Miracle of Miracles!

This month I have:
~Lost two roommates which means an increase in rent to cover for the room

~2 trips that Impact 195 students are going on and I cannot so I get to take part by paying and praying... where that money would come from, I didn't know but took a step of faith and committed to supporting 2 fellow students.

~Realized that I have been hanging tight to money and paying from my net income rather than tithing out of my gross income. So I took a step of obedience... a "Christianity 101" step of obedience and portioned out my tithe from my gross income.

~Came to work to find out that I am now a Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG) which means an increase in pay! I swore into the Navy in December of 2008 so I thought that I would not promote until December! As I was trying to figure out my finances, I knew that I was taking a couple of little leaps... Like from lily pad to lily pad in a pond... not like from one side of the Grand Canyon to the other, nevertheless they were leaps for me. And you know who was there to catch me and make sure I made it to the other side? The Lord.

My conclusion? God blesses obedience.


I think I need to start a list of miracles in my life:

~Hilary moving to San Diego and being my Summer 2009 best friend when I was desperately lonely
~My Ocean Beach apartment and Carmen
~My schedule at work (working nights) and Impact 195
~Getting time off for our Wilderness trip
~Getting time off for our Nehemiah trip
~Promoting 5 months in advance so that I can give more money to send people and go to the mission field myself in the near future.

God is bigger than the Navy?

So one of my biggest battles with Impact 195 has been fitting it in my schedule at work. I signed up to be a Navy nurse 18 months ago and it is my primary commitment outside of my commitement to Jesus. But when I heard about Horizon School of Evangelism and then Impact 195, I knew I had to do one of these schools. It was a deep longing in my heart and something I just ached to be a part of. So when it looked like it might be possible, I jumped:)

But then, I was not going to be able to keep the night shift schedule and my heart broke. Then God broke through that barrier and I've been on nights for 3 months now and only 6 more to go! I'm learning a lot on night shift and building beautiful relationships with my coworkers and learning a lot about Oncology. Night shift allows you to speak with patients in the lonely hours and it is a wonderful thing.

Then I needed to request a good amount of time off for the trips and I ran into problems with the dates I requested and the dates that this second trip is on. It's called the Nehemiah trip and basically we get to study the Bible in depth for a week... LOVE IT.

I asked for the wrong dates. I got the wrong dates off and got notice on the correct dates from Impact. I was mad at Impact. Mad that they weren't considerate that some of their students also work full time. Mad that I felt disrespected in that I'm working full time and going to school and can't switch my schedule on a whims notice. One person said to me, "God is bigger than the Navy. Pray that you get the dates off." ................................anger, fury, indignation, hurt, distrust...... ugly feelings.

But my mentor encouraged me to pray. And I did and I asked for the dates off. My scheduling officer has gone above and beyond to help me out with my scheduling requests. I don't know how to describe how easy it has been to approach her and work with her. What a relief rather than another burden.

She couldn't get the dates. She tried taking me off the schedule then switching me with people and it just wouldn't work. I was sad but understood.

So I rebelled against the school and decided I'd hit the road and go home and miss a week and a half of school... if they weren't going to respect my schedule, I wouldn't respect theirs. :):):):) Such a godly woman..... (insert lots of sarcasm here...)

And I didn't feel peace about going home, but I got my mom's, Betsy's, Megan's, my sister's hopes up and that felt good. Then God said "You tell your family and friends that you aren't going home and tell your scheduling officer that you don't need time off to go home but if anything opens up for the Nehemiah trip to please keep my scheduling request in mind."

So I worked that night and my scheduling officer said, "Danielle, do you still need that week off? Because I can work it out now. Someone's schedule changed and opened it up."

Is there anything else I need to say?

Family

Today I am so grateful. Grateful for the creation of life. For the miracle of life. For creativity. For beauty. For family and the miracle of the bond which no one can break or explain. I am so excited to celebrate two lives being knit together this weekend. I am so excited to celebrate 4 generations of lives that share a common name and common heritage and common blood. I am so thankful for Grandma and Grandpa and the legacy that they have left. The miracle of a legacy of faith. Just recently, I have been thinking how special and unique a family full of believers is. It's as if the Murphy/Kenealy clan has been chosen by God just as the Israelites were a chosen people. Is that narcissistic? Maybe so, but I can't help but notice the uniqueness of this family. The quote by C.S.Lewis is the closest explanation of the feeling I get when I think of family, life, love...“If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world”

Old Testament Law

Who knew that Old Testament Law could ignite such a grateful, adoring heart for me today!

Deuteronomy chapter 6 God lays out exactly what Israel is to do to keep his favor and love. Here's Danielle's version:

"Here is the commandment and the regulations that god has given you so that you will fear the Lord and so that you will know how he judges that you might find favor with him. Be careful to follow my command and you will be multiplied! Surely you will see the land flowing with milk and honey as I the Lord have promised.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.

These words will be in your heart and this is how you will remember them: you will teach them diligently to your children, you shall talk about them when you're sitting, walking, lying down, and when you get up. You wear them on your arm and write them on your forehead. They will be displayed on the doorpost of your house!

And then the Lord will give you beautiful cities that you didn't build, houses full of things you did not fill, gardens that produce that you did not sow, wells that you did not dig.... "

The Lord our God he is soooooo good!!!! He is faithful. He is a blesser. He is generous. He is forgiving. He is clear about his commands and expectations. He is wisdom. He is a listener. He cares. He is mercy. How can we stop praising and adoring him? How can we deny ourselves his fellowship minute by minute? How can we not see that he is orchestrating every string of life? He is in complete control. He offers leadership to his people and gives us gifts by his spirit to fulfill those leadership roles....

He is good. He is worthy to be praised.

Have you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord. The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary. And the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not grow faint. IS. 40

The Lord does not get tired. We cannot every comprehend how well/how much he understands. He gives us strength b/c we will get tired.

All we have to do is wait on him. Wait on him and strength, might, and power will descend on us and we will mount up on wings like eagles. We will run and not be weary. We will walk and not grow faint.

what a mighty God we serve.

Miracles

I've never quite understood when people say they heard something from God. I've often times said, "God, please help me out here... I don't know what to do and you do." and then I go on my merry way and do the next LOGICAL action. Which sometimes doesn't work or just makes me feel like I'm really completely on my own in life with no higher power looking out for me.

It's going to start out sounding funny... Well the other day I was talking to my mentor and wanted to ask her a question about her son but could not remember his name. So I asked God what it was. And I chose to have peace and faith that he would tell me. I denied the desire to feel anxious and get mad at myself for my poor memory. And then his name just came to me and I was able to ask about her son by name.

Then at work the other night, we were trying to get access to a port-a-cath which is a central line that we draw blood from and give IV medications. We HAVE to get blood return in order to give medications and it saves the patient from getting poked 50 million times for peripheral iv access and blood lab draws. So I was in the room with a corpsman and he had attempted an IV, I had attempted one and he was trying again. We had already done EVERYTHING we could to get blood return including using blood clot busting meds to make the line patent. So I thought, "I'll just try one more time".... after many flushes and no blood return... I finally asked God. I said, "Lord, we need blood from this woman and she is tired of being poked and being in pain." I heard "ask about her children." So I did. And the minute she started talking about them, bright red blood came out of her port-a-cath!!!! We got the lab draws we needed, and we were able to use the central line! I was so excited that I said, "Ma'am do you know what just happened? I asked God how we were going to get blood return and he said to ask about your children and then I got blood return!" She and her husband said that people are praying for her as she fights this oncology battle. I got to tell some of my coworkers too... and though I felt fear of being seen as crazy... it was too cool to keep in:)

I was thinking about it today... about how I know I heard or if it was just my tendency to ask questions about family or the way I pulled the syringe, etc, etc. And I don't know other than I heard the answers to my questions and the answers proved true. It felt like when someone comes up to you on a stressful day and just starts massaging your shoulders. It feels so good and you've done nothing to deserve it, but relaxation flows right through your body. Thats how it felt.

I want to ask bigger things from God now because I think he just might be listening and answering.

LOVE

Sometimes working on an Oncology ward, you get to see the most beautiful simple demonstrations of love. A wife of 50 + years caring for her husband, smoothing out the pain wrinkles between his eyes, lying beside him when he is in pain, making him laugh, singing favorite hyms… death truly can be a beautiful thing. And love in its simplest forms stirs even a hardened heart. Today at work, my heart felt hard. I was irritable and impatient; but I felt my heart melt as I watched this wife care and speak the physical language of love to her husband. How can one not look on and wonder at the love between a man and a woman? Though I am sure they have had struggles and have hated one another at times. And though sometimes the husband gets impatient with the motherly like questions his wife asks while he is here, love is evident and has sustained them. What a gap for this woman when her husband finally passes. The person she has woken up to every morning, shared her concerns about life with, cried with, laughed with, played with, discovered, created… her steady companion who knows her better than anyone else on earth will soon be gone from this life. What tragedy and yet beauty for it proves true that one can truly stick together come sickness or health.

How deep how wide, how long, how high

I pray that Christ would be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. That your roots would go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love and may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should how wide, how high, how long and how deep God's love really is. My you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understandt it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (It's in Ephesians and it's beautiful:))

I pray that I will have a profound, genuine experience of God's love. We were challenged today to pray this and only this for one year. I thought, that's a really good idea. Then I went home and said, "God, I would like to have a profound, genuine experience of God's love. Also, I would like to fall in love. Also, I would like Katie to move to San Diego. Also, I would like to conquer my fleshly desires. Also, I would like supernatural patience and wisdom with my patients at work tonight."

So much for one prayer for the rest of the year:)