Our move to Billings brought out the gifts God gave me.

I've been wanting to tell some more of the story of how God can bring beauty out of the ashes. He had to go to extreme measures to get my attention! If it wouldn't have been for our home and everything we had burning up in our fire, we never would have moved from here, and I never would have had the opportunity to find out that I truly could do whatever I felt God was calling me to do.

Before I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, born again, I would never have had the courage and boldness to step out and do some of the things I found myself doing when we moved to Billings. I immediately found a prayer group there. It seemed as though I had known these people forever, not that they were new friends to me! We had so much to share of the Lord! What a privilege it was to be able to live there for 19 years!

In those 19 years, I felt the Lord calling me into many areas of service in the church. One of those, and the first one, was to lead the music at St. Pius. Our dear friends, Ed and Hazel Havens, had moved to Billings about a year before we did. They were our friends for about 15 years before they moved. They had 3 daughters, who were Linda's and Janet's age, and one in between. Terry, LeeAnne, and Jackie. One night I walked into the church just to pray. When I walked in there was Terry, LeeAnne and Jackie! They were practicing with Terry playing her guitar, and Jackie and LeeAnne were singing. When I walked in they were so happy to see me, and ran up to me with hugs and excitement. Lonnie, can you help us? They said we can't do the music for church unless we have an adult involved with us and no one wants to! I said I'd give it some thought. I went home and prayed and read scripture and talked to my Mom and Dad, who were living there at the time. Every time I opened my bible it was a passage about music and singing. Whatever I was listening to on the radio said Sing to Lord! I overheard conversations about singing. I asked my Mom and Dad and they said "sure you could do that", so I figured all that was the Lord speaking to me. I said Yes! And what came from that Yes was absolutely amazing! Not my doing, for sure, but because I was obedient and said Yes, the Lord worked everything that happened through me! Our group grew and grew. We had about 30 of us. We had guitars, instruments, and drums. I knew nothing about music, but these kids gave it their whole heart and soul! Karen learned to play a guitar, and she joined the group. Janet played the drums, and the rest of our family sang. We had several other guitars. It was amazing! One Christmas Janet played her drums at the offertory of the mass while we sang "Little Drummer Boy", and she marched right up to the altar and the baby Jesus in his Creche. People began coming to our mass from all over town, and we soon had to have the "St. Pius Shuffle" to get everyone in the church. We had lots of empty seats, no music when we first started. That is a "miracle" from God. Now, this is only one area where I said "Yes". I'll share others later.

I just wanted to encourage you all to listen for the Lord's calling on your life. You'll hear it the same way I did. And, even though you don't feel equipped to do what he calls you to do, you can do it - IF it truly is the Lord speaking to you. He seems to say "Listen to the desires of your heart. I place that desire and talents in you so that My Kingdom can grow."

Psalm 66 was one of the passages I received when I was trying to discern His voice. Read it sometime. I especially like verse 1 and 2: "Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing of his glorious name! Tell the world how wonderful he is." and then verse 16: "Come and hear, all of you who reverence the Lord, and I will tell you what he did for me"

Above is a picture of our group. There is another row of kids behind the guitar players on the right.

Read Sharon's post of Nov. 12 again!

I just re-read Sharon's post from Nov 12 - "I Have a Question for you". And as I was reading it again I felt a sense of urgency that these words are so important and need to be listened to AND acted upon. So, I encourage each of you to read that again and ask God how you can do that? I know you would hear an answer to your question because I feel God really wants us to hear this word and that it is truly from HIM. He won't answer in an audible voice that you hear roaring down from heaven, like Moses must have heard, or some of the other old testament prophets, but you hear him through circumstances, people, coincidential things happen all around you. Doors will open for you to bring God to wherever He has placed you and whomever He has placed there with you. He asks only that you respond and obey! And when you do, you aren't in it by yourself. You are merely the instrument, the visual that God uses to speak to people, to minister to them, to love them with the Love of God. You may be the only Bible some of them ever read. You may be the Holy Spirit with skin on for them to be able to see and hear and believe in Him. And the Holy Spirit will reveal to you what you are to say and what you are to do. He will teach you all things, so you can pass that knowledge on. Read Sharon's post, and listen for God's word to you. Share with us here, if you want.

Check it out

This morning in my prayer time, I felt God tell me "TRUST" and then God blessed me with these scriptures:

Psalm 100. Check it out, it is really short. Especially find the last lines reassuring "He is always loving and kind, and his faithfulness goes on and on to each succeeding generation."

Isaiah 26:3 & 4. "He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord. Trust in the Lord God always, for in the Lord Jehovah is your everlasting strength."

Isaiah 30:15. "...Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved: in quietness and confidence is you strength.."

Isaiah 30:19-21. "And if you leave God's paths and go astray, you will hear a voice behind you say 'No, this is the way: walk here."

Then God asked me to share His word with all of you because His words mean something special to at least one of you at this point in time, just as they do to me.

Our God is a faithful God!

I HAVE A QUESTION

I found this in my Bible. It is dated 5-1-06. I believe I jotted it down during service one Sunday.

"Hear me people.
Hear me.
Time is short.
Bring me to the lost.
Time is short.
Bring me to the lost before it is too late.
Hear me people."

Now, that was about a year and a half ago, and I need to ask myself, have I brought God to anyone, or anyone to God, in that time? This command isn't a new one, Jesus told us to bring the gospel to all the world. How many ways do you suppose there are to do just that?

Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, love.love.love. ???Forgive, hold your tongue, lend your ear, have patience. ??? Support our missions and our missionaries. Pray.Pray.Pray. Engage a stranger in a "God" conversation. ???

How do you act on this command?

The pursuit of happiness

Hi all! Mom had asked me to share some of my insights on her blog, so here I am, finally getting around to it. I was reading the prayer requests and the answered prayers. I just love this family - I love our childlike faith and don't we have such a great sense of humor? We are funny people! And God is good - look at how He listens!

I have been thinking a lot about happiness lately. Let me know what you think of my ideas. I think happiness is like world peace... it's not gonna happen. That doesn't mean we don't pray for it or pursue it, it just isn't possible. We have moments of happiness, maybe even days of it, but something always happens to spoil it. That's the way of the world. Then there's joy. Joy is possible in spite of circumstances. It's one of the Fruits of the Spirit, which means it is only possible with Christ. Have you ever felt happy and you wondered why you were happy? "My life is a mess!" but you were happy anyway? That's joy - that's the Spirit. That's the natural consequence of living in obedience to Christ. The other fruits are - love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. If you have all of these in your life, it's the evidence that you are living in sync with God's will. So whenever I feel anxious, or mean, or depressed (or any one of the opposites of the fruits) I have to ask myself in what area of my life am I not being obedient to Christ? Then (and this is the important part) I go before Him and confess what I've done, and pray for guidance to get right again. This is why I read my Bible everyday - so that I know what I am supposed to do.

OK - I could go on..... and on..... and on...... but that's enough! Thanks for listening. Love you!

CHUCK

I do believe that God has put it on my heart to pray for Chuck's knee. Will you all please join me.

Heavenly Father, Creator of the human body; Brother Jesus, Master Healer; Holy Spirit, who breathes new life into believers,

I hold Chuck up to you this evening. Please lay your hand on his knee, Jesus, and heal every part of it. Remove the cause of the pain and swelling and replace it with total mobility and strength. With pain comes discouragement, so breathe new life into Chuck's spirit and don't allow the discouragement to abide there any more! Speak to Chuck through your Holy Spirit, Lord. If he is to be mobile, nudge him into activity. If he is to rest, nudge him with a reminder that you created his body and you will heal it - but he needs to co-operate by resting. Use this "down" time to draw Chuck even closer to you, Father. Let his relationship with You deepen and grow. Free Chuck of any concerns he might have through this time, take his mind off of any worry and lead him into focusing on you and all that you have for him. Fill Chuck with a peace that surpasses all understanding and bless him again and again. Bless Deedle as she helps Chuck through this time. I pray in Jesus name.

Thank you Jesus for what you are about to do for Chuck.

A little of my history

I am LeLawne Mae Gratton Eve (Lonnie Eve). I am the first born of Chuck and Dorothy Gratton. I was born on June 18th, 1937 in Rock Springs, Wy., where I lived until I was 6 weeks old. Then we moved to Harlem, Mt, and then to Havre, Mt., and finally settling in Chinook, Mt., which is right in the middle between Harlem and Havre. I graduated from high school there in 1955, and then went on to college in Great Falls, where I met and married my husband (of 51 years now). We had seven children - 5 daughters and 2 sons, 2 beautiful daughters-in-law, 4 great sons-in-law, and 9 grandchildren. We lived in Great Falls for 20 years, and then moved to Billings and lived there for 20 years, and now have moved back to Great Falls, where I'm sure we'll be for the duration. We are so blessed! We have a wonderful family. Good jobs. And each other. It's a great life!

When I was in college in Great Falls, Mt.
My mom and Dad and little sister, Patsy and me
This is me

Jesus calms the storm

In Mark Chapter 6, verses 48-50 we read that the disciples were out on the sea and Jesus was alone on the land. He had sent them to go ahead of him in the boat across the sea to Bethsaida. Jesus went up into the hills to pray. That night the boat was in the middle of the lake, and Jesus could see the disciples struggling so hard to row their boat against the waves. It was getting very stormy, and the waves were getting stronger. So Jesus went out to them, early in the morning, walking on the water! When they saw him they couldn't know who he was. They thought he was a ghost. After all, who could walk on the water like that? He frightened them. So Jesus spoke to them and said, "Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid." Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind became calm. They were greatly amazed!

That stormy night on the sea of Galilee, Jesus manifested a power beyond anything we can comprehend. It wasn't a "magic trick" that calmed the elements, but the Creator's control over His own creation. They had just been with him that day as he multiplied the fishes and the loaves and fed 5,000 people with only 5 loaves and 2 fish! (read the previous chapter in Mark 6:35-44) The disciples had seen Him work this miracle, and were filled with faith from being a part of it.

The same is true for us! We have had answers to prayers and our faith is built up. We know by personal experience that God loves us and cares for us. Yet in the middle of the night, when the storm rages most fiercely, we still cry out with fear.

How did Jesus respond to the disciples' fearful cries? Did he tell them to buck up and stop being babies? No, he told them to have courage. Then he climbed into the boat and calmed the wind. And that's the way he treats us, speaking a word of courage, assuring us of his presence, and calming our souls. We may feel that we are alone on a dark night, in the middle of an angry sea, but the truth is that God sees us no matter where we are or what we are going through. Just as Jesus walked on the water to come to the disciples in the experience of the storm, he can use the very problems we experience in order to come to us and calm our fears.

So, when you are in the middle of the storms of life, just know Jesus is there with you - he's in the boat with you - and when you recognize Him, He will calm your storms. Just know that.

WOW! Here is a great resource I found. Thought I'd share. It is helpful to me. Hope it is for you too! Love , Karen...

YOU SAY
GOD SAYS
BIBLE VERSES
You say: "It's impossible"
God says: All things are possible
(Luke 18:27)
You say: "I'm too tired"
God says: I will give you rest
(Matthew 11:28-30)
You say: "Nobody really loves me"!
God says: I love you
(John 3:1 6 & John 3:34 )
You say: "I can't go on"
God says: My grace is sufficient
(II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)
You say: "I can't figure things out"
God says: I will direct your steps
(Proverbs 3:5- 6)
You say: "I can't do it"
God says: You can do all things
(Philippians 4:13)
You say: "I'm not able"
God says: I am able
(II Corinthians 9:8)
You say: "It's not worth it"
God says: It will be worth it
(Romans 8:28 )
You say: "I can't forgive myself"
God says: I Forgive you
(I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)
You say: "I can't manage"
God says: I will supply all your needs
(Philippians 4:19)
You say: "I'm afraid"
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear
(II Timothy 1:7)
You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated"
God says: Cast all your cares on ME
(I Peter 5:7)
You say: "I'm not smart enough"
God says: I give you wisdom
(I Corinthians 1:30)
You say: "I feel all alone"
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you
(Hebrews 13:5)