347 – The Word Refreshes the Weary

347 – The Word Refreshes

the Weary

March 24, 1989

Feeling tired.

Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Reaping sounds like a good promise. I’ll take it.

March 25

God is teaching me faithfulness in the long haul as I keep on track with Him. I am to bear with my sons and come to Him for inspiration, revelation, joy, strength, empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

My goals for the boys:

Philippians 1:9 that your love may bound in knowledge and depth of insight so you are able to discern good and evil and be pure and blameless!

and be filled with the fruit of righteousness!

v 12 my chains (my struggle to stay upbeat, loving, fair, patient & kind) will encourage others.

My exhortation to myself from Philippians: be set on rejoicing!

v 19 It’s all going to work out through the prayers of the saints and the help of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit will bring my deliverance (the ability to rise above the circumstances which would pull me down otherwise)

v 20 Paul expects he will not be ashamed through all of his trials and he expects he will have sufficient courage to continue so Christ will be exalted through him.

v 21 Christ is my reason for living. All my life takes on meaning and relevance and purpose because of Christ.

v 25 Paul chooses to keep on so they will progress in the faith

so they will be joyful in growing and advancing. (I see this in my sons, a joy and a camaraderie)

NIV note: Paul puts the needs of those he ministers to ahead of his personal preference. Such an example.

346 – Identifying with Much-Afraid*

346 – Identifying with

Much-Afraid*

March 19, 1989 Sunday morning

I was led to read Psalm 128:3-4 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the LORD.

Later reading Babar, a children’s book, to the kids: triplets were born! that causes my heart to skip.

March 20

Calling out to the Lord, as Much Afraid*, putting my hope in HIM.

March 21

Middle of the night, very nauseous.

Lay real still.

Cautious this a.m.

Rich food last night.

As I come to my Lord this morning I am NOT going to try to do this myself and be tough!

HELP SHEPHERD!

Let us get a pregnancy test. Let the truth, yea or nay, be known before we travel to Oxnard. I’m not going to try doing this on my own without YOU. I’m falling upon my precious Savior, BELIEVING You will SAVE ME and be a blessed Redeemer today for us all. I lay down my self will and accept your will, in abandonment, fully trusting You.

March 22 Up early to pray and humble myself before the Lord.

Humble yourselves–feeling very insignificant–in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.–He will lift you up and make your lives significant. James 4:10 Amplified

The squeeze of my family’s questionings and probing always concerns me before I go to visit them–and I see acutely the need I have for strength to stand in faith because I am so weak.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

NIV notes: Habakkuk has learned the lesson of faith—to trust God’s providence regardless of circumstances. He declares that even if God should send suffering and loss, he would still rejoice in His Savior God—one of the strongest affirmations of faith in all scripture.

v. 19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to tread on the heights.

NIV notes: He gives me sure-footed confidence.

You always meet me, Jesus, You always come to me in a way I can understand.

*Much-Afraid is the protagonist in Hannah Hurnard’s bestselling book Hinds’ Feet on High Places, an allegory published in 1955. Much-Afraid finds comfort and understanding and a new kind of accepting love from the Shepherd. She desires only to please Him and always turns to Him for advice. Her greatest joy is in serving Him. I identified with her and her relationship with Jesus on her spiritual journey.

344 – Conflict in the Home Soon Resolved

344 – Conflict in the Home

Soon Resolved

March 4, 1989 Sunday at church

Joyce came up to me: “Are you pregnant? I woke up thinking about you.” She prayed for me.

March 14, 1989 Tim, Steve, and Danny have had Chickenpox for a week. Mark was the first to come down with it and is now well.

Two days late. I opened up my Bible randomly, seeking the Lord.

Isaiah 66:7 Before she goes into labor, she gives birth, before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son.

What are the odds that I would see a verse about birthing?

Dan laughed when I shared all of this: “This is the third month in a row you have thought you were pregnant. I’d rather laugh than take it seriously—of course you may have the last laugh.”

Sting!

This comforted me:

Isaiah 44: 25-26 who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense…who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of His messengers.

I had great sorrow from my conversation with Dan. In order to focus on my glorious God, I put my Bible on the counter and kept going back to it, highlighting truth about God, keeping my focus on HIM.

I had a wonderful prayer time with Akiko and Reiko.

Reconciliation with Dan this evening and the next morning he said is excited about the possibility of a pregnancy.

Dan and I are of one mind, waiting on the Lord.

March 15

I had a good prayer time this afternoon. I laid the pregnancy possibility out again before the Lord along with all off the thoughts in my deceitful heart as well as my heart’s desires.

It occurred to me –what if people thought I had fooled around and gotten pregnant, since I have such a checkered past. A verse I memorized years ago jumped out at me:

Proverbs 16:7 When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies be at peace with him.

I believe Your word is alive, and that you just spoke to me!

Fear is gone!

325 – Many Trials to Challenge Us

325 –Challenged by

Many Trials

October 18, 1988

TRIALS!!

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 1 Peter 4:12

*Dan’s tailbone is painful

*we all have raunchy homeschool attitudes

*a mix-up with Dan’s driver’s license

*cancellation of motorhome insurance effective Oct 25

*Steve has hives

*boys are desperate for shoes

*we are back at Pletcher’s but we feel awkwardness

*Daniel was due for shots, but we missed getting to the doctor in time, by one hour

October 19

You gave me another blessed day today! Rejoicing attitude.

2 Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God who always leads us in His triumph…please make sure I am always following You in Your triumphant course.

October 22

TRIALS:

*SNOW!! We are freaked! The weather has turned wintry and we haven’t begun the 3000-mile trek west!

*mailbox disappointment: we received $40 instead of the $400 we hoped for so that we could mail our boxes

*frustration at not being sure of our plans

ENCOURAGEMENTS:

*Walter was thrilled to have Dan DONATE the trade school plans he had drawn up

*got to share my heart with Cheryl M

*dinner at the Carey’s

*visited McAloons and got a word from the Lord and prayer

324 – On the Road Again

October 8, 1988

Boy, can I identify with this:

Judges 1 The tribes did not completely conquer their enemies and because of it they were unable to follow God’s commands.

NIV note: God was giving Israel, as His army, the opportunity to develop her skills in warfare and testing her faithfulness to obey his commands.

I see that MY enemies of impatience and anxiety are continually interfering with the peace and love that are God’s commands for me.

Colossians 3:15 Let peace rule in your heart.

1 Corinthians 16:14 Let all that you do be done in love.

He wants me to annihilate impatience and anxiety. With them in my personality I am not able to follow His commands. I am not able to be the person I want to be..

Looking to you TODAY for the victory, Jesus!

October 9 Canton, NC

Aunt Flossie, my maternal great aunt, and her husband, Uncle Al, were so glad they had decided to welcome us to their home. She had worried that it was in disrepair, but all her concerns melted away as love prevailed! [My high school graduation present, back in 1963, had included a plane ride to NC to visit with her.] We were surprised when Al directed us down to the basement shower and there was a huge gigantic spider in it. We didn’t say anything about it, Dan just took care of it.

October 10 Gaffney, SC

Aunt Freda lavished southern hospitality on us, and brought in more relatives to meet us.

Judges 2:2-3 ‘And you shall make no covenants with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’”

It is disobedience to fail in taking a complete victory when that is God’s command. He does not want me making covenants with other gods and taking into my nature what He has dealt with by the cross. Impatience is not a fruit of the Spirit. Anxiety is sin and is not trusting God with my whole heart, which I am expected to do. And they are thorns in my side!

October 11 Rock Hill, South Carolina

Dan’s maternal grandfather, Vernon Grant, had invented the cartoon figures Snap! Crackle! Pop! back in the 1930’s. He was wheel chair bound, and after we were there a while seemed to have some recognition that we were family. His wife Libby and son Chip were very hospitable. We stayed overnight on their property in our motor home. We were so glad we had made the effort for the boys to meet their great grandfather.

October 15 -we are back in Livonia, NY

I did not record the journey back to our Livonia home base!

323 – Trust God and Be Flexible

October 4, 1988 West Chester, PA

Deciding that we needed a school day we stayed in a KOA Campground. Dan worked with Danny and Mark while I worked with Timmy and Steve. We all had showers and I did all of our laundry. Our next stop was Alexandria, Virginia, and our schooling would consist of an extended field trip to DC, focusing on American History and Science! We called my friend JoAnn from a pay phone to confirm our expected arrival time.

Joshua 9-11 I was encouraged to seek God specifically each day regarding school, and to not be hung up on my own understanding and my own plan.

October 6-8 Alexandria, VA

We had 2 full days at JoAnn’s, and we all got to sleep in the house! Reno was JoAnn and Ed’s hometown. Their family had moved across country so that Ed could work in Reagan’s administration. JoAnn and I had taught school together and she was one of my best friends. We had a wonderful reunion.

I got up early to do my devotions. I kept reading in Joshua (chapters 12-14) till I found something that ministered to me. Caleb was 40 when Moses sent him to Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. (I am 43) Caleb followed the Lord wholeheartedly and he and his children received an inheritance. Caleb claimed it and fought for it because the Lord had promised it to him. He drove out all of the enemies.

Lord, I can fight in the spiritual realm through confident prayer and grounded faith and be an overcomer! We can drive out all of our enemies—like Dan praying for Timmy and releasing him from anxiety.

Also read Psalm 6, Proverbs 6, Colossians 1.

Thursday JoAnn had plans, so our family went into Washington DC on the Metro, which was an adventure in itself. The next day JoAnn was available. Again, we took the Orange Line and had another wonderful day. We went to the Smithsonian, the Lincoln Memorial, the Mall. We befriended the teachers of a group of young uniformed Japanese girls. It was a great family experience to be in the Capitol.

On the 7th I read Joshua 15-22.

Be very careful to obey the law that Moses gave…to love your God, to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and your soul.

319 – My Strength is in the Lord!

September 14, 1988

The Billy Graham Crusade was held for four nights in Rochester. Timmy, age 9, went once. I’m not sure if Steve or Mark went. Dan went each night and was up front as a counselor. He had gone door-to-door handing out flyers in our village and one of our neighbors on Big Tree Street got saved. Our neighbor Leslie went with me one night and went forward. I went forward with her. Oh HAPPY DAY!

September 19

Dan called Phyllis in New Jersey. She is very excited to know the dates of our visit. When we leave next week, she will be our first stop. She said the East coast has more new Japanese immigrants and the Bay Area would have second and third generation Japanese. We are trusting the Lord for direction as to where He could use us. Our goal is to live somewhere for a year or so to get experience with be-friending Japanese people and to begin learning the language.

Deuteronomy 20:3-4 Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies and to give you victory.

God met me through the Word: the people and the situations that are strained are not going to overwhelm me if I will not be afraid and if I will trust Him. He will do the behind-the-scenes warfare!

September 21

There is a last-minute list of clothes that I felt we needed. It is pretty basic stuff and it seems our finances were such that we had not been able to purchase them.

September 22

The Elim Fellowship board met AND APPROVED US!! We are now part of an organization who will help us get a placement in Japan.

I asked God to speak to me plainly today:

Joshua 1, God to Georgann:

*Do meditate on the Word day and night

*Do what is in it, i.e., make it part of your life

*Results: you will be successful and prosperous

*Caution: Don’t be terrified

*Do be strong and courageous

*Don’t be discouraged

*Promise: The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

316 – God Keeps Encouraging Us

August 26 – 30, 1988

The Livonia church had a dinner for us. They were especially thankful for the Vacation Bible School that Dan headed up for the children a few weeks ago. The Pletchers came home from vacation and we moved out into the motor home. We went to the Skiff’s house (fellow Elim students) for dinner and they gave us $40 toward our vision for Japan! I called Aunt Flossie and she wants us to come and visit after all. My friends and I kept praying for one another, getting together as much as we could. I will miss my prayer partners: Barb Pray, Sue, Barb Harrington, Cheryl M, Tracey.

Numbers 21:34 Do not be afraid of (the enemy), for I have handed him over to you and his whole army and his land!

God is working with us in all of this planning. And God is working through us. We are to obey and believe and go forward without fear.

September 1

Deuteronomy 1:29 Do not be terrified. The Lord your God is going before you to tell you (where to camp and how long!). TRUST HIM.

September 2

Psalm 101:5-6 My eyes will be on the faithful in the land that they may dwell with Me.

NIV note: the faithful are those who maintain moral integrity.

Dan and I worked on the application to be missionaries with Elim Fellowship. I typed it. We now wait and pray. Later in my devotions I got: Deuteronomy 3:2 Do not be afraid…v22 The Lord your God Himself will fight for you!

September 5

Labor Day—we went to Pittsford to see the Erie Canal. The locks are so interesting. There was some activity and we were fascinated. It was a real day off –we had Dan with us the whole day and we got to take a field trip.

305 – It’s Coming Together

July 25, 1988

The Lord has provided the Pletcher’s house for us to stay in from the time we have to be out of our house for the entire two weeks until Dan is off his job at SouthCo! They are leaving on vacation August 17 and will be gone for two weeks! They have been our longest NY friends. The day after we arrived, Cheryl came by with treats for us and they quickly brought us into their family. They have been faithful and devoted friends.

My doctor turned a checkup about my ankle into a physical for the Elim Fellowship application. $136 – Praise God.

In my devotions today, God gave me a promise for our family’s health on our trip:

I am the Lord who heals you. Exodus 15:26

July 26, 1988

Insurance for the motor home is $271 for a year through a company in Lima. Thank YOU!

Another encouragement for the trip: The Lord delivered his people out of the enemy’s hand as they prayed and kept their trust in Him. Exodus chapter 17

The-Lord-is-my-banner! Exodus 17:15

Banner means: He is my hope and my refuge and my praise!

July 27, 1988

We are sending out a newsletter to our friends to advise them that we are leaving New York. Dan said to keep it short because we have so many gaps in THE PLAN!! Thank you that You know what we are undertaking better than we do and You will enlighten us as we go! I feel we are to concentrate on one step at a time.

A command: Do not be afraid! Exodus 20:20

July 28

Up at 3-4am to pray in tongues. God showed me I didn’t believe He was very reliable and why…I turned it over to Him, and I got release.

An uplifting reminder: The Lord is their strength, and He is the saving refuge of His anointed. Psalm 28:8

301 – Rhema Words for Me

There are two primary Greek words that describe Scripture which are translated word in the New Testament. The first is logos and it refers principally to the total inspired Word of God and to Jesus, who is the living Logos.

A rhema is a verse or portion of Scripture that the Holy Spirit brings to our attention with application to a current situation or need for direction. https://atii.org/

Our Reno Pastor, Dave Fritsche, taught us about receiving rhema words at our church in Reno, Nevada. These were impactful rhemas that I found in my journal:

February 9, 1988

Awake, awake!

Put on your strength, O Zion [O GEORGANN]! Put on your beautiful garments….Shake yourself from the dust, ARISE!….Loose Yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! Psalm 52:1-2

I HEAR: Wake up! NOW! Get strong! Put on your true identity! Throw off the heaviness, and put on the garment of praise, Georgann!!

April 9, 1988

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

He led them by a STRAIGHT way to a CITY where they could SETTLE. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love, and His wonderful deeds for men, for He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107:6-7

I hear: Jesus is going to lead us to a place we can put down some roots!!!

Just pray, ask, listen, follow, go, drive, and you will be there—the place I want you to be.

June 11, 1988

…He works all things according to the council of His will… Ephesians 1:11

He made us in Christ to do good works that He has already prepared for us…Ephesians 2:10

I hear: regarding our moving from NY and regarding my concerns– which were finding a Japanese Christian church where we can work, getting accepted by a missions’ sending agency, getting free of three law suits against us, paying our bills—Jesus has figured it out. Rest in Him.