God Points–> I Fall into Line March 27, 2008

 

     Here’s the letter that we just sent out to everyone via snail mail. But there are some people that did not e-mail me your addresses (i say this with a smile) so i didn’t want you to feel left out!

Dearest Family & Friends,

      I hope this note finds each of you under the precious wing of our Lords mercy & grace. As well as, in full celebration of His Resurrection!  Barry & I have had more joys this year than we could shake a stick at and are looking forward to all the rest that are yet to come.

     I’m sure you’re wondering what I’m up to writing you mid-year instead of at Christmas! Let me fill you in on what’s up first. Many of you have read & encouraged my writings for years and I’ve always appreciated the kind words but never really thought of pursuing anything.  Actually, I never felt called too. Oh how the times are a-changin’! I feel as though the Lord has put an opportunity into my path that initially I wasn’t ready for or in the right place spiritually to pursue, but now has been dropped into my path again. I have prayed for years that the Lord would set my feet back on His path. I say humbly that my path got me no where in a hurry, although, lessons sure were learned! Oh how I long to be in the midst of His divine plan for me again, but this time with a fervent mind & heart. On this go round, may we not be sidetracked by satan’s attacks on all fronts of our lives, marriage, home, health, etc.

     Therefore … I am stepping wayyyy farrrr out of my comfy lil’ comfort zone to test the waters and see if I am hearing the Lord correctly. Prayerfully, I will answer His call to me with obedience, patience, trust, and total dependency. I am definitely not pre-qualified for this avenue; thankfully, God is not looking for the qualified as He is qualifying those He calls. So folks, here I go!

     I am attending a Christian Women’s Conference (Held by Proverbs 31 Ministries- called She Speaks) for women who are called to speak, lead, and write. The conference lasts for three days- June 20^th thru 22^nd- and is being held in Concord, NC. There I will be meeting with a literary agent, as well as, attending classes to further my knowledge, network, fellowship, brush shoulders, and help confirm the Lord’s calling to me personally at this present time.

     I humbly ask for each of your prayers. Matthew 18:20 says, “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”  I need any of you who are willing to pray to intercede on my behalf. Also, to share with me any thoughts, scriptures or words the Lord gives you. I will take those precious words to heart and use them for my shield from satan’s attacks as I follow the direction of the Lord. If you’d commit to pray for me here are some specific requests:

V       June 19^th - I will be fasting, praying, and seeking God’s face that day.

V       June 20^th-June 22^nd- The days when I’ll be at the conference.

V       No pain for me during the conference or for the Lord to give me His strength to make it through.

V       For confirmation that this is or isn’t the direction He desires of me. If so, to connect me to the people at this conference He wants me to network with, learn from, mentor me, etc.

V       For me to learn whatever He wants so I may come home and move forward at His pace.

     I appreciate your willingness to pray for me (& Barry) and for God’s will to prevail during this important time. I am young- at least for 3 more years till I hit 30- but I don’t want to waste the precious time I have here to be effective for the kingdom.  Here’s what’s said in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”  With friends who are willing to pray for each other at all times we are stronger and tougher for satan & the world to break us down. Cool huh?! I thought so.I am so blessed to have so many of you that pray for and with us. Barry & I pray the Lord will bless your lives as you have ours!

     Once again, we both thank you as this calling affects not only me but Barry too.  Together we wait upon the Lord, will be following where He leads, and together hope to be found obedient in whatever the Lord calls us to do today & in the future. We look forward to hearing from you all and sharing of the prayers being answered in God’s timing, as He wills.   

Grace & Love, Barry & Heather Twitchell 

PS~ The enclosed picture is for you to put in your bible, on your fridge or wherever as a reminder of your commitment to pray. After that you can use it in your gardens or yards to scare off neighbor’s kids & dogs, squirrels or birds. “Smile”

 

A Special Request from Heather March 24, 2008

Hi All My Faithful Readers!

     I humbly ask you to do me a quick favor. I met a very sweet man today, Jim F., that has been diagnosed with a type of cancer in his mouth & throat area. I do believe that the Lord put him into my path today with purpose. I was excited as i have been praying for the Lord to make me acutely aware of when He places people in my path. I got an “F” on a Friday opportunity to pray with a young girl and that i will have to correct upon my return to the dermatologist office in 2 weeks. Shame on me!

     At 11:45AM Jim will be in his doctor’s office. I told him I/ we would pray and i felt led to ask you all to just pray with us that the Lord will give Jim a strength & peace that could only come from such an awesome Heavenly Father.  We need to claim the Lord will do something so awesome & miraculous in/with Jim that our Great Healer will be glorified!! Thank you Lord for the mighty work you are in the midst of performing in Jim. I know the fullness of your restoration personally and i ask for you to give him the peace, purpose, and strength I know comes only from you. We thank you in advance for what you will bring to fruition!

Jeremiah 29:11-

“For i know the thoughts and plans i have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jim,

It was a joy to meet you today at the office! Keep your spirits up and don’t let the devil whisper his lies & negativity in your ears. We are children of one truly awesome God and His plans are never to harm us but always to get us closer to His heart. Through these storms in life just plant your feet on the Lord’s Rock and seek out the lesson. My mother always says to me, “NO pain goes wasted!” I have learned this to be some of the wisest words in my life. Looking forward to hearing from you on how your doing!

Proof Of His Grace,

Heather-Jayne T.

“Yo Ho, Yo Ho… A sinner’s life for me” March 14, 2008

     Here’s a new version of an old song I’m sure you may have heard, but of course i tweaked it to be worthy of describing myself for this post:    

Yo ho, yo ho, a sinner’s life for me. 
I was well-off, I sailed a lavish ship, I had a worldly career and lots of loot, 
Live it up, me ‘earties, yo ho. 
I chased my tail and had  to suffer and didn’t give a hoot, 
Live it up me ‘earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, Yo ho, A sinner’s life for me!

Well….. NOT ANYMORE!!!

          I’m still in the “I Saw the Lord” bible study. In the video’s we watch Henry Blackaby & Crawford Loritts speak with Ann Graham Lotz about their thoughts on the learning’s of each of the men we study- Moses, Ezekiel, Josiah, Nehemiah, Isaiah, David, Ezra. All of these great men after God’s heart who had personal revivals.  Some of the things i wrote down last week in regards to what i learned about Moses were- making myself available for the Lord to use, letting Him take me out of my level to His, not chasing experiences but chasing the One, and that everything is to get us closer to His heart.

     I am taking my first real “Big Girl” step out of the boat of comfort into the waters of my own uncertainty, with chin up & face pointed into the direction of wherever my Savior moves. I emphasize my uncertainty because i am uncertain of what’s in those waters or for that matter where they may flow, although i am most certain that i won’t drown if keeping my focus on Jesus.

     I don’t want to stay in the boat because i think i can play Captain and well be in charge of being in charge (credit due for that remark to the wicked stepmother in Cinderella). Why? Truth is , I don’t want to miss out on whatever cool stuff God’s got waiting out of the boat. Even if i can’t see beforehand what it is.

     I wouldn’t recommend anyone to be a passenger on my boat anyway with a track record like mine. I set sail on the Green (w/ envy) Pearl to the Island of Me off the coast of Worldliness. Upon my arrival (or so i thought) was a pot of fools gold, the ship later sank, I  sipped of the cup of vinegar, and then had to backstroke my way to the firm foundation. A-gain! After this time of learning from my mistakes, I have elected that i don’t want to waste anymore of my precious time. Time trying to make life happen on my own accord but rather let the Lord take me places I’ve never been & never could go minus Him.

     “Don’t chase experiences, chase the One.” I think i owe that credit to Dr. Crawford Loritts. Previously, i chased the experience and that brought strife. Now i long to chase the One because i desire the deepest form of fulfillment only He can bring. The void is a God sized one that nothing else can fulfill. I pray the Lord will fill the voids in my life left by my sin, from the pain of past hurt, circumstances, where people have let me down, and the world has left me hopeless. In Him, i have hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). In Him, i have purpose (Esphesians 1:17-20).

     Crawford also made another statement that i really thought a lot about. “We often turn to God when our foundation is shaking only to find out it’s Him that’s shaking them.” Those of us He loves he discipline’s. Same as with an earthly parent & child. We were disciplined because they loved us. That is how i feel the Lord has dealt with me. He allowed me to run off, make my own decisions, and just think that He could ‘ya know’ work things out so they could go my way. The answer was clearly ‘NO’! I have felt the Lord’s discipline for my sin.  Now i move on- Into whatever direction He takes me now. I’m excited & curious. Most of all… i’m hungry. Not for the dark chocolate candies I’m staring at on my desk, but for a deeper knowledge of my Jesus.  I hope we all are!

     Please e-mail me your addresses if you’d like to receive the newsletter that I’ll be sending out in the next week. I have some exciting news on what God’s up to in our life and wanted to share that with you each personally. Our e-mail is:

proofofhisgrace@tampabay.rr.com  

You can try clicking on the link to our e-mail for those of you using Microsoft Outlook and it’ll open up an e-mail with our address already in the send to box for you. Other’s try copy and pasting to save you from possibly missing any letters or periods. Blessings this week to you all and if you have any prayer needs drop those to me as well!

      

 

A Life Remembered, A Testimony Overflowing March 14, 2008

     I just came home from the funeral of a friends husband, who died suddenly in his sleep, at the young age of 47. My heart is sad for the moments that his family is going to know without him, the times they will not be able to share together, the years of less memories they will have made. But at the same time i’m overjoyed that we’ll be seeing Mark in heaven upon our arrival. An jealous that he’s probably having a blast up there and feasting at the table with the Lord. Hopefully, there will still be something for the rest of us to eat when we get there. ‘Smile’

     Our purpose in living is to help others find their way to a relationship with Christ and be sure we tend to ours. Mark did just that. He loved the Lord passionately and gave of his own selflessly. Karen, his wife, told me when we worked together that Mark was very open handed and he would generously just give food, clothes, and money away on a regular basis. After having their son, Karen told Mark to maybe ease up on the generosity so they didn’t wind up destitute and starving.

     I wish you all could have known him. To know true happiness & joy is to have just brushed shoulders with him. He was always smiling, laughing, being silly, making you smile, and doing his puzzle books. I think he memorized every crossword and word seach puzzle ever created. God really was evident in Marks life!

     Mark, like myself, was a survivor. At age 23 he was backed off the top of a shopping center roof and landed on his head. He spent time in a coma and many months trying to rehabilitate himself. Due to the injuries he suffered the doctors weren’t certain he’d live and if he did that it would be with profound problems. Not so saith the Lord! Mark survived and lived to proclaim the glory of the Lord. Hallelujah!

     Mark was a wonderful husband, father, friend, son, and child of the Most High. He loved life, family, the Lord, his church, serving, giving, and giving some more! He is a role model to the rest of us.

     As i listened to the service and read the program they shared with us i can’t help but wonder… Will i be half the witness he was? Will I have half the fruit to show? Do i give like he gave? Do i love like he loved? I had to ask the Lord to please redirect my thoughts, actions, deeds, words, and want to’s. What a testimony Mark had for all the tons of people there. All i guess we can say is thank you Lord for his life, thank you for the work you did in him, thank for the opportunity to know such an example of Your selfless love. Forgive me for all the places i fall short. I of all people ought to know the frailty of life and be reminded of it. So as to keep my feet on Your path, in Your ways, and follow the desires of Your heart.

    At the end of the service Karen shared one of Marks favorite quotes which i will try to quote it as I remember. “It’s not the length of the life that matters, it’s what you do with the length you have.”

Please pray for Karen & Patrick as they cope with the loss of a great father, husband.

The Chic Shark Hunter March 2, 2008

Hi Everyone!

     Now normally i won’t try to post things like this just because. But… I caught two of God’s critters on my rod yesterday and i am just itching to share one with you. Please don’t anyone get mad at me for us keeping him. We do eat the shark steaks…. if we catch one. An it’s not that often except for when my undeniably rockin’ fishing skills prevail we catch one.

     I caught two of these blacktips back to back on a reef we were really fishing for Mangrove Snapper. I thought this little booger was going to yank the rod outta my hands. So of course i passed the rod off to my lovely hubby and let him do the hard work. I was sooooooo excited to actually get two in the same day. It was really fun! I was grinning ear to ear to show my father-in-law the big snag! Good times! An the night before Barry caught a nice Snook while dock fishing with his dad. That guys in the freezer now too. I guess we’ve had a pretty good weekend cutting the future grocery bill’s. Enjoy the pics! 

Excuse the homely attire & sunburn…