This past Friday I was blessed to Shut IN with some very special ladies. Ladies willing to let God use their gifts,their hearts and their experiences with God. As we where praying and worshiping our way through the night one of the Ladies came up to give her testimony. Her testimony was one of a past of drug use, prostitution and low self-esteem. She had sank so low she found her self behind bars. This would be her time to discover truth! The truth that she was created for a purpose. That there was purpose behind her pain and that she was loved. Her story of recovery continues. As she brought her testimony to an end I could feel the tears welling up inside myself. My spirit was witness with hers.

I had also spent a season of my life giving myself away to men for a love I could not find and for NO MONEY. I too once used drugs. I too was not fit to raise my children even though I was saved from that disgrace. This was a new experience for me. This was the first time, as tears flowed down my face, that I publicly admitted to what I had been saved from! I had written it down but never had the courage to speak it out loud! Finally the shame and worrying about what others might think or say was gone!

One of ladies thanked us for our willingness to share, she said we where RENOVATED WOMEN! I like the sound of that! I have been RENOVATED by a Savior that has at all points been tempted as I have been. I am Saved by a Savior that knew what I WOULD DO before I did it and chose me anyway! Is there anything that needs to be RENOVATED in your Life?

As the evening continued on till the morning we all witnessed the power of the HOLY SPIRIT! We experienced a Night with the King! We where encouraged to have a fighting faith that takes it by force! And we where asked, "What is that one thing you have been waiting for God to do because He is here!"

For me, I had been asking for a wall to fall down that was preventing me from ministering as effective as I could. I believe my prayer was answered. I had been asking for direction, I believe direction was given! God is up to something!

Thanks for reading!

~Leanne

¹ “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. ² In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence. ³ Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.” Hosea 6:1-3

At Praise AG our Pastor's wife put out a proclamation that we are "Breaking Free" this year from all chains, bondage's and strongholds. This past week I got hit with something that really hurt me. I talked to God about it, cried, and shared with him how hurt I was over the situation. He reminded me of Kim's proclamation and said this.." To break free, all things have to come to the surface to be dealt with." The deeper the issue the deeper God has to go to bring it to the surface breaking us to pieces in the process. This brought me peace because I now knew God was using this to break me free from past hurts.

A few days latter a friend and I were getting the music ready for this weeks "PWM" meeting God lead me to Hosea 6.. Wow, confirmation for the word he gave me a few days before... When we are serious about healing and breaking free God is quick to begin his good work in us. He tears us to pieces so he can heal us.. Hosea says, as we press into him he will respond to us as surely as the dawn comes.

The next time your dealt a situation that brings hurts or a sin that keeps raising it's ugly head, run to God. Though he allows us to hurt he's faithful to heal us in the process.

Hmmmmm........ Healing Salt for our wounds. :o)

Cherie

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7 (NASB)

I was asked to speak at our PWM ~ Breaking Free 09' Womens Retreat this past weekend. I was excited going into this because I hadn't given my testimony to anyone but our Pastor's Wife who asked me to speak. We have only been in Beaufort SC for 5 months and I am still getting to know everyone at our new church.

The retreat started out with a bang. For the first session, our pastors wife asked myself and the other speaker to join her in a skit. This skit opened with Casting Crowns "East is from the West" song as one of the husbands (being Jesus) walked down the Isle carrying a pretend cross. The reason, for us to yell at Jesus about the things we feel he has left us alone in. This would not be an easy skit for me. I have some things that I have never said out loud much less yelled them at Jesus.. I prayed just before time to do this and asked God for his forgiveness for what I was about to do...

The other two speakers went before me and moved the audience to tears with their pleas. When it came my time to let Jesus know how I have felt my heart became overwhelmed at the thought of yelling at my Savior... The tears began to flow and would not stop... first I said, "Where were you Jesus when my life was turned upside down at 6 and my daddy left me." The second, "where were you Jesus when my step father decided to do things to me that should not be done to a child", then the one that turned out to hurt the most... "Where were you Jesus when my daughter was born with CP... and I had to watch all my dreams die, where were you Jesus...." We then ran down to the cross one by one and wept at Jesus feet.. We told him we realize that he was there all along... for me the tears would not stop. I have felt all of these things so many times but never had the guts to let Jesus know. This was my first chance to get it all out... and I did!!!

I can say that this was the hardest thing I have ever said out loud to my Savior. But I can also say that God moved in the three of us and the ladies in attendance in the most powerful way. Women were breaking free from their bitterness and un-forgiveness. The word tells us to "Ask" and we shall receive, "Seek" and we shall find, "knock"and it will be opened to us.. So we did with passion and all the strength we could each muster...

By the end of the retreat God had moved so much with in each of the ladies that everyone knew Jesus had been there all along in their own trials...... We can ask God anything and he will answer. We can seek Him and always find Him.. We can knock and he will answer no matter how hard it is for us to say what we need to say.... He is a faithful Father and will not turn us away!! Praise The Lord!!

Cherie