I still get inspired when I read the miraculous stories of Jesus healing a multitude of people.  Probably as fast as the internet service is today, the good news of Jesus traveled just as fast, causing many to come far for their deliverance. 

Over and over the Word reminds us that God heals. Yet sometimes when you’re in the valley, it’s so hard to believe God is going to help you.  From January 11th to January 27th 2006, I doubted God when my then five-year old son, Timothy James, suffered a severe asthma attack.  But God, my Shepherd, led us through this dark period and gave me a heart story in the process.
 
My testimony began on January 11th when Timothy had trouble breathing.  That winter he caught many colds, even pneumonia.  But this sickness was different.  He was not only was congested, but his abdomen kept retracting.  So after seeing him suffer long enough, I rushed him to the ER. There the doctor and four nurses frantically worked on my son.  They checked his vitals and gave him a nebulizer treatment to open his airways.  As I helplessly watched, my heart raced. 

“How long has he been this way?”  The doctor questioned.

“Well, he’s been having trouble for two days.”  I numbly responded.

“Is your son asthmatic?” 

Asthmatic?  Was the doctor serious?  I pride myself on the fact that I know a lot about my four kids.  I know what foods they like, their best friends, even their favorite colors, but I never knew my son was asthmatic.

Hesitantly I answered, “I don’t think so.”

Within thirty minutes, I saw my son rushed to the ICU where he remained for two days.  After taking x-rays, the doctor informed me that Timothy was battling bilateral pneumonia, which probably triggered the severe asthma attack.  So along with Timothy’s nebulizer treatment, he was also given antibiotics.  However, by January 13th Timothy’s health had deteriorated, and my faith was fading. Yes, God’s word reminds us that faith can move mountains, but this mountain seemed enormous.  I felt hopeless.

Then my husband Larry and I worried even more when Timothy was suddenly intubated.  The doctor said Timothy was going into respiratory failure and had to be put on a breathing machine.  We paced the floor praying.  It was through my time alone with God that I was led to have Timothy transported to another hospital that was used to severe asthma cases like his. 

By the end of the night my husband and I were again pacing and praying, but in a different hospital.  The nurse was honest; Timothy’s vitals didn’t look good. She explained that the next few days were going to be shaky.

So I went into prayer.  My husband and I read scriptures and played praise & worship music.  We were declaring war.  Friends and family prayed, and gradually Timothy began to improve.  While the doctors and nurses remained baffled about Timothy’s turnaround, Larry and I rejoiced.  God is a healer!

By January 20th, Timothy was extubated, and two days later he was moved from the Pediatric ICU to the regular Pediatric floor.  I could only praise the Lord again.  For fourteen days we had many scares, from the doctors thinking Timothy could have hepatitis to Timothy possibly needing a blood transfusion. But God fought every battle. Even though Timothy had to go to rehab after he left the hospital to learn how to walk again, he’s made a full recovery.  Indeed, God is still performing miracles today.  Timothy is a blessed example.

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I just came back from the Smokey Mountains. They were magnificent. I loved them. From a distance they were beautiful, majestic, and a bit mysterious. Although I’m a city girl, I love the mountains. I’ve seen the sunrise over the Himalayan Mountains, took an airplane trip to the peak of Mount Everest, driven through the Rockies, took helicopter rides to the summits of Hawaii’s most beautiful mountains and even managed to climb in the Balkan Mountain range. Here’s what I can tell you from these experiences, a trip to the mountains is an awe-inspiring experience. But it’s not without personal cost. I have learned up close and personal encounters with mountains can be exhausting, painful and even dangerous. It’s also peaceful, restoring, and revealing. That’s why I am extending an invitation to come mountain climbing with me. I’ll help you learn a few techniques, point out a few pitfalls and introduce you to the majesty and wonder of God’s presence.

In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of all—the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship. People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways,

and we will walk in his paths.” Micah 4:1-2a (NLT)

I’ve learned the Lord wants, and I’ll go so far as to say He longs to take you to new heights of relationship with Him. He wants to take you to the mountain top so he can love you, teach you, empower you and work through you in a more spectacular way than you ever dreamed possible. There are powerful, new places to which He wants to lead. Do you want to miss all that God has planned for you? No, of course not! But it’s so easy in the hectic rush of every day life to hurry past the magnificent summits to which God wants to lead without even noticing them. It sounds impossible, but it’s happened to you before, and I dare say that it will happen to you again if you don’t slow down and answer HIS CALL to come apart. Be still and hear His voice calling you to come up to His holy mountain.

Ah, I hear my lover coming! He is leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. My lover is like a swift gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he is behind the wall, looking through the window, peering into the room. My lover said to me, “Rise up, my darling! Come

away with me, my fair one! Song 2:8-10 (NLT)

At Heart to Heart this term we’ll revisiting a mountain top experience of one of God’s servants each week. From these summits we’ll experience the place of God’s presence, and learn of His longing to speak to us and love on us. In the peaks we will learn how God’s provision is released through obedience, giving and prayer. We’ll see God as He truly is and find a cleft in the rock where he will give us insight and direction. Though the peaks can be dangerous, they are also a place for protection in times of financial oppression, enemy attacks, heartache and personal failure. We’ll come to embrace the place of solitude and prayer. The lessons will start promptly to give more time in your small groups for discussion and of course prayer. Included in your notes each week will be a place you can record your thoughts, prayers and answers from the Lord, a sort of prayer journal. At the end of the lesson will be part of an allegory of another young woman’s trip through the mountains that is a part of my next book. You get a sneak peak. But the most glorious view will be of the Lord Himself as you undertake your own personal journey through the mountains of HIS WILL. You won’t want to miss one of the five weeks.

If you are new to Heart to Heart; let me explain that it is a ministry designed to empower women through love, sharing, prayer and the ministry of the Word.  It is definitely not women’s ministry as usual.   We realize women don’t need one more thing to do in our over-crowded, over complicated lives.  But we do need connections; we need help balancing the craziness of life in the 21^st Century. And many of us need to find healing for emotional wounds of the past and present.  We’re so busy taking care of everyone else we rarely have the time or energy to take care of ourselves.  Heart to Heart is a holistic approach to these needs.  This year Heart to Heart is offering something new; small groups for children called “Little Hearts” curriculum that parallels the women’s, called “Mountain Climbing.”  For a small registration fee your children will receive a nylon backpack, mountain climbing supplies, fun crafts and their own prayer journal. Each week they will receive a take-home paper with ideas for family fun times and discussions based on that week’s lesson that you can share with them.

The doors open each Wednesday night at 7:00.  The children will go to their small groups and all the women will come into the multipurpose room for a time of pampering, food, a visit to the coffee bar and fellowship.  The meeting formally begins at 7:30 with a time of teaching.  This is new. There will be no preliminaries, as I want to give you as much time as we can for small group discussion and prayer. In your small group you will be able to make connections with women that can support and assist you through the ups and downs of life.  This is where the real fun begins.   Heart to Heart wants to encourage, empower and equip you to effectively minister to the world around you.  The small group ministry is just the beginning.  The small groups will reach out to women elsewhere through special events, seminars, retreats and conferences. I’m looking forward to the journey we will take together…Pastor Chris

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