Day 121

Day 121 of  The Red Shoe Project was a damp, dreary day of down pouring rain.  We rarely get those kind of days here in Sarasota FL.  Regardless, I still headed out the door this morning in my RED shoes, and drove with a friend to visit another friend in need of a little love and fellowship.

My friend had a few errands to accomplish on the drive there, so while she stopped and ran into a couple of stores, I stayed in the car and chatted with God.  I found myself praying for a variety of people that God brought to mind. That's not the way I usually do things, but I was glad God was able to use me that way.  It's funny, because it made me realize that God probably brings my name to people's minds on occasion, and they, likewise,  lift me up in prayer -- and I don't ever even know it! God does things like that.
It's nice knowing that God taps people on the shoulder from time to time and asks them to pray for me.  He does that for You too.  With that in mind, I tried to pray thoroughly on their behalf as the Spirit lead me.

My visit was wonderful.  My dear friend was not feeling well.  I was glad to pop in with my RED shoes to say hello and visit for awhile.  It thundered and poured outside, but inside we sat by a stream of love and kindness.   The Holy Spirit is so wise.  He knows what people need... even the ones who don't think they need anything.

When I returned home, later in the afternoon, it was time to close the doors behind me and seek God.  I was so cold that I filled my tub up with hot soapy water, poured in some eucalyptus bath salts and submerged myself for a good half hour soak.  Dimmed lights,  a lit a candle and ear buds pumping worship music delicately into my head provided the perfect atmosphere for meditation.


I know you must be thinking, "Really? How could that possibly be God-inspired?"  LOL. "It doesn't sound sacred enough!"  Well, it's not meant to be sacred.  But it did a fine job at raising my body temperature, while allowing me to process some of the thoughts trapped in my head from the morning.  As I lay back in the tub with my eyes closed, I could feel the dreariness of the rainy day lift off me, and I was able to talk a few things out with God.

It's amazing how God sometimes speaks to me through songs.  After my
conversation with Him -- which was mostly a mixed up, muddled mess of feelings and words pouring out of me , (LOL), it was time for Him to respond.

 A song came on entitled "Surrender!" 

There was no way around it.  I just needed to surrender my thoughts to God, and let Him take them away.  I did that by not taking the thoughts back and rethinking them.  Nope!  They were successfully released and are gone forever!

I have noticed that whenever I surrender to Him, He always reminds me that...

His SPECIFIC plan for me

is so much better than 

what I want to hang onto.

And then He tells me...

"You wont be disappointed.

Trust me!"

I left the tub, refreshed and restored.  I got dressed and continued behind closed doors to read, relax and pray.  For the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening, He continued to speak words of affirmation and direction to me.  I felt my countenance change and my entire being, (both physical and spiritual), strengthened!

I had one final appointment to attend to...  a late night meeting at the coffee shop with a dear friend.  God came with me, which was good, because we needed His advice on several important matters.  We gladly brought Him into our conversation and He helped us solve the problems of the world -- Well, at least, our little part of the world.

I'm back in the house now.  It finally stopped raining.  It's been a long day in RED shoes and now I'm ready to retire for the night.  As I shut down my computer and turn off the lights, I hear Him whisper to me...

"be confident of this very thing,

He who has begun 

a good work in you

will continue until the day 

of Jesus Christ."

(Philippians 1:6)

Good night,  dear "Rubies,"

I so appreciate your friendship.

Gail

Day 120

Day 120 of The Red Shoe Project has been a full day.  I spent most of the morning and afternoon lending a helping hand at an event promoting Women and Philanthropy.  While wearing my posh black suit and bright RED patent leather pumps,   I mixed and mingled with the businesswomen of Sarasota.  Several friends that I haven't seen for a while were in attendance.  To be honest the afternoon was somewhat bittersweet.  It was nice seeing my old friends and familiar faces but, at the same time, I felt somewhat reserved.

The joy that I get from connecting people to Christ through my writing,  speaking, Bible study teaching and small group facilitating is exhilarating. Being able to spend so much focused attention on God on a daily basis is awesome!

Greeting people at the door and helping them find their seats just didn't cut it for me today.  I was distracted.  My heart was yearning to be with God, doing what I love most!

Talk about separation anxiety!  LOL.

So it's good that I love what I do...  and I certainly don't want  to throw the baby out with the bath water, here.   I'm missing my own events.  I'm yearning to get behind the podium and pour myself out for a cause that's greater than myself. 

I can feel God working on my heart.  

He's making me hungry 

for what I've been created to do.   

You see,  I don't just want to get up and talk to people about anything and everything.  I must find that space that's smack in the middle of God's perfect will for me.  I'm waiting for Him to drop His Living Word within my soul.  I yearn for that God appointed time, where I just pour out every ounce of passion within me... so that there's nothing left... where I empty it all,  right out there in front of you, on the table...  and God moves in and blesses it.  On that day, all craziness will break loose. The Holy Ghost will dance amongst the people, touching them in ways that will totally wreck them.  They will find themselves going so far beyond any place they've ever imagined... for the Glory of God!

Yeah... they say I'm a dreamer.  But God has given me a jar of wishes, hopes and dreams and...  

"I Believe!"

"Everything is possible to the one who believes"
Mark 9:23

At 6 p.m., after popping on my comfortable RED shoes, I headed off to church with the co-facilitator of our New Believers class.  

As I looked around the circle, my heart lit up with joy.  Three weeks ago, many of these people asked Christ into their lives for the very first time. Here they were tonight, ready and eager to learn about the Word of God and walk forward in their faith.  What a sight for sore eyes!  They blessed my soul!

It is a good thing to be about the Father's business.

I love working for Him!

Gail

Day 119

Soon after the sun rose on this 119th Day of  The Red Shoe Project, I was in my RED shoes and out the door to walk the dog. Oh... What an awesome day!  These words just rolled off my lips as I rolled out the door...

"This is the day that the Lord has made.

I will rejoice and be glad in it!"

(Psalm 118:24)

Somehow I just knew that God had divinely plugged those words into my heart for today.  Of course I've said those words at the beginning of many a day in my life,  but this day...  well, they just seemed so personal... so "for me,"  so spot on.
I wasn't saying them "by faith" --  I was declaring them boldly!   What's that saying?  "Declare those things as if they already are." Only I noticed that today I didn't have to convince my mind of that fact. My mind, heart and soul were already in complete agreement with one another.  Today was the day that the Lord had made for me!  It was a special day.  It was a new day for something grand to take place!  I could sense it so powerfully in my spirit as I spoke it out loud.  A smile appeared on my face from ear to ear.  As I walked my dog along the road, I seemed to just float along behind him, praising God for His goodness.

"Happy is he who's God is the LORD!"

(Psalm 144:15b)

Before I knew it, I was off to SOZO again.  Yes, I had scheduled a second meeting. Today I was going to take care of the rest of my life in prayer. And three wonderful women were waiting at the altar to assist me.  One was there to intercede.  One was there to record the things that God spoke. And one was there to facilitate me through the process.  What an awesome prayer team that was assigned to me.

Intercessor

a person called in to pray on  behalf of another.

First, I can't thank enough the woman who was interceding on my behalf.  These intense sessions of prayer would never otherwise happen.  I was going there to expose my whole life to the light of God.  Talk about being vulnerable. But that prayer warrior had my back.  And after learning about "The Army of the Heavenly Host" a few days ago...  well, who knows just how much support was actually there backing me?

The two hour session primarily consisted of:  

• the Holy Spirit exposing to me lies that I've believed;  
• my giving those misconceptions to God;  
• and my moving forward in the goodness and abundance that God has always intended for me. 

The facilitator moved me through a lot of territory.  Everything from Hatred and Anger to Control and Manipulation,  The Occult,  Low self-esteem and so much more were examined.  Each step of the process,  I would ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to me if I was operating under a lie. ( For example, if I was hurt in life by a friend, I might believe the lie that I can't ever let anyone get too close or they'll hurt me. With that, I may never pursue building solid, long lasting relationships, and the devil robs me of the blessing of Friendship.)  Sometimes,  all was well and we moved forward.  Other times, the Holy Spirit brought divine awareness to me and those lies were discarded in prayer and replaced with God's truth and blessing.  It's amazing how much can be accomplished in two hours.  God gave me the victory in so many areas of my life!  When I left the session, I felt like... 

"Today was the first day 

of the rest of my life!"

I saw myself walking through a threshold and shutting the door behind me.  All of the promises and opportunities that God has for me are before me now.  Any entanglements, misconceptions, wrongful connections, baggage,  "stuff from the past"  is gone.  I am free to fully embrace Today without reservation.  Glory to God!  It's like the song I sing in church...

"He is making all things new.

He is making all things new.

He is making all things new.

And I am free!"

Just as God promised,  I've been wonderfully, "Power-washed!" 

All the crud - the dead stuff from the past - has been blasted away, supernaturally,  

by The Holy Spirit.  

Though one thing remains...

my RUBY REDS are still on my feet .

Til tomorrow, 

Gail

Day 118

For 118 Days I've been wearing RED shoes!  How crazy is that?  As I look back over these past four months... WOW!  God continues to meet me every single day.  It's not that I ever thought that He wouldn't... I just never expected Him to do so many amazing things, day after day after day.  It's mind-blowing!  I am so blessed to be working on this Red Shoe Project!

Ever since I left SOZO yesterday, I have been, out in RED shoes, testifying to my friends, right and left, of how God moved so magnificently in that place.  Each time I tell the story, it's as if I am right there experiencing God's presence all over again. My body just begins to tingle all over.  Sometimes the listener even senses God's presence.

One of the first people that I told about "The Man Behind the Waterfall of Glory" (see Day 117),  was the husband of a dear friend.  What can I say?  It's such a great "guy"  story.  My friend was just captivated by the whole thing... that is until we got to the angel.  I knew what he was thinking...

"Angels,  angels,  angels... woo!  woo! 

What's the deal with the angel?" 

You know what?  I get that!  I understand that response because normally I'm not one to overdose on angels, myself. And  I told my friend that.  He responded, 

"So what's the point then, Gail?  Seriously?

Why would God show you the angel?"

What's so great about this is that God downloaded to me right there on the spot the answer to that question.  He brought me to the story of Elisha the prophet and his servant  found in 2 Kings 6:8-23.

Basically, the King of Aram was very angry with the prophet, Elisha, and thereby sent out his army to surround the city of Dothan and capture him.  When Elisha's servant went outside in the morning, he saw all the king's horses and chariots and fearfully reported it to Elisha.

"Don't be afraid,"
the prophet answered.  

"Those who are with us 

are more than those who are with them."  

Then Elisha prayed, 

"O Lord, open his eyes so that he may see."

"The Lord opened the servant's eyes and he 
looked and saw the hills full of horses 

and chariots of fire 

all around Elisha"

Apparently, God's army of angels protecting Elisha was far bigger 

than the army of the King.

So in my world, God reminded me (and my friend) that everyday...

"there are principalities 
and powers of darkness 
that  war against us," 

 (Ephesians 6:12).

But...

"God will command 
his angels concerning you 

to guard you 
in all your ways..." 
(Psalm 91:11)

I'm so much like Elisha's servant.  I don't see what God has going on all around me.  Oh yes...  I see the enemy, but rarely do I see God's army.  BUT it's there.  God is doing all sorts of things, on my behalf, that I am unaware of.  In this particular case, (yesterday at SOZO),  God just decided to open my eyes to see the warrior that watches over my son, and put my heart at ease.  

My friend totally embraced that scriptural backing to the story.  You know what?  I totally embraced that scriptural backing to the story.  Thank you Lord for the reinforcement of your Word!  Without that, it's just a story.  But with it, I know for sure that if God can open Elisha's servant's eyes to the angels of God, then God can open my eyes to the angels of God.  And that means He can do that for you as well!!!

I'm standing on God's Word, in RED shoes!

Gail