Day 82

It's Day 82 of The Red Shoe Project.  A lot has been going on these past several days as I've continued to sport a variety of different shoes -- all RED.

I've noticed that things can get pretty exciting, fast paced and one right after the other with God! But as I've been continually looking for Him, talking to Him, and partnering with Him,  I have noticed that He never forgets to say... "Today, you rest!" (And it's not just on Sundays!) He understands better than anyone, (myself included), my human limitations, so He requires me to sit still on a fairly regular basis.

Sometimes it's my physical body that needs to rest.  I can only run around so much before conking out.  LOL.  Other times my mind needs to rest.  Studying, reading, planning, preparing, development... there's a lot of creativity going on, but if I don't allow it some space to breath, it will become congested and the flow will come to a stop.  Still other times, I need emotional and spiritual rest. Being in the presence of God continually, as wonderful as it is, can be intense. I need time to digest some of the things that take place.  And I need time to apply personally the things I learn.

Plus, it's not just about taking in.  After filling up, it's time to give out.  That's how the flow of God operates.  Testifying to others is a way of giving out.  Teaching others is a way of giving out.  Serving others is a way of giving out. Hoarding God's Goodness is not an option!

I have to admit, this new job of mine, The Red Shoe Project, is different than anything I've ever experienced.

It's awesome working with "The Lover of My Soul!" 

It's funny how much more productive you can be when you LOVE what you are doing and who you are doing it with.  

• It's such a positive environment.

• I'm developing great communication skills.

• There's never a dull moment.  

• There's always plenty of good things to do.  

• The rewards are simply divine, and beyond measure!  

• Talk about "WOW" moments... they occur frequently.

• My heart is forever content, full and satisfied.  

• There are surprises at every corner! 

• There's lots of singing and dancing.  

• I'm continually being wrecked -- but in a GREAT way! 

• I'm learning HUGE things every day... sometimes every hour.

• I've met the most amazing people. 

• It causes me to recognize the important things. 

• It seems like I'm being transformed daily.

• I can't say enough great things about my boss.

• I'm passionate about what I doing.

•  I'm very happy!  Very, very happy!  :) 

I hate having to kick off my RED shoes every night and go to bed,
but at the same time, I know that's okay.
A good night's rest is important!
I'm all the more excited to wake up the next morning, pop on those RUBY REDS and get with God for a new day!

Until tomorrow,
Gail

Day 81

Day 81 of  The Red Shoe Project was one of the best days of my life!    

Although...  I notice that I'm starting to say that almost every day now. 

(That is a really good thing!) 

Let me start off with a few shout-outs!

*Thank you Bonnie for my new RED ballet flats.  I've worn out my other ones -- they are only good for walking the dog now.  These new ones are so soft and comfortable, not to mention the absolute cutest! Perfect for journeying down The Yellow Brick Road!

*Another Thank you goes out to Jean!  I loved chatting with you today, sister! I so appreciate your continued prayers for The Red Shoe Project!  None of it works without prayerful support!

*And lastly, my Thanks go out to my dear friends, Jim and Wendy who host our Home Bible Study and Fellowship every month.  God is doing amazing things in your midst!

God was so faithful to show up for our Bible Study tonight.  When I walked in the house and saw the table spread with boxes of pizza and a huge bowl of salad (with everything in it), I was blessed at the love being poured out by this wonderful Christian family. God has totally transformed their lives this past year, and now I can see that they are bearing Spiritual Fruit as they reach out with the love of God to many! 

(That is a really good thing!)

Tonight we got into a verse by verse presentation and discussion of the Easter Story.  So many, including myself, were powerfully moved by the revelation of the price Jesus paid for our sins. There were several tears shed... good tears... tears recognizing that He is Good, and we're not so much.  Two people gave their hearts to Christ tonight! (That's a really good thing!)
The angels are dancing!



Earlier today, I popped into Starbucks to study for several hours.  People are starting to inquire about "The Baptism in the Holy Spirit" so I was digging into God's Word, preparing a study on that. 
(Now that's a really good thing!)  

So I found a box in my closet the other day... it contained a brand new pair of ear buds.  Just what I needed!  I tried them out at Starbucks today.  I plugged them into my laptop, sipped on my Chai Tea Latte, and tuned into worship music on Pandora.  At first, I thought to myself, "This is never going to work, the Starbucks music is just way too loud!" But then I realized that wasn't the Starbucks music, it  was Pandora.  The quality of the sound was so great that I didn't realize that it was coming from my laptop! LOL.  Wow!  I had to be really careful.  It was like being at a concert.  I found myself getting swept into God's presence several times.  I almost got up and started singing and dancing, but I caught myself.  LOL!  (One good thing... I don't really know anyone at this Starbucks.) 

It just blew my mind that no one could hear what I could hear.
Meanwhile, my heart and mind were responding to the Spirit of God dancing within me.  Four hours of great worship music can fill you with joy unspeakable!
I wonder what would have happened if I did start singing and dancing in Starburcks?  Would that have been so bad?  Maybe it would have caused someone to wonder what on earth could make a woman so happy that she'd lose her mind and start dancing and singing in a public place?
Oh my... How many days into The Red Shoe Project before that actually happens?  If and when it does, I guess I'll be one happy gal in RED shoes!
(I don't know... maybe that could be a really good thing?)


Which brings me to how this 81st day got started.  I slipped on those new RED ballet flats my friend gave me.  Just a simple pair of RED shoes... no bows, no buckles, no high heels, but POWER-PACKED! This is crazy!!!  Crazy-Good!

Can't wait for what tormorrow holds!
Gail

 

Day 80

Wow!  Can you believe it's Day 80 of The Red Shoe Project?  That means I've been faithfully sporting my Ruby Red footwear for eighty consecutive days now, reminding myself to look for God each day, and blogging about it  every night. Thank you God for your faithfulness in showing up every day!

On Day 78, I talked about the ABCs of "Delighting yourself in the Lord."  This is an encouragement to us Believers, to be Happy and Enthusiastic about God, who He is, and what He's doing in our lives! Those ABCs depicted many of the ways "delight" is manifested in my everyday life.  Now let's move to the second part of that verse... (Psalm 37:4)

"And He will give you the desires of your heart"

This is what is sometimes referred to as a conditional promise.  If I do the first part (Delight myself in the Lord), then God will do the second part (Give me the desires of my heart).  So just what are the desires of my heart?

Some people will define "desires" as 

* Wishes, Wants and Fancies 

   of the heart.

Ok... so God sometimes does that... 

but let's go deeper.

Some people will define "desires" as

* Goals and Aspirations, 

* Things that they long to achieve 

    or possess in life,

* Hopes and Dreams.

And God sometimes does that... 

but let's go deeper still.

Some people will define "desires" as

* Longings of the Soul,

* Cravings of the Heart,

* and a Hungering beyond measure.

Yes! God sometimes does that.

But lately, God has given me a new revelation. 

I, personally, am defining these "desires" as

The detailed manifestations of God's perfect plan in my life.

 I so crave for God to 

empty me of myself, 

and fill me with His Spirit,

using me to the fullest degree 

to accomplish His will 

in and through me,

that I might show up in Heaven one day,

 having fully exhausted 

all I've been given, 

according to His plan, 

and for His glory!

Oh my, What are these RED SHOES doing to me?  

My perspective is changing... Do you think?

So I'm sharing all this because yesterday, God brought me even deeper with this.  Is that even possible?  Deeper?  As I was sitting in that church last night, waiting for the service to begin, I didn't quite know what to do with myself.  As I mentioned, I don't really know people there.  The atmosphere was just crazy wonderful.  There was a sense of expectancy... for God to show... for miracles to take place... for lives to be powerfully touched!  I was perfectly content in my spirit, and decided to just close my eyes for a few moments and think about how great God is.  Sounds simple enough, right?

It's amazing what happens when you shut your eyes. All of the distractions immediately get cut off!  With that, the Spirit of Expectancy seemed to multiply 100 times.  I found myself being drawn to that Secret Place.  

And that's when I saw it!  

I'll call it a  vision, a picture divinely planted in my mind.  One of my children was standing in the Presence of God and His Hand was upon her... His favor covering her like a blanket. He spoke to me in that moment.  

He told me that He knew that my heart's desire for His Plan to be fulfilled in my life extended to the lives of my children.  He assured me that the life of this particular child would all work out just fine.  Hmmmm. How wonderful!  

Just then, something popped into place in my spirit.  I found myself shouting over and over again... 

"Thank You Jesus!  Thank You Lord!"  

"Thank You Jesus!  Thank You Lord!" 

This time I was really shouting out... not just in my mind, but out loud.  LOL!  It didn't matter because by this time the church was packed, the lights were dimmed and people were talking and moving about. To be honest,  I don't think anyone really took notice. Stuff like that isn't all that unusual in this church. If someone is praising God - More power to them!

All my children are adults now.  And all of them are loving God and doing quite well.  This one, however has had to face some recent challenges.  She's holding up well, but she's a little discouraged!  Doors she expected to open have not.  Perhaps she's wondering where's the blessing in that?  Where's God?  

When your kids become adults, your parental involvement naturally changes. It's their life to live, not yours.   They have to solve their own problems.  They have to figure things out for themselves. They'll make good choices and some not so good.  They'll learn from their mistakes.  You hope and pray that they'll do all that in partnership with God. But they have to walk their own walk with God.  You got them for 16 or 18 or 21 years... now it's time for them to solo with the Lord. They have to develop their own Divine Walk. That's the only way that they'll become passionate for God.  They'll learn His voice.  He will teach them now.  Right?  But a mom is always a mom... a dad always a dad.  We shift to forever interceding on their behalf.

I didn't go into the church, heavy hearted for that child of mine. It wasn't even on my mind.  It amazes me how God just knew.  I forget sometimes that He knows the desires of my heart... even if they're tucked away in the depths of my soul.  He knows them, and if I delight myself in Him, he promises to fulfill them.

This morning I was waiting for a friend to arrive, and decided to listen to that worship CD I won.  Once again, I closed my eyes, and caught a glimpse of that very vision.  I began to weep.

 "Why are you crying?" the Lord asked me.  

"Because there's nothing I want more than Your perfect plan to be fulfilled in the lives of my children.  I am so blessed by this!"

 So are you ready for this?  Just when you think it can't go deeper,  He says... 

"That's how I want you to feel about all people.  Everyone is somebody's child.  I want your desire to be that everyone on this earth would connect with me and that My plan would be fulfilled in their life!" Will you believe me for that?

Wow!  Talk about going deeper.  That's what God was doing in my life on this 80th day.
Talk about the Power of the Red Shoes!
I never expected anything quite like this.

Blessed beyond measure,

Gail

Day 79

It's Day 79 of  The Red Shoe Project.  Wow!  What a day in RED shoes!  Ok... so my female readers will identify with this...  I got up this morning looking for the perfect outfit that would bring me from business to casual without having to change in between.  I had a committee meeting downtown at 4, followed by a church service from 7-10.  With that in mind, I left the house in a fitted jacket and blouse with nice dark jeans and RED, Jessica Simpson high heels.  I also had a gorgeous scarf with hand painted red and pink flowers on it.  It was perfect!

I spent the morning, working in my home office.  My daughter put on some worship music that just filled the atmosphere in a wonderful way. After a while,  I began to notice that the music was like a magnet.  Song after song kept pulling on my heart as if to say,
 "Come  here! Come here!  Just take a few minutes and enter into My Presence!"

I didn't have much time, but I found myself, over and over again, putting down my pen,  closing my eyes, bowing my head and singing  along. Oh how I wanted to be swept away with Him!  My heart was sick that I couldn't stay there longer, soaking in the wonder of it all... but I did have an important appointment to get to.  That was okay. I know that God is with me 24/7, so I didn't have to leave Him there.   He came with me.  We just couldn't "settle in" at that time.  I knew we would before the day was over!   So I hopped in my car and took off.

As I was driving downtown to my meeting... suddenly -- out of nowhere -- God's Spirit invaded my car in a spectacular way.  Wow!  I found myself just praising His name and praying in the Spirit.  Then I had one of those moments when you realize that you're driving down the road but you're not quite sure exactly where you're at? "Where am I Lord?"  I looked to the right and noticed that all this was happening as I was passing by the church I would be attending later.  It was as if God was saying, "I've got a surprise for you tonight!"

After my business meeting, my friend who was to meet me at the church texted me with the news that she had to cancel.  It would have been easy to cancel myself. This wasn't my home church and  I didn't really know anyone.  Then again,  I couldn't stop thinking about the powerful tugging sensation I felt with those songs this morning, and later in the day when I drove by the church.  I knew I had to be there!  I had this gut feeling that there was something there I was destined to receive.

I arrived rather early to church.  The music team was doing their sound check.
I heard the worship leader ask the guitarist if he was familiar with this new
song he wanted to sing.  "The Happy Song" by Delirious.  You know that's my favorite song!  That's my dancing song! Oh no!  I looked at those beautiful Jessica Simpson shoes... they were not going to work at all.  I was thinking I could stand in them to sing...  but dance in them?  No way!  Not a problem!  I had a big purse with me, and I conveniently pulled out my RED flip flops and did a quick change!  Yup!  You gotta be prepared for things like this.  Yahoo!!!  Bring it on!


Before the special speaker gave His message, He called up His assistant to help him hand out some CDs to some lucky people in the congregation.  One worship CD was entitled, "A Journey to Another Place."  He wanted to give it to someone who was specifically drawing closer and closer in intimacy with the Lord.  He knew it would pull them right into that secret place with God.  He asked his assistant to pick out the recipient for him.  "That woman right there!  (she pointed)  The one with the beautiful red scarf and the sweet spirit!"  Oh my... she was pointing at me!  When I went up to the front to receive it, they prayed over me wonderful blessings and prophetic words. Wow! Was that everso awesome!

Next he showed a video clip of mission trips he does overseas.  "Who would love to go on this missions trip?"  Almost everyone raised their hands.  "Now who wants to go, and their schedule will allow them to go, but the only reason they are not is that they don't have the money?  Stand up!" I think about 20 of us stood up.  I lifted my hands in the air, closed my eyes and listened as he shared testimony after testimony of how God has used him many times to release financial blessings in people's lives so they can follow the call of God.

As He talked, the Spirit of God just danced in my soul!  I wanted to shout out at the top of my lungs... "Send me, Lord!!!!"  ...not because I wanted to take a nice little trip abroad, but because I was feeling that tugging again.  A tugging to Believe.

(Not to mention that I just sent my passport to be renewed yesterday -- coincidence?)

As he began to pray, I sensed The Spirit of God upon me like never before.  It was like a waterfall pouring into me. I could sense these twitches of electricity going through me.  I heard myself shouting, in my mind, "Jesus!!! Your will be done!  I'll go anywhere you send me, Lord!" 
 When He finished, I sat down... well, sort of... It was near impossible to sit still.  I was so filled with the power of God, I think I was spilling over.  It took awhile to get myself back to a restful posture.  The girl sitting beside me, kept laughing and saying, "Wow, I've never sensed the release of finances over someone  in such great magnitude than what just happened to you!"

Does that mean The Red Shoe Project will be written from Greece sometime this summer? We'll see.  Let's just say by faith,  "When the money comes in,  I will book it!" And of course I'll be traveling in RED Shoes!

There's so much more I could share about what God did today.  It was another day of the Lord being EVERYWHERE!  But it's time for bed. Tomorrow will be filled with new divine manifestations.  For now, I've kicked off my RED flip flops and I'm turning in for a night of divine dreams!

Gail