be at Mount Hermon getting to meet, share and love on these women how could I not share in the good news of great joy of what God did?!!

What was very evident to me is the plans of God are unstoppable even in the midst of loss and the peace of God is possible even in the midst of loss!

God’s unstoppable plan for a future (eternity) and hope (today) went forth in the midst of loss. While I wouldn’t want to have to go through an accident again, I am thankful and grateful for what God accomplished through the faithful obedience of the women at the retreat, committed to the cause of Christ.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11, ESV).

-Jackie

You can read more from Jackie on her personal blog www.jackieadams.org

The Mother of All Holidays!

December 16, 2015 / Guest Author

Coree Keenan is our dear friend with an amazing laugh and smile that will warm the coldest of days. An accomplished photographer, she captures the beautiful and candid moments of life best through her camera lens. She has begun a new journey with God – asking Him to reveal Himself to her through signs. Look how it played out right before her eyes.

In my family the mother of all holidays is celebrated on December 15^th…ten days before the rest of you all celebrate that little thing you call Christmas! To us, a day bigger than Christmas is my little brother’s birthday. This year Todd turns 31. Todd loves birthdays in a major way. We still love Jesus and adore the birth of Christ, but December 15 comes first and we celebrate it BIG.

Todd has a super fancy extra little chromosome that gives him Down Syndrome. It is the best part of my little brother. He is full of love and joy and excitement and zest for life! Celebrating his birth is pure joy. We were not there for his birth…so we over celebrate for each birthday. His excitement for this (and most things) is contagious. You can’t have a regular day with Todd. There is no regular with him. The kid runs hot. There is an extra throttle in his engine.

When he turned 16, we took Todd to drive go carts. There was some confusion, he thought that they were bumper cars…and there is a good reason why he will never drive a real car. There was an “incident”…but everyone survived and my siblings and I just giggle about it.

When he turned 21 we played bingo. Not the same thing as gambling…but we had just as much fun.

All good birthdays are celebrated with chocolate cake. It is a Todd rule. There are lots of Todd rules. All dinners begin at 6pm…not a minute earlier or later. Similarly, all desserts are eaten at 7pm. All greetings contain hugs. All birthday cards contain “a dollar for your new wallet” whether your wallet is new or not.

This year I had decided that we would throw back to the days of watching a show on Nickelodeon where people ended up with pies in their faces. A new board game came out this year called “Pie Face” …just in time for Christmas. But that was part of the problem. They were selling out! Black Friday shoppers were faster than me. I could not find this game ANY WHERE! Target has sold out of them in Sacramento and was not selling them online. Amazon sellers were showing that they do not have them available for shipping before Christmas…and I needed mine TEN days BEFORE that silly little holiday…for the mother of all holidays. No luck at Kmart, Walmart nor CVS. I was out of ideas.

C’mon God! Where are you in this?

I began to go to plan B in my mind. We would throw whipped cream tin pan pies in each others’ faces. We would skip the little roulette part of the game and the anticipation of when the little pie would flip up in your face…but that was the fun part. I couldn’t just give up the hunt. That is not like me at all. I never give up. But I had already driven to a store 45 minutes away and come back from Target empty-handed, even though the internet said that they had one in the store. I had given up. I wasn’t going to find the game. That was ok. I could loosen up. I could adjust the plan. We could still have a fun party.

But then, I got a text from a friend saying that one had been found in a Walgreens…hmmm. I started calling Walgreens stores and I found ONE store that had ONE. The last one and they would hold it for me until I got there. BIG SMILE ON MY FACE! I practically skipped into Walgreens to pick up the board game that would save Todd’s birthday. The kid full of joy and life, who has started to tell me,”I pie in your face.” That kid. He is a trash talker. We have taught him well.

Thank you God! Way to show up for the details. Thank you LORD for putting me exactly here in exactly this excited state ready to celebrate Todd with my whole heart and all of my joy and all things good.

And the lady in line in front of me was talking quietly to the cashier and she checked out and then walked three steps towards the door and the alarm buzzed. Something in her bag set off the alarm. She had just given the money to the cashier so it was fine…the cashier said to her, “The Plan B is sensitive. It has the security chip in it.”

And the breath was sucked out of me. Time stood still.

Plan B’s come in all kinds of ways. I thought about how thirty-one years ago Todd’s birth mother’s plan b was adoption. I am so grateful for that. Grateful that my mother was ready for him. And she had prepared her family for him. And we were excited for him.

And that is where I see God in this story.

I see God in my mother’s love for her family. We have always joked that Todd is her favorite child. He is. He is my favorite, too. Every one of my siblings would say the same. He is our favorite. Not everyone *gets* Todd. Fewer people *got* it thirty-one years ago. So today I say a little prayer over all “plan B’s.” They may not feel like your favorite now…but give them some time … and a whole lot of prayer. And watch God work.

-Coree

Linger

November 25, 2015 / Alyssa Gluck

“Gratitude consists of being more aware of what you have than what you don’t have.”

Tomorrow, for one day, time will slow. Families will gather around tables to share a meal together. For a moment maybe… minds will reflect on how blessed we are and maybe we’ll even awkwardly verbalize our thanks. Then we’ll get back to navigating complicated relationships, leaving dinner early for Black Friday, and dreaming of our Christmas lists – hoping they’ll bring us happiness.

Maybe it would pay to linger in the moment of thanks…

Thousands of years ago Jesus walked into the land of the enemy. There were ten very sick men with leprosy who saw Him coming. Their lives had become characterized with loneliness and isolation. Jesus broke all the rules by touching them and ultimately brought them full healing. He instructed them to go back to show themselves to the priest and re-enter community. And off they ran to the next chapter of their lives.

But one…one out of ten… returned to Jesus to say “thank you”. This man was fully aware of who he was before and how that moment with Jesus had totally changed his life. He chose to linger and revel in the moment of wholehearted gratitude.

Life is hard. There’s plenty to worry about and tons of things we could dream about having. But let’s be real: there is beauty in recognizing what we HAVE been given rather than what we are lacking.

Before we rush on to our next chapters..let’s be ones who intentionally pause and reflect.

May our souls exhale in glorious thanks. Join us and linger.

Happy Thanks-giving!

Revealing The Story team

Our Envelope

September 30, 2015 / Kallie McKean

The envelope showed up at the beginning of February.

The doorbell rang as we were sitting around our worn dinner table. I don’t remember what we were eating, but we had just finished bowing our heads and thanking God for the food. It wasn’t fancy food…but we were thankful for it. Finances were sparse again. Unemployment was plaguing us again. Again…that word added weight to a difficult situation. Stress and fatigue had etched itself into my husband’s handsome face. Despair stood knocking on the door of my heart. We had been walking by faith, doing our best to trust that a job was in our future. On this particular weekday though, it felt as if our hope reserves were as low as our bank account.

But despair doesn’t win. When you wait on HOPE, He comes for you.

The ringing of our doorbell startled all four of us. We all got up to go open the door, finding no one. Instead of a person, a simple envelope lay upon our welcome mat. Our kids excitedly questioned what it was. My husband picked it up and his eyebrows shot up in shock as he looked inside. It was filled with money. Whoever had given it had been extremely generous.

We were speechless. Tears came. Our kids saw God tangibly reach out and help their mom and dad. Our little family hit our knees thanking our good Father and praying for the amazing people who we would never get a chance to thank.

With that simple envelope our God had reminded us that He does not forsake those He loves. He breathes hope into hopeless situations through His people. And He provides for our needs…sometimes in mysterious ways.

The story of the anonymous envelope of money would be an encouraging one even if it ended there. But God wasn’t done with this one. It became miraculous.

Do you know the bible story from 2 Kings; the one about the widow who was in a hopeless financial situation and only had a tiny bit of oil left in her jar? God had her pour that oil into another empty jar given to her by a neighbor…and it filled it up! And then another jar, and another…the oil did not run out! Do you know it? It’s a good one. Sometimes I need to be reminded that the God who did that for her, is the same God that I cry out to today. He didn’t get older, or less caring of His kids, or tired of miracles. His glory shines just as bright now as it did then. His love is just as tender.

The envelope was placed in a safe place and we began to pull cash out of it when we needed it. We tried to stretch it, but honestly our needs were great. Groceries were needed and so to the envelope I would go. Bills were due and I would return to pull out more. A month went by and I noticed we had not run out. Strange, I had thought, since it had seemed like we had spent the total. Another month passed and there was still a thickness to the envelope. It truly made no logical sense. I thought about counting it, but something held me back. I began then to believe that God was doing a miracle with that envelope. And so, without seeing how much we had left, I carefully replaced it in the drawer and thanked Him for whatever He was doing.

The ‘oil continued to pour’ and each month we would stand in awe that the envelope was still not empty! We never counted it, and God kept giving.

That single, anonymous, generous, miraculous envelope lasted for 6 months.

You read that right. 6 months! There is no way the initial amount, as generous as it was, could have lasted for 6 months of groceries and bills.

Even now I can hardly believe it. For half a year that white envelope sat in a drawer and was a constant reminder that we were not on our own in this fight. That despair would not get the last word, that HOPE lives here and we belong to HIM.

He Is Good.

We used the last bills from it just this last month. It was beautiful timing as we had just moved, and begun to settle into our new chapter of life, including employment! The manna is gone, it is no longer needed, for our God leads us on into His promises.

Every generous act of giving and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father who made the heavenly lights, in whom there is no inconsistency or shifting shadow. James 1:17

–Kallie

Overnight parents

May 26, 2015 / Guest Author

Our Revealing the Story team first met Ashley when one of us spoke at a women’s retreat. Ashley shone with joy and humor and artistic talent. She especially amazed us on the day women stood to share their “God-stories.” Ashley opened up about one of the hardest things for women to talk about – the hopelessness of infertility. Weeks later, we received an email with news of this MIRACLE!!! You’ve got to hear her story.

I have had my hands full with my new life as a first time mom. I wanted to tell our whole whirlwind of a story about how we become parents overnight…literally! Here we go!

My husband Matt and I have been married almost 12 years. We’ve struggled with infertility for many of those years. We met with doctors and had consultations but never felt God’s desire for us to pursue the expensive route of fertility options. Back in November I started talking to Matt seriously about adoption. We had always talked about adoption even before we were married but this time I felt we were really ready. Matt’s initial reaction was one that had always in the back of his mind, but he never had shared with me before. He told me how expensive adoption would be and that we did not have the finances that were required. We talked about it and he said we would need to start saving for the adoption and pay off our debt. After we had some significant savings set aside we could evaluate starting the adoption process.

There was something about his answer that didn’t sit right with me. I didn’t believe God wanted us to wait any longer to become parents. A week or so later I came to Matt with an idea of starting a business where we could could sell handmade crafts and inspirational items in an online store. The ideas was that this business could help us pay down our debt and then jump start our saving for the adoption cost.

Before we officially launched the new business we asked friends of ours out to lunch. We wanted to get their opinion on the business idea. They agreed to meet later the following week for lunch but also mentioned that they knew we were going to ask them to lunch. At lunch the next week we explained our situation. We had never discussed our infertility struggle or desire to adopt with them in the past. We also went over the business idea we came up with to accelerate our savings plan for the adoption. They had some great input and a couple tips we hadn’t thought of.

After lunch they told us why they had known we were going to ask them to lunch. They shared that adoption had always been on their heart. They imagined they might adopt after they had a couple children of their own but still hadn’t felt the call to adoption. Next they shared with us that when they met us years earlier they knew very quickly that God was going to use them to help with our adoption. They shared they had been waiting for the right time to share this with us and now years later when we had invited them to lunch and shared our desires and plan they knew the time was now.

That is when they told us that God had already provided 100% of all the adoption costs for us.

We were speechless and in complete shock. This was the truest example of living like no one else so later you can give like no one else! This would be an amazing story of God’s miraculous provision and timing even if the story ended here but it doesn’t!!!

Shortly after this lunch meeting our pastor asked us to share this story on a Sunday morning. We agreed to share what God had done in belief that hearing about this could increase hope and faith for others.

On Friday two days before we were scheduled to share at church our pastor received a Facebook message. It went something like this. “Pastor my 17 year old sister is pregnant and believes she is too young to be a mother and would like to choose adoption for her child. Do you know anyone in your church that is looking to adopt?” Our pastor was shocked at the timing. He quickly replied and said “not only do I know a couple ready to adopt but they are sharing this Sunday at church, come and I will introduce you all.” We shared our story that Sunday. After service we met the young man who sent the Facebook message and scheduled a lunch meeting for the next day.

After our Pastor interviewed us earlier during that Sunday Service he prayed for our upcoming adoption process (we hadn’t even signed with any agency or law firm). He specifically asks God to speed up the hands of time in this process for us. We never imagined God would answer a prayer so quickly and literally.

Later that same evening (about 12:30am) Matt received a phone call. Long story short we were invited to the hospital to meet the family that evening. The lunch date for the next day couldn’t wait as the 17 year old birth mom had gone into labor Sunday evening and was already at the hospital. I was asleep Matt woke me up and we rushed out of the house to the hospital. We met with the family then we were introduced to the birth mother. A couple hours later when the Doctor was alone with the birth mother she was asked if she wanted anyone to cut the umbilical cord. Without hesitation she said she wanted Matt to do it. At 6:23 that morning Matt cut the umbilical cord of our first born daughter, Lily Rose. We were even able to fill out the birth certificate and when we left the hospital two days later we left as a family of 3!

Our first picture of our family of 3!

When we got home from the hospital we had our own personal baby store. Our family and friends were amazing they went out and got us everything we needed for Lily.

Lily is now 4 months old and it really is true what every one says, time flies by. She has changed our life in the best way possible. She has such a sweet spirit, always happy and smiling all the time.

Thanks for spending some time reading our amazing God story. It seems like that is the best way to describe it – our “God story”

xo xo

Ash, Matt & Lily

P.S. Ashley and Matt’s business, “Anchored Living” is up and running generating funds for adoptions. Check them out! https://squareup.com/market/anchored-living

Category: Praise (Page 1 of 2)

God’s presence during a fall off Pyramid Peak

100th POST GIVEAWAY!!!

The Road to Forgiveness

No and Yes

Greener Grass

Total Loss?

The Mother of All Holidays!

Linger

Our Envelope

Overnight parents

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