A Doorkeeper......

Journal Entry from August 16, 2010:

At the end of the Beautiful One Conference, each woman was "randomly" given a slip of paper that had been prayed over with some scripture verses on it. These are the verses I received:

Psalm 84: 10-11

"Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless."

I looked up the meaning of "doorkeeper" in regards to the Lord's temple and found that it was a person who was able to lead others into the glory of God. This was our desire in our situation with Aliyah....to usher others into the glory and presence of God....to allow God to work in BIG supernatural ways.

 Rod and I were given opportunity after opportunity to share with others as to how God was working in our situation. My new prayer became...."Lord, teach me how to be a doorkeeper in your courts." I sensed that it was an awesome responsibility, but I wanted to do it well. When we are a doorkeeper and standing in the Lord's presence....He becomes a sun and a shield to us....He becomes our light and our protection.

Beautiful One Conference

Journal Entries from August 11-14, 2010:                                        

      At the beginning of August, I went to a women's conference called "Beautiful One" in Mechanicsburg with my mom and several ladies from Acts Covenant Church. One of the speakers, Winnie Banov, invited people upfront for prayer. There were many ladies up front praying for people. My mom asked Winnie to pray for the baby. Winnie looked at me and started saying, "Happy baby, happy baby, happy baby." I remember thinking, “This is a strange prayer.” She then put her hands on my stomach and as soon as she did the countenance on her face changed. It was like all fire let loose and she began screaming at my stomach “You will live, you will not die, you will live!!"

    As Winnie was declaring life to Aliyah, I felt that all of the Lord’s fury and anger at what the enemy had done was made known in both the natural and spiritual realm. As she prayed, I could feel the Lord’s jealous love for Aliyah and his hatred for what the enemy had planned for her life.

      I had been praying for more encounters from the Lord and I spent more time in the word I had become fascinated with the stories of angels in the Bible. Two nights after Winnie prayed over Aliyah at the Conference, I had a dream while sleeping in the hotel room. This dream, however, felt just like real life. In the dream, I was lying in the hotel bed and I opened my eyes and looked up at the ceiling. There was an extremely bright light coming down from the ceiling shinning directly on my stomach; the light was almost blinding. And behind the light there was a bright presence and I sensed a being standing there on top of me but I couldn't see any of its features.

      I immediately woke up and shot up in bed. It was completely dark in the room and I noted that everyone else was sleeping in the room. I asked myself, "What was that?" I smiled. The Lord had answered my prayer for an angelic encounter and I felt such incredible PEACE over my entire body and mind.

The Dreams Begin

    There were lots of people who were committed to praying along with us for Aliyah's healing. Many people who were contending for Aliyah's healing began having visions, dreams, and words of knowledge that Aliyah was healed. With each word we received, we continued to press in to the Father's heart in faith.

Journal Entry from July 8, 2010:

Father,
    I received a facebook message from Trishelle saying that she had a dream last night that Rod and I went in to get a follow-up ultrasound for Aliyah. The ultrasound showed that Aliyah was completely normal! Lord.....could it be true? Trishelle is known as a person who has prophetic dreams. She also had the dream on 7/7 which in Scripture represents wholeness and completeness. Lord, may it be so. May Aliyah be healed. Please continue to give us guidance and wisdom! Janae

The Butterflies Continue.....

Journal Entry from July 5, 2010:

Yesterday, Rod and I attended the wedding of some friends, Jon and Carly Buckwalter. While we were enjoying some appetizers at the reception underneath a white canopy, we began talking to Cory and Carrie Martin. They were asking if we had any updates in regards to Aliyah's condition. We started sharing with them about the word spoken over us at Christ Community Church a few weeks before and also about the vision Matt had received with a Gerber Daisy and butterflies.

Cory and Carrie offered to pray for us and began praying for Aliyah's complete healing. At the end of prayer, Carrie said, "Janae, look up." At the top of the canopy we were standing other was a beautiful butterfly circling above us! We felt so known!!

Healing Service

      Rod and I decided that if we were seriously going to pursue healing for Aliyah, we should seek out every healing service we could find in Lancaster County. We joked that we were some of the most prayed for people in the County!

     On June 22, 2010, Rod and I went to Christ Community Church in Camp Hill, PA for their healing service. We had never been to the church before, and had found out about their service online. We went into the church and sat down in the front row with about 15 other people who had come for prayer. We sat soaking in the music from the worship band playing up front.

     I noticed a painted picture on the stage as we were listening to the worship music. It was of a hand reaching out to touch the hem of Jesus' garment. This was what I had prayed so many times over the past few weeks....that Jesus would come close enough to me that I could just reach out and touch the hem of his garment for Aliyah's healing.

     The second part of the service was of children from the church talking what they felt that the Holy Spirit had given them to share. Many of the children were so scared to step up to the mike but some of them boldly talked about a word or picture they had received from the Lord. One of the children's leaders said that she felt the Lord had given her two words for two different people that evening. I don't remember what the first word was, but I will never forget what the second word was......"If someone has come for healing for their daughter tonight, your daughter is healed."

     I almost fell off the front row bench I was sitting on! Could this word of knowledge truly be for us and Aliyah? I quickly looked down the line of people to see if anyone else had brought their daughter in for healing. Everyone else was middle-aged. I of course began to cry and numerous people came around us and joined with us in praying for Aliyah's healing. We had been asking for a sign and confirmation of Aliyah's healing......could this mean that Aliyah was truly healed? We continued to press in.......

    

Rise and Thresh

Journal Entry from June 18, 2010:

Father, Yesterday as I was spending time with You, I felt that You led me to Micah 4:13 which says: "RISE and THRESH, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of IRON; I will give you hoofs of BRONZE and you will break to pieces many nations."

At first, I almost laughed and thought this verse had absolutely nothing to do with me or my life right now. However, as I prayed and pondered the words of this verse and spent some time studying Biblical commentaries, I realized just how very RELEVANT these words truly are for my life right now.

Some of the things the Lord revealed to me as I studied Micah 4:13:

This prophecy was actually given to Israel right after they were told that Babylon would come against them and take them into captivity. Micah 4:13 is part of the promise that the Lord gives to Israel that he will DELIVER THEM and STRENGTHEN THEM so that they are able to eventually overake their enemies. The Lord promises to eventually bring His people back to Jerusalem after being taken into exile by their feared enemies. To "rise and thresh" is to actually a call to take up the fight against our enemies....to remain strong in our faith and wait for the deliverance that the Lord has promised.

If you study the concept of Biblical threshing you will find that in order to separate the grain from the chaff, the farmers would drive their oxen and cart over the grain again and again.....this process would allow the good part of the crop (grain) to be separated from the bad or useless part of the crop (chaff). In the same way that threshing purifies and refines the grain in the natural, it also is a term that refers to the purification and refining our hearts spiritually. Spiritual threshing allows us to trample down the enemies of darkness in our lives.

Even when we do not understand what is going on around us and we are tempted to give up, we are called to maintain the fight of faith and to wait with EXPECTATION in seeing the deliverance of the Lord in our lives! This verse was a great reminder to continue to FIGHT with faith on Aliyah's behalf!!

Butterflies, Cardinals, and Gerber Daisies

      I love to hear the different and unique ways that the Lord chooses to speak into the lives of His children. At times people actually hear the Lord speak in an audible voice to them. But often the Lord speaks to us through the objects, situations, and people around us. The words the Lord declares over our lives at just the right time have the ability to bring such ENCOURAGEMENT and STRENGTH to our souls.......especially when we are walking through the valley of shadows and great darkness.

     Throughout my pregnancy with Aliyah, I often felt that my mind was a continual battlefield. I could literally feel the fear from the unknown of our daughter's future griping me and threatening to steal all life and joy from my soul. I could also feel the FAITH arising in my heart as I spent more and more time in the Lord's PRESENCE.

      Faith and fear are polar opposites. They can not exist together in our hearts at the same time. Scripture tells us that there is NO FEAR in the Lord's perfect love.....it is completely cast out. If we chose to allow ourselves to rest in the love and faith in the Lord, the fear that consumes us WILL BE driven out. My prayer each day while carrying Aliyah was that my FAITH WOULD ARISE causing all my anxiety and fear to flee! I often prayed out loud over our situation on days when my fear was so strong.....and this made all the difference.

      I began asking the Lord for signs of His presence around us....specifically I asked Him to send cardinals and butterflies my way! And the most amazing thing happened after I began praying this prayer....I began to see cardinals and butterflies EVERYWHERE! I mean EVERYWHERE. A cardinal decided to take up residence in our neighbor's tree and nearly every time I went into our backyard, I would glimpse his beautiful bright red feathers or hear him singing a song. Butterflies also came in ABUNDANCE. They showed up on so many days when I was feeling discouraged. I even had one come and land on me!!

      
     At the beginning of June 2010, my sister-in-law's small group from church came and prayed for us. As the group laid hands on us and contended for Aliyah's healing, one of the guys (who we had never met) told us that the Lord had given him a picture. The picture was of Gerber Daisies with their heads completely drooped. Matt noted, however, that as the sun rose upon the daisies, they raised their heads up to the LIGHT and butterflies were released from the flowers' centers. Matt had absolutely no clue how much the Lord was already using butterflies to speak LIFE into our situation!

      "ARISE, SHINE, for your LIGHT has come, and the glory of the Lord RISES UPON YOU. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory APPEARS OVER YOU." Isaiah 60:1-2