“I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.”  Psalm 57:9-11

        Saturday was another great day at A Healing Place. People came for prayer for many different reasons, and they all left feeling better and more encouraged than when they came in. It is so fun to see the difference in the countenance of the people who visit between what they look like when they come in and what they leave with after having encountered a time with God’s healing power in the presence of Holy Spirit.

        I was privileged to get to pray with a team who ministered to a woman from out of town. She and her husband came from the bay area for one of the events going on this weekend. They have no affiliation with any church here or in the bay area, and don’t know anyone here, but God drew them to A Healing Place via our online presence. Praise the Lord for that!  Besides the blessing to her and her husband while being here, it was encouraging to us, another confirmation that God is working in this ministry. I look forward to hearing an update from her concerning her experience, the healing God is doing in her body, and however else he ministers to her life. I hope the others who visited us Saturday will be willing to let us tell their healing stories also.

        While this next story did not take place in the healing room on Saturday, it is a healing testimony that I experienced today.

                        MIRACLE IN THE PARK

        Dan and I took our dog to Upper Bidwell Park like Dan does every day and I often join him. Today was so beautiful and the park looked especially beautiful while it’s still green and Horseshoe Lake has a lot of water. When we came to one of the places where paths converge, I looked at a very steep and very long climb that is a shortcut to the top of the ridge. I said, “Hey, let’s take this one. It will be fun to test our strength. We can stop as often as we need to.” Dan looked at me like I was crazy but said okay. We started up the path, stopping as we needed to, slowly making our way to the top. About 10 feet from the top and the very worst part of the trail, I knew I was in trouble, but kept it to myself. I was barely able to crawl to the top. I sat on a perfect rock-chair under a tree to rest and catch my breath but I didn’t feel better. In fact, I felt worse and worse and realized that I needed help. I have suffered heat stroke dehydration before in the desert and recognized the symptoms. I couldn’t call out to Dan, still making his way up, because I had no voice. My vision blurred, I swayed on the rock, and blackness was replacing my vision. My heart was thudding. I just wanted to close my eyes, lay down, and never get up again. Dan reached me and understood the issue immediately. I threw up when I tried to speak. I needed water and to cool down immediately. He said he had both water and a snack in the car and would go get them. I was so far “out of it” I didn’t think about the risk to him.

        After Dan left I was aware enough to know how dangerous my situation was. I called out to God in my whisper voice, saying again and again, “You are my living water. You are my life. Be my living water and hydrate my body. I love you Living Water.” I repeated this over and over, praising his name and thanking him for his humongous love and mercy and grace and healing power that he gives to me every day. I could even begin to lift my arms as I prayed and praised him whereas I could hardly move my lips before. I stood up and felt life returning to my body. I felt energy and wanted to run back to find Dan, but I stayed there because that is where Dan would return. When he got there, I realized the horrible ordeal I put him through. That too difficult hike that did me in doing it once, he had just done twice because he loves me. I could see how spent he was so I drank only about a third of the water and took two bites of the energy bar and insisted he drink and eat the rest. Later down the path when he stopped for a rest, I laid hands on him and prayed the same prayer over him that I had prayed for myself. By this time I was feeling even better than when we left the house to go to the park. We both made it home safely, praise God!

        Now to the real beginning of this story. Earlier today I had responded to a post on facebook, in fact two different replies to two separate posts but same subject. I made a stand for what I believe. I rarely reply to controversial or political posts because I am a peacemaker at heart and I don’t want to offend or compromise the gospel of Christ because of my words. How does this relate to my park story?  First, I didn’t take my phone as I always do in case of an emergency. Secondly, never ever would I suggest taking the trail I so glibly chose today. When we’ve passed it before I would think, what kind of idiot would try that trail besides a trained climber. As I was thinking about all these things while waiting for Dan, I thought about how the evil one hates for believers to take a stand that opposes his attempts to thwart God’s will. When we do that, he will always try to take us out. This confirmed to me that I spoke only truth earlier, and I did it without name calling, hate language, or a spirit of hate, but in the spirit of transparency, truth, and honoring God’s precepts. I know this is true because God showered me with his love, mercy, grace, healing, and joy, and replaced what Satan meant for evil with God’s goodness and triumph. Praise the name of Jesus, my Living Water!

        “Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world!”  I John 4:4