Birthday

Today is my birthday! The number is a bit scary. It's funny...I don't think of myself as being this "old." Ha ha. My prayer this morning was to not waste this day. I guess it is normal when you have a birthday to look back over the years and wonder if your life has mattered.

Has my life been successful? I guess that depends on how you define success. If it is based on fame and fortune, then probably not. At least not fame. Although after speaking at The Cove Church a month ago I am being recognized in stores around town. That has been a weird experience for me to have total strangers come up to me and say… “Aren’t you the one I saw speak the other week at The Cove?” After picking up 17 year roots in Ohio and planting a new life in North Carolina and never recognizing a soul when I go out , this has made me feel a little more like home here.

Successful as far as fortune? I am blessed. I have not only what I need, but far more. It is good to be financially blessed but not nearly as good as being blessed by love. I have a wonderful husband, 3 terrific adult children, a grandson and a multitude of great friends in every state I have lived in (Ohio, Michigan, Texas and NC).

But my idea of success now adays is weighed in a different way. Am I successful in what I have been created to do? Now that is the real question. What good is a can opener if it doesn’t open cans? Or a waffle maker that doesn’t make waffles? Or a lamp that doesn’t light?

So what have I been created to do? The same thing that you and all creation have been created for...to worship God. Wow, all the years of “trying to find myself and trying to find my purpose in life” and it comes down to being this simple. I am here to know God and make Him known. And bring glory to Him.

So this day I want work towards this goal. I want this year to be my most successful year ever!!

Believing in God in my opinion is in everyone’s heart in some individuals is a weak luminous buried and covered by a thick crust, in others it is a light that “infects” people around you. (-Beth Moore)

I want to infect others!! And in doing that, I will be successful.

His Light Shines When All Else Fails!

Have you ever had a moment in life that took your breath away? A moment that you have to keep replaying in your mind over and over again just to try to comprehend the awesomeness of it? I had one of those moments June 18, 2011 at 197 Langtree Road in Mooresville, NC.

I had the awesome opportunity to join forces with Pastor Mike Madding at The Cove Church to bring the message. I will have to share in the future how this all came about but right now I want to share the very real way God showed up. The topic of the message was Moses and the burning bush. God spoke to Moses through the burning bush. He spoke to me through a power outage.

I knew about the speaking opportunity coming up for a couple weeks. I have done this before and but this time it would be different. This was going to be much much larger assignment. 4 services, 4000 people or more, live cast to 2 satellite churches, lighting, cameras, microphones. I have to admit that I was a bit freaked out over all the media. But I pressed forward through the nervousness because I knew that God was calling me to do this.

I got to church 2 hours early to rehearse and go through sound and lighting checks. It was sunny when I got there. Windows line the two side walls of the auditorium. The shades are always drawn for the services for the use of media. But for the first time in the 12 year history of the Cove Church Pastor Mike asked for the shades to be raised. You may wonder why I am mentioning this little tidbit but it is important little fact to hear to understand the rest of my blog message.

I was backstage listening to Mike's message and suddenly 2/3 of the way into his sermon, the power goes completely out. Panic set in at first as I deliberated on how I would speak to an auditorium of people with no mic? How would I glance at my notes on a dark stage? But that panic was very short lived. Suddenly I felt God say to me, "Patti I am here." So immediately I felt God's presence and His peace. It was then my moment to go out on stage . Because the shades had been left up, I could easily see and make my way onto the stage. And I spoke my whole message without a microphone. And my voice carried to the back row of this very large auditorium. I keep thinking about this. In fact I cannot keep from pondering it. I did not speak any louder than usual. My husband was in the very back row and he said he heard me perfectly, even better than he heard the pastor. How? Only God. There is no other explanation. He made my voice carry to the back of the auditorium. Wow! The power outage changed the whole atmosphere. It really calmed me and it was like speaking to friends in a big living room. I have no doubt, and my pastor said the same thing, that God showed up and intervened on my behalf. He knew that all the media was making me nervous so He took care of it for my first time out. He brought a sudden storm, knocked out the power, had Mike decide before the service to lift the shades, and made my voice carry. No way was this all coincidental. Pastor Mike said never before had they had the service with the shades up, and never before has The Cove Church lost power for a service.

People have been contacting me since and telling me that they have never experienced the presence of God so much as in that Saturday evening service. God showed up in a very real, practical way. And once you have experienced God in such a real personal way, it is hard to remain unchanged. I am in awe that He would even choose to use me. And then more in awe of how He concerns Himself with every detail and concern I have and He came down to show Himself to me and to to the others who were there. I truly felt as if I was treading on holy ground.

We had power for the other 3 services the next day by the way. They all went well but I will never forget this Saturday evening service when He showed up and His light shone when all else failed.

Thank You God for gracing us with Your Presence.

Boy, not sure how to start this. I have been wanting to start a blog but unless you are starting something new...new hobby, trip or some new experience, how do you just dive in and start? I used to have that same problem when I would paint. You have a nice fresh perfect piece of paper or canvas. So hard to think of putting a mark on it and risking making a mess of it.

I know what I want to talk about in my blogging. Or should I say Who I want to talk about. There is absolutely nothing more I like to talk about than God. I have been so radically changed since my relationship with Jesus Christ went personal (December 31, 1992). Truly life-changing. I have seen many miracles. God has showed Himself to me in many real ways. There is nothing I would rather talk about, or blog about that my growing relationship with Him...not to brag on myself in any way. But to brag on Him and make Him known.

There is no way I can go back to 1992 and start from the beginning. So I will just dive in and share what He is doing now in my life, and occasionally retrieve past events so that it all makes sense.

I am blogging for my own sake and for those who have shared in this journey with me as a way of recording and remembering what God has done. And for those of you who may not know me, well I just pray that through my writings you will come to see that this God I know is a very personal and loving God and He cares about every detail in your life. He is not a remote God that just created the world, stuck us in it, and left us to fend for ourselves. He is real. He loves you. And He will make Himself very real to you if you ask Him to.