THE Blood, not Stats! Part Two

An amniocentesis was highly suggested because of "advanced maternal age". I agreed to the test because I reasoned, if something were wrong I needed time to adjust, prepare myself, and prepare my family. During that time, we had been very busy with work. We sold our house, opened another branch of our business on another island, and attempted to relocate to Maui.


We went through a very frustrating time because we were unable to obtain permitting to renovate an apartment as we had planned. As a result, we ended up living in a hotel for a short time. Keep in mind, I was pregnant with a toddler in tow. We later moved into a condo rental temporarily so that we could make some decisions. The OB/GYN I trusted was on Oahu. We were on Maui. I was to deliver in 3 months. I told Mike I wanted to go back to Oahu.

During frustrating times, in everything give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and seek Him first (Matthew 6:33 and Psalm 37:23) because even though it may not seem like it, He is working things out for our good. I believe the following testimony could have ended up very differently had He not made my path straight by delivering on Oahu under the care of doctors who had become very close friends. (Proverbs 3:6)

We bought a townhouse on Oahu shortly thereafter. While moving in and unpacking with a toddler on one hip and a box on another going up and down the stairs, I ripped something in my stomach. A few days later, I accidentally got shampoo in my toddler's eyes, picked her up to console her and rinse her eyes and I ripped something in my stomach again. A few days later, I lifted her and ripped my stomach again.

I know what you are thinking. The same thing I was thinking. Stop lifting stuff! I know, right! Each time, it was equivalent to what I'd suspect it would feel like if I attached a battery cable to my stomach and turn the power on high. The pain literally shook my teeth. But the pain was momentary and there seemed to be no after affects so I blew it off.

During my normal OB appointment I explained to my doctor what had happened. Since there was no cramping/spotting/after affects, etc she assumed I had pulled a muscle in my stomach so there was no alarm. Please keep in mind, the three ripping incidences occurred three months prior to delivery.

Continued tomorrow

THE Blood, Not Stats!

Later this week my youngest baby celebrates her birthday. A precious little gift from God who medical science said could never be. I'm very grateful for medical science; however, I don't always fit into their stats. (Mark 9:23) 

Rewind to 2001. We hadn't attempted to prevent a pregnancy for a long time. During a routine exam, my P.A. questioned me about birth control. I explained I hadn't used birth control for approximately eight years. I just assumed one day we would conceive. It was then that she pointed out there was obviously an issue and asked if I wanted to pursue conceiving. I explained I would talk to my husband and get back with her.

After our discussion we decided to begin necessary testing to determine the cause. We were told infertility issues are "40% female factor, 40% male factor & 20% unknown". After passing every medical test, we were diagnosed in the 20% unknown category. I already had a child so the diagnoses was secondary infertility with no known cause. The fertility specialist told us we had, "a better chance of flying to Vegas and winning the jackpot than we had of conceiving a child."

After going thru many rounds of different treatments including AI...we still hadn't conceived. We agreed to one round of IVF & if we weren't successful, we would abandon the hope of having a child. Over 103 injections later, numerous blood tests and ultrasounds, we were told by the specialist, we would deliver in June of the following year! 

The week of that baby's 1st birthday, we discovered we would deliver again the following January. Yes! Two for the price of one! Did I mention, we were told we were infertile? {High Fiving God!} After the positive pregnancy test, I called my GYN to change my annual appointment to a prenatal appointment, she and her whole staff was surprised and excited! They had walked through a lot with us and we had grown very close to them. They were more like close friends than doctors and nurses. 

The pregnancy was physically easy except for one incident early on which resolved but all during the pregnancy the enemy bombarded me with mental attacks. As I would go about my day, out of nowhere I would hear, "Your baby is dead." and "You will never bring this baby home healthy and alive." The thoughts would leave me breathless. I loved my babies the moment I found out I was pregnant and this mental bombardment was difficult. I was so new in my Christian walk I didn't know how to take every thought captive. (2Corinthians 10:5) I didn't even know to take every thought captive. I wasn't aware I was in a position of spiritual authority. (Luke 10:19)

Thankfully, as Christians we don't have to have everything perfect because thank God, He causes us to triumph! He is faithful to fill in the gaps and watch over us! (Psalm 121:7 & 8) He took what little I did know to say, and worked things out for our good! (Romans 8:28) During these spiritual attacks, I calmed myself with, "My baby is fine today."

Continued tomorrow

It's all about the Bennys!

I have an exciting hot investment tip for you today that has guaranteed returns!

If you get this down in your heart and walk in it, your life will change in all areas of your life beyond anything you can ask or think! How do I know this? Because it happened to me! I first learned this while I was in college and I’ve worked it for over 20 years. It is a tried and true method never failing me yet!

First, let’s lay some ground work.

• All Scripture is inspired by God
• His Word is useful to teach us truth (what is right)! (2 Timothy 3:16)
• Since all scripture (His Word) is inspired by Him (God), it (His Word) is qualified as something we can put our trust (faith/confidence) in.
• Have faith in God! (Mark 11:22)
• In other words, have faith in God’s Word.
• He is His Word. (John 1:1)

Here is how you work it (the hot investment tip)!

• Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse! (Malachi 3:10)
• Tithe defined is 10% of the income.
• Here is an exciting part! Paying tithes literally opens the windows of Heaven! So much, there isn’t enough room to contain it!
• Offering
• Offering defined is that which is above the tithe.
• Giving is a heart condition. A matter of generosity and not as a drudging obligation. (2 Corinthians 9:5, 6)

Oppositions to paying tithes/offerings

•  But what will they do with my money?
• Keeping His commands is attached to our obedience not “theirs”.
• The 10% is not ours.
• I view it this way. He allows me to hold the 10% until I can place it where He has instructed me (in the storehouse).
• I’m not at all suggesting you just “throw money in a hole” or at the “evangelist of the hour” you see on television. I’m suggesting you connect with a good bible based, scriptural “storehouse” (church) and invest in God’s Kingdom. (Matthew 6:33 and James 1:5)

• I can’t afford to tithe/give offerings.

• Truth is, you can’t afford not to.
• “Will a man rob God?” (Malachi 3:8)
• If you haven’t been paying tithes/offerings, how is that working for you?
• Do I calculate the 10% off the gross or the net and do I include gifts?
• Here are my suggestions:
• Pray asking/seeking/knocking. (Matthew 7:7)
• Be led by the Spirit. (Romans 8:14)
• He is our Helper (Psalm 121 and James 1:5)

God doesn’t want our money, (Psalm 50:10). He wants our hearts! (Luke 10:27) When you get this down inside you, you won’t be able to stay away from giving! 

Most people have no problem believing He is. Is what? Is God. And is everything His Word says He is. But did you know and do you believe He is a rewarder?

But without faith it is impossible to please Him,

for he who comes to God must believe that He is,

and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

(Hebrews 11:6)

Wow, what a promise! How do we believe He is? We believe in our hearts and confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord and God raised Him from the dead. (Romans 10:9).

How do we believe He is a rewarder? Diligently seek Him and His blessings will overtake us! (Deuteronomy 28:2) He will rebuke the devourer for us! (Malachi 3:10) We will prosper and be in good health as our soul prospers! (3 John 1:2) 

What does this kind of prospering mean? I believe it means to prosper in all areas of our lives:

• Peace of mind
• Health in our body
• Loving marriage
• Rewarding relationships
• Successful in business

The return on this “investment” is the peace of God which surpasses all understanding! (Philippians 4:7)

If after considering all this, you still don’t believe me…try Him in this! (Malachi 3:10)

Mike and I have made a lot of investments over the past 15 years, in businesses, in stocks, in property, in people. Nothing has ever yielded more precious return than that which we invest in His Kingdom. (Matthew 6:33)

What are you investing in?

Who are you investing in?

How are those returns working for you?

Peace Man

Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)

Early last fall, we didn’t have much peace in our home. Mike and I had been fighting. Our girls had been fighting. For us, fighting seemed to be everywhere. I kept thinking about Philippians 4:7 and thinking, “Where IS the peace?!”

I’m a scripture quote’n, bible tote’n, authority walk’n, Blood believe’n girl but where was the peace that was supposed to guard my heart and mind?! 

I knew I was missing something so I asked God for peace in my home. I didn’t necessarily want or expect to have to do anything but ask. {grin} My thought was…I ask, He hears, I receive, amen! {double grin}

Immediately, He said, “You’ve got some housekeeping to do.”

Oh-ho-ho-ho and OUCH!

You mean, His peace wasn’t guarding my heart and mind because of something I did/failed to do?! …Yup…Gulp…

I (respectfully) said, “Ok so what did I do now?” I knew I had done something, I seriously just didn’t know what. He brought before me every face I was to apologize to and then showed me what I had done to each person. I hadn’t set out to hurt anyone but with my directness and lack of sensitivity I had inadvertently hurt some feelings.

I immediately got busy contacting the people that God had so faithfully shown me (Philippians 4:5) and peace came to my home the same day. Once again, His peace was guarding my heart and mind! Thank You Jesus!

During that time, I had failed to see the first word in Philippians 4:7. Once I noticed the “Then”, my lightening fast mind said, “Read the previous scriptures.” So I did. Then the Holy Spirit prompted me to read the end of Philippians 4:7. “as you live in Christ Jesus”….Ohhhhhh, ok…now I got it!

Which then made me realize perhaps I haven’t been as scripture quoting as I should’ve been, hmmm.

Are you lacking peace? If so, are there some phone calls you need to make? It’s easy and completely worth the effort! 

Two Plans

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope”. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Last year, Pastor Melissa Harris said something to me that was a light bulb moment. She and I were discussing a matter and I said, “God has a plan.” She responded with, “So does the devil.” That taught me to keep matters in balance and to not exercise one spiritual muscle without exercising the opposing one.

If you have followed my blog this week, you know I ended up in the emergency room right before Christmas. Afterwards, someone said, “Well, sometimes we just don’t know why these things happen and sometimes God just has to spank us to get our attention.” I responded with, “I know exactly why it happened. Emotional issues I had been addressing for months manifested into the physical.”

God didn’t “spank” me and send me to the emergency room. (Isaiah 5:20 and James 3:11)

Some may say I, “Am not living the abundant life because I ended up very sick and in the hospital.” To that, I would respond with, many are the afflictions of the righteous but God delivers them out of them all (Psalm 34:19). I was attacked; however, God delivered me!

Beginning late last summer, I dealt with one heartbreaking issue after another. Once one issue had been addressed and resolved, another arose, wave on wave. This continued into late November. I was in the emergency room in late December…it’s simple “math”.

Dr. Larry Ollison teaches John 10:10 very well.

I have a real enemy.

• who really wants to steal from me
• who wants to kill me
• who wants to destroy me

If the first part of this verse wasn't important, God wouldn’t have included it. (2 Timothy 3:16)

And I’m not my enemy’s favorite, please allow me to elaborate.

You have a real enemy.

• who really wants to steal from you
• who wants to kill you
•  who wants to destroy you

You can probably tell by now, I do not believe in hell and evil as a “concept” but as a real place and a very real driving force.

Praise God who causes me to triumph through Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14), our victory is found in the last part of John 10:10! I like the amplified version best.

I came that they may have and enjoy life,

and have it in abundance,

to the full, till it overflows.

I have a real friend, Jesus!

He came so that I may:

• Have life!
• Enjoy life!
• Have life in abundance!
• Have life to the full!
• Have life till it overflows!

You have a real friend, Jesus!

He came so that you may:

• Have life!
• Enjoy life!
• Have life in abundance!
• Have life to the full!
• Have life till it overflows!

Please forgive me for the redundancy! I’m very excited about the life Jesus came to give us!

I didn’t repeat the information to fill space. Every time I blog, I work very hard at writing a short blog. Ok…stop, I can hear the cyber laughter! If you have read very many of my posts, you know I rarely have succeeded in that but I really do shoot for it!

I repeated the information because it is my heart’s desire to get “life” deep down in your heart because out of the abundance of our heart, we speak! What we truly believe is what comes out of our mouth. (Matthew 12:34)

This is your life! This is your choice! Which plan will you choose?

Love conquers all!

“And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16 says, NKJV

One of the key words in this verse is abide: to remain, continue, stay. Is that possible? I believe it is. (2 Timothy 3:16) I don’t believe we have to work hard at loving. I believe, as we remain/continue/stay in Him, love is.

A quick breakdown of 1 Corinthians 13:4 explains, love:

·       Is patient

·       Is kind

·       Does not envy

·       Does not boast

·       Is not proud

·       Does not dishonor others

·       Is not self seeking

·       Is not easily angered

·       Keeps no records of wrongs

·       Does not delight in evil

·       Rejoices in truth

·       Always protects

·       Always trusts

·       Always hopes

·       Always perseveres

·       Never fails

·       Will never pass away

Now we know what love really is but what can love do on a daily basis? I recently had an experience that revealed to me exactly what love can do on a practical level.

The day before Christmas Eve, I had to go to the emergency room for an irregular heartbeat. If you missed that blog, please read, “Delivered: AGAIN!” A blog that was posted on 1/7/12

When I left the hospital, the doctors and nurse told me to “Get to the ER immediately if the problem returned”. I was told, “If this happens again, don’t mess around with this but come straight to the ER.”

Late in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, I felt my heart starting to beat incorrectly. The temptation to fear knocked. Thoughts flooded my head. “I don’t want to go back to the hospital!”, “I don’t want to miss Christmas morning with my girls!”, “I don’t want to be admitted to the hospital!”

I didn’t waste time. (2 Corinthians 10:5) And I yelled for back up, “Mike!” (my husband). Thank God for good training in spiritual authority. Thank you, Larry Ollison and Terry Mize. I know God has called my husband as the head of our household and he has spiritual authority over me.

He walked over to me and asked what was wrong and I told him my heart was trying not to beat correctly. He didn’t say a word. He gently put his head on my chest. He didn’t pray (although he had been praying since the night before) he just laid there. Peace flooded and my heart rate returned to normal within a few minutes.

I believe when fear knocked, love answered. The presence of love dissolved the source of the irregular heartbeat forcing my heart to beat correctly!

A quick side note here. We don’t have a perfect marriage. We fight more than we should and allow minor irritations to override our love walk. You don’t have to be a “perfect” wife/husband. Set your heart on God, abide in Him, and everything else will fall into place. (Matthew 6:33)

I believe evil is unable to stand in the presence of love. Love is such an amazing, powerful force! Love dissolves everything not of God!

Earlier in this blog, I asked the question, “What can love do?” I believe there is nothing love cannot do.

What can love do for you?

What can the love of God through you do for others?

Delivered: AGAIN!

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. (Psalm 34:19)

December 23, 2011 began just like any other day for me and I went about my day as I always do. I woke up early, felt good, and had a great workout while listening to Mynista (which became a significant factor before the end of the day). 

Mynista, sir if you happen to read this, I personally want to thank you for answering God’s call. Dude can preach! And you are making an amazing impact on my children! I thank you for your "Holy Ghost Filled Rap Music"! 

http://www.myspace.com/mynista

I came back home and finished up some work. It was a nice relaxing day until noon. Suddenly fatigue hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn’t figure out why I was so tired because I had been sleeping really well. I told my husband, Mike, I was going to rest for about half hour. 

Three hours later I woke up cold and I could not get warm. It was 85 degrees outside and I was covered up with everything I could find. I even cocooned myself in all my pillows! After two hours of trying to get warm, I was nauseated. Details are spared, I can hear the thank yous already! Twenty minutes later, Mike helped me back to bed because I was so weak I couldn’t get myself off the bathroom floor.

I did what I always do when adversity whacks me right upside my head! I started speaking God’s Word! My heart started beating erratically. I continued to speak God’s Word. I wanted to text my praying friends and “get them on the scene” but I was so weak and nauseated I couldn’t use my phone.

I told Mike I could feel my heart racing and rocking back and forth in my chest. Every few minutes he checked my heart rate while continuing to pray for me. After about twenty minutes, he said, “I can hardly get a pulse you are going to the emergency room.” 

By six p.m. I had an I.V. in both arms (After six attempts...and those needles hurt!), had taken more medicine than I know how to pronounce, and were waiting on test results. I received amazing medical care. The doctors, nurses, and staff took great care of me and my family. I'm grateful to God for medical science and Waimea Medical Center!

By this time, I was very tired and weak. It was hard to confess God’s Word. I was "throwing a pvc (premature ventricular contraction) for almost every heart beat" and my heart not beating correctly for so many hours was wearing me out physically. At 2:00 a.m., all the medication available to the doctors wasn't able to correct my heart rate. It was getting hard to remember scripture. 

He is my helper! (John 14:26) God kept bringing to my remembrance a song. So I kept repeating a song by Mynista that is on his Signs, Miracles, and Wonders CD.

“I plead The Blood of Jesus ova me and ova mine!

Death spirits pass by as The Blood Shines!

Passova! Keep Move’n! Passova! Keep Move’n

I plead The Blood of Jesus!”

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

We were alert and were watching; therefore, he was unable to devour us! 

The next day I contacted my praying friends. Within half hour, I was able to eat soup and felt stronger! 

End of story/testimony: I was home before Christmas! 

The day after Christmas I was running on the beach…back to my “normal”!

Praise be to God who causes me to triumph! (2 Corinthians 2:14)