Anointed

Anointed:

to dedicate to the service of God
To choose by or as if by divine intervention

I had a friend recently tell me, after hearing about all God has done for Hope Blooms, that God has anointed HB. You know I never thought about it that way before. I know God has blessed this endeavor..as I knew He would. After all it was His idea. I am just His tool in this.

That said, we are in a bit of a dry spell. God has kept me motivated to accomplish all He has asked me. He has given us amazing press time, and little bits of excitement here and there. Which given my temperament, that is what I needed at the most perfect God timing. But now it has been a few weeks of nothing....that is hard for me....and should I even complain? I think I know the direction He is taking us, but then sometimes I second guess that. So hard.

I am in a Bible Study doing the book called, "What Happens When Woman Say Yes to God?" Radical obedience. HB is radical obedience. The book talks about listening to what God is saying to you is radical in this day and age. So many people, Christians included are worldly...it is so easy to slip into what the world is telling you. It is a choice of what is right daily, hourly...The book is written by Lysa TerKeurst. The book can be found at www.proverbs31.org. I highly reccomend getting this book. It will change your perspective on a few important thoughts in your life...

So for now...Thank you God for allowing me to "dedicate this service to You, and for Your divine intervention" on my road, that is sometimes less traveled. To You be the Glory in this endeavor...forever.

In His Grip

Shan

MIA and stuff

It has been a few busy weeks.

Since our story aired on WCCO, we have felt God moving. But it seems like a painfully slow process at the moment. We want the millions now. But recently we have stepped back and are really trying to follow what God is calling us to do. His precence was felt telling us to work on the programing we want to do at HB. I truly felt Him saying I will take care of the big things...you take care of the small stuff. So that is what we are doing. Working on the smaller grants. I don't know what God has planned, but I felt that He was telling me to not worry about that right now.

Our motto verse has been part of James 1:27...take care of widows and orphans in their distress. I came across that verse last fall. Well, this week God has shown me that verse in two different books. I just started a Bible study on a book titled "What Happens When Woman Say Yes to God" Chapter 2 talks about this verse. The second is a book that I am reading Titled "Widows and Orphans" Which also happens to be based in Minneapolis and St. Cloud. The very beginning of this book quotes that same scripture.

Hope Blooms is a huge project. A God size project. We have had people support us to our face, and then we hear them down playing what we are doing. We have had unexpected people send us money to help with the mission of HB. WE have many prayer warriors...i am sure many that we don't even know. the first book I mentioned above talks about modern day listening to God is looked at as Radical..I guess our plans are pretty radical in the view of the world. God has already moved mountains, and I believe this whole idea was His idea, and He will continue to move mountains. We are on the brink of one of those mountains at this moment. There is no reason for us to be where we are State and IRS way. God got us here for His specific purpose. Come Lord Jesus...we are anxious to start helping these children!

Couple links for you to check out

www.mnadopt.org search for children on this site....tell me if your heart doesn't break.

also www.project127.org They are doing good things, but they have video listed that talks about adopting waiting children. You may not be called to adopt a waiting child...but do pray about how you can play an important role in the life of a child. Prayer and financial support is so important to many missions. Not just HB.

Blessings....
Shan

Nuggets of Truth

Isaiah 60:21-22 All of your people will do what is right. They will receive the earth forever. They are the plant I have planted, the work of my own hands to show My greatness. The smallest family will grow to a thousand. The least important of you will become a powerful nation. I am the Lord, and when it is time, I will make these things happen quickly...NCV

This verse was pointed out to me by a very good friend. She sent me a text as soon as she read it. This friend has been a huge prayer partner with me. She is supportive, helps put things in perspective. I had just read the verse from Isaiah..cannot remember where at the moment...the day before. The verse goes something like....Your ways are higher than my way, Your thoughts higher than my thoughts...Those verses really hit me when I read them. God has shown us that so much with HB. We couldn't have imagined the things that have happened with HB....Interveiw with Sue and WCCO, The article published in the Citizen...both of these people said they are not finished with us yet. Michele Bachmann interested in what HB is doing for children. The community and friend support. Our family that has donated money. We have gotten $180.00!! That is exciting to us! God has really made this program go fast. It is so hard to sit back and wait for money...like millions of dollars...if 2,000,000 people donated 1$, we could start! But when we look back to less than a year ago starting out...it has happened so fast!

God keeps amazing me!

humble beginnings

I stress humblness....to think we are better than anyone else...well that just ain't right! So I give you this link with a little background.

A little over a week ago the Sherburne County Citizen did an article on Hope Blooms. This in turn drew some interest from Michele Bachmann. We were thrilled to get a phone call from her office. They wanted to give us a Congressional Certificate for the work that Hope Blooms is doing.

So when I say humbleness, we are humbly thrilled. Every time Wayne's and my name is mentioned just know my parents are so involved also, and we have a mission in mind. We are doing this for all the orphans out there. Not to get recognized for what we are doing. So read it knowing that! Ü

sorry you will need to copy and paste the article!
http://bachmann.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=129000

Shan

Listening When God Speaks

I have been trying to make it a habit to try to listen to God's voice. Since I have been doing that, I have come across many times that when I first heard God's voice, but ignored it, and then realized it was His voice speaking to me....

A few examples in the little ways that I have ignored His voice..

1. I needed Tylenol. I had a couple of bottle of Ibuprofen, but no bottles of Tylenol. I looked at one bottle of ibuprofen and looked around it, and after several minutes of searching, I opened up this bottle, the same one I overlooked, and it had Tylenol in it....

2. One day while I was driving kids to school I contemplated which way to go in. I was closer to cty rd. 23, but thought for a split second to just go back to hwy 25. I chose to go 23, and on my way in, my son called me to tell me there was construction on 23 and if I could to go back to hwy 25. There was a long wait.

Well, my point is, God speaks to us in many small situations. Many times we don't listen...I am learning to listen quicker than I used to.

A few weeks ago when I got Sue Turner, from WCCO, email, I was so excited, as you can imagine. It was early evening, and a nice night. I told Wayne that I just had to go for a little walk and just pray. We have a pond down a little hill behind our house. So I decided to go down there. I had 3 followers...the dogs. They all love to walk. So I went down there, the sun was starting to set, and it was a little cloudy. I knelt down and just said Thank You God over and over. All of a sudden I heard a plop/splash. In flew 2 ducks. Weird? Yes, I think so. I felt that was God saying to me...You are Welcome. Ducks are one of my favorite animals. They are fun to watch as babies. Usually when we walk down to the pond, we are scaring ducks out of there. For them to fly down, with me and three dogs down there, could only be explained as God.

Are you listening to what God is saying to you? What have you missed out on?

Dandelions or Lillies

There is much growing that we need to do as adults...young adults as well. I look back to my younger years. Wow so much growing up we do in our 20's. Coming from a girl who at age 16 got a free meal with my parents because the waiter thought I was under 12...I so couldn't wait to be 30....now I am leaning closer to 40 and want to be 30 again...or even 27....but I don't care to go back to my teens. There is enough to deal with in a normal childhood...I don't care to do it 2 times!

We just heard a sermon on Sunday about planting, blooming, spreading....Our pastor used dandelions. I will use Lillie's...much more enjoyable flower!

I have Tiger lilies, pink lilies, white lilies and dark maroon red lilies and Asiatic lilies. Every year they grow to be a bigger bunch....sometimes they come up where we have not had them before. Some have huge stems, some just tiny...the newer ones seem to be the tiniest.

Lillie's grow in sandy soil, but really go to town in the darker soil that we have planted some of them in.

After a summer of watering them, pulling some of the weeds that are around them, and watching them grow bigger and bigger, they get a beautiful flower on them. Hummingbirds love to come drink nectar from them.

How can I apply this to my life? Well, for starters, I create a home of rich soil. That is I don't bring in junk into my home...pornography, shows on TV that are not suitable for kids. Drugs or to much drinking. We use kind words to each other most of the time. We are creating good soil for us and our kids. Getting into God's word on a regular basis. God isn't just for Sundays. Once we have good soil we are fertilized and watered through God's word. Dig into the word....Your faith is caught not taught! As you follow this, you will bloom into a new creation that God wants you to be.

I love planting flowers, and seeing them bloom. I really like different ones that not every one has. But don't always have luck with them! Hope Blooms is founded on this... as we take care of children, nurture, fertilize new children in our lives, water, we can watch them bloom. There will be nothing better than when we can actually see the fruits of all this labor. I just cannot wait to physically start Hope Blooms!