HOLD ON - God Knows What He's Doing

Aloha!  I wanted to post this image I made the other day because I think what it says is so important!  I have been forced, through my health struggles, to rely on God daily, sometimes minute by minute.  And I have come to realize that overcoming all adversity successfully comes down to one main issue...whether we trust and believe that He knows what He's doing!  When our situation/circumstances seem way out of control and crazy and things are falling apart all around us or like me, all within, it's very hard to believe that God is in control and there is REASON behind it all.  But despite what our emotions/feeling say, we just have to believe!  And why?...Because...HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING!  His Word tells us this FACT over and over!  I encourage you to believe this, in spite of the difficulties...just believe it.  Every day, believe it!  I know I could not get through my days if I didn't.  Thank you God for having it all under Your control so I can LET GO AND LET YOU.

God is opening up some exciting ways to minister/help others over this last week and I'm excited.  But before I share this with you, I have some lovely images I have shot (surprise! wink wink!) over this last week.  I am so GRATEFUL to my Father for giving me such a passion and eye to capture His creation!  Art, creativity, photography and books/reading have been wonderful distractions through out my life from my health issues.  Even when I am not feeling well, I can get excited and motivated to get out, even for a short time, with my camera to capture something new.    

The entrance to the beautiful botanical gardens here in Kaneohe!  When you enter this garden, you immediately feel the peace within...it's becoming one of my favorite spots on the island!  And lucky us...it's right up the street!  

These flowers that hang from the trees are about 3' long!  

LARGE yellow & fuzzy!  The color is just like it shows in the picture - luscious yellow!!!

Due to the size of these huge trees, the root structure is immense in order to hold them up!  Just what we need...STRONG roots in Christ to hold us up!!  

Just like the huge trees, the leaves here are gargantuan as well!  This leaf is about 4' long!!

Ahhhhh....P E A C E

Michael reading the Word while I wander!

At the beautiful cemetery here in Kaneohe, they have a section just for babies...I have never seen grave sites so well cared for with such love!  Sad to see, but also very uplifting as well!  They were all decorated so cute and personal...

Just as we were leaving the cemetery,  I looked up and saw this amazing light coming from the Pali mountains...I jumped out and captured these images of the Jesus statue - GORGEOUS LIGHT!  Praise Jesus!

To HIS Glory, amen!

Beautiful site for veterans too - such honor and glory is given to them here...

Ok...now to share the news...Michael has joined a men's group every Saturday where he is meeting a lot of new men.  He just continually finds that so many christian men are not living the free life that Jesus came to give and he feels such a strong passion to share his story and experience of how God has set him free!  So he has ample opportunity at this group and it's been very rewarding for him.  He's also been praying each time he goes out and about for God to open doors to meet/help others.  He met a biker at Starbucks and they have struck up a friendship - they meet at Starbucks and just talk and Michael is sharing Jesus with him...so awesome!  

For me, I've been praying that God will show me ways I can help others in my limited position with my health...and God in His creative ways has provided just the right place for me to get involved and help!  There is a park near by that has over 100 abandoned/feral cats and chickens!  It's an amazing thing to witness when you drive in and see them spread out all over the parking area!  I met a beautiful God filled woman named Connie who, for the last 20 years, has been coming daily to feed them, taking new ones to the vet to get fixed and also taking in any sick ones to get vet care.  WOW.  And she does this all out of her own limited pocket!  She shared that she is struggling financially, more and more, because people have caught on that the cats there are being well cared for, so more and more are dropping them off!  What a precious heart she has for God's creatures!  I told her I want to help, so I am now taking over the care and feeding of the cats/chickens on Mondays.

  

If any of you would like to donate to help feed the cats, (it costs about $40.00 per day to feed them all!) please contact me by email - thehealingpath40@aol.com, thank you!!

I also met a young woman, age 18, at the library the other day, who has a tough history and family life... I struck up a conversation with her and found out the she just got out of lock up for running away a while back and is now in community college to become a vet.  She is also studying for a test to get into the military.  I was so impressed with her and her tenacity to overcome her hardships! She told me her glass is always half-full and that she refuses to believe what others keep telling her, that it's hopeless and that she'll end up just like her older sister (who has had a lot of trouble with the law, etc)  Her mom is working 3 jobs, dad is not working at all and there are 7 kids total..no electricity either.  I told her I would like to be her champion/encourager and pray for her and meet up once a week or so to talk and stay connected.  She lit up and had tears and told me that NO ONE has ever helped her like that before or even taken an interest in her...made me cry!  I saw her again yesterday and we talked for a while about how things were going for her.  I asked her how I could help/bless her and she just looked at me with such an expression of unbelief!  Truly it was so amazing to see!  She just looked at me and asked, "who are you?!!"  I took her out to lunch and we shared some more and she asked again why I wanted to help her.  I told her my story of God calling us to leave our jobs, home and come here to be a part of His mission and just felt God's leading that she was one of the ones I was to connect with!  I told her how I saw a strength in her that I was very impressed with and that she was very special...she just cried when I said that.  OH, God is GOOD!  And the best part??  I shared with her about helping out with the cats and she was SO excited about what I was doing and said she wanted to help!  So I will be picking her up on the way to the kitty cat park and she will be part of my cat ministry on Mondays!  Isn't it wonderful how God weaves these things together?  I love it!  Please be praying for my health to get BETTER so I can keep up with this and also so that I can do more!  Thank you!!  This is what I LONG to do! 

Remember, His mercies are new EACH day!  And each morning that we wake up is a NEW day...yesterday is gone, tomorrow is in the future...we have this new day for NEW things to happen, ways for God to work in our lives that we never dreamed possible.  The day is full of unrealized POTENTIAL.  If that doesn't just cheer you up and get you out of a funk, I don't know what will!!  

Blessings!

Sue