Finding a home continues

Well, as exciting as that last place sounded, it fell through! Found out that it is very cold in the winter, the wind blows through the windows and it takes a lot of wood to keep it warm. I DONT DO COLD! So back to the drawing board! As I only have one more week from today to find a place to live, I'm delighted that I can rest in the fact that my Heavenly Father is on the case, He will come through for me! I did look at place where I can only see the outside and the inside sounds wonderful. Total opposite of the last place; everything is brand spanking new, 5 rooms, and that is only on the first floor of the three floor house, the landlords live out of country and only come back for a two week summer holiday, no one else lives in the place AND..... it even comes with a dog! Many people have been praying that I would find a place that would be even grander than I can imagine! This is a place that is certainly fitting that description, because it too has that prayer room possibility. I'll know more once the keys arrive from Switzerland and I'll actually get to see the inside. The price has already been set within budget, I just need to see the inside and give a final decision! So.... will the keys arrive before the 22nd? To be continued ........

Finding a home

I just love the people who live here! The guy who will be building the handicap ramp on the OT clinic made it his personal "mission" to help me find a house to live in. He even showed me his home. He drove me around in his car to see many places, and even though he said he had a lot of work at the moment, he took most of the day to cart me around to places and to speak with landlords. He phoned me up on Friday with another option, he came across town to pick me up just to take me back across town again so as to see this house. Now every place I've seen until now has been newer furnished homes on a busy street or on the third floor with no lift (which is rough on the knees for me) or has shared entrances with families with noisy kids. They have all been nicely furnished, yet they all lacked one thing that has been a priority on my heart, and that is a quiet entrance that leads to a prayer room, where other believers may come and go freely in order to have quiet time with their Father and to be refreshed. So, this place on Friday, It has a nice huge yard (nice plus), the house is older than the hills. A family is in it but will be moving out on the 15th of Sept. The cupboards are old and the drawers don't sit straight. It has an old electric stove for which maybe one burner works, the current tenants are the owners of the carpets, the couches, the refrigerator, the furniture in all the bedrooms except one, the wood stove and the wash machine. I think even the curtains are theirs. However, an old couch with holes in the cushions, sitting on the front porch, will be staying. The floors are old creaky wood floors, the boiler is at least 30 years old and barely hanging on the wall, the bathroom has a toilet and a sink and a spout with a shower head for a shower, so no tub or shower basin (the water just runs onto the concrete floor, as well as a drippy pipe that runs along the wall). However there is a tub in a bathroom upstairs but water leaks everywhere and out into the corridor so it is currently used for storage. Yet there was something about the place! Maybe it was the peacefulness sitting on that old couch on the large balcony, sheltered by grape vines, or the front separate staircase that leads up to yet another large balcony and two rooms for which are potential to have not one but two prayer rooms and retreat places? Even though the house is more like a "project" and it will take much time and finances to make it my home, I felt as though the Lord said, "Here Di, I'm giving you a whole house, make it your own." On a side note, the rent price was the same as a two room one floor place and the owners live out of country and really could care less what happens to the house as long as I don't blow it up or something. The yard is closed in and has plenty of space for a couple of dogs and there is a covered place for stack my wood for the winter. It also has a basement where I can put the dogs while company comes and they will have a dry place to sleep in the winter. (still haven't decided on getting them, but the house is set up for it). I said "yes" to the landlord in spite of all the work that will be required to get it furnished. I'm excited about this "project" of a home! I'm excited about what God is going to do in it and through it.

Return to Kosova

On August 15, 2011 I landed back in Kosove. As I was sitting having supper with some dear Kosovar friends last night, one of them said, "Were you even in England the past two and half years?" His meaning was, "seems as though you never went away." It's interesting and even scary how "normal" it feels to be here. Scary because I would never want my two and half year experience in the UK just seem like a dream or quickly fade away as if I was never there. I cherish those times, I cherish those years and the people that were part of my life there. As I'm looking for a place to live here in Kosove, and am not yet fully engaged in what is going on around me, I feel as though I'm slowly walking through a long tunnel where when I look back I can see scenes of the UK and looking forward I see scenes of Kosova and the walls of the tunnel are intertwined with scenes from both, plus the states, plus future visions and dreams; a mishmash of everything! Not exactly sure when I'll reach the end of the tunnel, but don't necessary feel like I need to pick up the pace either.

Help in quietness

The other day in my devotions I read Ex. 14:14 which says, "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent." I just love that promise! This verse keeps going on around in my head over and over. I think its because I usually associate battle with chaos, striving and fatigue, but here it is the total opposite; When I am resting in Him and keeping silent before Him, yielding myself and the battle over to Him, His role in the fight is even more pronounced. It's kind of like, if we were engaging the enemy in battle along side our fellow soldiers, our attention would be solely on where the enemy was at so that we could use our defensive moves and offensive moves against them. We wouldn't have any idea how our comrades were doing and what they were doing. But if we stepped aside from the battle and sat up on a hill above it and watched what was going on, we could focus on what each of our fellow soldiers were doing and how the battle was progressing. I'm finding the more I quiet myself before God, the more I purposely shut off the computer, close the books (even the Bible sometimes), shut my mouth, turn my mind off of what is going on around me, curl up on the couch and fix my eyes on Jesus, the more I'm seeing Him take over the areas of my life that I have been fighting for and battling with. I can't see what He is doing if I'm too wrapped up in the battle myself, using my own strength. It sounds so simple, why do we make it so complicated? One of the things I fear the most as I prepare to return to Kosova in July is to find myself getting caught up, once again, in the everyday battles of busyness. There is so much to do, there are so many needs to be met, there is so much organization that needs to be accomplished, so many people to visit, so many people to reach. It is easy to think that I need to be the one to engage in all of those "battles", in reality, I need to return to Kosova so that I can "rest" and be quiet before the Lord, then watch the Victor do His thing.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Today was just a regular day at work here, however our church will be having a Thanksgiving celebration that I'll be catering on the 4th of Dec. We'll also have a Christmas ceilidh as well. So should be fun! I pray all of you stateside had a great time with your families! We have many blessings to give thanks for!

Alliance roots

I walked into a conference a year ago not really knowing what I would experience. The first day, I was a bit ....... "put off" (but that's not really the right expressing but can't find a more suitable word at the moment) by the actions of those around me. People were convulsing, yelling out words like "Woah", lying and rolling on the floor, shaking, moving about, doubling over repetitiously, falling over, laughing uncontrollably, lying on the floor rocking, etc....... Normally I would have walked out of the place in a critical attitude. But I had an incredible hunger and thirst to learn more about the Heavenly Father's heart. I had heard that I was missing something and I was determined to find out what I was missing. As I was standing there watching all of this, the picture of Asllan the lion from "The boy and his horse" came to me when He told the boy, after the boy asked him why something had happened to the girl, He replied to Him, "That is her story". So I just said, Lord, you know each person in this room. You know their hearts and You are living their story with them. I don't know what You are doing in them and why they are doing the things they are doing, I'm going to leave that to be between them and You. Please Lord have Your way with me and do whatever You desire to do that will cause me know You more. That first night, I had expected the Lord to at least speak to me, but there was nothing but silence. I went to the conference to pursue Him but there was nothing. I was devastated to uncontrollable tears that evening. The lady I was staying with prayed for me which brought comfort. She told me to just wait and He will come. So I waited, nothing still the next day, as once again many people all around me were doing weird things, I still felt nothing. We had broken up into small groups to discuss any questions about things we had heard during the day. As I expressed a question, which was actually an agreement with another lady's question, the group leader said, let us pray for you. All I remember was their hands touched my body and I heard her say, "Holy Spirit, send down Your fire on her" and then I hit the floor. No warning, no feelings of dizzyness, no anything but a straight shot full straight body fall, thankfully I was caught and landing was buffered. That is when I looked into the face of my loving Heavenly Father, the One I can now call "Daddy" actually I call Him "Babi". Apparently I was down for almost an hour but it seemed like only 5-10 minutes to me. This was the beginning of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on my life which, over the course of the past year, has lead me to receiving the gifts of tongues, seeing visions, receiving words of knowledge for people and seeing miraculous supernatural healings. I know there is controversy in Alliance circles about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but I fully believe, according to my experience and the transformation that has taken place in me that it was at this time that I was fully baptised in the Holy Spirit. As I've mentioned some of what has gone on in me with other C&MA people, I've learned that those things that I have described were common place with AB Simpson's experiences. A friend told me about a book called "Genuine Gold: The cautiously charismatic story of the early Christian and Missionary Alliance." by Paul L. King. I have been thoroughly enjoying reading this book about the history of Holy Spirit revivals that had taking place throughout Alliance history all over the world. Did you know that there was a decade long revival that took place in and around our Alliance churches in first decade of the 1900's and before that? The book gives accounts describing HS outpourings over people in our churches that would describe all of those things mentioned in the first part of this message. I now understand that when someone is on the floor convulsing that the Lord is doing a powerful work in them, one that is personal and intimate between Him and that person. Alliance friends, I believe that we are entering another season of revival, some would say that it is a continuing off-shoot of the Toronto revival, but I'm not sure that it has arrived within our Alliance doors yet. God is certainly on the move in other circles however all around the world, people are seeing visions, dreams, are being miraculously healed and the supernatural is becoming natural and common place for many people. I don't know about you, but I want to press in for more! I want to live in expectancy of the kingdom of God falling down on our churches and that Holy Spirit has His way with us. I want to see a return of Apostolic Christianity in our CMA churches and once again capture the incredible presence of God as our founding fathers of the CMA did. What about you? Will you join me in praying that revival will take place in our churches? Will you stand with me in expectancy that God is going to do great things and reveal even more of Himself to our Alliance family around the world? If you are willing, just cry out to Him, "Have Your way with me Lord, then have Your way with them!"

Finished with year two

I'm finally breathing a deep sigh of relief today. Today is my first official day of summer vacation. Yesterday was my last day of clinical placement, all of my work is caught up, I can finally rest (well kind of) for a while. On monday I'll be flying out to Kosova for three weeks. I'm so excited to be going back to my "other" home away from home once again. It will be so exciting to see my friends and team family again. Another thing that is exciting is that God has put on my heart to lead a mini-conference on healing ministry while I'm there. Because this is from Him, I'm so excited about what the outcome will be from that time. For those who are praying friends, please pray for my time of preparation for this. I don't want it to be a striving time but a time where I just hear the voice of the Lord guiding me through topics that He wants to present to those who will be participating in the training, through me. Thank you!