My MIracle Car

 

In the last CCM newsletter we mentioned that my car (in its 10th year with well over 200,000 kms clocked) would need replacing at some stage. We asked people to pray about this. When I travelled over to the US this last summer (winter in Oz) I was amazed when cheques began to arrive - some from people I had never met. Then when I came home I found that God had been moving in a number of ways, going ahead of me and preparing an incredible blessing. Today, with both joy and tears, I took delivery of a beautiful Subaru Forester that 'fits me like a glove' and will enable the ministry of CCM in Australia to travel safely and well! THANK YOU LORD - thank you to all who are a part of this miracle. I have to keep pinching myself to know it is real - IT IS!

Melbourne Spring.....

Ten days home - Spring weather's ups and downs, bulbs blooming, blossom just breaking though on barren branches. Sometimes things are never what they seem - my backyard has the remnant of a nectarine tree, and a young cherry. I was delighted to see blossoms on the nectarine - amazing as these flimsy branches have sprung up from a seemingly dead tree. Then the cherry - no sign of anything, and I presumed it was a victim of the water-shortage Melbourne is experiencing. But then, on closer inspection I saw them - the tiniest buds, and today, a tiny green shoot of a leaf. the miracle of life. John 10:10 says "I have come to give you abundant - overflowing - LIFE". I am thankful that I found the LIFE that Christ offers - that when I was DEAD in my own selfishness, His love penetrated the dead wood in my heart, and, just like my cherry tree, He brought forth NEW life. I love the deadness of winter springing into life, to action, to beauty - welcome SPRING!

When I boarded the plane in Seattle to head for home, I was seated next to an elderly couple, both of whom had arrived at their seats in wheelchairs. As the plane began its descent into LA, the lady remarked how much she was looking forward to being home again, as they had flown all the way from Denmark, where they had been on holiday. I was stunned - so far and so old! Then as we waited to deplane, the man told me that they actually lived in Palm Springs, but that he hadn't felt like DRIVING the three hours and so they would pick up their car but would overnight in a hotel. He then went on to say they he thought they had overdone the travel this year by taking three separate trips - South America, Alaska and now Denmark. I looked at him more closely - if he had said he was 90 I would have believed him. What tenacity! I walked behind them as they were wheeled off the plane, pulling my carry-on which now felt quite light! What an encouragement! Pastor Ron Peretti prayed for me on my last Sunday in Seattle and one of his prayers had been for renewed strength and more opportunities to minister. Hey.....if THEY can do it, it's a cinch! Asia....Europe...AFRICA....I'm ready to get ready!