God's Footprints in the Sand

I am in Destin, Florida. Over the years I have heard stories about the white sandy beaches, but have never seen them. Well, the beaches here in Destin are the most beautiful white sandy beaches. In the picture above I have a handful of the white sand. It truly is white. It felt so soft and cool in my hands. Having come here from Wisconsin where we see so much white snow, when I looked at the beaches, it reminded me of snow. It was so white, but it wasn't cold.

As I sat in the sand on the beach, digging my bare feet into the soft silky sand, it reminded me of a famous poem. This poem talks about life and how if we love God, we want to walk with him daily. Imagine two sets of footprints in the sand. Think of them as yours and Gods. Then it goes on to say that during the difficult times in our lives we might only see one set of footprints in the sand and we feel so alone. BUT WE ARE NOT. It is during those times in our lives that God will pick us up and carry us. Are you feeling alone today? Let God pick you up and carry you through whatever you are facing in your life.

Isaiah 63:9
In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.

Prayer Blankets

This afternoon we got together to make Prayer Blankets for our ministry. You might wonder, "What is a Prayer Blanket?"

A Prayer Blanket is a soft colorful blanket that is made by a group of people. While we are making it, we pray for whoever is going to need it. Then when we hear of someone who is going through a difficult time we will deliver it to them. We will let them know that we have been praying for them. There are many reasons why someone would want a Prayer Blanket. They are free to anyone who would like to be covered with prayer.

Today we sat around the table in our Office Center and made a Prayer blanket. It was red, black and white fleece print. As we were making the blanket we stopped and prayed for the person who would receive it. We will deliver it to them and pray that God would give us the words to be an encouragement to them.

We are trying to build up our stock of Prayer Blankets for anyone who might need one. We recently gave one to someone who was having surgery, and today the one we made was for a woman who will be having an extended stay in the hospital.

It is such a blessing to offer hope and encouragement to people as they go through difficult times.

If you know of anyone who might appreciate a Prayer Blanket, all you need to do is contact us and we will take care of delivering a Prayer Blanket to them.

If you are interested in helping us make a Prayer blanket we would be happy to have you join us.

deb@hesspeakingarewelistening.com

608-514-9000

Prayer Retreat: Praise God

A skit that was presented at the Retreat was about Mrs. Much to do about Nothing who tried spending time with God, but everything else kept her from doing it. What about you? What keeps you from spending time with God?


Psalm 118:28
You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.

February 6, 2010

What a beautiful day it was. There were about 60 people, of all ages, who attended the Prayer Retreat. My heart was touched when a young lady came up to me and told me that this is just what she needed. When I looked at her, a young woman just begining her life who has a passion for prayer, I wondered, "What is God going to do in this young woman's life?" I did not remember having that passion for God at her age.

Let's all ask ourselves a question.
What does prayer look like in your life today?

A healthy prayer life begins with a choice. You must choose if you want a relationship with God. Once you choose God, and begin to commit to at least 5 minutes a day with him, a relationship with God is born. When we follow through and continue spending time with him, our prayer-life is transformed into a passion.

So let's ask ourselves another question.

What will your prayer life look like one year from today?
52 weeks, 365 days, 506,900 minutes, February 6, 2011

We at He's SPEAKING! Are we LISTENING? Ministry want to help you on your Journey.
(1) We help people to find and create their own LISTENING Room, where they can go and spend time with God.
(2) We have developed our Journeys with God to help you grow in your relationship with him. We believe that He's SPEAKING! BUT, Are we LISTENING?

Please contact us at 608-514-9000, 608-334-9971

robin@hesspeakingarewelistening.com

http://www.hesspeakingarewelistening.com/

Prayer Retreat-Listening Journey of Prayer

February 6, 2010

The Church, 2833 Raritan Road, in Fitchburg, where I used to work 8 years ago, has invited me to be the guest speaker for their Prayer Retreat called, Listening Journey of Prayer. It is so exciting to see a church ignited with a desire for prayer. I just received notice that 53 people are coming to this retreat. Praise God.

The focus of the retreat will be Listening to the voice of God.

We will be talking about 5 questions:

1. What is LISTENING in Prayer?
2. What prevents people from practicing LISTENING in Prayer?
3. What voices do we LISTEN to?
4. How do we respond to LISTENING in Prayer?
5. How can we make LISTENING in Prayer a Passion in our lives?

BREAKOUT Session

They have put together three breakout sessions where the people will learn different ways to spark enthusiasm into our prayer lives. He's SPEAKING! Are we LISTENING? Ministry team will be doing one breakout session. Myself, Marilyn Pientka and Carolyn Hook will be sharing about Listening to God, The LISTENING Room and guiding people on a Journey with God called, Power in Prayer.

The CHALLENGE will be.........................................................

What will Prayer look like in your life ONE YEAR FROM TODAY?
52 weeks…..365 days….525,600 minutes February 6, 2011

We are very excited about this opportunity to serve God. Tomorrow we will post pictures and share with you how God has worked in The church.

It is official: We received our non-profit papers

December 2009

The office space that we were in was rented out, so we had to move to the other end of the building. There was not a mailbox for our new office. We left a note at the other end of the building on our mailbox, but we began to realize that we were not getting mail. So....

January 15, 2010

My wonderful husband Dave, came to our office before he went to work and put up our own mailbox. Now all we needed to do was wait for our non-profit status papers to arrive.

January 20, 2010

Marilyn and I were at the office working. We were sitting at a table discussing the ministry. Suddenly we heard someone by our door. We turned to see who was there and it was the mail-person. It was the first mail we had received in our new mailbox. I quickly jumped to get the mail and as I got closer I thought the return address of the letter said IRS. Could it be what we had been waiting for?

As I picked the mail up I saw there were two letters from the IRS. Marilyn and I each began to open them up. We were so excited when we read the words that He's SPEAKING! Are we LISTENING? Ministry had been approved as a non-profit ministry. The postmark of approval was January 5, 2010. They had sent it to us, but it was returned because they couldn't find us. So we had two letters from the IRS and they arrived as our first mail in our new mailbox. PRAISE GOD!

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

Remember that.......

JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

What will you choose this holiday season?

Every single day we have so many choices to make. It begins by what we want to eat for breakfast, what are we going to wear that day, which way do we want to go to work? There are so many choices from the moment we wake up.

Then we have other life choices like who we will marry, where we will live, and what job we want to pursue.

God created us with the capacity to choose. He did not make us robots? He made us people with minds that can choose what they want in their lives.

Now as the holiday season is upon us we have choices to make as well. When will we put the tree up, what cookies do we want to bake, what presents should we buy?

Do you ever get so crazy busy for the holidays that you do not even have time to do the things you want to do.

Why don't you choose to change this holidays season. You can make many choices that will make your holiday what you want to be. I'd like to share a few examples of change that have helped my holidays.

I realized last week that I had not even begun Christmas shopping. I started to stress about it, but then remembered that I could shop online. So at 11:00 pm I began my shopping at Amazon. Within a few hours everything was bought and would be shipped right to my door. Each time a gift arrived, I would wrap it. Now, I am done shopping and wrapping and relaxing with my holiday.

Another thing, what about company. We always like to have company during the holidays, but then it takes all day to cook. So the past few years, instead of doing this, we invite people over for dessert. That is so much easier.

Baking cookies takes alot of time, and honestly it is not my favorite thing to do. Years ago I would make all kinds of cookies and dread doing it. I made a choice to bake the cookies that I like the best, and that is the only cookie I bake. I take a few hours and make ALOT of them. Then I freeze them, and I am done.

So the bottom line: You have the power to choose what your holiday looks like. What will you choose?

The same goes with our relationship with God. We have to choose if we want to have one. God won't force us to come to him. He wants us to choose to spend time with him. After all, he loves us. In fact, he loves us so much he sent his son Jesus to be born, and then die on the cross, so that if we believe we can have eternal life in heaven. Jesus is the reason for the season. What choices can we make this holiday season to help us remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Can a marraige last FOREVER?

It was over 40 years ago that I met a young man called Dave. He was seventeen and I was sixteen. We were very young, but we had a special connection right from the start. His awesome, sexy smile always warmed me all over. From the moment we met, we spent all of our time with each other.

My senior year in High School this man of my dreams proposed to me. We were engaged and August 1971, we were married.

We thank God for blessing our marriage. CAN A MARRIAGE LAST FOREVER?

Well, the years pass by so quickly. What have we done to make our marriage last? The most important thing was to put God first in our marriage. The second was that we always dated. When children came along, we loved them so much, but we loved each other differently. In a marriage relationship, your spouse must be your second priority after God. How can you do this in a marriage in our fast paced society?

WE HAD A WEEKLY DATE TIME, a time just for us as husband and wife. When the kids came along the dates did not disappear, in fact, they became more consistent because we needed to be alone together. Sometimes those dates consisted of just walking somewhere together, going to a movie, or just out for dinner. Even when we lived overseas, our dates continued. I think what I am saying is that the relationship between a husband and wife needs to grow together as the years pass, not apart because of our busy lives. It takes an effort to do this, but it should be fun too. Then when the kids grow up and start their own lives, your life is still filled with the relationship that you had in the beginning. It hasn’t died because of lack of time together, it has blossomed into something that makes you long to be together.


It’s now 38 years later for us. We are in Paris, France together for the ultimate date. God has blessed us with three wonderful weeks together, and we are enjoying every minute together. We are used to spending time together, because we have done it all our lives.

The ULTIMATE DATE

It was 10:00 pm. We stepped into the elevator that would take us up 90 stories in the Eiffel Tower. Slowing we began to go up into the unknown. Fear was battling inside of me, but I wanted to do this so I would NOT let it control me. As I looked out the windows of the elevator I would see huge pieces of grey metal immediately outside, but if I would look past that I could see the city of Paris getting smaller and smaller. After what seemed like an eternity, the doors of the elevator were opened. I carefully stepped out, not knowing what to expect.

What my eyes saw next was amazing. There was a heavy glass wall up about four feet, and then we were out in the open air. I slowly walked to the edge, holding on tightly to Dave’s jacket as the crowds of people were all around us. He of course, was not afraid at all. His profession takes him up to great heights all the time, but me, this was a very different experience.

I finally reached my hand over and grabbed the railing. Once I had my hands securely on it, I felt better. Then I looked over the edge down 90 stories and it was breathtaking. I could see all the bridges of the Seine River. The lights all across the bridges were making beautiful designs across the water. All of the massive monuments of Paris looked so small from this viewpoint. Then I turned and looked behind me and I could not believe what I saw.

The almost full moon was shining over the whole picture below us. I could not imagine how this moment could get any better. Here I was with the man I loved, in the city of Paris, up as close as I could possibly get to the moon, just being together as husband and wife.

We walked around enjoying the beauty of this moment. Then we walked down a short flight of stairs and there was another room. There were not many people in this area. We walked over to the edge and did something I had always dreamed of. Together we repeated our wedding vows. We committed ourselves to each other for the rest of our lives together. After we said the words, we embraced each other and kissed. I did not think anything could make this moment more perfect, but something happened that I could not believe.

Suddenly the Eiffel tower began to glow with flashing lights. We turned and looked up and it looked like stars were flashing all over the tower. It’s like the tower came alive. It was amazing.

As we stepped back into the elevator to return to reality, music began to play and the tower began its light show. All the way down we listened and watched its display of lights and music. It was more than I could ever imagine. When we arrived on the bottom we ran to the edge where were could see the whole tower and watch the show. Dave took some amazing pictures.

THIS WAS THE UTIMATE DATE we could ever have. Thank you God for ‘going before us’ on this wonderful adventure in Europe. Thank you Dave for being the most WONDERFUL husband in the world. You blessed my life in the beginning and every day since them. You are an amazing man and "I'M THE LUCKY ONE".

As we returned home refreshed and blessed by our European experience, we realize again how quickly life passes us by. We need to make the most of every moment that we are here on this planet earth.

Does God go before us?

Every day as we walked out the door of our hotel, we prayed that God would go before our day. It is amazing when we pray this way how you can actually see God going before you guiding your day. I’d like to share a few God going before us days.

London is an unbelievable city. The people were so friendly and helpful. It felt so good to be able to speak to the people. (In Paris it was hard to communicate because of the language barrier.) In fact, when we first arrived at Bexleyheath, the suburb where our hotel was located, a man helped us above and beyond the call of duty.

We had just arrived at the train station. We had no idea where we were going. I saw this man that looked very nice and I asked him where the taxi cabs were. He not only told us, he walked us over to this phone, picked it up and called a cab and then gave the phone to us so we could tell them where we wanted to go. He stayed with us to help us get our cab and then he said, “This is a real nice area of London. It’s very safe here. I am a retired police officer and I know this area.”

God went before us and sent a special angel to us this day, to direct us.

We arrived at our hotel and it was one of the best hotels we had ever stayed in. Honestly, the bed was like sleeping on a cloud. The pillows were all goose feather, the mattress had a separate 4 inch mattress on top of the mattress set. Then the sheets were unbelievable. I cannot describe what they felt like. I looked forward every night to climbing into this bed. (There was a brochure in the room that had all the info about the sheets, pillows, and down blankets. It would cost about $2,000 to buy the same thing for us at home.) Everything about the hotel was wonderful and it was FREE because of Dave’s traveling points. They treated us like royalty.

Then when we went down for breakfast we knew that we got one free breakfast for Dave because he was the Elite Member of the hotel. As we walked into the restaurant and sat down the waitress said to us, “I checked with my manager and we decided that we will be giving you two free breakfasts.” So every day we were blessed with a full buffet breakfast.

God went before us and provided for our food for FREE.

The first morning while we were waiting in the train station for our train to come, we met Barbara. She looked like she might be in her 70-80’s. She was dressed rather modestly. She asked us where we were going. We told her we were going to London Bridge Station to see the sights of London. She suggested that we go to Victoria Station. She said it would be much better for us. It was much more direct for us.

As we sat there together we talked and she was an amazing woman. The stories that she shared with us about the war years were remarkable. This woman was a very intelligent woman. She had served her country doing ammunition testing, she was a professor at a college and she was currently in school with a program for senior citizens.

My heart was so inspired talking to Barbara. We decided to take the train she suggested. We talked the whole way into London. When we arrived at Victoria station we parted ways, but had been touched by this wonderful woman. Every day that we went into London we took the same train. We really believed it was the best place for us to arrive into London. It was close to everything we wanted to see.

God went before us and provided the inspiration and direction of Barbara. We will never forget her.

All of these experiences also tell us about the people that we should be. Do we have time to help someone else find their way? Do we go the extra mile to help someone? Are we the Good Samaritan wherever we go? It felt so wonderful to encounter all of these people. God blessed our hearts so much. They were all shining examples of who we should be.

DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.

Dear God,
Thank you for going before us. Thank you for sending these people to us. Help us to do the same for someone else.

Isaiah 52:12
But you will not leave in haste or go in flight;
FOR THE LORD WILL GO BEFORE YOU,
the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

IMpossible

We boarded the eurostar train on our way to London. We were excited about our next adventure, riding this train that goes up to 180 miles per hour. The trip would last about two and a half hours.

Our Journey began slow and smoothly, but very quickly we were sailing acrss the countryside of France, which looked alot like Wisconsin. The leaves were beginning to turn the beautiful reds, yellows, and golds of the fall season. We also noticed something very different. The cows grazing in the fields were white. Interesting.

We had been enjoying the scenery for awhile, but we knew that soon we would be arriving to the part of our Journey that we did not know what to expect. What would it be like traveling 3 miles under the English Channel? We waited and watched with great anticipation and then suddenly we looked to the side of the train and there was a big brick wall. Of course we could not see the front of the train, but we knew we were on our way under the Channel. It all happened so quickly, but suddenly it was completely dark on the outside of the train. Inside we had lights on, so it was like we were traveling at night. It really was not fearful at all. It was actually pretty cool. They told us later that they begin the downward descend a long way from the shores of the Channel and gradually you go down. Honestly, we did not feel a thing. It was amazing.

We were under the Channel for about 20 minutes and then as suddenly as it started, we could see the light again. The voice behind me said, "Welcome to England!" We had arrived. Within thirty minutes or so, we were entering the London station.

Our next step was to find the train to take us to our hotel which is about 13 miles outside of London. It wasn't long and we boarded our second train for the day to our final destination, our home for the next five days.

As we were traveling on this train I saw a sign that perked my interest. It had one word on it with two letters crossed out. The word was IMpossible. The IM were crossed out and the word POSSIBLE stood out completely. My mind immediately turned to the eurostar train that we had just come from. It seemed impossible to me that a train could travel under a body of water, but it is POSSIBLE, because I experienced it first hand.

Just take a few minutes and think about all the IMpossible things that have happened in our world today. People who have accomplished these things had to put their minds to doing something, and then work to make them happen. They probably failed at one point or another until the IMpossible became POSSIBLE. They never gave up when things got tough.

What about each of us? Is there anything in our lives that we think is totally IMpossible? Will we give up or keep working at it until the IMpossible becomes POSSIBLE.

God has given us all great minds and with Him guiding those minds, He can help us to turn all our Impossibles into POSSIBLE.

Matthew 19:26b
"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are POSSIBLE.

Do NOT Fear........even in Paris

It's been wonderful for me in Paris this week. I've been able to see the sights and sounds of this beautiful city. Dave on the other hand, has been working hard all week. He's been working with an International Team ( 1 man from each England, Czech Republic, US Dave, Spain, and Norway. They have been evaluating the safety of the men in France who work on elevators. They are all Safety Directors in their countries.

We couldn't use our cell phones over here so communication with each other has been hard. I would never know for sure when he would return to the hotel, because he didn't know either. With just two days left on his work project, I was pretty sure the team would have supper together this night.

So it was 7pm and he wasn't back yet, so I decided to start walking out to our favorite place to have supper. It was an outdoor cafe where we could sit and watch the people walking, biking, visiting and driving around. We enjoyed going there. It was already dark out, but here in Paris it didn't matter. I really wasn't afraid to go out alone at night. WHY?

The nights come alive in Paris. All day long the traffice all around is terrible. People are rushing around doing their own thing, but after 6 pm it's different.

As I walked down the street I came across many people. There were families walking together, children riding bikes, skateboards and just having fun. There were young adults as well as senior citizens. They aren't noisy, but just together. They never really talked to me either.

As I looked around this is how I would describe what I would see.

The streets were very narrow with cars parked on either side. There wasn't more than an inch between each car, many were even touching or parked sideways. The cars are very small and next to the cars there were wide sidewalks. Then at the end of the sidewalk were rows and rows of very tall buildings. The bottom floors could be a business or a home. The buildings were very old, but beautiful. They had very large impressive windows and many had awnings. Everything looked very European.

I enjoyed walking down the streets that night. The weather has been so mild and refreshing. They had very quaint streetlights that brightened the way. The stores were open late and it was fun just window shopping.

Well I finally arrived at my destination, sat down and was served a delicious meal. I watched the sights and sounds of the city as I quietly sat there.

After I finished, I decided to go for a walk around the circle before I headed back to the hotel. I almost decided to go a different way home, but something kept me going in the same direction. Then suddenly I looked up and there was Dave off in the distance waving his hands at me to get my attention. The smile upon his face melted my heart. In this big city, with so many people, the sight of the man I love off in the distance brought total joy to my heart. (I had left a note if he got home he could come there if he wasn't too tired.)

As Dave and I again went into our favorite restaurant for him to eat he said to me, "That was pretty brave of you to walk here all alone." I'm not sure what God is doing in my life on this trip. I have had such peace and joy knowing no matter where I am, I'm not alone. God is always with me going before my day.

I have decided that the next Jouney with God that I write will be, "Do NOT be afraid."

I wonder if I can believe those words with my next adventure. Dave and I will leaving tomorrow and boarding a EuroStar train to London. The fear part of this adventure will be that the train will take us under the waters of the English Channel. My heart is filled with fear thinking about doing this, but fear won't keep me from doing it. God is bigger than my fear. He will go before us. If anything were to happen my peace is knowing we would be in heaven, experiencing the greatest of all adventures that anyone coud have.

I'll write when we get to the other side. London, here we come!

PS Please excuse my writing, I am allowed a certain amount of time and it is a different keyboard.

Walking the streets of Paris at night!

Dave has been pretty busy working, so I have been exploring Paris myself. BUT.......last night we had time together. It was so wonderful. We walked hand and hand to the subway. The weather was amazing. It was just beginning to get dark. My heart was so blessed to be together. We took the subway past the Eiffel Tower and on to Norte Dame. Together we sat in an outside cafe on the Seine River watching the people pass by. It was so romantic and wonderful.

Just an amazing note. I never sleep in late, but I have slept in until 10:00. I don't know if it's the time change or I am so relaxed and stress-less, but it's great. I have never slept in that late.

Dave has been doing an awesome job at his work. He will be done on Tuesday and then we are off to England for 5 days and then back to Paris for 5 more days.

We would appreciate your prayers as we travel this world of ours.