Call forth the MEN!

I am up now… 3:52 am just praying and interceding for the next generation. I have such sadness in my heart for what the girls and their friends are going through right now. A lot of these teens have been on their own, being raised as latch key kids while their moms are out working…. Some of them have dads in the home, but a lot are raised by single parents…

They have such peer pressure and one country song in particular is breaking my heart for the battle that we are in. One song keeps going through my mind regarding one girl in particular . The name of the song is “Whiskey Lullaby.”  Her mom works and is away on the night shift fairly regularly. She is home alone a lot… so she parties and has people stay over a lot).  Anyway, they have a nice house, but I don’t think they have a “home”… home is where the heart is… and she certainly doesn’t have a faith to help her through. 

God keeps asking me to “just be a mom to these kids.” They just need to be loved and shown the heart of Jesus through His people. God bring each one of them to You. Bring teens to “Consumed” this weekend and touch their hearts with the “Father’s Love.”

Thank You LORD, that you are bringing close to 100 teens out to Thrive on Wednesdays and we hear of salvations on a regular basis… but LORD, please deliver these young people from the lies of the enemy. Give them the Father that so many of them need and give them back their mothers who have been taken away through working and slaving away to live a solitary life outside of family… You promise “to place the solitary in families,” LORD, so bring these young people (and their parents) into family and help us to be You to them. Show us how to truly LOVE as You have LOVED!! Equip us LORD, revive us LORD, prepare us LORD for YOUR HARVEST!!

I have been reading in one of the Covenant Keepers newsletters where women are there to pray and call forth MEN who would become intercessors to stand in the gap. Men who would pray and become watchmen on the walls. (Isa 63:6) In Jeremiah 9:17-21 the LORD calls the mourning women: skillful wailing women, to pray so that repentance might come to the men… “that our eyes may run with tears and our eyelids gush with water.” Women must fulfill that call and pray for more men to take their rightful positions as heads of households, to become the Watchmen on the Walls, protecting their families from the attacks of the enemy!!!

I had my heart transformed by a Covenant Keepers article… it is such an eye opener on how to pray into rebellion in our youth. She calls it simply the “outer manifestation of a broken heart.”  Divorce between parents produces a brokenness in the Spiritual “One Flesh” unity…. It produces broken hearts in our children and teens that many times results in open rebellion.

Rebellion is also a sign of lost respect for authority, and children often lose respect for their parents who are unfaithful in marriage and not true to their promises and their words.

Anyway, my heart is more at peace after I have been “gushing with water” and interceding for them. 

LORD, men would die in wars past for our freedom and liberty... make men aware of this same need to lay down their lives for their  families now... and battle and intercede in prayer.

Women pray that men would answer their calling to be "Watchmen on the walls" protecting their families from the attacks of the enemy!

AMEN!

In honour of two wonderful people…Colleen Jack Pendleton & her Father Chief Jerry Jack Sr.

This weekend was the Memorial Potlatch for Chief Jerry Jack Sr. and his daughter (and my good friend) Colleen Jack Pendleton.  Their lives were cut short; Jerry in a First Nations Canoe Accident and Colleen with a Heart Virus; so this post is dedicated to my friend and my sister.

As their lives were celebrated this weekend in Port Alberni, I was remembering many gifted moments of friendship.  Colleen was a rare treasure indeed.  A beautiful First Nations woman who loved her family and the culture of her family, but who had openly received and shared the beautiful gift of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I remember many moments in time… 

I know she was one of those faithful Christians women who prayed everyone they knew into the Kingdom of God… myself and my two girls included.  She told me once, that even before she had met us, she would see us sitting by our patio window as she would go into her church.  When she saw us, she would lift us all before the LORD… and thankfully, God answered her prayers!!

I remember going with her to help serve at potlatches in Gold River, and she would always introduce us all as “Her Christian Brothers and Sisters.” She touched my heart and truly was one of our family.  I remember the Halibut Cheeks and the Hooligan Oil (that I never dared to try!), and the many hours in preparation for the parties.

I also recall Tetley Tea (in the circle bags) being the ONLY tea as far as Colleen was concerned.   And I remember teaching Colleen to drive an automobile.  She would practice on the roads on the Gold River reserve and of course, she would take every opportunity to pray as we did so.  We spent many a night there doing a Kids’ Club as well.

I remember tense moments running alongside her towards her burning trailer as we prayed “God, let nothing precious be destroyed”… and God answered our prayers in such a beautiful way.  No one was hurt, only one room in her home was damaged and a very special photograph, in the midst of the fire, remained undamaged.  God truly had protected all that was precious.

And, of course, there were the various trips down island for the Renewal Meetings, Retreats and Christian Fellowship.  We took part in Birthday Parties,  Baptisms, BBQs, Prayer Meetings, Kids’ Clubs, Potlatches, Shopping Trips (especially when it came time for one of the Jack Family parties!!) and much, much more.  I especially remember the joy of “Cleansing and Filling Prayers” while in Campbell River and Alexander’s “Gold fillings and no cavities” with all the Glory going to God.

I remember holding Colleen’s Wedding Shower at our home and finally meeting her long lost love, the elusive Steve Pendleton, for the first time.  What Steve must have thought about us crazy Christian women as we convinced them to don that new type of headdress!  (What great sports they both were.)    It was always a special time when her Father Jerry Jack Sr. would come along as well.  The conversation was always filled with questions and stories… and lots of laughter… and yes, even a few tears over the time, but Love was truly in the House.

Then when Colleen and Steve finally were able to tie the knot, I cried as I watched my girls standing alongside them as flower girls. She was finally able to share her Covenant Wedding Vows with her man Steve.  What a journey that was, but God brought honourable, true love to fruition and He was glorified through her faithfulness in the process.

We didn’t see as much of Colleen after her move with Steve to Neah Bay, but occasionally she would travel back up to visit her sons and her beautiful grandbabies!! Or we would get together for an occasional camping trip or another one of those parties.

Colleen was a true blessing to all who knew her and she is greatly missed by family and friends.  Fortunately, no one could doubt her faith in her LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ… We all know that we will meet again one day.  God just wanted her to join Him a little bit earlier than we had thought possible.  I am sure Colleen is there, alongside Jesus, interceding for all of us and, I suspect, even trying to convince God that Tetley Tea belongs in heaven too.

Thank you Colleen for touching our lives so completely. May your family and friends continue to be blessed by the prayers that you have raised and by the love that you have shared. God bless!

“Mom, who’s paying for my wedding?”

I just read a Focus on the Family article which reminded me of a question my daughter asked me a couple of months ago.  Mikayla and I had been watching an episode of “Rich Bride, Poor Bride”  when out of the blue she asked; “Mom, who’s paying for my wedding?”

I have to admit to being a little unprepared for this question.  You see, my daughter doesn’t have a boyfriend (that I am aware of anyways) and is ONLY 14 years old.  Adding to the shock value of this question, was the fact that we had just finished watching a show where the total cost of the “Princess Bride Wedding” was well over $50,000. 

I made note of the question on my ‘Facebook” status and thoroughly enjoyed all the responses to my predicament.  I think that I will keep them hidden away in her Baby book and bring them out for a laugh at her actual wedding (hopefully several years down the road!)

Anyway, back to the Focus on the Family article that got me thinking about this again.  The title of the article was Considering the case for early marriage - Focus on the Family article by Jim Daly.

Daly noted several points that are worth considering, but the gist of the article flows from the thought by Dr. Mark Regnerus, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Texas that “Christians have spent too much time promoting abstinence before marriage and too little promoting marriage as a viable option institution for Twenty-something believers.” 

Brides in biblical days actually got married in their teens… They say that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was probably between 13 and 15 when she married Joseph.  And of course, there were those  “pre-arranged marriages.”  I wonder what the Twenty-something's of today would think of those?

Just possibly this all this comes down to the fact that we have actually been fighting the wrong battle… Maybe we should have been focusing on the real war; the attack against Marriage as God originally intended it…

The marriage of one man

and  one woman…

For Life… And Life

Eternal!

Preparing to CRY OUT for our Nation at TheCRY Vancouver… August 15th

I received a promotions package for TheCRY Vancouver last week.  Since then, the desire has been steadily increasing and growing in my Spirit to see the people of British Columbia and especially those of us  here on the West Coast and Vancouver Island take a STAND for Righteousness in the Name of Jesus! 

Standing - TheCRY Vancouver * August 15, 2009

So yesterday I opened up GOD.TV on my computer and selected the On Demand Section.  The LORD lead me to choose TheCRY St. John’s.  I have had it on all day… listening and watching, joining in their CRY, praying and battling worshipfully for this nation.   

I joined with them as they prayed as ONE Nation… joining with Jesus in His prayer that we would be ONE with the Father, just and the Father and He are ONE.  All the diverse cultures in Canada coming together as ONE under God!

I joined with them as they prayed for marriage in our Nation as God intended.  One man and one woman… MARRIED FOR LIFE!!

I joined with them as they prayed for the deliverance of those caught in Human Trafficking here in our nation and beyond.

I joined with them as they prayed SILENTLY for those who do not have a voice…. For the babies who have had their CRY and their lives cut short through abortion.  To give a voice to the voiceless.

On August 15th, we have an opportunity to STAND for OUR NATION in prayer and worship, to STAND for a GENERATION  yet unborn through prayer and worship, to STAND for THE WORLD as Canada fully walks in Her GOD-GIVEN DESTINY to bring HEALING TO THE NATIONS!

Join with me as we go to Vancouver and join in TheCRY Vancouver 2009.  For more information go to www.thecry.ca

Join in TheCRY

for Canada!

The Wedding Gown That Made History

I just received this story in an Email from Irene Cheese and was so touched that I wanted to share it far and wide!  Enjoy… but make sure you have the Kleenex handy!  God bless, Debbie <><

The Wedding Gown That Made History

Lilly Friedman doesn't remember the last name of the woman who designed and sewed the wedding gown she wore when she walked down the aisle over 60 years ago..  But the grandmother of seven does recall that when she first told her fiancé' Ludwig that she had always dreamed of being married in a white gown he realized he had his work cut out for him.
For the tall, lanky 21-year-old who had survived hunger, disease and torture this was a different kind of challenge.  How was he ever going to find such a dress in the Bergen Belsen Displaced Person's camp where they felt grateful for the clothes on their backs?

    Fate would intervene in the guise of a former German pilot who walked into the food distribution center where Ludwig worked, eager to make a trade for his worthless parachute.  In exchange for two pounds of coffee beans and a couple of packs of cigarettes Lilly would have her wedding gown.

   For two weeks Miriam the seamstress worked under the curious eyes of her fellow DPs, carefully fashioning the six parachute panels into a simple, long sleeved gown with a rolled collar and a fitted waist that tied in the back with a bow. When the dress was completed she sewed the leftover material into a matching shirt for the groom.

   A white wedding gown may have seemed like a frivolous request in the surreal environment of the camps, but for Lilly the dress symbolized the innocent, normal life she and her family had once led before the world descended into madness.  Lilly and her siblings were raised in a Torah observant home in the small town of Zarica, Czechoslovakia where her father was a melamed, respected and well liked by the young yeshiva students he taught in nearby Irsheva. 

 
He and his two sons were marked for extermination immediately upon arriving at Auschwitz .  For Lilly and her sisters it was only their first stop on their long journey of persecution, which included Plashof, Neustadt, Gross Rosen and finally Bergen Belsen.

Lilly Friedman and her parachute dress ondisplay in the Bergen Belsen Museum
  Four hundred people marched 15 miles in the snow to the town of Celle on January 27, 1946 to attend Lilly and Ludwig's wedding.  The town synagogue, damaged and desecrated, had been lovingly renovated by the DPs with the meagre materials available to them.  When a Sefer Torah arrived from England they converted an old kitchen cabinet into a makeshift Aron Kodesh.
    "My sisters and I lost everything - our parents, our two brothers, our homes. The most important thing was to build a new home."  Six months later, Lilly's sister Ilona wore the dress when she married Max Traeger.  After that came Cousin Rosie.  How many brides wore Lilly's dress? "I stopped counting after 17." With the camps experiencing the highest marriage rate in the world, Lilly's gown was in great demand.

    In 1948 when President Harry Truman finally permitted the 100,000 Jews who had been languishing in DP camps since the end of the war to emigrate, the gown accompanied Lilly across the ocean to America .  Unable to part with her dress, it lay at the bottom of her bedroom closet for the next 50 years, "not even good enough for a garage sale. I was happy when it found such a good home."
   Home was the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington , D.C. When Lily's niece, a volunteer, told museum officials about her aunt's dress, they immediately recognized its historical significance and displayed the gown in a specially designed showcase, guaranteed to preserve it for 500 years.

   But Lilly Friedman's dress had one more journey to make. Bergen Belsen, the museum, opened its doors on October 28, 2007.  The German government invited Lilly and her sisters to be their guests for the grand opening. They initially declined, but finally traveled to Hanover the following year with their children, their grandchildren and extended families to view the extraordinary exhibit created for the wedding dress made from a parachute. 

   Lilly's family, who were all familiar with the stories about the wedding in Celle , were eager to visit the synagogue.  They found the building had been completely renovated and modernized..  But when they pulled aside the handsome curtain they were astounded to find that the Aron Kodesh, made from a kitchen cabinet, had remained untouched as a testament to the profound faith of the survivors.  As Lilly stood on the bimah once again she beckoned to her granddaughter, Jackie, to stand beside her where she was once a kallah.  "It was an emotional trip.  We cried a lot."   Two weeks later, the woman who had once stood trembling before the selective eyes of the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele returned home and witnessed the marriage of her granddaughter.

  The three Lax sisters - Lilly, Ilona and Eva, who together survived Auschwitz, a forced labor camp, a death march and Bergen Belsen - have remained close and today live within walking distance of each other in Brooklyn.  As mere teenagers, they managed to outwit and outlive a monstrous killing machine, then went on to marry, have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and were ultimately honoured by the country that had earmarked them for extinction.
   As young brides, they had stood underneath the chuppah and recited the blessings that their ancestors had been saying for thousands of years.  In doing so, they chose to honor the legacy of those who had perished by choosing life.

PLEASE PASS THIS INSPIRATIONAL STORY ALONG......IT'S WORTH SHARING!