Amazing

I can not begin to explain the feeling of overwhelming awe I have for Jesus since Sept. 25,

2013. If you have not heard, there is a man who was born in Iran but a citizen of America living in Boise, Idaho with his wife and two children. He went to Iran to build an orphanage and while there, he was sentenced to 8 years in the notorious Evin Prison. This man is Pastor Saeed Abedini.

I was made aware of Saeed through my Pastor at our church who actually had the  privaledge 

to meet Saeed and his wife Naghmeh a few years back. We have been praying for him and his family ever since. Long story short, September 26, 2013 was the one year anniversary of Saeed being put in jail. 400 days away from his family, his wife, his children. And on that day, there was a world wide prayer vigil going on.

Which leads me to the overwhelming awe and amazement I felt on the day before. As usual, I pray

before I go to sleep and that night, as I prayed, I realized, though it was still the 25th for me, it was the 26th in other places around the world and at that second, someone somewhere was praying for Saeed. I had a hard time going to sleep. 

 When I woke up, someone in another place was praying and this went on all day. My heart

fully understood the verse in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 26. "If one part of our body hurts, we hurt all over, If one part of our body is honored, the whole body will be happy." I have heard this verse so many times and I grasped it....but something was different...I could feel the world praying for Saeed, for all those persecuted, I could feel it in my body. I could feel joy and strength coming from when HIS people pray!

I do not know the outcome, and I may never know, but I do know, the day after, our

President, President Obama, made his first plea to the Iranian President to free Saeed. The first time! Wow. I do know how humbled and blessed Naghmeh was at the amount of people around the world from the US to Germany to Jerusalem to Africa praying together in one accord. I do know that I grasped a little bit more what heaven will be like. I also grasped what it means to be a disciple, to lay your life down, and I am so in love with God, so in love with this God who loves us so much, who created all things, who is in control of all things. I love you Jesus! 

So, if you would like to know more about Saeed, please research. Write letters, pray. I will provide some information for you! ACLJ.org is a great place to sign petitions, to sign letters, to read up on info. If you want to write to Saeed or Naghmeh, look her up on Facebook or email me and I will help you get the info you need! 

~love, do not hate and don't give up!

Ecclesiastes 3

1.To everything there is a season,

​​A time for every purpose under heaven:

​2 ​​A time to be born,

​​And a time to die;

​​A time to plant,

​​And a time to pluck what is planted;

3 ​​A time to kill,

​​And a time to heal;

​​A time to break down,

​​And a time to build up;

4 ​​A time to weep,

​​And a time to laugh;

​​A time to mourn,

​​And a time to dance;

5 ​​A time to cast away stones,

​​And a time to gather stones;

​​A time to embrace,

​​And a time to refrain from embracing;

6 ​​A time to gain,

​​And a time to lose;

​​A time to keep,

​​And a time to throw away;

7 ​​A time to tear,

​​And a time to sew;

​​A time to keep silence,

​​And a time to speak;

8 ​​A time to love,

​​And a time to hate;

​​A time of war,

​​And a time of peace.

    As today marks the 12 year anniversary of 9-11, I have to think about these verses. It was such a terribly sad time but now we have good memories about some things that happened that day, some people who are alive, stories of others giving their lives for someone else....but...it also reminds me of that day before we could see the good, the aftermath...it reminds me of the pain, the fear, the sadness, the children who lost parents, parents who lost children, spouses who lost spouses...etc....

   Death.....

  For those in Christ, death is not an end to forever but....it is still an end to our lives here on earth. And because of that, because of death....I truly feel it is so important to mend relationships, to build relationships, to love....oh to love like Christ first loved us. 

   It is not easy, you know this....but in this day and age it is so easy to give up...say, its too hard, I give up. I should't have to deal with this....but you know what, what if that man gave up trying to save that child's only parent at the twin towers....what if Jesus gave up on you?
    I had to do a hard thing today, I had to reconcile with a family member...that meant, emptying myself of "Me" and filling me up with "Him". Cause "me" , I wanted to cut and run. BUt Christ...no, that is not what we are called to do. 

  Sometimes, we are called to be humble, to take the fall, to take the blame, to love no matter what, to do what is right even though it hurts. Did Jesus not give up everything to come to earth to show us the way and then take all the sin, ALL and bear it on the cross? Think about that, sweating blood as the sin was poured out on Him, ALL sin, ALL. Yet, He did it because He loves us....  John 15:9  He loved so we love.....

   Each situation is different and requires prayer...why did Christ pray so much? Cause He was bored? NO! To show us it is IMPORTANT!!!  So important!  So, reconcile, pray first, LOVE.....

   This one is short but I wanted to implore you, life is short, LOVE each other!

His Child....

    To keep this short and sweet, due to unforeseen circumstances, my son started into private school this year on a scholarship but after a week, we had to pull him out; nothing to do with my son. So, after much stress and really trying to give it to God, after much prayer, and many talks, we decided to put him in public school.
    I will admit, I am one of those "home school" or "Christian school" is best moms...or, rather, I used to be and God has really been working on my heart about this. I have done research and listened to other peoples opinions but let me tell you this....the ONLY opinion that matters is Christ's. We do not need to worry about what our "Christian" friends say, what our "non-Christian" friends say, what our parents think, what will our pastor think...none of that matters if you are truly listening to God.
    Yesterday was his first day of "public" middle school. 6th grade. You know, the WORST year to send your child to public school, or so you hear. I was a nervous mom all day wishing he could tell me how he was doing, if he was getting picked on, if he was left out......all the things Phil 4:8 tells us not to do!
   And each time I drove by (no, I was not stalking...it just happens to be in the middle of my small town) I prayed for him. And in that still small voice I heard, "You are My Nicole but you know what....he is MY child... I got him!" And I had peace.
   It may be hard to grasp or scary to think but it is truth, our children are not our own, they are His. We are blessed with the ability to love them, raise them, guard them, enjoy them but they truly belong to Him and if we are walking in Truth, we will let them go to Him. We will TRUST Him to take care of them.
   BUT, that does not mean we don't have a job to do....that does not mean we can just leave it at that. It is our job, (not the church, not friends, not pastors, not anyone else) OUR JOB to train our children up in the way they should go (Prov. 22:6). We are do instill Biblical truths in their lives. Make sure they are learning about Him. That they are holding every question or decision against the Word of God. We are to spend time with them. Love them. Be interested in them.
    I was really thinking about this today as I decided it is time to pray every day with my son before he goes to school. Now, don't confuse what I am gonna say with me having a bad childhood, because I did not. But...I do not remember my parents once praying WITH me and honestly, I really doubt my parents prayed for me daily. They led busy lives....do you? Are you too busy to pray for your child?
    I really believe in the POWER of PRAYER. I do. I know kids will have trials, troubles, temptation, just like the rest of us BUT I believe if we are praying for them, they will be able to find the right way out of those things...they will be able to hear God's voice. I believe this! This does not mean our kids are not gonna get into trouble...there is still sin in the world, but I think, no, I believe, God wants us to be active in praying for our children and active in the paths they go...he did create us as parents...is that not our job? Does Jesus not pray for us all the time?
   Please, I encourage you to spend time with your child, talk to them, not at them, listen to their stories, even the highly boring ones that you have no idea what they are talking about, show them that Christ is number one, show them that you LOVE them, and please, I BEG OF YOU, please pray! Pray constantly for them because they may not be adult, they may not have our trials but I tell you, they have trials that seem huge to them, cause they are huge to them. Why else would there be so much depression and suicide among our middle school and high school children? PRAY!
   They are His children, but we are their parents and He has called us to pray. Pray pray pray pray pray! And have peace knowing that He has them, He loves them more than we could possibly imagine, and no matter what, He knows what has happened, what will happen, and He has a plan for it all.
           His children.....just think about that, His.....that means, they belong to Him forever....they will have life after death in heaven.....they will have Him walking by their side all of their days. ~Hallelujah!
   Thank you Jesus for saving me, thank you that I am yours but today Lord, as I think about my son, I THANK You that he is Yours as well. That you love him more than I ever could. That you are walking those halls with him right now. Thank you for being such an amazing Comforter, Father, Friend, Counselor, Thank you Jesus for loving us all as Your Children! ~amen