Wow! What a week. This week I found
myself,
one of His sheep, needing the other sheep of His flock. Many times, as Christians we are inundated with situations, we wish we did not have to go through. Sometimes we feel like we are under attack and want to run. Many times, we want to scream enough, I can't take much more!!!
Yet, God in all His grace and mercy walked with me and comforted me this week. He is my/our Good Shepard and He takes care of His sheep.
Ezekiel 34:31
(
ESV
)
And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord
God
."
So, Wednesday rolled around and it was the day for me to have chem
o
.
I contacted
Dr.
Carolmarie
to let her know of my treatment and to ask the widows of Anna's Gate to pray. They are all His sheep.
My treatment
was
fairly uneventful
with the exception I was able to talk to another patient about how God sustains me through all the different things MS throws my way. We had a great conversation and she said she appreciated the encouraging conversation.
Sabbath rolled around and we were faced with making the decision to put our
8-year-old
bloodhound down. The
Vet did not know what was wrong with him, but he could not get up, walk, eat or drink. That was one of those hard decisions
for us
to make.
Monday brought the situation of my husband saying he felt like he had a small bump on his back that was sore. I looked.
It d
idn't seem like any big deal. Within 6 hours it was the size of a lemon. It more than doubled in size again
later that night
. He said it was extremely painful.
(
Coming from a guy who never complains about pain.
)
I was praying before I went to bed. I asked the Spirit to lead me because I didn't know what to do. He led me to look up a doctor's office in town. I got the number and saw they opened at 7am. I had the number and I set my alarm to be up when they opened. I didn't even know if this was a doctor that could help him, but I was trusting God. In the morning when I called, they said he was completely booked for the day. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty sure I begged for him to be seen. The doctor told the nurse if my husband could be there
in an hour
, he would try to work him in. Yay!! He saw him and said he believed he knew what it was and ran some tests. It would be a few days for results. He was very serious with my husband and said he had to get on this medicine they were flying in from TX.
Again, I contacted the widows to pray as well as family and friends. He
took the
medicine but
continued in great pain for two more days. The results came in and he tested positive for a bacterial infection.
We have no idea how he got it. On Thursday I received a phone call from the doctor, and he said he was so humbled for God to have let him be apart of this situation. He said if my husband had waited another day, he probably would be dead. He told me that God had to have been in control of every detail of how it all worked out. He said he believes God is in total control and he said this has had a powerful effect on him and his walk with the Lord. Wow! This doctor is one of His sheep.
Then on Sunday we got the news that my son's 3-year-old niece passed away from health complications. A few hours after that a close friend calls requesting prayer for her son-in-law in the hospital just diagnosed with cancer. Both families are believers and both families are
hurting and
mourning. I cried out to God and said, "I don't know what to do. I feel so helpless. God give
me something." He then said to me, "I want my sheep to help my other sheep." The Spirit led
me
directly to these verses
:
Romans 12:15
(NIV)
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
2 Corinthians 1:4
(MSG)
He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.
Oh, my goodness! The Spirit got right to the point with me. Praise God! As I was praying about all
these situations
I was thinking about why as believers we go through these things that are hard, sad, and painful. The Spirit was again quick to respond.
Job 2:10
(NIV)
He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
God is good! He hears our cries, our prayers, and
He sees us when we are overwhelmed and hurting. He cares for us, His sheep. He is the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for his sheep. Glory to God! He loves us and commands us to love one another. So, I encourage you, be sheep, who help other sheep!
~Christine Fredette
We want to honor your uniqueness at our 10th Annual Valentine Banquet on Saturday, February 15th. The event will include a red rose, escorted to your table, live music, a meal and entertainment. The banquet will be at Rothchilds, from 11am to 2pm. Please email your reservations to [email protected]. This is the last week to RSVP!
At Anna's Gate 2 pm EST prayer times every Tuesday, many are getting direction for their lives as the presence of God is so powerful! If you are hungry for more of God, join us and then stay for our worship time with teaching following!
You can also s
end your prayer requests to us and we will agree with you in this time of fresh discovery! We are all in Transition. Let's embrace it and submit to His plan and timing! ([email protected])
Be sure to read the Torah portions below that Jesus read during this time in history! There is always something that relates to us in our place in history now! That's so amazing to me!
Find out more about the month of
Shevat on our website. Please email us your area of passion and the skill you desire to be developed so that we can agree with you in prayer! (
[email protected]) This is your time to excel into your greater potential!
We would also like to invite you to send us a brief testimony
(written or filmed on your smart phone)
of how God has used Anna's Gate
to help you and to reach your realm of influence.
(Put "Testimony" on the subject line).
If filmed, please make it only 1 to 2 minutes.
We would love to hear from you!
Read what Jesus read on this week in History!
When you make a purchase using A
mazon Smile, a part of your purchase amount is given to support the work Anna's Gate does. We appreciate your using these businesses and in the process blessing Anna's Gate.
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"I invite you to visit my personal Facebook page (CarolMarie Smith), where I post videos and insights open to the public that will help you continue to grow! We also film and post the Tuesday meetings on Facebook that compliment what I share in our weekly Cup of Empowerment."
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