We are in Cincinnati, OH. We even found our Airbnb without a hitch. I guess that is pretty good considering there are all of these old people traveling together!

We are going to go see the ark while we are here and the creation museum. We thought we would see them today but after arriving last night we decided we would do them tomorrow when we were more rested. Today we are going to go to the Amish area and enjoy their customs and lifestyle.

God is so good. We are enjoying one another and all is good!

Today the journey will be taking us to the first leg of our trip, Cincinnati, OH. I wrote yesterday about all of the stress in putting this together, but it is so worth every bit of it. Actually, it is fun to put it together. The worry is more about details I might have missed. Today I surrender all of this and trust in God for He has already told me He is with us and will be all the way. How I love our Heavenly Dad!

I have always thought I wasn’t a worrier, but after putting this trip together for the six of us going, I think I’m nothing but a worrier! Kathy has always been the detail person I could rely on. She still does think this way, but it is not necessarily timely as it use to be before her stroke. I know detail and its importance, but for me, it is the “oh yeah, I’ve got to do this too” instead of the natural detail thinker who makes a list and keeps a notebook of details. I do have all of this together now, but it has been a stretch. I’ve always said I’m not a good secretary for myself and this only proves it once again.

Well, with all of this said, we leave early tomorrow morning and I am truly looking forward to the trip. Going with my brothers and their wives is one of the things I look forward to most along with seeing our little sis and her family. The rest of the trip will be fun, but my heart looks forward to this most.

There were so many times in my earlier years where I even hated being a part of this family. I just didn’t know how I fit in? However, God has shown me so many times that He made me just the way I am on purpose. I don’t need to be talented in the same ways my brothers are in order to be part of the family. Besides, we are all part of the greater family and that is GOD’S FAMILY. That is the best part of all!

I wanted to go see my prayer warrior Lois yesterday after I got home from church. It turned out to be a great blessing. In our leaving this week for our vacation, I wanted her to know that I wouldn’t be having any counseling sessions as she prays for them. As we stepped into the progress of some of the ones coming for counsel, we just had to have a time of victory and thanking Jesus. This 92 year old saint just blesses me in so many ways!

Living for Jesus has always been the desire of my heart but never have I felt so supported. I love what I get to do and having such encouragement only makes it a greater blessing. How blessed I am!

I wrote yesterday about the last two counseling sessions until we return from our vacation. Well, the last one was a small group of men where we are going through a new curriculum to me regarding the addiction of pornography. I’ve mention it before. Yesterday’s session was another confirmation that this work is truly helping others fight/surrender their battle in a way none of us have known to do. The lesson focused entirely on the topic of Worship.

Within the lesson on worship the author uses the term: Aggressive Worship which I initially didn’t like. One of the other guys mentioned this also. However, another one of the guys said he liked the term because the word aggressive is used when fighting a battle and we sure are fighting one. That truth hit home. It hadn’t hit home for me about the truth/importance of worship in fighting a battle until I completed this lesson. I recalled how the Israelites worshiped before crossing the flooded Jordan River and how the trumpets played and singers sang as the walls of Jericho collapsed. Worship brings the focus of God Almighty to the forefront of our mind and spirit replacing the temptations/fears we are facing.

I’ve always loved “worship time” in any service I attend. However, this lesson brought about a relevance to worship I hadn’t paid much attention to. This is the importance of continuous worship throughout the day keeping my mind and spirit attuned to the supremacy of God and the intimate love He has for each of us. In so doing there is little room for temptation to get any foothold in our lives.

God is so patient in helping us learn these critical steps of intimate living for Him.

This morning I will have the two sessions scheduled for Saturday. At that point I will not have another session until Nov. 12. Next week my two brothers and their wives along with Kathy and me will leave for a 12 day vacation. I haven’t taken a vacation with some of my own family members for 50 years so it is a risk! Actually we are all looking forward to doing this. At first I was feeling guilty for leaving all of the clients without their support for the two weeks. However, in each session this week as I’ve informed them, they were fine with it. It made me recall when my counselor needed to skip a session. I, more often than not, was grateful. I could skip a week of reliving a painful time in my past.

Before we leave on the trip I’m getting all of the garden put to rest as well as all of the flower beds and flower pots. It is painful to do this when we haven’t had a freeze to kill the plants. Yesterday was the day I was starting all of the flower beds and I was so happy that it froze Thursday night so that I didn’t have to be the one putting an end to hundreds of flowers! I know this is quite silly to put in a blog, but it does make my heart happy when these little, but important to me, things happen. God does care about these little intimate details in our lives.

Last night at Celebrate Recovery one of our own gals gave her testimony. It is a genuine story of God’s great Love, Mercy and Grace. Her childhood was filled with sexual abuse from her father and then her step father. Along with this, her mom blamed her for the abuse. Her adult years have been ones of hiding her hurt until she was ready to end it all. It was then one of her sons invited her to church where she heard of our Celebrate Recovery. Instead of ending her life she took the risk to come that week. This all started 14 years ago and now she gives her story to us and to other CR’s in the valley. Last night she asked our quartet to sing a song within her testimony. The song is God Doesn’t Care. The title sounds odd, but it the message is for anyone who comes to CR. God doesn’t care what our past and present holds, He wants to love us, heal us and use all of our past for His purposes to help others find their own freedom from past bondage.

I just love to hear over and over how God is working. Yes, there are times when I wonder why I can’t see Him working but I know now that He always is. When I can’t see the results I am to trust and obey. Growing these spiritual elements: belief, faith, trust have been huge as I grow in my own freedom. What a wonderful God we get to serve!

There have been a good number of times I’ve wished God would send someone close to me that I could easily talk deeply to. I think we all wish for this. My long-time sponsor use to be this person but he moved away and even though we are daily in touch with one another through texting, even calling doesn’t replace face to face conversations. Well, surprisingly, I had a call from a person who wanted to meet. He is someone I’ve been connected to for many years. As we met yesterday morning I find he was wanting to have someone he could confide in and talk deeply to. As I write this I smile for he and I will now fill this gap for one another.

I will never stop being amazed with our Heavenly Father. I write this and once again I have to remember that His Amazing Ways are always that way because in my flesh I keep experiencing what His intimacy and grace are like. God loves His children and how fortunate we are that He does!

There is something “dangerous” about helping others deal with their struggles. You are going to be attacked. The idea I am dealing with a spiritual matter doesn’t often register for me when I’m dealing with a temptation attack. It is my flesh that’s being attacked and so I immediately address it with flesh telling myself to not go there, etc. It isn’t until I see the different notes on my desk and the other materials I leave lying directly in front that I am reminded to take the spiritual steps: Worship & Warfare Praying. This morning was one of those times. When I took the steps of these two items the temptations left.

These present days have been filled with needs that surpass the typical ones. I had 4 new requests for counsel help come in one day. In each case we are able to help, but the overwhelming sense of being a helper for them wants to consume me. Then this morning my devotional reminds me to stop thinking from my flesh and start trusting my Spiritual Leaders–God Almighty, Jesus Christ & The Holy Spirit. I’m suppose to take the day God gives trusting Him to take care of the need/s and give me His Words when the time is present.

Each morning when I get anchored for the day during my devotions I think, “OK, I’ve got this now”. Then the day continues and by the end of it I need to start all over again. I’m so grateful our God is PATIENT!